Millions workpack
Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Who do you think they are?
Name: .....................................................................
Age: .......................................................................
Appearance: .............................................................
What is this character like? Use adjectives to describe
her/him. .................................................................
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.............................................................................
What are her/his hobbies? What does she/he like to do? ....................................
.............................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
What is the character’s family like? ...............................................................
.............................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
How does the character get on at school?........................................................
.............................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
What do you think about this character? .........................................................
.............................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
Useful spellings
kind / thoughtful / saints / brave / frightened / funny / Damian / Euro / Anthony
Cunningham / school / Dad / Mum / honest / likeable / dishonest / worried / outgoing
shy / weak / strong / helpful / loving / lonely / friendly / friend / Hermitage Park
family / father / mother / brother / religious / religion / good memory
knowledgeable / trusting / Great Ditton / primary / fun / boring / secrets / secretive
rebellious / well-behaved / clever
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Millions workpack
Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Climbing the ladder to heaven
Chapters 1–11
Damian says (in Chapter 10):
The Widnes-Runcorn two-hinged arch bridge – proper name ‘the Jubilee Bridge’ – was built in
1961. It’s not really a ladder to Heaven. This doesn’t mean that there’s no such thing as a
ladder to Heaven. There is. It’s in Genesis, Chapter 28, Verse 12.
Every time you do a good deed, it takes you up a rung. Well, 229,000 pounds is enough money
to give 458 poor people 500 pounds each, and 458 good deeds equals 458 rungs of the ladder,
which is a long way up. We would be practically saints in Heaven by the time we’d given it all
away.
Rank the deed
Decide where these deeds should go on the ladder to heaven (a higher rung for a good
deed, a lower rung for a bad deed) and assign each one a position on your ladder
template.
1.
Damian answers questions in class about saints.
2.
Anthony gets the Pringles back from Freckle Neck by saying that their mum is dead.
3.
Both boys eat their five pieces of fruit after school.
4.
Both boys try to make a cake for the Neighbourhood Watch meeting (but end up making
pastry instead!)
5.
Anthony gets Penguin bars from Terry by telling him their mum is dead.
6.
Damian makes a hermitage out of cardboard boxes.
7.
Damian finds the money and wants to tell Dad.
8.
Anthony says they must keep the money a secret and not tell Dad.
9.
Anthony buys everyone a bottle of Sunny Delight in the corner shop.
10.
Damian and Anthony buy pizza for tea and get Dad’s favourite.
11.
Damian gives classmates money for lifts on a bike.
12.
Damian buys birds from the pet shop and sets them free.
13.
Damian wants to give money to the poor, but Anthony buys more channels for the TV!
14.
The boys give money to the Big Issue seller and take her and some friends for a pizza.
(They buy six meals.)
15.
Damian puts £7,000 through the Latter Day Saints’ door.
16.
Damian gives Barry (Freckle Neck) the Pringles and tries to find out if Barry is poor.
Damian gets hit!
17.
Anthony buys Rockports with his money.
18.
Damian wants to give the money to a charity called Water Aid.
© 2008 www.teachit.co.uk
7917
Millions workpack
Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce
The ladder to heaven
Anthony
Damian
© 2008 www.teachit.co.uk
7917
Millions workpack
Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce
When the saints come marching in…
Define it
Who or what is a saint? With a partner, brainstorm your ideas and see if you can come up with a
definition. If you’re really stuck, refer to a dictionary for help but remember to use your own
words to write your definition.
Research alert
Do you know if there is a saint with the same name as you? Have a look on the internet and see
if you can answer this question. If you can find a saint bearing your name, write a paragraph
about him/her, outlining when they lived, a bit about their life and what they did. If you can’t
find a saint bearing your name, try entering the names of your friends or family members and
see if this yields better results.
Saint spotting
Below, the beginnings of a saint table have been filled in. As an observant reader, your job is to
create a table like the one below and continue to fill it in as you read the story of Millions.
Name of the saint:
St Anne
Patron saint of:
Page:
Moving house, miners, horse-riding,
cabinet-makers and the city of Norwich
2
St Francis of Assisi
2
St Dismas
Robbers
2
St Roch
Plague, cholera and skin complaints.
4
St Catherine of Alexandria
Pious profile
As you’ll have noticed by now, some of the saints described in Millions have gripping or
gruesome histories (e.g. Catherine of Alexandria, p.4). Your job is to select the saint that most
interests you and complete their detailed profile card using the template on the next page as
your guide. (You will need to carry out some extra research for this task. The internet or
libraries are both good places to start.)
© 2008 www.teachit.co.uk
7917
Millions workpack
Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Saint _____________
Picture/drawing of saint:
Background information
Date of birth:
Date of death:
Date of canonisation:
Feast day:
Patron Saint of:
Childhood and early adulthood:
Later life:
What he/she was known for/associated with:
Other nuggets/titbits/gory or galling details:
© 2008 www.teachit.co.uk
7917
Millions workpack
Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Picturetastic! What have these pictures got to do with the story? Explain in the boxes.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
elgarydaly/2946894053/
© 2008 www.teachit.co.uk
7917
Page 6 of 7
Millions workpack
Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Answers
The charity the money
goes to.
The bag contained lots of these!
Damian found it!
The boys buy pizza for dad
and also take the Big Issue
seller to Pizza Hut.
Damian believes you can do good
deeds and climb the ladder to
heaven.
Damian puts this down his shirt
so that he can suffer like a saint.
Dorothy has a remote control
bin. Damian puts a lot of money
in the bin!
Anthony takes
Damian
around this shop
and looks at the dolls, pens, game boys
etc. Both boys are disappointed with what
they buy.
Damian is very interested in
saints and has visions of
them.
The robbers wore these
shirts to blend in with the
crowd and escape.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
elgarydaly/2946894053/
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7917
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