Street Child

Street Child by Berlie Doherty

A fictional account of the experiences of Jim Jarvis, a young orphan who escapes the workhouse in 1860’s London and survives brutal treatment and desperate circumstances until he is taken in by Dr. Barnardo, founder of a school for the city’s “ragged” children.

Main Focus: Character Study - Mr Spink

P20 first introduces the reader to character Mr Spink in the book Street Child.

Your KS2 class will use the information from Chapter 2 to complete the activities.

We have differentiated the resource 3 ways to cater for Year 5 and Year 6.

Main Focus: Relative Clauses Chapter 4

Relative clauses can be used to give additional information about a noun. They are introduced by a relative pronoun: that, which, who, whose, where, when.

This sentence uses a relative clause and is introduced by a relative pronoun.

‘After the meal the man with the hanging head gave Jim a blanket and showed him a room full of shelves and long boxes where all the boys slept.’ P42.

Your KS2 class will complete this activity on relative clauses for the book Street Child.

Main Focus: Comprehension Chapter 5

This resources aimed at UKS2 for the Street Child focuses on comprehension and chapter 5.

Your year 5/6 class will be asked a range of questions focusing on retrieval, vocabulary and inference.

Main Focus: Parenthesis

This resource will give your class the opportunity to show their knowledge using commas (chapter 1), dashes (chapter 6) and brackets (chapter 10).

Parenthesis is a word, phrase or clause inserted into a sentence to add extra information. When parenthesis is removed, the sentence still makes sense on its own.

Dashes

The boy – Jim Jarvis – ran along the pavement with his shilling pie.

Brackets

The boy (Jim Jarvis) was alive during the Victorian period.

Commas

Jim, who was a poor boy, loved dancing.

Main Focus: The Workhouse

The workhouse was a place which offered housing and work to people who did not have any. Workhouses were often very large places and were feared by the poor and old. They provided a place to live and work; clothes, food, free medical care and education for children.

We have created a differentiated comprehension linked to The Workhouse.

Main Focus: Comprehension Chapter 23

This activity is a comprehension for the book Street Child and focuses on chapter 23 of the book.

Your KS2 class will complete retrieval, inference and vocabulary style questions.

Main Focus: Inference - Chapter 12

This activity focuses on inference within chapter 12 of the book and is aimed at KS2 classes.

This literacy resource linked to Street Child is differentiated for Year 5 and Year 6.

Main Focus: Writing a Sequel

At the end of Chapter Eleven, Rosie lies to Jim and tells him that his sisters Emily and Lizzie went to live in the countryside in a summer house with a grey-eyed lady. Street Child ends with Emily and Lizzie wanting to tell their story from the moment their ma leaves them in the care of Rosie at the big house. Their adventures have only just begun.

Your class task is to write a sequel to the story. They will use the grid in the resource to plan what will happen to the two sisters as they are forced to leave the big house because the housekeeper panics…

This resource has been differentiated.

Main Focus: Vocabulary Extension - Chapter 27

This resource focuses on some of the lovely vocabulary used in chapter 27 of Street Child.