The Story of Tracy Beaker

'The Story Of Tracy Beaker'

By Jacqueline Wilson

I must admit to being a great fan of Jacqueline Wilson's books. I find that the children really relate to the characters in them and love the way that they speak like 'real children'. 'The Story Of Tracy Beaker', as you will guess from the title, tells the story of the troublesome Tracy Beaker who lives in a foster home after being taken into care. It's a lively, intelligent read that manages to be both really funny and deeply moving. Some of my children really related to the character of Tracy Beaker. All these activites were done as follow-up homework after reading the book in class.

All About Me

'The Story Of Tracy Beaker' starts off as a 'fill in your details page' of a diary. I got my children to fill in some similar pages with their own details.

My name is ______________

I am ____ years ___ months old

My birthday is on ______________

I was born at _________________

_____________________________

I am _____ cms tall.

I weigh _____ kgs.

My eyes are __________________

My hair is _____________________

My skin is______________________

Things I like

My lucky number is _____________

My favourite colour is ___________

My best friend is ________________

I like eating ____________________

My favourite name is ____________

I like drinking ____________________

My favourite animal is ___________

My favourite TV programme is ____

______________________________

Best of all I like __________________

_______________________________

Things I don't like

the name _____________________

eating ________________________

Most of all I hate _______________

______________________________

When I am older...

"If I was older, I would live in this really great modern house, all on my own, and I'd have my own huge bedroom...."

We read about what Tracy Beaker would do if she was older. What would you do if you were older?

Advert

" And now I'm in a new children's home and they've advertised me in the papers but there weren't many takers."

For homework, write an advert for a newspaper to advertise for a foster family for Tracy Beaker.

My Favourite Toy

"My mum came to see me and she'd brought this doll, a doll almost as big as me, with long golden curls and a bright blue lacy dress to match her big blue eyes."

Tracy Beaker's favourite toy was Bluebell. For homework write about a favourite toy you had when you were young.

A 'Tracy Beaker' Excuse

"... and then I went off with this whole crowd of friends to an amusement arcade and I kept winning the jackpot on the fruit machines...."

Tracy Beaker doesn't always tell the truth. For this homework you have to imagine that you are Tracy. Write down her excuse for, either, not doing her homework or not going to school.

The Perfect Foster-Parents

We've read about Tracy's previous foster parents, Julie and Ted. For homework I'd like you to think of what Tracy's perfect foster-parents would be like. What would they look like? How would Tracy want them to behave? What might their names be What might they get up to with Tracy?

A Tracy Beaker Dictionary

Tracy Beaker uses a lot of slang words in her writing. We've talked about the meanings of a lot of them. For homework write a small dictionary to explain what a selection of the words below mean.

teensy lousy cart push off whopping sharpish dead loaf crummy nick heaps narky titchy

What does Tracy Beaker think about....?

What does Tracy Beaker think about these people? By now we're getting to know Tracy quite well. Write down what she says she thinks about the people above and also what you think she really thinks.


Elaine	Peter

Justine	Cam

Cam's Diary

Imagine that you are Cam, the women writer who came to visit the children at Tracy Beaker's home. What do you think about your visit? What do you think about what happened? What are your impressions of the children at the home? What are your impressions of Tracy Beaker?

Pretend that you are Cam. For homework, write down what you think she would write in her diary when she got home. Write about what happened at the home and write about the children she met.

Tracy Beaker

Use some of these titles to write about Tracy Beaker.

How I'm like Tracy Beaker.	How I'm different to Tracy Beaker.
The things I like about Tracy Beaker.	The things I don't like about Tracy Beaker.
The things I think Tracy shouldn't have done.	The things I think Tracy should've done instead.
What I'd do if I was Tracy Beaker.	How I would feel if I was Tracy Beaker.

Why I think Tracy Beaker is like she is.

Door Signs / Noticeboards

In the book there's some pictures of what Tracy Beaker's door sign and noticeboard look like. Think about what you've found out about some of the other characters in the book. Design some signs and draw the noticeboards of Peter, Justine, Elaine and Cam. Explain your designs. Why have you decided to put the things that are on there?