Hi, everyone, my name is Ms. Boyle, and welcome to this reading lesson where we are going to be developing a character profile for Lila, the protagonist in "The Firework-Maker's Daughter".

For this lesson, you need this copy of "The Firework-Maker's Daughter" by Philip Pullman.

Pause the video and get your copy now.

Fantastic, now, I know you have your copy of the book with you.

In this lesson, you need to be listening and looking carefully.

There'll be tasks where you need somebody to talk to, and you'll also need a piece of paper and pencil or pen for creating Lila's character profile.

I hope you're feeling excited.

Let's get started.

The learning outcome for today's lesson is I can create a character profile for the protagonist, Lila.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

Let's practise saying them.

My turn, your turn.

Protagonist, character development, character traits, role on the wall.

Fantastic.

Well done.

Let's take a look at their definitions.

A protagonist is a main character or central figure in a story or narrative.

Character development is the process of building a unique character with depth, personality, and clear motivations.

Character traits are the special qualities that make a character in a story unique and interesting.

And role on the wall is a character analysis activity which encourages readers to infer.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

In the first part, we will be exploring the character development of Lila, and in the second part, you will be creating a character profile for Lila.

So let's begin with exploring the character development of Lila.

What do we know about "The Firework-Maker's Daughter"? Let's remind ourselves.

It is a quest narrative written by Philip Pullman.

The protagonist in the story is a girl named Lila, who is the daughter of Lalchand, a firework-maker.

Lila and Lalchand's relationship is central to the plot because of their conflicting views on her future.

Lila wants to be a firework-maker, but Lalchand doesn't think it is appropriate for a girl and wants her to focus on finding a husband instead.

Lila discovered that her father had shared the secret to firework-making with her friend, Chulak, and she decided to defy her father and run away on her quest to become a firework-maker.

What is a protagonist? A protagonist is a main character or central figure in a story or narrative.

Lila is the protagonist in "The Firework-Maker's Daughter".

How do you identify the protagonist in a story? The protagonist is the character who drives the action in a story and whose fate matters most.

Lila is introduced as the protagonist at the beginning of the story.

When Lila and Lalchand's conflicting views are revealed, it becomes clear to the reader that the plot will explore Lila's quest to be in control of her future.

Let's check your understanding.

How do you identify the protagonist in a story? A, it's always the first character introduced.

B, it is the character who drives the action and whose fate matters most.

Or C, it is the character with the most power and control.

Pause the video and select your answer now.

The answer is B.

The protagonist in a story is the character who drives the action and whose fate matters most.

Fate refers to a character's outcome, how their story ends, well done.

Authors want the reader to connect with the protagonist in a story and to care about what happens to them.

Careful character development is a crucial part of this.

What is character development? Character development is the process of building a unique character with depth, personality, and clear motivations.

It can also refer to the changes a character undergoes over the course of a story as a result of their actions and experiences.

Let's check your understanding, true or false.

Authors use character development to help the reader connect to the protagonist in a story.

Pause the video and select your answer now.

That is true.

Well done.

Now it's time to justify your answer.

A, they build a unique character with depth, personality and clear motivations so the reader cares about what happens to them or B, they ensure that the protagonist is a simple and easy character for the reader to understand.

Pause the video and select your justification.

The answer is A, the author builds a unique character with depth, personality and clear motivations.

This helps the reader connect to the protagonist and care about what happens to them, well done.

Character development helps the reader understand a character and relate to them or empathise with them.

To empathise means to understand another person's feelings or point of view.

How can we build our understanding of a character? We can identify character traits by exploring a character's experiences and actions and making inferences.

Character traits are the special qualities that make a character in a story unique and interesting.

For example, brave, kind, or rude.

We can learn a lot about Lila's character traits through her story so far.

We are going to identify some of Lila's character traits.

Let's look at an example of something Lila experienced and what we can learn about her character from it.

Lila's mother died when she was little and Lila was very upset and cross when she was younger.

She then built a strong relationship with her father and they bonded over fireworks and played and laughed.

I'd like you to pause the video and have a little think about what this tells you about Lila's character.

You may have inferred that Lila is brave or resilient.

Experiencing the death of a parent at a young age wasn't easy for her, but she overcame that difficulty and built a really strong relationship with her father.

This shows bravery and resilience.

It's really important when we are inferring character traits that we use evidence from the text to support our judgments.

Let's check your understanding.

What is a character trait? A, the special qualities that make a character in a story unique and interesting.

B, how a character looks or C, the activities that a character enjoys.

Pause the video and select your answer.

The answer is A, a character trait refers to the special qualities that make a character in a story unique or interesting, well done.

It's time for your first task and it is a talk task.

Discuss the following experiences or events and identify the character traits that Lila shows in each.

A, Lila loved learning about how to make fireworks and even developed her own ideas for them.

And B, Lila defied her father's wishes and challenged traditional stereotypes in pursuit of her dream to become a firework-maker.

Pause the video and discuss which character traits you can identify Lila showing through each of these experiences or events.

Welcome back, it was wonderful to listen to your discussions and you were brilliant at inferring character traits that Lila shows.

Let's take a look at some of the answers I heard.

For A, Lila loved learning about how to make fireworks and even developed her own ideas for them.

Character traits that you identified were curious, inquisitive, creative, ambitious, enthusiastic, driven.

These were all fantastic words to describe Lila's character because she does demonstrate these traits through her love and enthusiasm for fireworks.

And for B, Lila defied her father's wishes and challenged traditional stereotypes in pursuit of her dream to become a firework-maker.

The answers I heard were determined, headstrong, defiant, committed, strong-willed, dedicated.

These were all fantastic words to describe Lila's character too, because she demonstrated these traits through her utter determination to become a firework-maker even if her father didn't approve and it involved her going on a quest.

Well done for discussing and identifying Lila's character traits.

It's time for the second part of our lesson where you will be creating a character profile for Lila.

You are going to be writing a diary entry from the perspective of Lila.

It is important you have a clear understanding of her character in order to be able to write from her perspective.

Creating a character profile for Lila will support you with this.

You will be identifying the following things, experiences and interactions that are important to Lila.

And character traits and feelings belonging to Lila.

We are going to use role on the wall to complete a character profile for Lila.

Here is an outline for Lila's character.

On the outside, we are going to note down experiences, actions, and interactions that are important in shaping Lila's character to date, the experiences Lila has had in her life and the interactions she's had with other people have influenced the kind of character she is.

On the inside, we are going to note down character traits that make Lila who she is and important feelings she has experienced.

Let's check your understanding.

Which of the following are we going to write on the inside of the character outline? A, Lila's character traits.

B, Lila's interactions with other characters.

C, Lila's experiences in life.

D, Lila's feelings.

Consider which of these things exist on the inside of a person.

Pause the video and select your answers now.

The answers are A, Lila's character traits and D, Lila's feelings.

These are the things we will write on the inside of the character outline.

Lila's interactions with other characters and her experiences in life will be written on the outside of the character outline, well done.

Let's look at an example of role on the wall for Lila.

On the outside, we could identify that she has conflicting views with her father about her future.

There conflict is a key experience that she has.

We can then use our understanding of this experience to identify feelings and character traits that belong to Lila.

We might write on the inside frustrated or determined.

We know that Lila felt frustrated because of her conflicting views with her father, but we also know that she was a very determined character who wanted to challenge those views.

Another example that we might write on the outside is she loves learning about fireworks.

This is a key experience in her life.

She spends so much time learning about fireworks.

We might then identify that she is a curious character.

Noting down Lila's experiences and interactions on the outside will help you develop character traits and feelings to note down on the inside.

It's now time for your task.

Complete a role on the wall for Lila.

On the outside note down experiences and interactions that are important in shaping Lila's character to date.

On the inside, note down character traits that make Lila who she is and important feelings she has experienced.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Welcome back, I have loved reading the different things you have included on your role on the wall for Lila.

Let's take a look at some of the things you may have included.

On the outside, have you included Lila's experiences and interactions? Examples I saw were; mother died when she was little.

Loves inventing new fireworks.

Close friendship with Chulak.

Father wants her to find a husband.

Wants to be a firework-maker.

Discovered her father told Chulak the secret.

And ran away on her quest.

These are all really important experiences and interactions that happen in the opening of the story that shape Lila's character in huge ways.

And on the inside have you identified Lila's character traits and feelings? Let's take a look at some of the character traits you identified.

Determined, ambitious, dedicated, curious, creative, innovative, stubborn, headstrong, strong-willed, brave, resilient, courageous.

Lila shows these character traits through her love of fireworks and her determination to achieve her dream, even though it involves defying her father and going on a quest.

And four feelings.

Some of the answers I saw were excited, inspired, surprised, upset, let-down, frustrated, annoyed, sad, furious, betrayed, angry.

You'll notice that her feelings change at different points in the opening of the story, depending on her experiences and her interactions.

Well done for creating a role on the wall for Lila.

We've now come to the end of our lesson, so let's go over a summary together.

The protagonist is a main character or central figure in a story or narrative.

Lila is the protagonist in the story "The Firework-Maker's Daughter".

Character development is the way the author builds a unique character with depth, personality and motivations that the reader can connect to.

We can identify Lila's character traits by exploring her experiences and actions and making inferences.

And Lila displays a range of character traits such as resilience, determination, and courage.

Well done for your hard work learning in this lesson.

I have really enjoyed teaching you.