Lesson video

Hello everybody.

It's good to see you.

My name's Miss Atsal and I'm feeling pretty excited about being here today.

That's because we're going to be exploring a really, really fantastic novel.

It's not just any novel, it's an illustrated chapter book, and it's this one here.

"How to Train Your Dragon" by Cressida Cowell.

Cressida Cowell has both written and illustrated this novel, so this is really quite something.

You're going to need a copy of the novel that looks just like this one for our lesson today.

So I'm gonna pause here, so please pause the video and off you go and find your copy of the novel.

Okay, you're back, you've got your copy of the novel.

Hopefully you've got some enthusiasm for dragons, for adventure stories, and for exploring fantastic fiction.

Let's get into it.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can reflect on events within a chapter.

We've got some keywords in today's lesson.

Let's go through them.

My turn, your turn.

Characterization, Reader's Theatre, expression.

Fantastic, I heard this loud and clear.

Let's find out more about these keywords.

Characterization involves revealing information about characters through their actions, thoughts, dialogue, and interactions with others.

Reader's Theatre is an activity where readers bring characters and scenes to life through reading aloud.

An expression is reading with feelings and emotion to bring the story to life.

Let's make sure we listen out for those words and we think carefully about them throughout our lesson today.

Today we've got two parts to the lesson.

First of all, reading Chapter 10, and next, Reader's Theatre.

Let's begin with Chapter 10.

So here's our amazing book, "How to Train Your Dragon," written and illustrated by Cressida Cowell.

Wonderful cover, amazing.

And what do we know so far? Well, Hiccup tries to train Toothless who is not very obedient.

In Chapters 8 and 9, Hiccup tries alternative strategies to motivate Toothless to follow commands.

These include being kind, treating him with gratitude, and appealing to his vanity.

Appealing to his vanity would mean flattering him.

Hiccup's final strategy of sharing jokes and riddles seems to work.

Toothless collects some fish, which will form part of the boy's final initiation task.

So what is characterization? One of our keywords, remember.

Characterization is the way an author and illustrator describe and develop the personalities and traits of the characters in a story.

Authors and illustrators use a range of methods to convey characterization, including a character's appearance, a character's words, a character's actions, how a character is depicted.

Check for understanding, true or false.

Characterization can only be conveyed through actions a character performs within a text.

Pause the video while you decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected false and now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Characterization can only be conveyed through what is written by an author, or characterization can be conveyed through characters' actions, thoughts, dialogue, and interactions with others.

Which of these justifies your answer? Pause video while you decide.

Well done if you selected statement B.

Yeah, absolutely, this one really justifies your answer.

As we know, characterization can be conveyed in a manner of different ways.

In Chapter 10, the Thor'sday Thursday celebrations take place.

It's the day of the final initiation test for the young heroes.

I'm letting you now to read the first part of chapter 10, pages 117 to the page break on page 123 up to the word bet.

After that, I'd like you to answer the following question.

What tells us that Hiccup is nervous about the upcoming test? And refer to page 119 for support.

So pause the video here while you read that part of Chapter 10 and share your answer with someone nearby.

Okay, it's good to be back with you.

I wonder what you came up with there.

Let's see what Sophia has to say.

"Hiccup is described as being nervous as he does not smile when Gobber fails the gull-egg-eating competition, something that previously would've made him laugh." Mm, yeah, very good point.

"Hiccup also could not eat a thing for lunch at the family picnic.

His mind is on the upcoming test." Oh yeah, I wonder if you've ever had that, you're feeling so nervous it's hard to focus or enjoy the things that you normally do.

What does Cressida Cowell reveal about Thuggory through his characterization? I let you to refer to pages 121 and 122 to really get to grips with the characterization of Thuggory, so pause the video here while you do that.

What did you come up with, I wonder.

Anything like this? So Thuggory is described as hulking, which means he is large and imposing.

Thuggory is older than Hiccup.

He's roughly 15 years old.

Thuggory is the son of the Meathead tribe chief.

He has a large dragon perched on his shoulder.

Thuggory has his fists clenched and his knuckles touching, perhaps ready for battle.

Hiccup's father makes a bet with the chief of the Meathead tribe, Mogadon.

Refer to page 123 and answer the following question.

Why do you think Mogadon agrees to double the bet that Stoick places on Hiccup and Toothless to catch the most fish? So pause the video here, refer to page 123, and then share your response to this question with someone nearby.

Let's see what Andy has to say.

"Mogadon thinks that Snotlout is the chief's son.

When he realises that Stoick's son is Hiccup, he might think that Hiccup and his dragon don't stand a chance against the competition." Did you get something like this, I wonder.

Referring to page 118, place the following events from Thor'sday Thursday celebrations in chronological orders, so that's in the sequence in which they took place.

Hammer-throwing, Grand Raffle, gull-egg-eating competition, ugliest baby competition.

So pause video while you place these events in chronological order and refer to page 118 to help you.

So what do we start with? We have the hammer-throwing, followed by the gull-egg-eating competition.

Then it was the ugliest baby competition and the Grand Raffle.

Well done if you placed the events in this order.

And now I'd like you to read from the break on page 123 to the end of page 126 which ends on the word nodded.

And after that I'd like you to answer these questions here.

Do you think Gobber believes Hiccup and Fishlegs when they're describing Toothless' breed? Why or why not? So pause the video while you read these pages and reflect on these questions and share your answers with someone nearby.

So what did you think? Do you think Gobber believes them? Let's see what Jin thinks.

"I don't think Gobber believes Hiccup." Alright, okay, Jin.

"I think that Gobber will have seen and heard about lots of dragons as he has judged the final test many times before.

He immediately notices that Toothless is one of the smallest Common or Garden dragons." Okay, you may have said that Gobber believes the two boys based on Fishleg insulting his intelligence.

Okay, so it really could go either way.

What are the parts of the test that Gobber introduces? Refer to page 124 to support.

The dragons must fly through a series of hoops.

The dragons must hunt fish.

The dragons must follow basic commands.

The dragons must stay perfectly still.

So pause the video while you refer to page 124 and decide on which of the parts of the test Gobber introduces.

Well done if you selected the dragons must hunt fish and follow basic commands.

And now it's time for our first task.

I would like you to create a mind map based on the characterization of Hiccup.

So you can just place the word Hiccup in the middle, in the centre of your page, a circle around it, and reflect on his actions, thoughts, dialogue, and interactions with others.

You can refer to pages 117 to 126 in addition to what you've read previously.

And here's one to get you started.

So, "Hiccup is nervous about the test.

He gulps when it's time to start." And you can also build understanding the character through illustrations too, so making use of of writing and also illustrations.

So pause the video now while you refer to these pages and get writing, get drawing, start filling your page, filling up your mind map.

Okay, it's good to be back with you.

I hope your page is really, really full.

Let's have a look, let's have a look at what's some ideas here.

Alright, we've got, "Hiccup knows that if he doesn't succeed, he'll be exiled from his tribe and family." What else? "Hiccup may feel pressure as Gobber describes him as the future of the tribe." Yeah, that's quite a lot of pressure there.

"Hiccup looks much more unsure of himself and Toothless," that was on page 86, "when compared to Thuggory," page 121, whoa.

Okay, so I hope you enjoyed creating that mind map and it's great to have so many words and images.

Okay, and now it's time for Reader's Theatre.

Reader's Theatre is a reading activity where participants read aloud from a script, often without costumes or props, to convey part of a story to an audience.

It focuses on vocal expression, intonation, and interpretation of the text to bring characters and scenes to life rather than focusing on staging or memorising lines.

It's a really enjoyable way to read a text aloud and can help develop our fluency when reading too.

Let's take a look at what is meant by one of our keywords, expression, intonation, and interpretation.

When reading, we can refer to expression as how we convey emotions and tone through our voice.

Intonation is the rise and fall of the voice when speaking.

Interpretation is how we understand and convey or show or represent the meaning of the text.

Check for understanding.

Which of the following are an important part of Reader's Theatre? Vocal expression? Intonation? Using a loud volume throughout? Interpretation of the text? Pause the video while you select which of these are important parts of Reader's Theatre.

Well done if you selected vocal expression, intonation, and interpretation of the text.

Those are all key parts of Reader's Theatre.

And of course it's useful to vary our volume to show difference in characters and emotions.

Reader's Theatre is completed by following these steps.

An adult reads the selected text aloud.

Readers follow the text on their own copy.

Readers work in groups of two or three.

They split the section into smaller parts, characters, narrator, et cetera.

Readers mark the text closely and consider characterization.

The text can be marked/annotated to support the performance.

Rehearsal, practise the reading.

And then it's time to perform.

And after that you can reflect on the performance.

What went well? How could it be improved further? When performing Reader's Theatre, it's important to make sure you make the experience as engaging as possible.

Here are some top tips.

Practise and rehearse thoroughly to ensure you're comfortable with the characterization.

Introduce your group and the roles you'll be playing.

Perform in a clear voice so the audience can hear you.

Make eye contact with the audience.

Vary your expression, intonation, volume, and speed to match the content.

Pauses can be used to draw the reader in.

Facial expressions can support your reading aloud.

Order the following steps for a successful Reader's Theatre.

Choose roles/characters, explore characterization, perform, listen to reading role model.

Pause the video while you place these steps for Reader's Theatre in the correct order.

Well done if you began with listen to the reading role model.

Next, you need to choose your roles or characters, explore characterization, and perform.

For your task, we are now gonna have a go at Reader's Theatre.

I'd like you to read aloud page 126 using Reader's Theatre.

Listen to an adult's performance first.

Next, work in groups of two or three.

Highlight the text, mark the characters of Gobber, Hiccup, Fishlegs, and the text needing narration.

Look at examples of characterization, so verbs are especially useful here, and adapt your reading as necessary.

Rehearse the reading ready for performance.

And remember, Reader's Theatre is different to acting on a stage.

It's helpful to think of it as acting with just your voice.

Pause the video here and off you go, have an attempt at Reader's Theatre and really go for it, enjoy it, put your whole self into it, or your whole voice at least into it, and I'll see you when you're finished.

Alright, so you're back.

How are you feeling after your performance? And also, let's have some reflection on your performance.

So what was the audience's response? What went well with your retelling? And what could go better next time? So just pause here to reflect upon those questions.

I really hope you enjoyed that experience and I hope the reflection on your performance was helpful.

It's always good to have some room for improvement and to find out what went well and to enjoy the audience's response, so well done, everyone.

In our lesson today, we've covered the following.

Characterization is the way an author and illustrator describe and develop the personalities and traits of the characters in a story.

Characterization can be better understood by looking at a character's actions, thoughts, dialogue, and their interactions with others.

Reader's Theatre is a really enjoyable way to read a text aloud and can help develop fluency when reading.

Reader's Theatre focuses on vocal expression, intonation, and interpretation of the text to bring characters and scenes to life rather than focusing on staging or memorising lines.

Really well done, everyone.

It was fantastic to be with you today and to explore this characterization of Hiccup in particular.

I love those mind maps and really, really wonderful, and it was wonderful how you went for it with the Reader's Theatre.

Loved that expression and intonation.

I'll see you at the next lesson, bye for now.