‘Ireland in Schools’ Delivering the NLS through Ireland QLS, Staffordshire

Scheme of Work
Literacy Hour & Beyond

‘Irish literature has created a magical learning environment for our children,
its range and quality enabling all of them to participate in our Ireland project
and to produce work of fantastic quality.’

Rebecca Brookes
Gorsemoor Primary School
Contents
Gorsemoor’s Ireland project 3

The story of Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger 4

The author 5

Lesson plans 6

WORKSHEETS
O’Brien activity sheets 1 - 13 8
Personification 21
Exploring sentences 22
Investigating clauses 23
Asking questions 24
Gorsemoor’s Ireland project
Gorsemoor Primary School lies on a large new housing estate on the outskirts of Cannock in
Staffordshire. A 5-11 school with an Early Years unit, it has 460 pupils on roll.

For three years the school has made a special study of the island of Ireland in Years 5 and 6,
particularly by using Irish texts in the Literacy Hour. The school re-inforces this learning experience
with visits by Irish authors and by forging links with children in a primary school in Belfast and another
in County Dublin. The project is led by Barbara Heath and Jo Robinson.

In Years 5 and 6 there are some very gifted children, but there is also a significant minority of children
on the Special Education Needs register - 18 in the school year 2002-3, including 15 boys. The range
and quality of Irish children’s literature suits such a mix of children, allowing all the children to
participate in a common project. They can all enjoy reading books which are suited to their individual
interests and abilities.

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 3

The story of Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger
Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger , a ‘tale of determined ambition and reward’, is written by
Frank Murphy, illustrated by Celine Kieran, and published by the O’Brien Press, ISBN 0-86278 -532-4,
96 pages.

Charlie Harte really wanted a bike. His family could not afford to buy one, so when he found a bike
frame lying between two bins, he brought it home and visited the scrapyard until he had all the makings
of a functioning bike. When the bike was finished, he named it Tiger and then discovered that he and
his bike cold communicate with each other. With Tiger’s help, Charlie set up his own courier service,
and all went well until bicycle thieves moved into the area. In the end, though, The Hair and his
accomplice were not match for Charlie Harte and his talking Tiger!

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 4

The author
A former teacher, Frank Murphy lives in Cork and has been a writer for over twenty years, though he
did not begin to write novels until he had retired from teaching.

In addition to Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger, Frank Murphy has written The Big Fight and
Lockie and Dadge. This book won the Eilís Dillon Memorial Award for the best emerging writer at
the annual Bisto Awards in 1995.

When asked by children at one primary school in Co. Cork, how he came up with the idea of a talking
bike, Frank Murphy replied:

‘This was something that developed as I was writing the story. When I had got Charlie a
home-made bike, and realised how delighted he was to have a bike of his very own - and that he
had become very fond of it, talking to it in the morning, and so on - I felt that the bike should be
able to communicate with him. I spent a long time trying to work out how this could be done.
I dismissed the idea of the bike being able to make sounds that could be heard through the air,
and decided that the sounds would have to travel in some other way. Eventually I came up with
the idea of the sounds coming through a wire, like a telephone, and it was an easy step from there
to the walkman.’

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 5

NATIONAL LITERACY KS2 PLANNING SHEET
Class: 5 Text Used : Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger
Week: 4/11/02 Range: Fictional Text
* Indicates opportunities for Speaking and Listening
WK LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
M To identify character description in
story (T1, T3).
To identify story setting and
understand its importance (T1, T1).
To use speech marks (T1, S7).
T To identify developments in story
line (T1, T2).
To identify main and subordinate
clauses (T3, S6).
W To identify the features of
personification (Y6, T1, T10).
To use description to form a visual
image (T2, T10).
T To identify features of informative
writing (T1, T21).
To identify a preposition and
understand its use (T3, S3).
F To comprehend a story line, and be
able to discuss developments (T3,
T8).
To answer questions in full
detailed answers (T1, S1-3).
Extended writing: See Wednesday
WHOLE CLASS
SHARED TEXT WORK
Introduce Charlie Harte. Recap the characters
and setting. Discuss Activity 1 w/sheet which
asks the pupils about the story beginning and
who the characters are and how they have been
introduced. Discuss the effectiveness of the
story start in enhancing readers interest.
Skim read pp 15-23. Discuss how the story has
developed. Use Activity Sheet 2 to promote
discussion about the text.
Read description of Charlie’s Bike. Using the
description given the pupils are to create a visual
image in their heads and colour in the bike as
they think it should look. Use Activity Sheet 5.
Redcap pupils memory and talk about the
business Charlie ran. Discuss the poster
advertising Charlie’s work. Talk about how font
and information is used in the poster. If you
were to design the poster how could it be
improved?
Recap main developments in story. Track them
as a flow diagram. List the main characters.
SPELLING PATTERNS
See spelling folder.
WHOLE CLASS,
WORD/SENTC WORK
Look at the use of speech and dialogue in the
text. Discuss the use of speech and its effect on
the reader. Recap use of speech marks, and the
rule that a new speaker should start on a new
line.
Discuss the meaning of a main and subordinate
clause. Give pupils examples of both on the
board. They should identify which is a main
and which is a subordinate clause.
Identify the two types of clauses from the text.
In text children should identify key words
which make us feel that the bike is alive.
Introduce personification. Talk about how the
bike is personified in the story. Discuss the fact
that we personify inanimate objects eg cars/
boats/ frost/ winds.
From the text identify the use of prepositions.
List them on the board and discuss their use.
Can the pupils think of any others.
On board list key words from the text. Read
through the questions on Activity Sheets 8/9.
Pupils are to give model answers. They must
answer in full coherent sentences.
Brookes, Charlie Harte, 6
HOMEWORK
Pupils are to construct a poem about
Charlie Harte.
INDEPENDENT
WORK
Pupils are to think about something that they
would really love to have. They should write a
conversation containing speech marks.
Lower/ Middle - Conversation between 2 people.
Higher-Conversation between 3 or more people.
* Work with higher group.
Children are to work on writing their own
sentences which contain an example of amain and
subordinate clause.
Lower /Middle -‘Clauses’ w/sheet.
Higher - Create their own sentences.
* Work with lower group
Get the pupils to write a description of an object
and personify the object.
Middle - Give them an object to personify.
Higher - Think of their own object to
personify.
Pupils are to design a poster for our own enterprise
in Y5 ‘The Stationery Shop’.
Higher - Work independently.
Middle - Discuss info need to include, and discuss
effective ways to present the information.
Pupils are to work through the comprehension
questions.
Higher - Work independently
Middle - List of key words to support.
GLIDED GROUP
READING/WRITING’
[Y3/4] PLENARY
Pupils to recap learning objective.
Do they feel that they have met the
objectives for the lesson? What would
they like further support in?
On board will be a selection of both
main and subordinate clauses. Pupilss
are to come out and identify which the
main clause and which is the
subordinate clause. Who feels they
have met the lesson objective?
Pupils to read out descriptions. Vote
on best object personified. What
words have pupils used to give the
object human qualities. List on board.
Recap objectives.
* Work with lower - personify object
as a group
Pupils are to show their posters and
explain which features they have used
to make their poster informative and
appealing and why?
* Work with lower group- draft a
poster together. Each pupil has a job.
Mark answers together. Pupils are
mark own work and amend errors.
Do they know where they went
wrong?
* Work with lower group - model
answers. Record individually.
NATIONAL LITERACY KS2 PLANNING SHEET SPELLING PATTERNS HOMEWORK
Class: 5 Text Used : Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger See spelling folder. Pupils to summarise Charlie Harte.
Week: 11/11/02 Range: Fictional Text Middle - 50 words
Higher - 100 words
* Indicates opportunities for Speaking and Listening

WK LEARNING WHOLE CLASS WHOLE CLASS, INDEPENDENT GLIDED GROUP

OBJECTIVES
M To identity conjunctions and
connectives (T3, S6).
To know that connectives and
conjunctions link sentences (T3, S6).
T To use understanding to infer ending
(based on previous events in the
story) (T1, T9).
To identify adjectives (T1, W1-3).
To use description to enhance
interest (T1, T17).
W To compare various endings of a
story (T1, T2).
To identify features which make a
story ending effective (T1, T2).
To edit and amend own work (T1,
S3).
T To review a book, saying which
parts they liked/disliked and why
(comment on its effectiveness) (T1,
T10).
SHARED TEXT WORK
Read pp 67 - 75. Discuss the comprehension
questions on Activity Sheet 11.
Read pp 76-80. Children are to discuss what
they think will happen in the ending of the story.
Scribe their ideas on board and discuss their
validity.
Read pp 81-92. Discuss and compare the real
ending of the story to those inferred by the
pupils. List similarities and differences.
Read an example of a book review from a critic.
Discuss how a critic analyses and reviews a
story. OHP- Book Review. Discuss what is
expected of the children. Ask for their
comments on the story.
WORD/SENTC WORK
From the text the pupils are to highlight
examples of connectives and conjunctions.
Scribe them on board and begin to put them
into context. Pupils are to then state sentences
which contain a connective/conjunction.
On board pupils are to describe the characters.
They are to use adjectives to describe both their
personal appearance and personality.
Create miniature character profiles as a whole
class.
From the pupils story endings discuss how they
have used description and detail. Pupils to read
out their stories whilst others listen for words or
phrases which are particularly effective
examples of differentiation.
Scribe key words on board, which critics use in
a review. What do these words mean? Can the
pupils come up with other words that may be
useful to use when reviewing a story.
WORK
Children are to link phrases and sentences using the
appropriate connective/conjunction.
Lower/Middle - Conjunctions w/sheet.
Higher - Create own sentences in context.
Pupils will begin to draft their own story ending.
What do they think will happen?
Why? They must use detail and description to
enhance interest.
Middle - Key words as support.
Higher - Work independently.
Pupils will edit and amend their work as they wish.
They will begin to copy out their amended piece in
best (for display).
* Work with all groups.
Children to complete their own book report/review.
They are to say because ... why? They must be able
to justify answers and comments with examples
taken from the text.
Middle - key words to support writing.
READING/WRITING’
[Y3/4] PLENARY
On board will be written some
sentences. Pupils are to highlight
connective/conjunction.
* Work with higher - extending and
developing complex sentence
structure.
Pupils to briefly explain their story
ending. What will they amend and
edit? Recap learning objectives.
* Work with lower group - write
basis of a story, individuals to
develop and extend group story.
Pupils will read out their final
stories.
Which parts are effective? What
could be improved? Vote for the best
story from the selection.
Pupils to share ideas on book
reviews. Explain and justify
reasoning.
* Work with lower group - building
up sentence detail with justifications
and reasoning, model examples.

F To read and comprehend a short
story (T3, T1).
To answer questions in full
sentences (T1, S1-3).
Extended writing: See Tuesday/Wednesday
Read through ‘Mike’s Bike’. Discuss the
storyline. What are the pupils opinions on the
story.
Discuss the comprehension questions about the
text. Pupils are to give examples of model
answers. Scribe key words on a flip chart which
can be used as support for the less able.
Pupils are to complete the comprehension
questions. They are to answer in detailed, full
sentences.
Lower- Refer to flip chart to help model answers.
Higher - Work independently.
Recap learning objectives. Pupils
write a brief sentence explaining I
they feel that have worked during
first week back after half teen. Share
thoughts.
* Work with middle - share ideas

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 7

O’Brien activity sheet 1*
Read pp 7-14

1. What did Charlie want his Dad to buy

for him?

2. Why was Charlie envious of many of

the children who lived in his street?

3. It was very important for Charlie to

get to the fields early in the morning.
Why?

4. How does the author describe the lines

of bins and bags on the street?

5. Why did he not just take the old rusted

bike frame?

6. What did Charlie forget in his

excitement?

7. Charlie needed parts for his bike but

he had a problem.
What was it?

8. What advice was he given by Mr

Moone?

9. Which of the following words best describe Charlie Harte?

pessimistic poor unadventurous
honest impolite

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 8

O’Brien activity sheet 2*
Read pp 15-23

1. From memory, can you name at least five different

scrap items that can be found in Flanagan’s
scrapyard?

2. Why does the author compare Miko to a watchdog?

3. How do you know that Miko Flanagan has a dirty

job?

4. How does he make a living?

5. Why would Charlie have a problem building a bike

with the parts he found?

6. What does Miko think is one of the skills of a good

scrapman?

7. Can you think of at least three other skills that a good scrapman would need?

8. What did Charlie’s Mam think about the bike parts?

9. Why did she think that Charlie’s Dad would help him to build his new bike?

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 9

O’Brien activity sheet 3*
Read pp 15-23

Charlie needed many spare parts for his new bike. He was lucky enough to fi nd all of
them in Miko’s scrapyard.

Can you help Charlie to unscramble some of the bike parts which can be found in the
tyres below? Write your answers in the spaces provided.

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 10

O’Brien activity sheet 4*
Read pp 24-32

1. List at least 10 words that the author uses to describe Charlie’s bike.

2. How did Peter Mills mock Charlie when he was riding

his bike?

3. What names did the other children call Charlie’s bike?

4. How did Miko know that Charlie was coming?

5. Who were Charlie’s best friends?

6. How did his three friends help him?

7. Why did Kate think that Charlie’s bike looked like

a tiger?

8. Do you think Tiger is a good name for Charlie’s bike?

Can you think of another suitable name for his bike?

9. From memory, can you list the seven events in

the school sports?
Which of these school sports, if any, would you have
entered?

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 11

O’Brien activity sheet 5*

Charlie painted his bike with black, white and yellow stripes.
He was very proud of his bike, which he called Tiger
How would you decorate a bike?
What would you call it?
Decorate and name the bike below.

I would call my bike ( ) because

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 12

O’Brien activity sheet 6*
Read pp 33-45

1. How did Charlie get on in the bike

race?

2. Can you think of two reasons for his

finishing position?

3. Why didn’t Charlie ride home on

Tiger?

4. Where did Charlie call in every day on

his way home from school?
(a) the youth club
(b the scrapyard
(c) the library

5. Miko managed to cheer Charlie up.

How did he do it?

6. Why did Charlie nearly fall off his

bike?

7. Why did the bike want to talk to

Charlie?

8. Tiger wasn’t an ordinary bike.

What unusual word does the author use to describe Tiger?

9. What do you think this means?

Check your answer in a dictionary.

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 13

O’Brien activity sheet 7*
Read pp 40-45

Tiger told Charlie that it was dangerous to ride a bike while listening to music on his
walkman.
Charlie has also forgotten to wear an important piece of safety equipment.
Can you think what it is?
Think very carefully about safe cycling.
Write a list of rules that will encourage boys and girls to keep safe on the roads.

MY RULES FOR SAFE CYCLING

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 14

O’Brien activity sheet 8*
Read pp 46-49

1. Which part did Charlie need to replace on his bike?

2. Why wasn’t he able to buy the replacement part?

3. What type of business did Charlie decide to set

up?
What did he call it ?

4. Do you think Charlie’s business idea will be a

success?

5. What business would you set up if you needed

to raise some money?
Give at least two reasons for making your
choice.

6. Who gave Charlie his first business break?

7. ‘A supermarket manager without his mobile

phone is like a bird on one wing.’
What do you think the author means by this?

8. How did Charlie’s new business venture help

his family?

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 15

O’Brien activity sheet 9*
Read pp 50-54

Minnie kept a record of all the telephone calls that came in to the office and put a C
or M beside each entry to show whether it was for Charlie or Miko.
Look at the following entries in Minnie’s notebook.
Decide whether they are for Miko or Charlie and write the correct letter © or M) after
each entry.

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 16

O’Brien activity sheet 10*
Read pp 55-66

1. Minnie thought that Charlie’s business

needed some publicity.
What did she suggest?

2. Design and illustrate a new

advertisement for CH Courier Service.

3. How much did Minnie charge for

writing 500 sheets by hand?

4. Why did Tiger not mind all the extra

work?

5. What did Tiger think was wrong with the

new Charlie?
Do you agree with Tiger’s comment?
Why?

6. What did Tiger fear would happen to

him when he was worn out?

7. How did Charlie change the way he

treated Tiger?

8. Why was Charlie stunned when he came out of Lambe’s supermarket?

9. How did the theft of Tiger affect Charlie’s business?

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 17

O’Brien activity sheet 11*
Read pp 67-75

1. Charlie found two clues at the dump.

What were they?

2. Who did Charlie suspect of stealing his

bicycle?

3. Do you agree with his suspicion?

4. Why did Miko feel that it would be a

waste of time to question the boys?

5. Why was Miko not worried when they

drove away?

6. Do you think the woman was right to

treat Miko the way she did just because
of his appearance?

7. Charlie saw The Hair working on a

bike when he peeped through the
window.
Why did he think that it had been
stolen?

8. The Garda need to know about the

theft of Charlie’s Bike.
Help them by writing a short description of Tiger.

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 18

O’Brien activity sheet 12*
Read pp 76-80

The Hair is not only a bicycle thief. He has also stolen some of the words from this
story.
Read the text below and think of the most suitable word to fill each gap.
Make your choice from the following words.
Each word can only be used once.

talk engraved owned ancient

coat find duty painted

It was a huge shed full of old bikes, some not so old and others ( ). In
the end they found Tiger. Charlie was sure that it was Tiger, in spite of its new
( ) of paint.

Murt McGillicuddy was on ( ) when they called to the Garda station.

‘Don’t you know,’ he said, ‘every bike has a number ( ) on the frame.
If we knew the number of a stolen bike we could maybe fi nd out who
( ) it.’

‘I don’t know anything about a number,’ said Charlie. ‘I never saw a number on
Tiger and I ( ) every bit of it.’

‘No use,’ Miko said. ‘We’d have to be sure. Is there anything at all you can do,
Charlie, to ( ) out which of those old bikes it might be?’

Charlie thought for a while. ‘If only I could ( ) to it,’ he said without
thinking.

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 19

O’Brien activity sheet 13*
Read pp 81-92

1. Why did Tiger describe the other bikes

as dummies?

2. What was the identification number

that had originally been engraved on
Tiger?

3. His new number was a palindrome.

Can you remember it?

4. Can you think of at least five different

words that are also palindromes?

5. How did The Hair react when Sergeant

Burke walked into the office?

6. How did The Hair explain the presence

of Tiger in his shop?

7. Do you think Sergeant Burke was

fooled?
Why?

8. What punishment do you think The

Hair deserves?

9. How could the theft have been prevented?

* By John Doherty. Based on Charlie Harte and His Two-Wheeled Tiger by Frank Murphy, ISBN 0-86278-532-4
© Copyright reserved. The O’Brien Press Ltd www.obrien.ie

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 20

Personification

G Object What is it?

G Name What is it called?

G Appearance What does it look like?

G Personality What is its character like?

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 21

Exploring sentences

A complex sentence contains a main clause and a subordinate clause or clauses.

What does the word subordinate mean?

Explain what you think a subordinate clause is.

Look at these complex sentences.

Cross out the subordinate clauses in each sentence.
1. The robin is different from other birds because it chooses unusual places to build
its nest.
2. A kestrel is a bird of prey and lives on mice and beetles.
3. The barn owl used to be a common bird but it has become rare in recent years.
4. Sparrows can be seen in most gardens in rural and city settings.
5. Swallows make their nests out of mud and grass and often build them on the
walls of peoples houses.

Now answer these questions.

Once you have crossed-out the subordinate clauses, does what is left of the
sentence make sense?

Does each subordinate clause make sense on its own?

Summarise what you have discovered.

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 22

Investigating clauses

Look through the text to find sentences with 5, 4, 3, 2 clauses.

Copy the main clause from each sentence.

Main clause:

5 Subordinate clauses:

Main clause:

4 Subordinate clauses:

Main clause:

3 Subordinate clauses:

Main clause:

2 Subordinate clauses:

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 23

Asking questions

Once you have read the story provided by your teacher, work with a partner to

? formulate 10 questions about the text.

Try to make each question a challenging one!

Brookes, Charlie Harte, 24