KS: Upper KS2
Year Group: Year 5
Literary Theme: Belonging & Equality
Author(s): Shaun Tan
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.
Diary entries, formal letters,adverts,character and setting descriptions, non-chronological reports
Own version fantasy narrative
16 sessions, 3+ weeks
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 in order to retell the main events to one another. This then leads to a series of innovations upon the story structure and children create their own ‘lost things’, creating a story plan. In the final part, children write their own lost thing narratives, based upon their story plan.
The Lost Thing is 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 it's 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.
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.
Film, utopia, dystopia, belonging, unusual friendships, acceptance, feeling lost, acceptance, being found
Date written: February 2014
View The Lost Thing Writing RootA Home Learning Branch is available for The Lost Thing.
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
