RIVER BOY
Teachers’ Resources
Part 1
CONTENTS
Introduction
1
Overview for Scheme of Work
3
Navigator
6
Lesson Plans
10
Pathways
34
Resources
35
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for permission to include the following copyright material in this Pack:
Tim Bowler: reading from River Boy, interview, extracts from his notebooks, and from his Carnegie
Award acceptance speech used by permission of the author.
Sharon Creech: extract from Ruby Holler (Bloomsbury, 2003), reprinted by permission of the author
and the publisher.
Jane Draycott: 'Sturgeon' from Tideway (Two Rivers Press, 2002), copyright © Jane Draycott 2002,
reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Deborah Ellis: extract from The Heaven Shop (OUP, 2004), reprinted by permission of Oxford
University Press.
Julie Hearn: extract from The Merrybegot (OUP, 200?), reprinted by permission of Oxford University
Press.
Caroline Horn: 'Those Demanding Teenagers', The Bookseller, 17.7.98, and 'Carnegie Medal
Shortlist' table, reprinted by permission of the author and of The Bookseller.
Junior Education review of River Boy, from Junior Education, October 1998, reprinted by permission
of the publishers, Scholastic Ltd.
David & Jill Marshall: Review of Goodnight Mr. Tom from www.readingmatters.co.uk, reprinted by
permission of the authors.
E J Moeran: audio extract from ‘Lonely Waters’ from The Banks of Green Willow, music performed by
Jeffrey Tate and the English Chamber Orchestra (EMI Records Ltd, 1987), copyright © 1935 Novello
& Company Ltd, used by permission of EMI Ltd and of Novello & Co Ltd, The Music Sales Group.
International copyright secured. All rights reserved.
Vicki Nevin: Review of River Boy in Books for Keeps, November 2005, reprinted by permission of
Books for Keeps.
Rodman Philbrick: extract from Lobster Boy (Usborne, 2005), copyright © Rodman Philbrick 2004,
reprinted by permission of Usborne Publishing Ltd, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT,
www.usborne.com.
Sally Prue: extract from Goldkeeper (OUP, 2004), reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press
Celia Rees: extract from Witch Child (Bloomsbury, 2001), reprinted by permission of the
publisher.
Owen Sheers: 'River Swimming' from The Blue Book (Seren, 2000), copyright © Owen
Sheers 2000, reprinted by permission of the author c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd, 20 Powis
Mews, London W11 1JNB.
We have tried to trace and contact all copyright holders before publication. If notified the publishers
will be pleased to rectify any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity.
Worksheet 10a: Q2A
INTRODUCTION
English teachers don’t need to be told the enormous value and pleasure of reading whole
texts as class readers. Little compares with that feeling when a class are truly engaged in
the reading of a really good book. Those moments stay with you forever – indeed, they fuel
the desire to find another such book to repeat the experience, again and again. Fortunately,
contemporary writers of fiction for young adults continue to offer us fresh opportunities to
enjoy literature with our students.
Oxford Rollercoasters is a series that offers teachers the opportunity of studying first-class
novels – recently written for teenagers – as whole-class readers with Year 7, 8 and 9
students. Each set of materials has been written with two possible year groups in mind, so
that teachers can use the materials with some flexibility according to need and student
progress.
Focus on assessment of reading
Oxford Rollercoasters includes titles with varied themes, challenging subject matter and
engaging plots – for example, there’s the thriller style of Gillian Cross’s Calling a Dead Man,
the exotic appeal of medieval China in Geraldine McCaughrean’s The Kite Rider and the
gentle but powerful emotion of Tim Bowler’s Carnegie Medal-winning River Boy. Each novel
is accompanied by innovative and engaging teaching materials, specifically designed to help
students access the texts and to support learning as required by the National Curriculum.
Rollercoasters is firmly based on the reading objectives in the Framework, and draws on
approaches to reading fiction recommended by the English strand of the Secondary National
Strategy. The series is written by practising teachers and consultants, and, while
concentrating on the explicit teaching of reading skills, also draws on approaches to
literature through drama and media. Theories behind both assessment for learning and
thinking skills are embedded in the materials.
Time-saving resources
For each Rollercoasters novel there is a set of Lesson Plans, specifying particular
objectives, assessment focuses and learning outcomes. These are accompanied by a
compact Overview (see page 3) which gives the teacher, at a glance, an idea of how the
particular scheme works – identifying learning outcomes, lesson coverage, basic lesson
content and necessary resources.
As well as the Overview, teachers are offered a Navigator (see page 6), which highlights
key aspects in each chapter of the particular novel. There is a plot summary, key page
references for characters and details of language techniques, and a section identifying the
stages in the structure of the novel. The Navigator is designed to help teachers to adapt the
pace and detail of work according to the needs of their class.
1
Unique components
In addition to its comprehensive Teaching Packs, Rollercoasters offers some unique
components.
•
Each of the novels has its own student Reading Guide, an A4 magazine-style
publication with visual, textual and activity materials that help to engage students in
their study of the novel.
•
An accompanying CD not only contains additional resources such as video and audio
clips and visual stimulus, but also includes varied and interesting resources contributed
by the authors of the novels. Authors’ first drafts, research materials and
correspondence about the novel, for example, provide invaluable background material
to enhance and enrich students’ appreciation of the Writer’s Craft. This latter aspect is
important for students developing skills in writing as well as reading.
•
The CD resources also include interactive Whiteboard Activities, which are
increasingly popular in the English classroom.
Support for lesson planning in the Teacher’s Pack
Every Lesson Plan follows the Strategy four-part structure with a range of appropriate
homework tasks. Guideline timings are offered for each part, although teachers may want to
tailor them to the needs of their own class. Within the Lesson Plans there is a wide range of
teaching approaches and styles, and, in many cases, options within the lessons meet the
needs of different ability groups.
•
Lesson Plans are accompanied by full, varied and practical Worksheets and OHTs,
and drama activities are common within the teaching schemes. The resources that
appear in the free on-line teacher’s materials are shown by the web icon on the Lesson
Plan pages.
•
Although all lessons do have starter activities specifically related to the text in question,
a bank of Generic Starters is also provided in the scheme to increase the choice. The
coverage in these starters is also designed to tie in with the moving image Rollercoaster
diagram on each CD.
•
For every novel there are carefully planned guided reading sessions as well as the
opportunity to develop further specific group teaching. Class, shared and independent
reading are also fully supported in the Lesson Plans.
•
Ideas for wider reading and for the extension of independent reading are also provided
in the Pathways section (see page 34).
•
The practice of keeping some form of Reading Journal during the study of the novel is
encouraged in most schemes, and there are several attractive models for such recordkeeping across the schemes.
•
Every scheme ends with its own student Reading Assessment Progress sheet, which
the teacher can use to identify areas for development for each student.
Website support
A dedicated website for Rollercoasters will provide access to the free on-line teacher’s
resources and will allow students to find out the latest information about the series and the
authors, read reviews and post their own reviews of novels.
Oxford Rollercoasters provides first-class teaching resources for first-class contemporary
fiction. The series is designed to engage the widest possible range of students in reading for
pleasure, and we feel confident that it will contribute to those memorable experiences of
reading together in the secondary classroom.
2
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
River Boy
Overview
OVERVIEW FOR SCHEME OF WORK
Lesson
(Book chapter)
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
Reading AFs and
strategies
Framework
objectives
Activities/outcomes
Rollercoasters
resources
1 Expectations,
initial character
analysis
(Chapter 1)
 Use the title, cover and
blurb to inform their
reading of a text
 Identify how writers
portray character through
both explicit and implicit
means
AF2: Locating
evidence
AF3: Inference
and deduction
Predict,
speculate
Yr 8: R4
Yr 9: R13
Starter: Study of title and covers
Introduction: Shared information retrieval and
inference on character
Development: Group reading and character analysis:
Grandpa, Mum and Dad
Plenary: Feedback on characters
Homework: Jess’s character – inference and
deduction
OHT: 1a
WS: 1b
RG: pp. 4–5
CD: 1.1, 1.2
WB: 1.1, 1.2,
1.3
WC: 1.1, 1.2
2 Setting
(Chapter 2)
 Access setting in a
narrative through
visualizing and
empathizing
AF5: Use of
language
AF6: Writer’s
viewpoint
See images,
empathize
Yr 8: R4
Yr 9: R13
Yr 9: SpL12
Starter: Jess – role-on-the-wall
Introduction: Setting through guided tour of cottage
and river
Development: Discussion on Jess; read Chapter 2
Plenary: Response to river
Homework: Holidaymaker’s comments
RG: pp. 6–7
CD: 2.1
3 Imagery
(Chapter 3)
 Analyse a writer’s style
through marking sensory
appeal
 Identify key images in a
novel
AF5: Use of
language
See images
Yr 8: R5
Yr 8: W11
Yr 9: R12
Starter: Holidaymaker’s comments; remembering the
river; the senses
Introduction: Shared reading of Chapter 3
Development: Chapter 3 group focus on senses
Plenary: Recap on senses
Homework: Three appealing details of the river
WS: 3a, 3b
CD: 3.1
WB: 3.1
WC: 3.1, 3.2
4 Family
relationships
(Chapter 4–6)
 Explore the presentation
of the relationships
between characters in a
novel
AF3: Inference
and deduction
Yr 8: R5
Yr 9: R18
Yr 9: R5
Yr 9: S4
Starter: Recap Bowler’s style
Introduction: Characters and relationships; shared
reading of Chapter 4
Development: Guided reading of Chapters 5 and 6
Plenary: OHT feedback
Homework: Dialogue between Mum and Dad about
Jess and Grandpa
WS: 4a
RG: pp. 8–9
CD: 4.1
5 Language to
create mood and
atmosphere
(Chapters 7–9)
 Identify themes in a novel
 Analyse how a writer’s use
of language creates mood
and atmosphere
AF5: Use of
language
Interpret
patterns
Yr 8: R5
Yr 8: S2
Yr 8: W11
Yr 9: R12
Starter: Themes mindmap
Introduction: Language to create mood and
atmosphere; shared reading of Chapter 7 part 1
Development: Guided reading of Chapter 7 part 2
Plenary: Feed back and relate mood to structure of
Chapter 7
Homework: Read Chapters 8 and 9 and answer
questions; write three questions for Jess
OHT: 5a
WS: 5b
CD: 5.1, 5.2
WB: 5.1, 5.2
6 Empathy and
narrative tension
 Explore an issue and
develop empathy with a
AF3: Inference
and deduction
Yr 8: R10
Yr 8: SpL15
Starter: Chapter titles and ordering
Introduction: Recap homework, hot-seat Jess using
WS: 6a
CD: 6.1
3
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Lesson
(Book chapter)
River Boy
Overview
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
Reading AFs and
strategies
Framework
objectives
Activities/outcomes
character through framing,
asking and answering
questions
 Identify how a writer uses
a reader’s curiosity to
provide narrative tension
AF4: Text
structure
Empathize
Yr 9: R14
(in a novel)
Yr 9: S4
Yr 9: SpL12
questions
Development: Chapter 10 with questions on tension
Plenary: Tension reviewed; information on river boy
Homework: Tension graph
7 The river boy as
narrative tension
(Chapters 11–
13)
 Identify how a writer
structures a narrative to
maintain a reader’s
interest
 Explore a complex issue
through talk
AF3: Inference
and deduction
AF4: Text
structure
Hear a reading
voice, ask
questions
Yr 8: R5
Yr 8: R10
Yr 8: SpL10
Yr 9: R12
Yr 9: SpL10
WS: 7a, 7b,
7c, 7d
CD: 7.1
WC: 7.1, 7.2
8 Language to
create empathy
(Chapters 14
and 15)
 Identify how a writer
creates empathy for
characters through
language choices
AF5: Use of
language
Empathize
Yr 8: R5
Yr 8: SpL15
Yr 9: R12
Yr 9: SpL12
Yr 9: Wr17
9 Structural
metaphor
(Chapters 16
and 17)
 Analyse a writer’s use of
patterns of language over
a whole text, focusing on
extended metaphor
 Identify the crisis point in a
novel and how to see this
in relation to preceding
events
AF4: Text
structure
AF5: Use of
language
Interpret
patterns
Yr 8: R5
Yr 8: W11
Yr 9: R7
Yr 9: R9
Yr 9: R14
(in a novel)
Starter: Feedback on tension graphs
Introduction: False tension of Chapter 10; Chapters
11–13
Development: Discussion of river boy, including early
draft of Chapter 13
Plenary: Sharing views; chapter endings
Homework: List of chapter titles and chapter endings;
whole-text tension graph
Starter: Whole-text tension around Grandpa’s painting
Introduction: Dramatic reading of Chapter 14 –
empathy
Development: Forum theatre/sculpting – empathy
Plenary: Writer’s craft in redrafting
Homework: Read Chapter 15; how author creates
empathy through language
Starter: Language technique card sort
Introduction: Reading the river as metaphor
Development: Shared reading of Chapters 16 and 17
Plenary: Story structure recapped
Homework: Story structure diagram
10 The climax
(Chapters 18
and 19)
 Identify how a writer
creates, maintains and
releases narrative tension
in the climactic sections of
a narrative to engage a
reader in a character’s
actions and achievements
AF4: Text
structure
AF6: Writer’s
viewpoint
Interpret
patterns,
rationalize what
is happening
Yr 8: R10
Yr 9: R12
Starter: Long-distance swimming
Introduction: Jess’s swim – Chapter 18
Development: Analysing Chapters 18 and 19
Plenary: Website report writing model; symbolic
significance of Jess’s swim
Homework: Reporting Jess’s swim for website
WS: 10a
RG: pp. 12–
13
11 The ending
(Chapter 20)
 Evaluate the writer’s craft,
especially in relation to the
ending of a novel
AF4: Text
structure
AF6: Writer’s
Yr 8: R10
Yr 9: R14
(in a novel)
Starter: Endings – diamond ranking
Introduction: Website review editing/comparing with
narrative fiction
WS: 11a
RG: pp. 4–5,
8, 14–15
(Chapter 10)
Rollercoasters
resources
WS: 8a
RG: pp. 10–
11
CD: 8.1
WC: 8.1, 8.2
OHT: 9c
WS: 9a, 9b
CD: 9.1, 9.2
WB: 9.1, 9.2,
9.3
4
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
Lesson
(Book chapter)
12 Reviewing the
whole novel
River Boy
Overview
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
Reading AFs and
strategies
Framework
objectives
Activities/outcomes
Rollercoasters
resources
 Explain the difference
between narrative in a
news report and a novel
 Decide what they have
achieved during the
course of their study
viewpoint
Pass
judgements
Yr 9: R10
Development: Shared reading of final chapter and
response
Plenary: Begin review process
Homework: Consider similar books; complete website
report
WB: 11.1
WC: 11.1,
11.2, 11.3,
11.4
 Improve their skills
through writing a review
 Decide what they have
achieved during the
course of their study
AF5: Use of
language
AF6: Writer’s
viewpoint
Pass
judgements,
relate to
previous reading
experience
Yr 8: R13
Yr 8: R16
Yr 8: W18
Yr 9: R5
Yr 9: R16
Yr 9: R18
Starter: Share ideas on similar books
Introduction: Shared reading of review and move into
shared writing (options)
Development: Guided writing
Plenary: Review writing so far
Homework: Complete reviews, reading journals and
self-assessment
WS: 12a, 12b,
12c, 12d
RG: pp.14–16
WC: 12 1
5
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
River Boy
Navigator
NAVIGATOR
Chapter
Plot outline
Key character references
Themes
Language
Structure
1
During the summer holidays, 15-year-old
Jess, only child and keen swimmer,
discovers that her Grandpa is seriously ill.
Despite his serious heart condition,
Grandpa stubbornly insists that the family
will go on holiday – they are booked to
stay in a remote cottage near to where
Grandpa lived as a child. Grandpa, who is
a painter, has a painting to finish of a river
scene, which he has named ‘River Boy’.
 Introduction to the main
characters: Mum, Dad,
Grandpa
 Key character traits
established, pp. 3–12
 Love (specifically family love)
 Facing challenges in life: for
Jess, swimming, p. 2: ‘All she
needed now… was a big
swimming challenge…’; for
Grandpa, the unfinished
painting, p. 9: ‘There was a
river, which dominated the
scene…’.
 Subsequent fulfilment
 Third-person narrative from
Jess’s viewpoint
 Writer uses dialogue to
establish character
Introduction
Complication 1:
Grandpa is ill, Jess
unable to accept he
will die
Complication 2: He
has a painting (‘River
Boy’) he is determined
to finish before he dies
2
Jess, her parents and Grandpa drive to
the holiday cottage, which is 40 miles by
road from the nearest town, Braymouth.
Despite the fact that it is dark before they
arrive, the sound of the running water tells
them that a river runs close to the
cottage. Jess is delighted as it makes her
think of swimming. The family settle down
for their first night in the holiday home.
 Other characters mentioned,
pp. 16 and 21: the Grays,
who own the cottage, and
Alfred – Grandpa’s childhood
companion
 Time and change, p. 21:
‘Everything changes…
Nothing stays the same.
Nothing lasts forever.’
 Death
 River described through
figurative language, pp. 14–
21: ‘It was as though there
was a spirit here, not some
ghoul or creeping shade, but
a spirit of the river, of the
trees and hills, a spirit running
through all this like a magic
charm’, (p. 19)
Development: The
setting changes from
urban to isolated setting
in which a river is the
key and enchanting
feature
3
Jess wakes early and decides to test the
river. At first she is wary, knowing that
river currents can be dangerous, but she
measures the river’s strength and feels
confident that it is safe for her. Though
the cottage and river are very isolated,
she has the strange feeling that she is
being watched.
 The river is presented as a
character: ‘this water was
friendly enough’, p. 25; ‘the
current was not her master’,
p. 25; ‘In the end, the river
would win’, p. 26
 Challenge and time/change –
bound into the river image
 Further description of river
using figurative language
Development: Jess
senses an unseen
presence near the river
4
While Jess’s parents go to visit the Grays,
Jess helps Grandpa to set up his easel to
work on his painting of the river. At first,
he works well but then begins to despair,
thinking that the painting is rubbish. Jess
likes the picture but cannot understand its
title – she can see the river, but where is
the boy? Suddenly, Grandpa suffers
another attack.
 Link between Grandpa and
Jess: ‘in some way painting
for him must be like
swimming was for her’, p. 28
 Facing challenge
 Love
 Key description of painting: ‘It
was still the river scene but
he had added so much more.
The hints of green that had
suggested the river banks
were darker’, p. 33
Development: Grandpa
feels he cannot
complete the painting
5
Jess gets Grandpa back into the cottage
and to bed. He recovers a little and he
makes her promise not to say anything to
her parents. When her parents do return,
they have a man with them.
 Facing challenge
 Love
 Relationships presented
through dialogue and action
Continuation of painting
problem
6
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
River Boy
Language
Navigator
Chapter
Plot outline
Key character references
Themes
6
The man turns out to be an old friend of
Grandpa’s – Alfred. His memories of
Grandpa suggest that Grandpa has
always been stubborn and strong-willed.
Alfred talks and talks and talks.
 Alfred introduced: ‘... I have a
sort of tendency to talk a lot’,
p. 42
 Reinforcement of Grandpa’s
character through Alfred’s
memories
 Time and change
 Friendship
Structure
7
Jess goes on a walk to the source of the
river, where she finds a waterfall and a
deep pool below. She sees the river boy
properly for the first time as he stands at
the top of the waterfall. But he disappears
as if by magic.
 River boy described: ‘as
though he were part of the
stream itself’, p. 49
 Time and change: ‘She knew
that even these things around
her would pass away some
day’, p. 45
8
Jess says nothing about the boy when
she returns home to find Alfred has been
talking non-stop to her parents. Before he
leaves, however, she asks Alfred if there
are other young people in the area. He
says no, leaving her thinking she must
have imagined the boy.
 River boy doubted: ‘her belief
in the boy up at the fall had
faded; and only the mystery
remained’, p. 56
 Time and change
9
But in the night she is woken by the
sound of the river and catches a glimpse
of the boy again outside the cottage in the
river. When she goes out to find him, she
runs into her Dad, who is also unable to
sleep.
 River boy seen again: ‘A
figure was moving in the
stream’, p. 57
 Time and change
 Atmosphere of mystery
 Metaphorical, sensuous
detail, then sudden return to
normality
Glimpse of boy who
then disappears
10
Mum thinks Grandpa will have to go to
hospital, but she and Jess know he wants
to finish his painting. Jess helps him to
set up, and although he begins to
grumble, he starts to make progress. He
tells Jess to go away and not bother him,
so she goes for a swim, and yet again
encounters the river boy. Suddenly, her
attention has to switch to Alfred, who is
calling for help. Grandpa is nowhere to be
seen. For a while, everyone is troubled,
until Jess discovers that he is hiding in
the ‘coffin’ car roof-box so that he does
not have to talk to Alfred. Grandpa is put
to bed with some soup, with the prospect
of, in a few days, going to hospital.
 Boy seen in river linked in
Jess’s mind with painting,
p. 65
 ‘Black, untidy hair, matching
equally black, untidy shorts’,
p. 68
 ‘A creature spawned by the
river itself’, p. 69
 Grandpa’s sense of humour,
p. 74
 Time and change
 Facing challenge
 Love
 Mixed styles as developments
are juxtaposed
 ‘I can see the picture in my
head. It’s so clear. But I…
I can’t…’ p. 65
 ‘A creature spawned by the
river itself’, p. 69
Continuation of painting
problem
Boy seen again
False crisis: Grandpa
disappears
11
In the night, Jess looks for the river boy,
and again she sees him in the river,
where he swims with power and grace.
 River boy described as ‘a
natural swimmer, a swimmer
of such power and grace, she
could only stand and admire’,
p. 80
 Time and change
 Atmosphere of mystery
 Metaphorical, sensuous detail
as swimmer is described
Clearer image of boy
Development: Alfred
introduced
 Intense and sensuous
language. Creation of mood
of mystery and magic:
‘everything touched by the
river held an enchantment’,
p. 48
Jess’s first sighting of
the boy
Is the boy imaginary?
Alfred’s words suggest
he must be
7
OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
River Boy
Navigator
Chapter
Plot outline
Key character references
Themes
Language
Structure
12
A doctor calls to see Grandpa, and the
doctor wants him admitted to hospital.
Grandpa despairs. He knows that he is
too weak to finish his painting. Jess is so
distressed that she runs off to the river to
cry. There she meets the river boy, who
asks her why she is crying.
 Of Grandpa’s unfinished
painting: ‘now this unfulfilled
part of his soul would rot
away inside him, colouring
the last hours of his life’, pp.
85–86
 Lack of achievement, fear of
failure
 Dialogue and action create
empathy for Jess and
Grandpa
Continuation of painting
problem – Grandpa very
ill
River boy speaks
13
Jess tells the river boy why she is crying.
She tells him about the unfinished
painting and Grandpa’s weakness. The
boy advises her that she must be
Grandpa’s hands. In return for his advice,
Jess promises that she will help him with
something difficult that he has to do. Jess
goes back to the cottage and tells her
Mum she wants one last try to help
Grandpa finish his painting before he
goes to hospital.
 River boy says to Jess: ‘You
finish the picture… You be his
hands’, p. 89
 ‘If your grandfather finishes
his picture, will you help me
then?’, p. 90
 Facing challenge
 Dialogue and action create
empathy
 Sense of purpose builds as
chapter proceeds
River boy provides
solution to painting
problem
New complication:
Jess must do something
for the river boy
14
Jess helps Grandpa to finish the painting
– she still cannot see any river boy, just a
river scene, but Grandpa is pleased with
the results.
 Jess’s faith in Grandpa to
finish the painting:
‘Desperately she clung to her
faith in his will, his anger, his
courage and, above all, his
love for her’, pp. 94–95
 Facing challenge with
courage
 Love
 Pace and urgency
 Dialogue and action create
empathy
Mini-climax: Grandpa
finishes his painting
15
Grandpa is peaceful now the painting is
completed to his satisfaction. Mum and
Dad think it is poor, but more than ever it
makes Jess think about the river boy.
 ‘A sense of pride in his voice
as he told Mum and Dad that
he had finished his picture’,
p.101
 ‘ “I love you Grandpa”, and
she knew that was enough’,
p.105
 Fulfilment
 Love
 Calm and rest after effort
 Soporific effects
Grandpa fulfilled
16
Jess climbs to the source of the river in
the darkness before dawn. She meets the
river boy and together they look out over
the river as it flows into the sea. The river
boy tells Jess that he intends to swim the
river to the sea and asks Jess to go with
him. She declines, saying that she needs
to be with Grandpa. She returns to the
cottage feeling she has let the river boy
down. Alfred is there to greet her.
 Jess and the river boy: ‘she
realized how much this
strange boy yearned for her
to swim with him’, p. 110
 Facing challenge
 Atmosphere of mystery
 Metaphorical, sensuous detail
 Key section on the metaphor
of the river, p. 109
Jess’s challenge – to
swim with the boy or
not?
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Navigator
Chapter
Plot outline
Key character references
Themes
Language
Structure
17
Alfred gives her the news that Grandpa
has been taken to hospital and that she
cannot follow him. Alfred then remarks on
the self-portrait that Grandpa has painted
and Jess suddenly realises the link
between boy, painting and Grandpa. She
knows she must catch the river boy
before he swims out to sea. She dives
into the river, desperate to find him.
 Alfred of Grandpa: ‘He used
to go on about how he was
going to swim the length of
the river one day, all the way
from source to sea’, p. 117
 Love
 Facing challenge with
courage
 Tension halted by matter-offact detail
 Sudden climactic moment at
chapter end
Link made between boy,
painting and Grandpa –
through Alfred
18
Jess swims to Braymouth, determined to
catch up with the river boy before he
reaches the sea. She is successful and
bids him farewell.
 Jess realizes: ‘The river boy
was not a curse but a
benediction; a blessing in the
history of Grandpa’s life, and
in her own small existence.
And here she was, swimming
after all, and with a challenge
to match her greatest hopes’,
p. 119
 Love
 Facing challenge with
courage
 Fulfilment
 Detailed, fast-paced, tense
description of Jess’s swim to
reach the boy
Climax: Swimming the
river
19
Jess is found by the police, and reunited
with her concerned parents. Grandpa has
died peacefully.
 Jess ‘wanted that grief; she
knew it was natural and right,
just as the passing of this
strange and wonderful old
man was natural and right,
just as her own death would
one day be natural and right.
But there was much living to
do first… much swimming. In
the wake of the river boy’,
p. 129
 Love
 Fulfilment
 Acceptance of change
 Relaxation of tension
 Muted dialogue and slow
pace
Resolution: Grandpa
and Jess at peace
20
Jess takes one last visit to the source of
the river, and there she scatters her
Grandpa’s ashes in the waterfall before
diving in after them. She knows
Grandpa’s spirit will always be with her.
 Jess: ‘There was no need for
pain, only a wholesome
sorrow which would, in time,
relent’
 ‘But the spirit of the river boy
was in her alone’, p. 135
 Love
 Fulfilment
 Acceptance of change
 Return to metaphorical,
sensuous language
 Gentle valedictory tone
Resolution: Jess
accepts time and
change as natural
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Lesson 1
LESSON 1
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R4
AF2, AF3
Yr 9: R13
AF2, AF3
Focus: Chapter 1 – expectations, initial character analysis
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
1 Use the title, cover and blurb to inform their reading of a text
2 Identify how writers portray character through both explicit and implicit means
Starter (15 minutes)
Distribute sheet CD1.1, which outlines ideas for keeping a reading journal. Give students 5
minutes to explore the suggestions, working with a partner. Explain that they will be keeping
a record of their responses as they read, and will be referring to this sheet.
Written tasks can be drafted or completed in the journal. Worksheets can be stored there. To
motivate students, you might also suggest an award for the best three journals.
Refer students to pages 4–5 of the Reading Guide. Begin discussion of the various covers
and draw comparisons between them using the sections ‘Judging a book by its cover’ and
‘Try some other covers too!’ Emphasize the need to consider the words used – including the
tag lines and the back cover blurb – and ask students to complete ‘Reading the blurb’.
The covers in Writer’s Craft 1.1 and 1.2 can be distributed to supplement these pages (or
shown on screen). You may also wish to print these cover designs for a wall display.
Students should work in pairs or fours to discuss and make a note of:
•
one question about the novel
•
one prediction about the novel’s content.
Select four or five students to write their questions and predictions on cards for the wall
display and as the basis for feedback.
Introduction (15 minutes)
Before beginning to read, establish a routine for noticing and/or recording challenging or new
vocabulary, such as a new vocabulary section on the display board, periodic dictionary
checks, or a new word challenge game (with the class divided into teams, any member of
the team can pick a word and challenge another team to give its correct meaning).
You may also want to introduce WB1.1, the River Boy Rollercoaster diagram – clicking on
Chapter 1 and pulling up the Narrative Style box to highlight the aims of their reading.
Read the opening of the novel up to page 3, ‘crashed into the pool’. Ask the students to
focus on these questions.
•
Who are the main characters?
•
What might be the main themes?
•
How has the writer engaged the reader with this opening?
Consider the use of viewpoint; use of the past tense; Grandpa’s uncertain health;
unexplained references to the river boy and hints of other significant events. Check whether
students’ initial predictions have altered.
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Lesson 1
Briefly, model for students how to pick out detail about character and provide evidence and
page references. Pick out what Jess feels about swimming (page 2). Show how Grandpa is
described as ‘a stubborn, prickly old man’.
Next, model how to infer ideas, for example Jess’s impatience with other swimmers – they
‘made her want to shout with frustration’, page 1. Jess is single-minded, determined, likes to
be in control. She cares about Grandpa – she keeps checking on him as she swims.
Grandpa loves Jess and cares about her swimming, otherwise he wouldn’t be there.
Development (15 minutes)
Ask students to continue reading the first chapter – in pairs or small groups – with the task of
identifying at least three things that can be learned about Grandpa, Dad and Mum, using
sticky notes as they read. Allocate the different characters to different groups or pairs if
necessary.
Remind students that they are:
•
retrieving information, such as Grandpa was ‘such a stubborn character’ (page 5)
•
inferring or deducing, such as the consultant is ‘exasperated’ by Grandpa’s behaviour
(page 5) – indicating that Grandpa is very difficult.
Briefly model how to use the sticky notes to mark the place, identify the relevant quotation in
the text or make an inference.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Use a copy of OHT 1a or WB1.2 and WB1.3 to take concise feedback from students on
each of the three characters. For every point, ask whether they retrieved information or
inferred or deduced it. You could support less able students by preparing points on the OHT.
Ideas are suggested on CD1.2.
Homework (5 minutes)
Ask students to record three things they know about Jess, using Worksheet 1b. Ensure they
distinguish between retrieving information and inferring or deducing it. For each point, they
should provide evidence with a page reference.
Invite students to write ideas in their reading journal, draw characters or record new
vocabulary to consolidate what they have learned so far.
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Lesson 2
LESSON 2
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R4
AF5, AF6
Yr 9: R13, SpL12
AF5, AF6
Focus: Chapter 2 – setting
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
1 Access setting in a narrative through visualizing and empathizing
Starter (10 minutes)
Tell the students that after checking the work set on Jess, this lesson will focus on the
setting for the story. Ask: What do we know about Jess from reading Chapter 1?
Build a character profile (role-on-the-wall) of Jess. Students should write their comments
(from Worksheet 1b) on cards and pin them up around a silhouette to represent Jess. They
should say whether they have retrieved information or inferred and deduced it. For example,
on page 4 we learn that she has a lot of swimming medals – we can deduce that she has
had success as a swimmer as well as enjoyment from it. (CD1.2 contains further sample
points.)
Discuss:
•
what Jess has in common with Grandpa, such as being independent, single-minded
and the same age as he was when he left his place of birth
•
words that describe Jess’s family and their relationships, such as close-knit, sensitive,
loving, tolerant, sharing, caring, supportive.
Introduction (20 minutes)
Draw students’ attention to how the story is being told – in the third person but through
Jess’s thoughts and viewpoint (she is the focaliser – we see through her eyes). Check that
this is understood. Invite comment on how the story would change if the reader shared
Grandpa’s viewpoint. Ask why the writer has chosen Jess’s viewpoint; for example, seeking
to appeal to a teenage audience by adopting a teenage viewpoint. Teenage readers learn
through empathy with Jess’s experience in a way they would not with an adult viewpoint.
Refer students to pages 6–7 of the Reading Guide, ‘Holiday destination?’, and the activities
outlined in those pages.
•
Read the advertisement for the holiday home.
•
Share ideas for words to describe the cottage.
•
Complete the guided tour. You may wish to use music as a background for this, or
sound effects for a river (you could use the audio clip CD2.1).
Tell the students their homework task will be to compose a comment about the place by a
satisfied holidaymaker, and that you will return to this later.
Development (15 minutes)
Discuss what Jess would make of a place like this. What would she do there? Remember
that Jess is a city girl – she’s used to traffic and noise. Read Chapter 2 with the class,
focusing on:
1
Jess’s reaction to the place
2
the river.
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Lesson 2
What three things do they notice about the river? Direct students to mark references to the
river with sticky notes as they read.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Ask students to share what they notice about the river and agree the key points. These
should include Jess’s initial reactions to the setting and reasons why Grandpa might want to
return to it. Points should include the following:
•
the river runs very near to the cottage
•
Jess hears its rushing waters before she sees it
•
it flows out to the sea at Braymouth and is a good-sized river just below the cottage
•
it keeps Jess awake, but she likes it – it makes her think of her Grandpa as a boy
•
Jess likes the isolation and she likes the river – it makes her think of swimming
•
Jess thinks Grandpa’s decision to come here is out of character: ‘he’d always scorned
looking back, as though it were a weakness’, page 14
•
Grandpa wants to return to his place of birth to die
•
he wants to paint his birthplace – the river
•
he needs to recover that part of himself he rejected when his own parents died in the
fire – Jess is the only one who can ‘find’ that part.
Ask students if this river might represent something more. You could suggest a link between
the rushing water of the river and Grandpa’s words ‘Everything changes, Jess …’ (page 21).
Invite students to say what titles they would give to Chapters 1 and 2 and to record ideas in
their journals as appropriate.
Check to see whether students have adapted their ideas about the place by asking how they
would change their holiday destination words as a result of reading Chapter 2.
Homework (5 minutes)
Ask students to write the satisfied holidaymaker’s comment in around 50–75 words. They
should draw on the work they did in the guided tour and on what they have learned from
reading Chapter 2.
Extension Task
More able or Year 9 students could be asked to write their own description for the holiday
cottage advertisement, based on what they have learned in Chapter 2.
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Lesson 3
LESSON 3
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R5, W11
AF5
Yr 9: R12
AF5
Focus: Chapter 3 – imagery
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
1 Analyse a writer’s style through marking sensory appeal
2 Identify key images in a novel
Starter (10 minutes)
Ask each student to write the satisfied holidaymaker’s comments on a card and add it to the
wall display. Select well-chosen phrases to comment upon, and recall the effect of the
description of the river in Chapter 2.
Tell students that in his acceptance speech for the Carnegie Medal for River Boy, Tim
Bowler referred to the ‘magic caskets of words’ that writers have. This lesson focuses on
how he uses language to appeal to the reader’s senses, to create the spirit of the river – the
central metaphor of River Boy.
Ask students what they most vividly remember about the river as described in Chapter 2
without checking the text.
Distribute Worksheet 3a, which carries a short extract from pages 19–20 of River Boy. You
may like to show students the opening of the video interview with Tim Bowler (Writer’s Craft
3.1) where he talks about the river.
Students should then circle words that bring sounds to mind, and underline any words that
suggest touch or sight. Allow them two minutes to do this.
Display an OHT version of Worksheet 3a or WB3.1 and use it to record the feedback from
the class and explore key grammatical and figurative techniques used by the writer to
suggest the river – focusing on the dominance of sound effects in this extract
(onomatopoeia, simile, alliteration, sentence length and structure). Point out that Jess asks
the river what it is saying, as if it had a voice – ask students to name this technique
(personification). Make clear that personification is when a writer refers to an inanimate
object as having human qualities.
As an alternative, use Generic Starter 7 on narrative style, on page 41 of this pack, with an
extract of your choice.
Introduction (20 minutes)
Explain that the lesson will now go on to develop ideas about the way a writer appeals to the
senses of a reader.
Ask students to close their eyes as they listen to the opening of Chapter 3, up to ‘… whole
river as it raced past her legs’ (page 23). You may like to introduce Tim Bowler’s own
reading of this passage in the video Writer’s Craft 3.2.
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Lesson 3
Encourage students to share what they remember most vividly with a partner. Discuss these
details with the whole class, re-reading the passage with students looking at the text to
check which senses Bowler is using, drawing out the way the writer’s choice of language
creates strong sensory impressions: combining sound and vision, e.g. ‘tree-tops moving
against a pale sky’, and ‘Dad’s steady breathing’; sound through onomatopoeia in ‘the ripple
of the stream’; and sight through metaphor in ‘snaking river’.
Development (15 minutes)
Ask students to read the remaining four pages of Chapter 3, addressing the questions on
Worksheet 3b. CD3.1 provides sample answers.
When they complete the reading, students work in pairs to fill in the grid.
You could choose to support a particular group of students with this work.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Take feedback on the questions on Worksheet 3b, moving rapidly to the final question. At
this stage, some speculation is required, not detailed exploration.
Ask whether the students have questions they wish to ask about the river. If no one
mentions this point, then remind students of it: ‘The feeling started to grow that she had not
been – and was not – alone’ (page 26).
End by asking why it is important for a writer to exploit the reader’s senses, and what has
been gained in the lesson from focusing on the senses when reading.
Invite students to suggest a title for Chapter 3, and to record it in their journals.
Homework (5 minutes)
Ask students to pick out three details from the description of the river that they find
memorable. Using their chosen details, they should explain how the writer’s choice of
language has made these details memorable. They should complete this work in their
journals.
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Lesson 4
LESSON 4
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R5
AF3
Yr 9: R18, R5, S4
AF3
Focus: Chapters 4–6 – family relationships
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
1 Explore the presentation of the relationships between characters in a novel
Starter (5 minutes)
Ask pairs of students to share ideas on what makes the river memorable. Briefly sum up an
appreciation of Bowler’s style in appealing to the senses through powerful imagery
(foregrounding the central metaphor of the river). Alternatively, use Generic Starter 4 on
narrative voice, on page 38 of this pack.
Let students know that their journals will be taken in at the end of this lesson to sample
written comments and assess progress. Explain that in today’s lesson they will be
considering the characters and their relationships.
Introduction (20 minutes)
Refer students to pages 8–9 of the Reading Guide, and ask the class to recall what they
already know about Grandpa’s relationships with other family members. Ask pairs to read
the quotations and look at the central image to help them answer ‘What do we know so far?’
Then invite them to discuss the questions under ‘Hopes and fears’.
The discussion points under ‘Characters in the background’ and ‘Mystery hero’ should
stimulate students’ ideas about who the central character is in the novel. Use ‘Linking Jess,
Grandpa and the river’ to move on from Jess and Grandpa to look at the river boy and the
river as characters in themselves.
Then read up to page 32 of Chapter 4 (‘Ten minutes later, he was at work’) with the class.
Focus on the relationship between Grandpa and Jess, asking students to note evidence of
how the writer presents this as a special relationship. Tell students they will be inferring and
deducing from the writer’s language choices in the dialogue and action between Jess and
Grandpa. For example, Jess’s words on page 29 show she anticipates his needs: ‘Could you
–?’ ‘You know I will.’ This indicates that she often helps him with his painting.
Development (20 minutes)
Ask students to read on to page 44, the end of Chapter 6, in groups (or complete this for
homework), focusing on the unfolding relationship between Grandpa and Jess in Chapters 4
and 5. Again, they should note points in the action and dialogue that show a mutual
understanding.
Groups who work quickly should also decide why the character of Alfred is introduced in
Chapter 6.
You may wish to use the plan below to work with a guided group, targeting skills in inference
and deduction. A fuller version of this plan is provided as CD4.1.
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Lesson 4
Guided group reading plan
Introduction to text:
Confirm students’ understanding of the task. Share the first
page of reading and show students how to use sticky notes to
mark evidence of Grandpa and Jess’s special relationship.
Independent reading
and related task:
Ask students to look for at least three more good pieces of
evidence (speech or actions) as they read Chapter 5.
Individuals can be supported as they work.
Return to text:
Ask each group member to share their points with a partner,
before sharing one point from each student. Check the text for
each point. Clarify any misunderstandings and develop ideas.
Review:
Draw out key learning, checking students’ understanding of the
reading skills of inference and deduction. Is it dialogue or action
that tells them most about the relationship?
If there is time, ask students to read Chapter 6 and consider
why the writer introduces the character of Alfred.
Evaluation:
(complete following the session)
Fifteen minutes before the lesson ends, check group progress. Provide each group with a
blank OHT to record three pieces of evidence.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Invite each group to present their main points using their OHTs. Summarize the main points
made by all groups, then ask students whether dialogue or action is the most powerful
means of communicating the relationship, and draw out the importance of the relationship to
the novel’s theme of family love.
Very briefly, touch on the mystery of Grandpa’s painting as represented on page 33: ‘It was
still the river scene but he had added…’ Ask students to identify the effect of having a
mystery to solve (it’s a strong narrative hook).
Homework (5 minutes)
Explain the homework (to be completed for Lesson 7), using Worksheet 4a. Students will
write some dialogue and action between Mum and Dad as they walk to visit the Grays in
Chapter 4. Models of speech punctuation are provided.
Students can also finish reading Chapter 6 for the next lesson, if necessary.
Take in reading journals to sample progress and to select appropriate students for the
guided work on language in the next lesson.
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Lesson 5
LESSON 5
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R5, S2, W11
AF5
Yr 9: R12
AF5
Focus: Chapters 7–9 – language to create mood and atmosphere
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
1 Identify themes in a novel
2 Analyse how a writer’s use of language creates mood and atmosphere
Starter (10 minutes)
Return students’ reading journals, commending their successes.
Reinforce any points arising from reading up to page 44 – the character and function of
Alfred, for example. Suggest that Alfred tells us things about the past and is a reliable source
of information. Perhaps show students Tim Bowler’s views on Alfred from the video interview
– Writer’s Craft 3.1.
Alternatively, use Generic Starter 1 on reading strategies, on page 35 of this pack. Ahead of
the lesson, prepare sets of the cards and put them into the ‘Reading strategy’ and ‘Definition’
piles. Then ask groups to match the right definition to each reading strategy and consolidate
understanding through class feedback.
If you prefer, use the noughts and crosses game on WB5.1 to review students’
understanding of the reading strategies used so far.
Ask students to consider what themes they feel are evident in the story. Suggest they look
for pairs of opposites, e.g. youth and age. Use OHT 5A or WB5.2 to illustrate this, showing
how themes relate to character and events. Take feedback on other emerging themes after
a brief paired discussion. Students might suggest success/failure, past/present,
strength/weakness, life/death, change/sameness. Tell students to keep adding to their
diagrams as they read on.
Introduction (20 minutes)
Explain that the lesson will focus on how a writer creates mood and atmosphere. Begin a
shared, close read of Chapter 7, asking the class to highlight words, phrases, patterns and
grammatical features that create mood and atmosphere. Point out that a film maker would
need to decide on the music to accompany this scene; thinking this through should help
students to analyse mood and atmosphere.
Share the reading to the end of the first paragraph on page 47, ‘her doubts would recede’. A
sample of annotations for the opening passage is given on CD5.1.
Development (20 minutes)
Ask students to read to the end of the chapter silently, focusing on the chapter’s shape –
noticing how it ends and looking back to its beginning. Ask them: If this chapter was mapped
on a tension graph, what would it look like?
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Lesson 5
Ask the students, working in small groups, to select a 15–20 line section from Chapter 7 to
annotate closely. Consider, for example, one or more of the following: use of verbs, adverbs,
noun phrases, patterning of language, figures of speech. Give two or three groups OHTs of
their lines, so they can present their annotations to the whole class in the plenary.
You may wish to use the plan below to work with a guided group of five or six students. A
fuller version of this plan is provided as CD5.2.
Guided group reading plan
Teaching objective(s):
To explain a writer’s language choices
Text
Chapter 7 (selected passage of 15–20 lines)
Introduction to text:
Distribute the selected passage and read together.
Model the chosen activity for students (e.g. cloze exercise
where verbs have been blanked out, then compare with
original; highlight verb/adverb choices/noun phrases and
decide the effects of those choices; mark sentences in different
colours – what this shows about sentence lengths).
Independent reading
and related task:
Set students to work in pairs on their task, and support them as
they work.
Return to text:
Ask each pair to share their text marking results with the group.
Clarify any misunderstandings and develop ideas. Draw out key
learning.
Review:
If there is time, students could prepare OHT versions of their
selected text marking to show others in the plenary.
Evaluation:
(complete following the session)
Ask groups to decide on two questions to ask Jess about her current feelings.
Plenary (5 minutes)
Select feedback appropriate to the class’s needs. Display all annotated text. Ask what mood
and atmosphere is created in Chapter 7, and what this tells us about the river boy. How is
this mood shaped by the chapter structure? Again, we have a mystery. What effect does this
have upon the reader?
Homework (5 minutes)
Ask students to read Chapters 8 and 9, focusing on the questions on Worksheet 5b. Advise
students to read the questions before they begin reading and that if they get stuck, they
should move on to the next question. As a follow-on, they should note down three questions
to ask Jess about her current feelings and experiences, for a hot-seating exercise in the next
lesson.
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Lesson 6
LESSON 6
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R10, SpL15
AF3, AF4
Yr 9: R14 (in a novel), S4, SpL12
AF3, AF4
Focus: Chapter 10 – empathy and narrative tension
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
1 Explore an issue and develop empathy with a character through framing, asking and
answering questions
2 Identify how a writer uses a reader’s curiosity to provide narrative tension
Starter (10 minutes)
Explain to the students that this lesson will study a number of ways in which a writer keeps
readers’ interest and engagement. Divide the class into nine groups (three or four students
each). Give each group a chapter to which they must agree a title that would indicate its
place in the plot structure so far from Chapters 1 to 9, e.g. ‘Testing the River’, or ‘Old
Friends’. Students have one minute to decide on their title and record it on a large card. Ask
volunteers to put the cards in the correct order as a way of recapping the plot structure. The
cards can then be placed on the display board.
Alternatively, use Generic Starter 6 on atmosphere and settings (see page 40). You could
use this to examine the tension in Chapter 9, or an extract of your choice.
As a link to the hot-seating of Jess, draw attention to the fourth paragraph on page 50
(Chapter 8): ‘She said nothing about the river boy...’
Introduction (15 minutes)
Briefly, recap on the question prompts for the reading homework. Ask groups of four to
compare the questions they prepared for Jess. Each group should select their best question.
Suggest, where necessary, how groups can select and adapt their questions. Write these
onto card to add to the display board after the lesson.
Choose one student to play the role of Jess and then ask groups to hot-seat Jess. Where
her answers relate to information in the text, these should be checked. Prompt
supplementary questions and answers, if necessary. The purpose is to recap what Jess is
experiencing and to speculate on the nature of the river boy.
Development (25 minutes)
Read up to page 67 of Chapter 10 with the class: ‘… straightened her swimsuit, and ran
away’. Then ask them to predict what will happen next.
•
Will Jess find the river boy?
•
Will he speak to her?
•
Will Grandpa manage without her?
Ask students to read to the end of Chapter 10, either individually or in groups. They should
focus on the following and use Worksheet 6a to record key points.
1
New information about the river boy – selecting some short key quotations
2
How far the chapter follows the course they expected
3
The narrative hooks in this chapter – what creates the narrative tension?
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Lesson 6
Select a small group of students for guided work who would profit from further support in
selecting quotations, or identifying points of high tension. A fuller version of this plan is
provided as CD6.1.
Guided group reading plan
Teaching objective(s):
To develop skills in identifying key quotations and moments of
high tension in a narrative
Text
Chapter 10 pages 67–77
Introduction to text:
Confirm the focus on a) information about the river boy, b)
identifying tension. Recap by repeating the questions that
prompted predictions.
Independent reading
and related task:
Remind students of Worksheet 6a, which they will use to record
what Jess discovers (three key quotations) and how far events
meet their expectations.
Return to text:
Encourage students to read alone, but individuals can be
supported as they work. An individual could be asked to read
aloud briefly, and respond to questioning.
Review:
Ask each group member to share his or her points with a
partner, before sharing one point from each student. Check the
text for each point. Clarify any misunderstandings and develop
ideas.
Draw out key learning, checking students’ appreciation of key
quotations and points of tension. If there is time, ask students
to consider why Tim Bowler introduces the comic episode in
Chapter 10.
Evaluation:
(complete following the session)
Plenary (5 minutes)
Conduct a feedback session to gather new information about the river boy (pages 68–69). If
some students have not finished the reading, set questions 2 and 3 above as an additional
task for homework.
Homework (5 minutes)
Briefly introduce the purpose of a tension graph for plotting the highs and lows of a narrative.
Then ask students to use Worksheet 7a to mark the points of high tension (the narrative
hooks) in Chapter 10, ahead of the next lesson.
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Lesson 7
LESSON 7
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R5, R10, SpL10
AF3, AF4
Yr 9: R12, SpL10
AF3, AF4
Focus: Chapters 11–13 – the river boy as narrative tension
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
1 Identify how a writer structures a narrative to maintain a reader’s interest
2 Explore a complex issue through talk
Starter (10 minutes)
Collect the written assignment from the Lesson 4 homework. When these are marked,
selected examples can be displayed.
Recap the idea of composing a graph to show tension in a story. Take feedback on the
homework task – plotting the narrative tension in Chapter 10. If necessary, explain narrative
tension again using the analogy of the tense music used in a film, which makes you think
something is about to happen and therefore ‘hooks’ the viewer.
Pairs should compare graphs with another pair, before sharing and recording ideas as a
whole class using Worksheet 7a. This will enable you to monitor their understanding of the
tension graph. Explain that they will use this technique again with another part of the text at
a later stage. Reinforce the importance of narrative tension in engaging the reader.
Introduction (20 minutes)
Invite pairs to discuss quickly why they think Tim Bowler turns the crisis in Chapter 10
(Grandpa hiding in the ‘coffin’) into a joke. Elicit from pairs how:
•
this false crisis injects necessary humour into a story that could have been solidly
sombre
•
it draws the reader into the character of Grandpa and defies reader expectations –
making for a better story
•
it enables the reader to cope with the more serious chapters that follow.
Read Chapters 11–13 either with the whole class or in groups. As they read, direct students
to think through explanations for the appearance of the river boy. These are short chapters
but raise important questions.
Development (15 minutes)
When the reading is complete, ask groups to use Worksheets 7b and 7c to continue
speculation about and discussion of the river boy. Emphasize that it is not so important
whether their ideas are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ – the discussion, listening and negotiating meaning
are more important at this stage.
Work with groups that will need focusing, but do not guide them too closely – prompt and
question where necessary only. Inform groups they will be asked to say something about a
key point in their discussion during the plenary – some groups may need guidance on what
to select.
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River Boy
Lesson 7
Extension Task
A few minutes before discussion time ends, distribute Writer’s Craft 7.1, which is an extract
from the first draft of Chapter 13. (Writer’s Craft 7.2 is the original handwritten draft from the
author’s notebook. Both can be found in the WC section of the CD.) Ask students to decide
whether this extract alters their views in any way as they finalize their points for feeding back
to the whole class. The draft is much more explicit in the presentation of the boy. Ask
students to consider why Tim Bowler chose to reduce the amount of information he gives
about the river boy in the final version.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Take some feedback, bearing in mind that the value of the discussion is not in its
conclusions, but in its process.
Draw attention to the final words in Chapter 13: ‘I want to be his hands’. What do students
think will happen in the next chapter?
Stress the importance of the mystery of the river boy in driving the narrative on. Ask students
to look at chapter endings – how many times does Bowler use a ‘cliffhanger’ about the river
boy to end a chapter? What other topics form cliffhangers?
Select three good readers in the class who will read ‘parts’ in the next lesson. Ask them to
prepare a reading of Chapter 14: one will play Grandpa, one Jess and the other the narrator.
Homework (5 minutes)
Ask students to complete Worksheet 7d for homework, which asks for chapter titles,
chapter endings and topics. (A sample completed sheet can be found on CD7.1.) Students
should complete the chart up to Chapter 13 now.
Students can also be invited to draft a tension graph in their journals to represent the ups
and downs in the novel up to the end of Chapter 13, attaching their chapter headings to the
rises and falls as appropriate.
This activity is designed to promote reflection, not perfection at this stage – it will feed into
later activities. Student can refer back to their completed version of Worksheet 7a.
Remind students of the awards for the best-kept journals. Suggest they add further
notes/images/thoughts.
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River Boy
Lesson 8
LESSON 8
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R5, SpL15
AF5
Yr 9: R12, SpL12, Wr17
AF5
Focus: Chapters 14 and 15 – language to create empathy
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
1 Identify how a writer creates empathy for characters through language choices
Starter (15 minutes)
Invite two or three students to share their work on the tension graphs, spotting common
patterns and explaining that you will return to these later. Take in Worksheet 7d to mark
(CD7.1 offers sample answers).
Explain that the focus of this lesson is the completion of Grandpa’s painting, and how Bowler
uses techniques to create empathy.
Refer students to pages 10–11 of the Reading Guide, which consider Grandpa’s painting by
drawing together what has already been said about it, and stimulate students’ curiosity to
develop their sense of its importance.
Ask students what they thought the painting looked like. Does the image in the Reading
Guide match their imagined painting?
Introduction (10 minutes)
Read Chapter 14 as a drama script with three students reading the roles of Jess, Grandpa
and the narrator – as briefed in the previous lesson. As they listen, ask students to focus on
how this episode makes them feel. What is the author’s aim?
Development (15 minutes)
Ask for a volunteer to be sculpted as Grandpa and another to sculpt him at the beginning of
the chapter where Jess says: ‘You’re painting today. So you’d better get some breakfast
inside you’. The class can advise on or adjust his position.
Ask another student to sculpt Grandpa as he or she sees him at that moment. Again, the
rest of the class can advise.
Ask for another volunteer to be sculpted as Jess. Go through the same procedure as with
Grandpa. Ask the two students to ‘freeze’ in this position.
Invite students to suggest what Grandpa is thinking, by standing beside him and speaking
his thoughts. Other students may wish to suggest different ideas. Repeat the process with
Jess.
Encourage other students to re-sculpt the characters for the moment Jess starts to help
Grandpa paint on page 99. Again, students ‘freeze’ in their sculpted positions. Ask the class
where they would place Tim Bowler in relation to these two characters at this point. Where
do his sympathies lie?
Finally, discuss where the reader’s sympathies lie. Use responses to teach the concept of
empathy (students should suggest they ‘become’ Jess or Grandpa as they read).
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River Boy
Lesson 8
Invite students to pick out words used in Chapter 14 (focusing on page 99) that make them
feel empathy. For example, verbs show us how difficult the task is: ‘the brush was slipping
from his grasp’, ‘her arms were aching’; adverbs show her tenderness: ‘she… gently raised
the arm’, and adjectives show his desperation: ‘the desperate intent of a drowning man’;
nouns and noun phrases suggest resolve: ‘intent’, ‘hope of rescue’, ‘trickle of energy’;
dialogue is minimal – suggesting concentration. Short sentences suggest movement; longer
sentences describe feelings.
Finally, sculpt the two characters at the end of Chapter 14. What is each thinking when
Grandpa says, ‘It’s finished’?
Plenary (15 minutes)
Writer’s Craft 8.1 is an extract from the first draft of Chapter 14. (Writer’s Craft 8.2 is the
original handwritten draft from the author’s notebook. It matches pages 97–98 from ‘She sat
next to him on the put-up chair…’ to ‘He caught her eye and nodded towards the picture’.
Read the draft with the students. Then ask pairs to compare it with the final version.
Students should decide:
•
one change made by the writer that strengthens the reader’s empathy with either of the
characters
•
what this teaches them about the writer’s craft in redrafting – what has been gained?
Draw students’ attention to the developed section at the end of the chapter.
Return to pages 10–11 of the Reading Guide and ask the class which quotation from
Chapter 14 they might select as an additional ‘picture’ in the gallery.
If time allows, sample Tim Bowler’s response to a question about Grandpa’s painting in his
video interview (Writer’s Craft 3.1).
Homework (5 minutes)
Encourage students to reflect on how Bowler encourages readers to empathize with both
Jess and Grandpa on pages 97–100. Worksheet 8a supports this task (the sheet is
available for differentiation on CD8.1). Ask students to complete this work for Lesson 10.
Also ask students to read Chapter 15 before the next lesson – focusing on how the end of
this chapter makes them feel. How would they draw a tension graph for Chapters 14 and
15?
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River Boy
Lesson 9
LESSON 9
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R5, W11
AF4, AF5
Yr 9: R7, R9, R14 (in a novel)
AF4, AF5
Focus: Chapters 16 and 17 – structural metaphor
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
1 Analyse a writer’s use of patterns of language over a whole text, focusing on extended
metaphor
2 Identify the crisis point in a novel and how to see this in relation to preceding events
Starter (10 minutes)
Tell students that in this lesson they will be thinking about Tim Bowler’s use of the river in his
narrative, and doing some work on story structure.
Refresh students’ memory of Chapter 14 and 15. Encourage them to assess how Jess and
Grandpa are each feeling at this point. Then choose one of these tasks:
1 Secure language analysis
Using examples of features discussed in previous lessons, ask students to do the card sort
activity on Worksheet 9a or the drag and drop in WB9.1, based on Chapter 15 pages 104–
105. By matching the examples with named language features, they will secure the skills in
language analysis practised in the homework task. Abler students can be asked to provide
two more examples of the writer’s use of language for effect in Chapter 15.
2 Introduce ideas about narrative structure
Use Generic Starter 8 on narrative structure and sequencing, on page 42 of this pack.
Ahead of the lesson, prepare sets of the cards and then ask pairs to choose a selection that
apply to an agreed familiar story. Students can then be asked to repeat the activity with the
more complex events of the novel so far.
Introduction (15 minutes)
Distribute Worksheet 9b, which focuses on the river as metaphor. Allow students sufficient
time to consider how rivers are used metaphorically in everyday speech. Then encourage
them to consider how the river is used in River Boy. Students may mention religious or
spiritual ideas that can be explored, e.g. a journey from a source to a natural end, linked to
the journey from birth to death.
You may like to show students Tim Bowler’s response about the nature of the river from the
video interview (Writer’s Craft 3.1).
Extension Task
With Year 9 or more able students, you may wish to pause and introduce the ways other
writers use rivers as images – for example, Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness, Charles
Dickens in Our Mutual Friend, Sharon Creech in Ruby Holler, ‘River Swimming’ by Owen
Sheers, ‘Surgeon’ by Jane Draycott. Extracts from these can be found as part of CD9.1,
along with sample annotations to support the comparative analysis.
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River Boy
Lesson 9
Development (20 minutes)
Share the reading of Chapter 16, pausing to draw out student responses to language,
focusing on the metaphor of the river (especially on pages 108–109) and how the writer uses
language to create tension.
Based on students’ responses to the reading, use the different levels of questions suggested
on CD9.2 to extend students’ skills in using the different reading strategies.
After reading Chapter 16, choose one student to play the role of Jess. Divide the class into
two. One half must give Jess reasons why she should go with the river boy; the other half
give reasons why she should not. This needs to be brief but will feed into students’ sense of
structure.
Ask the student playing Jess to say what her decision would be based on the reasons she
has been given. Then read Chapter 17 with the class. Ask what students now understand
about Grandpa’s picture and the river boy. How do they think Jess will feel now?
Students should now grasp why Alfred is an important character. Ask them what his function
is in the novel (to make explicit the link between Grandpa and the river boy).
Plenary (10 minutes)
Remind students of the classic structure of a narrative by displaying OHT9c, which students
can copy into journals. Alternatively, work through WB9.2 and WB9.3, which test students’
understanding of stages in narrative structure. Ask them where they would place the
moment they have just read in Chapter 17 within this structure, and what stage is still to
follow. Model for students how to use the structure diagram to mark in details of plot,
quotations and their own chapter titles and endings.
Homework (5 minutes)
Students should complete the structure diagram, filling in chapter headings (their own
choices) and page references for key moments. Distribute A4 paper for neat copies of their
structure plans and explain that these diagrams will be displayed when complete.
For more able or Year 9 students, you may also wish to set a written comparative task as
outlined in CD9.1.
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River Boy
Lesson 10
LESSON 10
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R10
AF4, AF6
Yr 9: R12
AF4, AF6
Focus: Chapters 18 and 19 – the climax
Learning outcome
Students will be able to:
1 Identify how a writer creates, maintains and releases narrative tension in the climactic
sections of a narrative to engage a reader in a character’s actions and achievements
Starter (10 minutes)
Take in the written task from the homework for Lesson 8.
Distribute the Reading Guide and refer students to pages 12–13. Read with the whole class
the initial information about long-distance swimming (to the end of ‘Jess’s big challenge’)
before tackling the emotional climax of the novel. Let this information sink in so that students
realize the difficulty of the task Jess is undertaking.
Ask students to identify their own feelings about undertaking such a challenge. Recap the
way Tim Bowler creates empathy for his central character (remind students of their work on
this in Lesson 8). But also pose the questions: Why is Jess undertaking this swim? Is it a
world record she is after? How does her swim differ from those presented in the Reading
Guide?
Students may mention that the swim is as important symbolically as it is in reality – she
doesn’t want to let the river boy down as much as she wants to reach Braymouth to see
Grandpa in hospital. You may wish to prompt this thought before reading Chapter 18, if it is
not raised by the class.
Introduction (10–15 minutes)
Start by asking students what they think is going to happen in Chapter 18. Prior to the
reading, distribute Worksheet 10a (an A4 landscape page, ending with the estuary on which
they will chart Jess’s progress as a timeline). Do not prompt them to record any particular
points – they can record times or draw features on their ‘maps’. Tell them they will have time
to check this over afterwards but they should record what they can as you read, even putting
in bends where called for. Read Chapter 18 with the class.
When the reading is complete, ask students to compare their river timeline with a partner’s.
Neatness does not matter as this is a focusing exercise.
Development (15–20 minutes)
Spend five minutes exploring the detail of Chapter 18 briefly through this question: How does
Tim Bowler keep the reader engaged in Jess’s challenge?
The river timelines should have shown students how Tim Bowler keeps the reader focused
through the sense of pace over distance and time – giving time checks and offering details
about the changing landscape.
Then read Chapter 19, asking students what they notice about the use of tension across
these two chapters. Focus them on the slackening of pace. What effect does this have on
the reader? Allow 5–10 minutes for this discussion.
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River Boy
Lesson 10
Return to the Reading Guide, reading through the ‘Job at the BBC?’ activity on page 13.
Pairs should then begin this activity, which involves writing a 250-word website article on
Jess’s swim to Braymouth.
Plenary (10–15 minutes)
Ask students to continue the paired writing task, forewarning them that this will be completed
for homework.
Finally, take a few minutes to prompt students to consider the symbolic significance of Jess’s
swim – the challenge for Jess is really to accept her Grandpa will die. Her mammoth swim is
her way of achieving this very difficult adjustment.
You may like to show students Tim Bowler’s response on the topic of loss and bereavement
(Writer’s Craft 3.1) or read them the section from his letter on page 3 of the Reading Guide.
Homework (5 minutes)
Ask students to complete their 250-word ‘Job at the BBC’ articles individually for the next
lesson, and finish filling in chapter headings/endings on their copies of Worksheet 7d.
Print off reviews of River Boy from several sources for the display board, in anticipation of
Lessons 11 and 12, which reflect on the whole novel.
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River Boy
Lesson 11
LESSON 11
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R10
AF4, AF6
Yr 9: R14 (in a novel), R10
AF4, AF6
Focus: Chapter 20 – the ending
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
1 Evaluate the writer’s craft, especially in relation to the ending of a novel
2 Explain the difference between narrative in a news report and a novel
3 Decide what they have achieved during the course of their study
Starter (10 minutes)
Briefly, reconsider students’ structure diagrams of the novel. Point out that this lesson
tackles story endings. Ask students what they expect of an ending to a novel – take some
brief comments.
Distribute cards from Worksheet 11a or use WB11.1 for the ‘Diamond nine’ activity on story
endings. Ask students to rank the possible features of endings suggested, placing their most
preferred story ending features at the top of the diamond. If they wish they can identify
another type of ending, write the words on a blank card and reject one of the nine options
given.
Then encourage students to decide which features they expect to find in the final chapter of
River Boy, and why.
Introduction (15 minutes)
Explain to students that before they can read on, the BBC website editor wants their finished
report on Jess’s swim. Then tell them that the editor is now insisting on a lower word limit of
150 words.
Tell students that they must cut down their article to 150 words, making careful decisions as
to what must be kept.
Ask students to identify one distinct difference between their edited article and Bowler’s
treatment of the same topic. Ensure you elicit the following responses in the feedback
session: the difference in narrative viewpoint and Bowler’s depiction of personal crisis; the
tension; the sense of time and effort.
Briefly, look back at the questions on page 8 of the Reading Guide:
•
What most worries each of the characters at the beginning of the novel?
•
What does each most want or need to achieve at this point in his or her life?
Ask students to suggest who has achieved the most. Who do they now feel is the central
character?
Development (20 minutes)
Share the reading of the final chapter. Ask students to use sticky notes to mark particular
points they notice as you read. Do not interrupt the flow of the reading but suggest that
students focus on:
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OXFORD ROLLERCOASTERS
•
•
River Boy
Lesson 11
which features of story endings Tim Bowler employs
the effect on the reader of Tim Bowler’s use of language and the resulting tone in these
last pages. Students should by now be alert to the way the language appeals to the
senses, how the metaphor of the river is working, how pace and rhythm contribute to
mood and atmosphere, how the writer stimulates empathy for Jess.
Ask pairs to share their best points before inviting students to comment on the ending.
As a class, look back at the opening words of the novel. How well does this opening prepare
the reader for the novel?
Revisit the covers on pages 4–5 of the Reading Guide or on the wall display. Which cover do
students now think is the most appropriate, and why?
Plenary (10 minutes)
Ask students to work in groups of four or five, using the review extracts on pages 14–15 of
the Reading Guide and items from Writer’s Craft 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3 to begin to consider a
range of views on River Boy and to complete some initial evaluative thinking.
You may wish to use the magazine article on Tim Bowler in Writer’s Craft 11.4 to extent
students’ reviewing skills and their wider reading (see also Pathways, page 34). You could
also suggest that they access Tom Bowler’s website (www.timbowler.co.uk), where there are
a number of additional resources to support evaluation of River Boy.
Homework (5 minutes)
Before the next lesson, ask students to consider other novels and stories they have read that
have similar or comparable themes (prompt students to identify some possible themes such
as old age, close relationships with grandparents, death of a member of the family, a difficult
challenge achieved, accepting time and change, growing up). Ask them to bring titles/ideas
to the next lesson.
Ask students to complete their 150-word ‘Job at the BBC’ article for the BBC website, adding
their best idea for a picture to accompany the article.
Remind students of the impending award for the three best reading journals.
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River Boy
Lesson 12
LESSON 12
Lesson objectives
Yr 8: R13, R16, W18
AF5, AF6
Yr 9: R5, R16, R18
AF5, AF6
Focus: Reviewing the whole novel
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
1 Improve their skills through writing a review
2 Decide what they have achieved during the course of their study
Starter (15 minutes)
You may wish to have access to the Internet for this lesson, to support students’ reviewing.
Explain to students that this is their final lesson on River Boy but that they have some writing
tasks to complete during the following week:
•
a review of the novel
•
completion of their reading journal
•
a self-evaluation sheet.
Collect students’ ideas on similar books. Look at ‘Pathways… to Another Good Read’ on
page 16 of the Reading Guide. With Year 9 or more able students you may wish to refer to
the texts on CD9.1 or to the resources listed in the Pathways section of this pack on page
34, which suggest ways of extending class and independent reading that builds on students’
reading of River Boy.
Ask students to consider different ways of interpreting River Boy, using the views expressed
on Worksheet 12a to stimulate thinking, and Tim Bowler’s comments in his acceptance
speech for the Carnegie Medal – Writer’s Craft 12.1. Students may comment on the fact
that the text does not always reflect contemporary culture – this is not a dysfunctional family,
religious beliefs are implicit, etc. This would also be a good opportunity to view the video
interview with Tim Bowler (Writer’s Craft 3.1) in its entirety.
Introduction (10 minutes)
This session presents writing activity choices to suit different needs/abilities, depending on
how familiar students are with writing reviews.
A quick option
Display Worksheet 12b, a review of Goodnight Mr Tom from the website
www.readingmatters.co.uk. Share the reading of this review and then use the writing frame
on Worksheet 12c to guide students in writing their own review of River Boy.
A more thorough option
Analyse the features of the Goodnight Mr Tom review on Worksheet 12b and model how to
begin to write a similarly detailed review of River Boy.
For the practised reviewer
Ask students to write a review of River Boy for their journals and/or for the wall display,
recommending the novel to other students. The word limit is 250 words. Model a possible
opening for a River Boy review on an OHT version of Worksheet 12c, highlighting the
techniques you are using from the four panels on the sheet.
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River Boy
Lesson 12
Development (20 minutes)
Ask students begin their first draft of a review. In addition to using Worksheet 12c to guide
the style and content of their review, they can refer to pages 14–15 of the Reading Guide.
Any students who need specific additional help with writing a review could be selected for
guided writing.
You may decide to select a group certain to have excellent ideas that could be developed
through close discussion. For example, the most able group could be asked to consider the
cultural context of River Boy. Or you may wish to sample individual reading journals in
preparation for assessments over the whole unit.
Plenary (10 minutes)
Read out some of the best parts of the draft reviews, or share evaluative comments, or
reading journal successes. Let students know that their finished reviews will be placed on
the River Boy display board.
Conclude the work on River Boy by distributing Worksheet 12d and explaining the selfevaluation activity. You may wish to make some summary comments on student
achievement over the whole unit. Individual summary assessments will later be completed
on each student’s self-evaluation sheet.
Give students a deadline for compiling complete reading journals (they will need some of
their display items to include in the finished product). Remind them of the award for the three
best journals.
Homework (5 minutes)
Ask students to complete the reviews – to be handed in the following week. Ask them also to
complete Worksheet 12d, which should be stored in journals.
Students will have completed the following reading assessment tasks during the
study of River Boy:
1 Character analysis of Jess (AF2 and AF3)
2 Dialogue between Mum and Dad (AF3)
3 Language analysis of two passages/option of comparative analysis (AF5)
4 Comprehension task (AF2 and AF3)
5 Theme mindmaps (AF3 and AF6)
6 Structural diagram and chapter headings/endings (AF4)
7 Website report (AF6)
8 Review (AF6)
9 Reading journal (AF6)
10 Self-evaluation.
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River Boy
Pathways
PATHWAYS
Books to compare with River Boy
First, you will want to recommend other
novels by Tim Bowler. Show students what
is revealed on Tim Bowler’s website,
www.timbowler.co.uk/books.html about his
writing, and other titles. There are full
explanatory notes on each title. Here is the
first entry on Starseeker:
‘Good hands, Luke. Special hands. Strong and
sensitive. You can do anything you want with
hands like these. So don’t ever put them to bad
use.’
Dad was right. Luke does have good hands.
Good for playing the piano, like Dad himself used
to do, and good for climbing trees – to find some
peace and get away from all the troubles at
home. Now Skin and the gang want him to do
some climbing, too. They want him to break into
Mrs Little’s house and steal the jewellery box.
They want him to prove that he’s got what it takes
– that he’s part of the gang. But Luke is seeking
more than just a jewellery box. He’s seeking
answers to a mystery that has been growing
deeper and more disturbing by the day, a
mystery that is threatening to overwhelm him.
What he finds is something so unexpected it
will change his life forever.
Many of Tim Bowler’s novels explore how
young people cope with challenges and
even disasters. Higher Ground, tells stories
of the courage and hope of children who
survived the December 2004 tsunami.
A series of ghost stories set in Bowler’s
home town, Totnes in Devon, offer
protagonists different types of challenges.
For example, in Tales from the Dark Side:
Blood on Snow, 14-year-old Will terrifyingly
experiences a voice from the past when
visiting the remains of Totnes Castle.
Contemporary texts
You may wish to offer students other
contemporary titles that tackle similar
themes, such as the relationship between a
child or teenager and a much older adult.
See the Reading Guide for descriptions.
Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech (Published
by Bloomsbury, ISBN 0-7475-6029-3)
Ruby Holler has the advantage of also being
partly set on a river, but the river poses very
different challenges for the characters.
The Edge by Alan Gibbons (Published by
Orion, ISBN 0-7528-6140-9)
The family in this novel are initially
dysfunctional in comparison to Jess’s in
River Boy. But in The Edge grandparents
play a key role in enabling the central
character to cope with a crisis.
Memory by Margaret Mahy (Published by
Collins Flamingo, ISBN 0-0071-2337-X)
Jonny in Memory and Jess in River Boy
would make an interesting comparison –
they both learn to value an older person
whose memories play an important role.
Carnegie judges
As an alternative or in addition to the written
review process for River Boy, you might like
to use Writer’s Craft 11.4 as a springboard
for a mock panel meeting for the Carnegie
shortlist. Students could be asked to read
two or more of the alternative titles
shortlisted alongside River Boy for the
Carnegie Medal. They could then discuss
the texts, with their well-argued views
forming the basis of a decision.
Pre-1914 texts
For some students you may wish to offer the
challenge of exploring some classic texts
that look at family relationships or
relationships between young and old.
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
(Published by OUP, ISBN 0-1928-3523-8)
The river is a villain in Our Mutual Friend. It
swallows up stories as easily as it swallows
up the bodies of the drowned.
Silas Marner by George Eliot (Published
by OUP, ISBN 0-1928-3458-4)
Silas the weaver is reduced to a solitary
existence. His only pleasure is in hoarding
gold. While the village celebrates Christmas
and New Year, Silas’s hoards of gold are
stolen and are miraculously replaced by a
small child with golden curls.
34