Using narrative structure and language features to understand character and theme in The Wild Robot

Year 5; English; Science; Health and Physical Education

Unit writer: PETAA - Rachael Hill & Ingrid Gilholme | Download the unit below

The Wild Robot offers rich opportunities for developing students’ literacy skills through engaging exploration of setting, character, and theme. Students build vocabulary and word knowledge, analyse expanded noun groups and precise verbs to visualise the text, and use observation and descriptive strategies to create their own writing. The text supports comprehension through predicting and questioning strategies while enabling examination of character development, relationships, and character change.

Themes of survival, observation, fear and understanding, family and cooperation are explored, and the story provides a model for imaginative writing, helping students experiment with character perspective and language to communicate ideas effectively.