KS: Lower KS2
Year Group: Year 3
Literary Theme: Magic & Mystery
Author(s): Angela McAllister
This is a Vocabulary Vine for Leon and the Place Between by Angela McAllister
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 Leon and the Place Between.
Persuasive poster, setting description, thought bubbles / diary entry, dialogue
Own version fantasy narrative
15 sessions, 3 weeks
This is a three-week Writing Root for the story Leon and the Place Between by Angela McAllister. Throughout the sequence of learning children will explore the author’s language and use it as the basis for their own descriptive writing. They will explore the characters’ thoughts and emotions and take part in drama activities, leading to writing in role and the creation of dialogue. Using the structure of the original story, children will plan their own version of the story where their own character enters a magical world. This Writing Root would work most effectively in a LKS2 class, with links to other fantasy stories. It will be beneficial to have at least five or six copies of the text so that each group of learners can interact with and explore the text.
Wanting to prove to his brothers and sister that magic really exists, Leon volunteers to be in Abdul Kazam's magic show and gets transported to a mysterious world. Filled with rabbits, doves, playing cards and magician's assistants - among other things - if a magician can make it disappear, it will end up in the Place Between! When Leon returns, not only do his brothers and sister believe, but we do too...
This extraordinary book by significant author-illustrator duo Angela McAllister and Grahame Baker-Smith was shortlisted for the 2010 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. The quality of the language alongside captivating illustrations, cut-out sections, fonts and fold-out pages will immerse children in a magical space to explore the power of imagination and curiosity. Children will recognise the enchanting styles of the famous names through their other titles such as Winter’s Child and FArTHER.
Circus, Victorian entertainment, magic, wonder, imagination, curiosity
Date written: January 2013 Updated: September 2020, July 2025
View Leon and the Place Between Writing RootA Spelling Seed is available for Leon and the Place Between.
This is a three-session spelling seed for the book Leon and the Place Between by Angela McAllister. Below is the coverage from Appendix 1 of the National Curriculum 2014.
Spelling Seeds have been designed to complement Writing Roots by providing weekly, contextualised sequences of sessions for the teaching of spelling that include open-ended investigations and opportunities to practise and apply within meaningful and purposeful contexts, linked (where relevant) to other areas of the curriculum and a suggestion of how to extend the investigation into home learning.
There is a Spelling Seed session for every week of the associated Writing Root.
appear, believe, disappear, experience, famous, heard
More prefixes: dis–, mis–and their effect on a word
Endings whichsound like /ʃən/, spelt –tion, –sion, –ssion, –cian
View Leon and the Place Between Spelling Seed
