“You’re always exposed to a classic text in the SATs,” warned the Year 6 teacher and KS2 English lead, “So I’d like every year group to do one.”
My mind was already whizzing with possibilities as he continued to give suggestions and explained what a classic text was (yes, seriously). The Lost World, Robinson Crusoe, and of course, why didn’t I think of it far first: Treasure Island! A swashbuckling story of adventure, pirates, mutiny and treasure! “Does anyone have any thoughts…?” Concluded the Head of English. “I’ll do Treasure Island,” I interrupted before anyone else could get a word in. Aside from the reading comprehension and writing tasks I could get out of it, perforating my brain was a myriad of opportunities for learning, learning that would be a great deal of fun too.
The full fat unabridged version beautifully illustrated by David Mackintosh on Amazon, but beyond most primary age children.
Why Treasure Island?
Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic is a fantastic adventure story narrated by young Jim Hawkins, the son of an innkeeper small isolated inn on the coast. Their world is plunged into chaos with the arrival of a gruff old sea captain who terrorises the locals with his frightening temper and scandalous stories. His stories prove to be well-founded when an acquaintance from his past glides forebodingly up out of the night’s sea mist like a nightmare come to life. The shock kills the captain, and Jim has to rapidly rifle through his belongings taking a folder of papers and money owed before escaping as pirates ransack the inn.
Jim and the authorities discover a map marked with treasure and together, hire a ship and crew and set off in search of treasure. Jim in befriended by the cook on the busy ship - a one-legged amiable man with a talking parrot by the name of Long John Silver.
Just as the island is sighted however, Jim discovers with horror that he and his friends are in the heart of a deadly mutiny and will be dead as soon as the treasure is found unless he does something. After making his friends aware, a race to the small fortress on the island ensues followed by bloody skirmishes that frighten Jim into brave action. Upon his daring solo adventure he comes across a savage-looking man, Ben Gunn, who was marooned by Silver's old captain years previously. The ever-evolving race to the treasure enters a vital stage with Jim having been caught by the pirates who have somehow gained the map. On their journey to the X on the map, the pirates - with Jim as their prisoner - come across haunting skeletons and a fell voice on the air that has them quaking in terror, They arrive at the X on the map to find an empty pit. Ben Gunn, having revealed himself to Jim's friends, takes them to the treasure that he found years earlier. They return to England and divide the treasure between them.
What use is it for primary school?
A classic adventure story that never fails to entertain. The original unabridged version is almost certainly beyond KS2 though I must stress only because of the general huge gulf in reading ability across a class; with a multi-form entry year group that is split across ability, a higher-ability group may well be able to access and enjoy it. Generally though, a class will have a range of readers and the lower end of the range will not be able to access it, but that said, happily, there are plenty of abridged versions to suit a variety of reading levels that would undoubtedly suit any reading ability. One issue that is worth noting with abridged versions is the more abridged they are, the more the classical language is diluted, and while the story itself is thus more accessible for younger / less able readers, they will miss out on being exposed to that language, which is seldom read or heard as much in modern day books.
This might not matter, however, as it depends on what you want the story for. If you want it to supplement a topic such as piracy, even for KS1, then it's a fantastic story. I made a somewhat tenuous link to my rainforest topic with the descriptions of the swampy land etc., but if you were studying something like Grace O’Malley (there is a great scheme of work on the History Association website for this) then it could be used for comparison. If you were enquiring after the truths and fictions of piracy through the golden age of piracy, then Treasure Island is a fantastic book as there are great examples of both in there (democratic rule - true; talking parrots - not so much). It links to Geography very well in term of mapping - who doesn’t enjoy making treasure maps?, grid references, charting a voyage (planning a route) and all sorts. Maps can then be redrawn using Ordnance Survey keys etc. or their own and they can make a treasure map of the school grounds or local area; the list goes on. And we’ve not even mentioned Art and DT!
Buy the abridged hardcover (newer) version here at Amazon by Henry Brook
The Final Score
In summary, it is a fantastic story that the children will enjoy and engage with, and I thoroughly recommend it both in terms of enjoyment and exposition of classic language. The myriad of cross-curricular opportunities are vast and there are plenty around. You can find read-made schemes, though not so many for KS2, and reading comprehension questions such as the ones here that I used.
The paperback abridged one can be bought here on Amazon
Having plenty of abridged versions can help adapt this for your class/key stage/year group. I used the Henry Brook version with Year 4 in the summer term, which would be suitable for Year 5 and Year 6 also, then there is the unabridged version here.
Awesome story, great classic, LOADS of cross curricular options, and plenty of abridged books. What’s not to like? Read it for enjoyment yourself even if you end up not using it.
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