Year 6 - English
Gathering evidence about characters and their relationships
'A Kind of Spark': reading
Study Hub
Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils read and explore the novel, 'A Kind of Spark'. They gather evidence about the characters by inferring from the text and compare characters both within and between texts. Finally, pupils explore the key concepts and themes from the text.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to describe the relationships between characters in the text and provide evidence to support these descriptions.
Key Notes
- 'A Kind of Spark' is a novel set in Scotland and written by Elle McNicoll, who is autistic herself.
- Addie, the main protagonist, is autistic, but this does not define her exclusively.
- The book is written in the first person from Addie's perspective.
- When we read, we make inferences about characters based on evidence in the text.
- At the start of the book, Addie has a close relationship with her sister Keedie - but not with her sister Nina.
Vocabulary To Learn
- first person: the point of view where the narrator of the story is the 'I' character, providing a personal account of events or experiences
- evidence: the information from a text that can support or justify our reasoning
- inference: a conclusion drawn from information and evidence in a text.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils may think all autistic people will be similar to Addie in the book or that all autistic people will experience the world in the same way.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
'A Kind of Spark' is a novel set in Scotland and written by Elle McNicoll, who is autistic herself. Addie, the main protagonist, is autistic, but this does not define her exclusively.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'first person'
the point of view where the narrator of the story is the 'I' character, providing a personal account of events or experiences.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils may think all autistic people will be similar to Addie in the book or that all autistic people will experience the world in the same way. Correction: Explain that autistic experiences are diverse and that Addie's experiences are not universal. The book is written by an autistic writer, who drew on her own experiences when writing the book. No autistic person 'represents' all autistic people.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 6 English guide library.