1. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
• LO:
• To gather evidence and make predictions
• To form a view about the characters and the
likely direction of the story
Starter: Look at the quotes about reading. Discuss with your partner
whether you agree or disagree.
“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for
reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” - Confucius
“All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality -- the story of
escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to
escape.”
- Arthur Christopher Benson

2. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
LO:
To gather evidence and make predictions
To form a view about the characters and the
likely direction of the story

3. Book cover and blurb
• If you already know the story, keep quiet and
don’t reveal anything!
• What do the cover and blurb suggest about
the story?
• What questions come to mind about the
pictures?
• ‘This isn’t a book for nine-year-olds.’
What does this suggest?

4. First impressions
• When and where is the book set?
• How old is Bruno?
• Where does he live and with whom?
• What impression do we get of his
character?

5. OPENING AND PREDICTIONS: BUILDING A CASE
We are going to focus on John Boyne’s use of intrigue and
mystery in his first two chapters. You will have noticed that
he often only hints at certain details about Bruno’s changing
situation, without saying outright what is happening.
Working with a partner, try to answer these three crucial
questions:
• 1 Why have Bruno’s family suddenly moved house?
• 2 Who are the Fury and the beautiful blonde woman?
• 3 What does Father’s new job appear to be?
You’ll have to be a real reading detective, and focus on
gathering hints and clues. Fill in your evidence, clues and
conclusions.

6. Follow this structure
• 1 Why have Bruno’s family suddenly moved house?
• Evidence and clues:
……………………………..……………………………………………………
• Page number:
………………………………………………………………………………………….
• Our conclusion:
………………………………………………………………………………………..

7. Prediction
• What do you think will happen next?
• What do you think the story is about?

8. Lesson2: Learning Outcome
• Understand the use of the term ‘writer’s
purpose’
• Distinguish between a writer’s viewpoint and
that of the characters
• Use clues from the text to develop a picture of
the setting of the book

9. Chapters 3 and 4
• Read chapters 3 and 4.
• Write down questions about both chapters.

10. What is the writer trying to achieve?
Look at the following hints and clues. Think about why John
Boyne uses these particular words and phrases to describe
people and places.
• A hint from the writer…
Gretel has a few titles, such as ‘The Hopeless Case’ and ‘Trouble
From Day One’ (page 21).
Why do you think John Boyne has Bruno call her this?

11. Another little clue…
• Gretel calls their new home ‘Out-With’ (page 24).
Why do you think John Boyne chooses to have
Gretel call the place this? What does the name
suggest to you?

12. Hinting through description…
• The writer describes the house as ‘hollow’ and
says ‘it might collapse around their ears’ on
page 26.
What impression does this give of ‘Out-
With’, and why do you think John Boyne uses
this particular description?

13. Reading between the lines
• Active reading strategy: reading between the
lines or making inferences.
• This involves investigating the things a writer
hints at, without saying them in an outright
way.
p. 36
• Which words and phrases hint at danger?
How do they do this?

14. HINTS OF DANGER
In a pair, make notes on the following extract, showing which
words and phrases hint at danger and how they achieve this.
• ‘Look over there,’ said Bruno, and Gretel followed
the direction of the finger he was pointing and
saw, emerging from a hut in the distance, a group
of children huddled together and being shouted
at by a group of soldiers. The more they were
shouted at, the closer they huddled together, but
then one of the soldiers lunged towards them
and they separated and seemed to do what he
wanted them to do all along, which was to stand
in a single line. When they did, the soldiers all
started to laugh and applaud them.
• p. 37

15. Pyjamas
• What do you associate with pyjamas?
• Write down words or phrases that come to
your mind.

16. Homework:
LO:
• To select and retrieve information from a
range of sources about the Holocaust

17. Copy and fill in the gaps with skimming
or scanning.
• _________ means reading only key words
quickly, to get an overview of a text.
• __________ means looking quickly over each
word of a text looking for a specific word or
phrase, e.g. final solution.

18. Tips for researching!
• Key words may trigger information you do not need, so you
may need to skim to look for other words related to your
search, e.g. Nazis.
• Coloured and underlined words on the screen are usually
hyperlinked to another website.
• There’s no need to read all the text on the screen – use
skimming and scanning skills.

19. Feedback
How do you feel about what you have learned
today?

20. Plenary
Discuss 3 things you have learned in today’s
lesson with your partner.