Hello, I'm Miss Corbett and welcome to today's lesson, Reading and Responding to "Lulu Gets a Cat" by Anna McQuinn.

So I am going to be reading the story of "Lulu Gets a Cat" to you today.

So for this lesson, I would like you to have your listening ears, your looking eyes, and that thinking brain.

You also need someone to talk to and for the end of the lesson, you will need something to write with and to write on.

Maybe go and get that now so you are ready to go, pause the video.

Fantastic, I think we'll get ready to get started and here is the outcome for today's lesson.

I can listen to and respond to a story and here are the key words that will help us to get there.

Are you ready first to repeat them after me? Listen out to see if any of them are familiar to you and then we will talk about what they mean, are you ready? My turn, your turn.

Character, plot, fiction, illustration.

What excellent joining in, well done.

Let's have a look at what each of those words mean.

A character is a person or animal in a story like "The Gruffalo" or "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" or the troll in the "Three Billy Goats Gruff." The plot is what happens in a story, the main events.

Fiction means a made up story with characters, places, and adventures which did not happen in real life and an illustration is a picture in a book.

Let's get started with the first part of the lesson, reading and understanding the story, one of my favourite things because I get to read to you today.

Have a look again at the front cover of "Lulu Gets a Cat." I would like you to share your prediction about what you think the book will be about.

"I predict that," and then explain why.

"I think this because.

Pause the video now.

I loved your predictions and it's almost time to find out if those were right.

I am going to start reading the first part of the story to you, so can you get those listening ears on? Are they switched on? Let's get reading.

"Lulu Gets a Cat" by Anna McQuinn.

First of all, here are some silhouettes of cats and on this page it shows us a link to a website to find out even more about cats which is so useful.

"Lulu loves cats.

She wants a real one.

Mummy says looking after a cat is a lot of work." I can really see that Lulu loves cats.

"Lulu decides to find out more," where is she? She's at the library getting a book all about cats.

"She learns that cats are super at smelling and hearing.

Lulu reads all about how to care for cats.

She pretends Dinah is a real cat and practises looking after her." And here she has a chart ticking off on Monday that we have made sure the cat is happy, we fed her, we've given her water, and given her something to play with.

Lulu is really trying to prove that she deserves a cat.

Did you enjoy the first part of the story? I know I did.

So we have got up to here.

Do you think that Lulu has proven herself, that she deserves to get a cat? What do you think? Have a little think in your head.

I think that Lulu has proven, hasn't proven because.

Pause the video now.

Great opinions, well done.

I think that Lulu probably has proven because she's really, really thought about it, hasn't she? And now she's practising and that tick sheet is showing that she's ticking off all of the jobs that you need to do to look after a cat each day.

Now I'm going to read some more of the story to you, happy listening.

Let's keep reading just these two pages.

I'm making you wait to see what happens.

"At last, Mummy agrees Lulu can get a cat." Can we do a silent cheer? "Mummy and Lulu find out how to get one.

At the cat shelter, they meet Jeremy and he shows them three perfect cats." Lulu looks so excited.

I wonder which one she'll choose.

I'm really loving that we're getting into the story and hopefully helping Lulu to find her cat.

So at the cat shelter they have met Jeremy.

Pet shelters are real places where you can rehome a pet and Jeremy will help Lulu to find the right cat.

So even this is a fiction story, a made up story, places like pet shelters are real places.

So this book is helping us learn things too.

Have a look at the illustrations of the three cats.

Which one do you predict that Lulu is going to ask for and why do you think this is? And here there is no right or wrong answer because we just don't know yet, but have a look and see what you think and why.

Do you think she will pick the ginger cat, the black cat, or the grey cat? Have a look at what all of the cats are doing.

If you were Lulu, which one would you choose? Pause the video now and share your ideas.

I heard some people saying they choose the ginger cat because it looks calm and relaxed and sleeping.

I didn't hear many people say they would choose the black cat because it's facing away from Lulu.

Did you notice that too? I did hear people saying that they think maybe Lulu would choose the grey cat because it's up and it's looking interested and looking right at her.

There's only one way to find out.

But like we have just seen, people may have different predictions about the story.

"I predict that Lulu will choose the ginger cat because it looks calm." "I predict that Lulu will not choose the black cat because it doesn't look very interested in her." "I predict Lulu will choose the grey cat because it looks interested in Lulu too." So all very different predictions, but we don't know yet and that's the exciting thing about reading.

I am going to read a bit more and we will find out which cat Lulu chooses, are you ready? Just two more pages for now.

Are you ready to find out which cat Lulu chooses? "Before Lulu can decide, one little cat chooses her." Was your prediction correct? The grey cat is poking at the glass and wants to be with Lulu as much as Lulu wants to be with her.

"Jeremy says moving is scary for cats.

He gives Lulu a list of things that will help.

Lulu will be back as soon as everything at home is ready." So they're going to leave the cat there and make sure that they are as ready as possible to bring it into its new home.

Fantastic listening everybody.

So we have realised that Lulu has found her cat.

Now it says, "Before Lulu can decide, one little cat chooses her." In what way does the little cat choose Lulu, do you think? Have a think, hmm.

I think it means because the grey cat is going to the front to see Lulu.

Pick me, choose me, so it helps Lulu make up her mind.

And then Jeremy says that moving is quite scary for cats, so he's given her a list of things that will help.

Isn't that so helpful? But why do you think moving might be scary for cats? Maybe have a think about a time that maybe you've had to move somewhere or go somewhere new.

Pause the video now and discuss what you think.

I really love that you are linking it to your own personal experience.

I think that Lulu, that Jeremy, sorry, not Lulu, that Jeremy says moving is scary for cats because going to somewhere new can be a little nerve-wracking.

The little cat is used to being safe in the shelter with its other cat friends and then being taken somewhere new that it doesn't understand yet, so hopefully that list that Lulu has will be really helpful.

Now I'm going to read a bit more of the story to you which is very exciting.

"All of the next day.

Lulu and Mummy shop.

What a lot of stuff for a little cat." Their trolley is full.

I can see a bed, a carry case, some bowls for food and water, some toys, and, "Lulu and daddy make a special corner where her cat will settle in." So everyone is working as a team to help.

"Finally, Lulu is ready to bring her cat home, but the little cat is afraid.

Her own blanket makes her feel safe.

Lulu tells her not to worry." So there's Lulu and Mum, so excited to pick her up.

But the cat's feeling a little bit afraid, so Lulu does a really kind thing of giving her her special blanket.

"At home, the little cat stays in the carry case.

After a while, she comes out and sniffs around," and what a special corner Lulu has made for her.

"Lulu watches for now.

She knows her cat isn't ready to play just yet." So we have seen that Lulu is really trying her best to help the cat feel safe and settled.

She's got her bed, she's got her toys.

She's leaving her to it, she's standing back.

She's even put pictures on the wall and really, really being patient with her.

Patient means giving the cat time.

That sounds like Lulu is being really sensible and responsible.

Which of these has Lulu done to help get the cat settled? Has she picked the cat up straight away, expecting her to play? Did Lulu and her family buy everything the cat needed? Lulu gave her cat a blanket and a safe space to settle.

Or did Lulu get angry with the cat for being nervous, hmm.

Which two of those things has Lulu done? Pause the video and share your thoughts.

So we can see that Lulu has done lots of things to get the cat settled.

One of those things is that Lulu and her family have bought the cat everything she needed, and the other thing is that Lulu gave her a blanket and a safe space to settle.

She's left her to it, so she hasn't picked her up straight away, and she also hasn't got angry at the cats for being nervous too, well done.

Now we are going to read to the end of the story and I want you to have a think whilst you are listening and looking.

How has Lulu's room changed since the start of the story? Let's get reading.

"Lulu decides to call her cat Makeda.

It's the name of an African queen.

Lulu takes excellent care of Makeda.

She feeds her and gives her fresh water." And look, she's using the same chart that she used with the pretend cat, Dinah.

"One day, Lulu's friend Tayo brings a special present for Makeda." That looks like the fun.

"Tayo and Lulu play with Makeda all afternoon." Makeda's being so much more confident.

"At last, Makeda feels right at home.

Her favourite thing is to snuggle Lulu.

Every evening, Lulu reads to Makeda.

Tonight's story is about a famous cat.

Lulu loves her new little cat and bedtime stories with Makeda are the best of all." And that's the end of our story.

There are silhouettes again, but can you spot Makeda? There she is, I really hope you enjoyed listening to the end of the story and we finally got to happy ending for Lulu and her cat.

So at the start of the story, here was Lulu in her bedroom.

Have a look closely.

And look at her bedroom now.

Lots of things are the same, but one thing is different.

Can you spot it? Well done, wow Lulu has a real cat to care for, not just her lovely pretend cats and it looks like she's reading her the story "Puss in Boots." I wonder if you've heard that story before.

Now we have got to the end of the story, so I would like you to use the book to help you to answer these questions.

The first one is name three things that Lulu did to get ready to have a cat, and it would be great if you could say it in a full sentence.

So Lulu did mm, mm, and mm to get ready for the cat.

Your next question is why do you think Lulu chose the grey cat? I think Lulu chose the grey cat because.

And finally, do you think that Lulu deserved to get the cat? And why or why not? I think Lulu did deserve or did not deserve to get the cat because.

I would like you to pause the video and share your answers to those questions with someone nearby and see whether they're the same or different.

Off you go, pause the video now.

Great, here are some answers that you might have come up with.

So name three things that Lulu did to get ready to have a cat.

Lulu learned about cats in the library, bought cat toys and a bed, and prepared a special place to get ready for the cat.

Did you think of those three things or different things? There were lots of things that Lulu did.

Why do you think Lulu chose the grey cat? Here's one idea, I think Lulu chose the grey cat because it was looking interested in Lulu and looked like it wanted to be taken by her.

And finally, do you think that Lulu deserved to get the cat? Why or why not? I think Lulu did deserve to get the cat because she proved she wanted one by practising with her toy cats and she did research about it, so she learned all about cats.

Well done, now let's move on to the second part of the lesson, responding to the story.

We have now read the whole story.

The plot of the story follows Lulu's interest in cats and how she wants a cat.

So there's our key word, plot, which is what happens in the story.

We learn from the story that it takes time to prepare to get a cat and it is important to learn how to look after one first before getting one.

Even though the story is fiction which means made up, we can still learn a lot from it about how to look after a pet and actually Anna McQuinn is an author who write lot of books about that, fictional stories following characters whilst giving us some information about things too.

I wonder, what did you learn about looking after a pet from the story? I learned that it's really important to give them the same things every day.

I also learned that sometimes when we get a new pet, we might have to give it time and be patient.

What did you learn? Could you shout it out to me now? Great, I love that we managed to learn something together.

I wonder now we've read the whole story if you could put the events from the story into order? So which happens first, which happens next, and which happens last? Pause the video now.

Let's see if you got it.

The first event in the story is Lulu practising on how to get a pet.

Once she's proven that she's ready, she goes to the cat shelter and meets Jeremy and finds her cat.

And finally, we see Lulu at the end really enjoying her new little cat and having bedtime stories.

Well done if you got that sequencing correct.

We know that different people may have different responses to a story and how they feel about it.

Sharing your opinion, so how you feel about a story, helps you to start to know what type of stories you do and do not enjoy.

We can think about these questions to help us.

What was your favourite part of the story? Why was that your favourite part? Who was your favourite character and why? And is there anything about the book that you would change? So you are gonna ask those questions and then answer them yourself.

So the first question, what was your favourite part of the story and why? My favourite part was, because.

The next question, who was your favourite character and why? My favourite character was, because, and is there anything about the book that you would change, I would change.

Pause the video now and share your responses to the story.

Fantastic, I love hearing about what you liked about the story.

Here are some opinions that I heard.

My favourite part was when Makeda was no longer afraid of Lulu because they could be happy together.

My favourite character was Lulu's mummy because she supported Lulu in getting her cat.

I would change the story by finding out where the black and ginger cats went to.

I love that change 'cause it would be great to hear about the adventures of all of the cats.

I wonder whether your opinions were similar or different? We know that Lulu loves cats.

I would like you to think about something that you love as much as Lulu loves cats.

It might be an animal, a family member, a friend, a hobby, or something else.

Here are some things that other people love as much as Lulu loves cats.

I love goldfish, I love watching them swim and float around the tank.

Great, let's hear another one.

I love football, I love being part of a team and the feeling of working together to win a game.

One more, I love my sister.

I love her because she is funny and she cares for me.

So all of those opinions are different, but all of those are about something personal to them, something that they love.

Now I would like you to share something that you love as much as Lulu loves cats and explain why you love it.

Then draw a picture of you and the thing you love most and write what you love most.

So you can talk about it first.

Then draw your picture and then write a short sentence, I love mm.

I can't wait to see your drawings and hear your ideas.

Pause the video now.

Fantastic, here is an example.

Did you share and draw what you love? So this example is all about horses.

"I love horses, I love going horse riding and galloping in the fields." Really, really nice to think about and take a moment to think about what we love.

We have learned lots today.

We have learned that the plot is what happens in a story.

We have learned that fiction stories can sometimes teach us about real life experiences such as how to care for a pet.

We have also learned that illustrations, as well as the text, the writing, can help us to engage and respond to the story.

We have learned that illustrations in the text can help us to describe the characters in stories and that people can have different personal responses to what they have read.

Thank you so much for learning with me today and I just loved reading the story of "Lulu Gets a Cat" to you.

I hope to see you again soon, bye.