Lesson video

Hi everybody, it's Ms. Gardner.

Welcome to the first lesson from your new unit, "The BFG" Reading and Narrative Writing.

I'm so excited to do this unit with you all.

"The BFG" is one of my favourite books and movies ever, so it's going to be really great to be able to write a narrative version of some of the film.

For this lesson, you will need access to a copy of the Puffin Books 2001 edition of "The BFG" by Roald Dahl.

So if you need to, you can pause the video now to make sure you have access to the text.

Okay, great, hopefully we all have a copy of the 2001 Puffin edition of "The BFG," which means we are ready to get started with today's lesson.

In the first lesson of our new unit, "The BFG" Reading and Narrative Writing, we are going to be learning a little bit about the author of the book and we're going to be understanding what happens across the whole text so that we can summarise the key events.

So your learning outcome today is, I can summarise the key events of "The BFG." So let's start with looking at the key words.

We're going to do my turn, your turn.

So I'll say the word first and then you can say it back to the screen or to a partner or whoever you're with.

Fiction.

Fiction stories are created by authors that feature made up characters, places, and adventures that did not happen in real life.

Summarise.

Summarise means to pull out the key events and ideas from the text.

And structure.

This is the order of events within a narrative that gives it a coherent and engaging flow.

So there are two sections of our lesson today.

In the first we'll be introducing the story of "The BFG," and then the second will be summarising the story.

So let's start with an introduction to the story.

So let's learn about the text, "The BFG." "The BFG" is a fiction text first published in 1982.

So fiction means they're made up characters, made up of adventures.

These are made up places.

This is not about real people or events.

Fiction means it is a story which is made up or imagined.

"The BFG" was so popular that in 1989 it was adapted into a film and then a new version was also released in 2016.

I wonder if you've seen either version of "The BFG" films or if you've read the book.

"The BFG" book has sold 37 million copies since it was first published and it is still selling 1 million copies a year.

So that shows that even though it was written a really long time ago, it is still really popular today and lots of children around the world are still reading "The BFG." So let's learn a bit about the author now.

Roald Dahl, who was born in 1916 and died in 1990, wrote "The BFG" and he's a really famous children's author.

People all around the world know and love Dahl's books.

So in a moment you're going to pause the video and I want you to think about this question or discuss this question with your partner.

What books do you know that have been written by Roald Dahl? So pause the video now and have a think about this question.

(no audio) Okay, here are some possible responses, but he wrote so many books.

I'm sure lots of you have come up with different ideas.

"Fantastic Mr. Fox" is definitely my favourite.

I loved "The Twits" and "James And The Giant peach." You can't beat "The Witches" and "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory." Have you heard or read of any of these Roald Dahl books or have you read any of his others? So now let's learn a little bit about the plot.

"The BFG" tells the story of a young girl named Sophie, who befriends or becomes friends with a big friendly giant who is known as the BFG.

The BFG captures dreams and he delivers them to children.

Together, Sophie and the BFG embark on a journey to stop the other mean giants who eat children and the clue's kind of in his name, the BFG, the big friendly giant.

He's a giant, but he's a kind one.

He does good things for children, whereas the other giants are mean who eat children.

And the story is filled with adventure, friendship, and the power of imagination.

Because this book is set in dream world and giant land, these are not real characters or people.

You have to use your imagination to picture this amazing and magical world.

So check in for understanding.

True or false.

Roald Dahl is famous for writing non-fiction books.

Pause the video now.

(no audio) That is false.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, Roald Dahl is a famous children's author who is renowned, so famous for his fictional stories about made up characters or B, Roald Dahl is a children's author.

Pause the video now.

(no audio) That's right.

That is A.

He's a very famous children's author and his books have always been about made up characters and fictional characters.

Well done.

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

Let's try my term, your term with that word, protagonist.

The protagonists or the main characters in "The BFG" are Sophie, the young girl and the BFG, the big family giant.

Sophie is a young girl who lives in an orphanage in England.

An orphanage is a place children live if they don't have a home with their parents to live in.

The BFG is a friendly giant.

He is a 24 foot tall giant whose job is to collect and give out good dreams to children.

Did you know that the BFG also appears in another Roald Dahl? "Danny The Champion Of The World." You might have recognised the character from there if you've read "Danny The Champion Of The World." So checking for understanding.

Who are the protagonists in "The BFG?" A, Sophie.

B Giants.

C, Danny or D, the BFG? Pause the video now.

(no audio) Okay, so the protagonist, are, A, Sophie and D, the BFG.

Well done.

The setting is where a story takes place.

The first setting that we see in the film of "The BFG" and read about in the book is where the story begins.

And this is in Sophie's orphanage, which is in a fictional village in England.

The BFG snatches Sophie and he takes her to a place called Giant Country.

This is a vast, huge desert-like place where only mean dangerous giants live.

It's like a desert 'cause there's no houses, there's no buildings, there's no trees and plants, only the giants live there.

They also go to another setting and that's Dream Country, which is this mystical, magical land where they go to catch these dreams to give back to children in the real world.

So Giant Country and Dream Country are these magical places that don't exist in our world.

So we have to use our imagination to be able to picture what they might look like.

So checking for understanding.

What are the main settings in "The BFG?" A, a village in England.

B, Giant Country, C, France, or D, Dream Country.

Pause the video now.

(no audio) So, the main ca settings are A, the village in England where Sophie's orphanage is.

B, Giant Country and D, Dream Country.

Well done.

So it is time for task A.

The first task of part of task A is that you need to draw a picture showing each of these settings, what you imagine Giant Country might look like and what you imagine Dream Country might look like.

And you've got two spaces on your sheet to be able to complete that.

There's no right or wrong answer to this.

You can use your imagination to picture what you think they might look like.

So have a go and enjoy drawing these settings.

Pause the video now and off you go.

(no audio) Well done everybody.

Welcome back.

I hope you enjoyed drawing Giant Country and Dream Country.

Here is my go at drawing what I thought they might have looked like.

So firstly, the Giant Country.

We know it's vast desert like with no buildings or trees or plants where I wanted to make sure that all I drew was some mountains, there was nothing else.

And then the big giants you can see with their big feet and long legs.

And then Dream Country.

I imagined it to have really colourful swirls that I thought maybe those were the dreams. Lots of different colours.

And then I thought that maybe the dreams almost grew on trees.

So that's why I draw a tree there as well.

Yours might have looked very different to this and that's completely okay.

In fact, that's a good thing 'cause it means we've all used our imagination in different ways.

So really well done on task A.

It's time for the second part of the lesson where we are going to be summarising the story.

Summarising is really helpful when we want to understand texts.

Summarise means pulling out the key events and ideas, the most important, the most significant events or ideas from a text.

Summarising the key events in a story in order helps us to structure the text from beginning to end.

So here is a summary of "The BFG." Of course, lots of other stuff happens because it's a long book and we're just summarising the favourite key moments.

So don't worry if you've read the book or seen the film and you think there's so much else that happens.

This is the point of summarising.

We are just selecting the most important moments.

So firstly, number one, a young girl Sophie is woken up at night by strange noises in her orphanage.

She's snatched outta bed by the BFG.

Number two, he takes her to Giant Country, a vast land where mean dangerous giants live and terrorise young children.

Three, Sophie discovers that the BFG is kindhearted.

He doesn't eat children like the other giants.

He only took Sophie so she did not reveal that she had seen a giant which would've been really dangerous for him.

So checking for understanding.

True or false, the BFG treats Sophie badly.

Pause the video now.

(no audio).

That is false.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, The BFG is different to the other giants.

He does not terrorise children and he makes sure that Sophie is safe in Giant Country.

Or B, the BFG is a friendly diet.

Pause the video now.

(no audio).

That is A, The BFG is really different to the other giants.

He's a kind one and he looks out for Sophie.

So let's continue the summary of "The BFG." Four, The BFG takes Sophie to Dream Country where he is bullied by the other giants.

Together Sophie and the BFG devised, they come up with a plan to put an end to the mean giant's reign of terror.

Five, Sophie and the BFG seek the help of the Queen of England to stop the mean giants.

With the queen's support and a clever plan, they managed to win against the giants and now all children everywhere are safe.

So checking for understanding true or false, The BFG and Sophie eventually defeat the mean giants.

Pause the video now.

(no audio).

That is true.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, The BFG and Sophie seek help from the queen of England to defeat the cruel giants.

Or B, the BFG and Sophie manage to defeat the giants all by themselves.

Pause video now.

(no audio) That is A.

Well done.

So story structure refers to the order of events in a story that gives it a flow from beginning to end.

It is important for stories to have that really clear structure so that readers can understand and enjoy them.

There are four main parts of a story structure and we call this a story staircase.

An opening, a buildup, a climax, and then the resolution.

The opening and the resolution are usually the shortest sections.

The least amount happens in the opening and the resolution.

Most of the action and the most exciting moments usually take place in the buildup and the climax.

In this writing unit, we are going to be writing the opening and the start of the buildup.

So checking for understanding.

Put the key moments of a narrative structure in order.

You have buildup, opening, resolution and climax, and you need to number them 1, 2, 3, and four.

Pause the video now.

(no audio) Okay, so number one was the opening.

Number two, the buildup.

Number three, the climax, and finally number four, the resolution.

Great job everybody.

Well done.

So here are the key moments of "The BFG" in an even shorter version than we looked at earlier in the lesson.

Firstly, a young girl, Sophie, is woken up at night by strange noises in her orphanage.

She's snatched by a giant and she's taken away to giant world.

She learns that the BFG is a good giant.

They travel to Dream World to collect good dreams for children.

Sophie wants to stop the mean giants from terrorising children and from bullying the BFG.

The BFG and Sophie travelled to Buckingham Palace and they devise a plan with the Queen of England and they successfully defeat the mean giants.

So this is "The BFG" in its most simple form.

Here is how the narrative is structured.

We have an opening where a young girl, Sophie, is woken up at night by strange noises in her orphanage.

Then we have the buildup.

She's snatched by a giant and she's taken away to Giant Worlds.

Also in the buildup she learns that the BFG is a good giant.

They travel to Dream World to collect good dreams for children.

Then we have the climax, which often shows the most exciting moments.

Sophie wants to stop the mean giants from terrorising children and from bullying the BFG.

Also in the climax, the BFG and Sophie travel to Buckingham Palace and they devise a plan with the Queen of England.

And then finally, the resolution, they successfully defeat the mean giants.

So it's time for task B.

You need to cut out each moment and place it on the story staircase.

So you need to decide which moments are in the opening, the buildup, the climax, and the resolution.

Pause the video now and off you go.

(no audio) Well done everybody.

Welcome back.

Let's go through these.

So the moments that took place in the opening or the moment that took place in the opening, was a young girl, Sophie, is woken up at night by strange noises in her orphanage.

Then the buildup.

She's snatched by a giant and she's taken away to giant world.

Also in the buildup she learns that the BFG is a good giant.

They travel to Dream world to collect good dreams for children.

Then the climax.

Sophie wants to stop the mean giants from terrorising children and from bullying the BFG.

Also in the climax, the BFG and Sophie travel to Buckingham Palace and they devise a plan with the Queen of England.

And then finally the resolution where you're bringing the story to the close, they successfully defeat the mean giants.

If you need to, you can pause the video now and go back to your story staircase and make any changes to your structure.

Otherwise, really well done everybody.

So here is a summary of everything we've learned today.

"The BFG" is a fiction text first published in 1982.

"The BFG" was written by Roald Dahl and he is a famous children's author.

The protagonists in "The BFG" are Sophie and the big friendly giant.

The main settings of "The BFG" are the orphanage, Giant World, and Dream World and summarising the key events in the story help us to build our understanding of the tech structure and the meaning behind it.

Great job today, everybody.

Well done.

(no audio).