This is a Vocabulary Vine for The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan
A Vocabulary Vine is designed to be a sister resource to a Writing Root and Spelling Seed. It sits within our wider Teach Through a Text approach by explicitly identifying vocabulary from the book and providing additional opportunities for paired, small group and whole class experimentation with this vocabulary in context. Vocabulary Vines further complement spelling development too through exploration of the morphology (word structure) and etymology (origins) of words. They also provide oracy opportunities through a focus on talk tasks and on oral sentence construction. They are designed for short burst oral and vocabulary development.
A Writing Root is available for The Lost Thing.
Writing Root Overview:
Outcomes:
Diary entries, formal letters, guides / non-chronological reports, adverts, official paperwork, lost tags
Main Outcome:
Own version narrative about a 'lost thing'.
Length:
15 sessions, 3 weeks
Overview and Outcomes:
Using the film and text of Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing, children initially engage with the themes of the story and make predictions about its content. They then engage with the story through writing diary entries in role and writing formal letters of advice to Pete about what he should do. They go on to create guides for how to look after it along with completing official paperwork and adverts for the Department of Odds and Ends. Children will then go on to design their own lost thing and describe it in order to incorporate it into their own version of a ‘lost thing’ narrative.
Synopsis of Text:
A humorous story about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature whilst out collecting bottle-tops at the beach. Having guessed that it is lost, he tries to find out who owns it or where it belongs, but the problem is met with indifference by everyone else, who barely notice its presence. Each is unhelpful in their own way; strangers, friends, parents all unwilling to entertain this uninvited interruption to day-to-day life. In spite of his better judgement, the boy feels sorry for this hapless creature, and attempts to find out where it belongs. From internationally and critically acclaimed Kate Greenaway Medal, Astrid Lindgren prize and Academy Award winner, Shaun Tan. He creates intricate collages filled with whimsical images, bright colors, and meaningful prose. He invites his readers to look at the world in a different way.
Text rationale:
This book is an important commentary on what it means to belong and what happens if we see things differently. Shaun Tan is a significant author-illustrator famous for his books which explore social, political and historical subjects. Dealing with a quest for belonging, this text shares similar themes with some of his other titles which children may be familiar with, including Eric, and will set them up for studying The Arrival in Year 6. There is also an Academy Award-winning short film (narrated by Tim Minchin) to accompany the book which will support children’s learning and lead to discussion about belonging, identity and acceptance.
Links and themes:
Belonging, acceptance, dystopia, difference, friendship, equality
Date written: February 2019
Updated: December 2022, May 2025
View The Lost Thing Writing Root
A Home Learning Branch is available for The Lost Thing.
Home Learning Branch Overview:
This is a Home Learning Branch for The Lost Thing. These branches are designed to support home learners to access literature-based learning using a selection of books we love from Writing Roots. They include purposeful writing suggestions, links to the wider curriculum so that texts can be used across other subjects, key questions as well as spelling or phonics investigations.
View The Lost Thing Home Learning Branch
