Lesson video

Hello, super storytellers! And welcome to this English lesson.

This is lesson three of unit four, and my name is Ms. Cashin.

Today, we are going to be thinking all about the opening scene of "Baba Yaga".

And we're going to be thinking about some of the characters that we meet.

We know that openings are so important for our stories, because a really amazing opening hooks the reader in, and it makes them want to read more.

So we're going to be looking at that, today.

I have got my story map ready for me to think about the opening of the story, and remember that if you don't know our story, or if you would like to go and hear it again, you can always do that by going back to lesson one.

We are going to start off with a bit of a "Baba Yaga" game.

I'm going to act out some bits from our story map, and I want to see if you can tell me which bit I've acted out.

So let me have a think, I've got the first bit, what bit of the story was that? Can you tell me? It was when the three big, black geese swooped down and picked up Sergei in their beaks and flew off with him.

Right, let me see, can I do another bit? Oh, I've got a bit to act out.

Which bit of the story was that? Can you tell me? It was when the squirrel was trapped, and remember Olga really kindly, let the squirrel out of the trap, and he gave her the special acorn and said, you can throw this over your shoulder if you're ever in trouble.

Right, I'm going to act out one more bit with the story.

Let's see, Oh, I've got a good bit.

What bit of the story was that, can you tell me? It was when Bobby Yaga realised that baby Sergei, her dinner, had been scooped up again by his sister, and they were running away and she said, who's taken my dinner? That is one of my favourite bits of the story, because I get really, really worried that Olga is going to be snatched and taken back to Baba Yaga's house.

So let's see what we're going to be doing in our lesson today.

Today, we're going to start with a spelling activity.

Then we're going to listen to the opening of the story again, to remind us what happens.

Then, we're going to think really carefully about the characters in the opening of the story, and we're going to draw them and then we're going to describe their feelings.

So these are the things that you will need in today's lesson.

You are going to need something to write on, an exercise book or a piece of paper.

You're going to need something to write with.

So a pen or a pencil, and just like you do for all of your learning, you're going to need your brilliant brain, geared up and ready to go for a brilliant English lesson.

So if you need any of those things, pause the video now, and go and get them.

Brilliant, super storytellers, let's have a look at what we're going to be doing first.

We're going to be doing our spellings.

Today, we're going to be learning about a different suffix.

Remember, a suffix is something that we add to the end of the word.

So we're going to start with a root word, and then we're going to add the suffix and see what our new word is.

This suffix I can see is I-N-G, 'ing'.

My turn, your turn, 'ing', 'ing', 'ing' So ready for your super spellings.

Right, let's see, what is our first root word? It's buzz, we looked at this when we did our E-D words as well.

Buzz, fantastic, we're going to add I-N-G to our root word.

What is our new word, can you read it? Buzzing, buzzing, fantastic.

Like a bee buzzing around the forest by Olga's house.

Let's have a look at our next root word.

Oh, hunt, hunt, we're going to add I-N-G to hunt.

I wonder what our new word will be.

Let's see, have a look at our new word, can we read it? Hunting, hunting, fantastic.

Like Baba Yaga is hunting for Olga through the forest.

Here's what you're going to do for your independent spelling activity.

See if you can add the suffix, I-N-G to each of these root words, and just like they were when we did it for our E-D words in unit four, lesson one, these words are all verbs, they are all things that we do.

So we're going to add I-N-G, and your challenge is to see if you can write a sentence with each verb.

If you're really being an amazing storyteller, you might write a sentence with Baba Yaga and Olga in it.

So pause the video and have a go at your spelling activity.

Fantastic, so you've spelled it.

Let's see how you got on with the suffix I-N-G.

So jump became jumping, kick became kicking, and bang became banging.

And for all these words, the root words are spelled exactly the same.

We just add that I-N-G on the end.

So you can pause the video now, to see if you need to make any corrections, or to see if you've got these spellings all right, and you can give yourself a big tick.

So pause the video and see how you did with your spellings.

Fantastic, and I bet some of you had some fantastic sentences all about our story.

Like Olga was banging on the door, trying to get back into her house.

Let's see what we're going to be doing next.

We're going to listen to the opening of the story one more time to remind us of it so that we are then completely ready to start really thinking about the characters in the opening.

So, just to remind us of the beginning of our story, it is our first three pictures, and I'm going to retell that now.

Once upon a time, there was a small cottage on the edge of the forest, and in it lived a girl named Olga.

One day, she was looking after her baby brother Sergei, whilst her parents got ready to go and work in the field.

Her mother said to her, remember, stay in the garden, never go into the forest, or the witch, Baba Yaga, will get you and your little brother, and eat you both up.

Olga was bored playing with Sergei at home.

So she picked him up, she went out of her garden, opened the gate, went through the field, and into the forest.

She began to pick some flowers for her parents when three big, black geese swooped down and picked up Sergei in their beaks.

So that is the opening of our story.

Now we're going to think about those characters that we've met in our opening.

So our activity today, we're going to draw the characters, and describe their feelings.

So you're going to watch me do it first, and then you're going to have a go at doing it independently.

Remember, when you're watching me do it, you might see me writing down some words that you want to use.

So you can always pause the video whilst I'm doing it, and jot down some brilliant, brilliant words that you would like to use when you're describing your character's feelings.

Or you might be thinking of your own, whilst I'm doing it.

So today, I'm going to do a character grid.

And I've already folded my piece of paper into four boxes.

And I'm ready to think about those characters that we meet in our opening scenes.

So I know that I meet Olga.

And I'm going to write Olga.

So we've got Olga here.

You might do a much better picture than me.

I'm going to give her a little patch on her dress.

Okay, who else do we meet? Got Olga, and who does she live with? She lives with her mother and her father.

So you need to do her mother here.

And can you give her a bit more of a serious face to start off with? And her mother is about to go and work out in the fields.

So I am going to give her like a pitchfork, for her to go and get started with her work in the fields.

And I'm going to put mother here.

She doesn't have a name.

You might be able to think of a name for her, that would be amazing.

Who else does Olga live with? Well, she lives with her father, so I'm going to draw him.

I'm going to give him quite a serious face as well.

And I'm going to give him, well, I think I'll give him like a spade, 'cause he's about to go out and work in the fields.

So there's his spade.

And when you were doing your pictures, you could choose to spend a bit longer on them than I am.

And then you can really, really think about what they might be wearing.

And I'm going to put father here.

And of course, we've got Sergei, who is only this baby.

So you're going to draw him looking very, very happy.

And there he is, sat down on the floor.

And I'll give him just a little bit of hair.

So then we've got Sergei.

Sergei has got a bit of a funny spelling, because it's a Russian name, so it's got a bit of a different sort of spelling.

So you can look at that, to copy it when you go and make your own.

Right, now I'm going to be thinking about how each of our characters are feeling at the opening of our story.

I really, really like that in the opening of "Baba Yaga", We get to the action really, really quickly.

But when we're thinking about the opening that we might write for the story, I think it would be really exciting if we knew a little bit about how everyone is feeling.

So I've got my story map here beside me to help me as well.

So I can look at some of these pictures to remind me what is happening in the story.

So to start off with, I know that Olga is quite bored.

Bored, and I know that she's bored because she chooses to leave.

She's not that keen on staying at home with baby Sergei, so I think she's quite bored there.

I think when her mom is telling her that she needs to stay, and she can't go out, I think her mom is worried.

Maybe she's telling Olga this over and over again, 'cause she knows that Olga is the sort of girl who might not listen to her.

So I think that she is really worried.

I think that maybe Olga then, because her mom is quite worried, and is telling her what to do quite a lot, she's quite frustrated, frustrated, tricky word there.

She's frustrated that maybe she's not allowed to do what she wants.

And maybe that's why she chooses not to listen to her parents.

Now we know less about her father and baby Sergei, so I'm going to have to use my imagination and my creativity, and knowing what I know about the story, to think about how her father might be feeling.

And I think that her father, if he is feeling the same as her mother, of her mother, he's worried, he might be a bit scared about Baba Yaga.

So I think he might be quite scared.

Baby Sergei, we know that even when he is playing with those bones on Baba Yaga's floor, he's still playing happily with them.

So I think he's quite happy, happy, and quite content as well.

He doesn't really want for much, he's content.

Okay, so we've got bored, frustrated, worried.

I think maybe mum is a bit nervous as well.

Nervous that Olga is going to get taken by Baba Yaga.

And I think maybe her parents are quite strict, or they're feeling at least that they need to be strict, to help Olga to make good choices.

So when Olga hears don't go into the forest, she does anyway.

So I think she's quite curious, curious about what might happen if she does ignore her parents.

Now that you've seen me do my character grid, it's time for you to do your character grid.

So the first thing that you're going to do, is get your character grid ready, by getting your piece of paper, folding it, or using a ruler to divide it into your four parts.

And then write Olga, Sergei, mother and father in each box.

So you can pause the video now to go and do that.

Well done, super story tellers for getting your character grid all ready.

Now you are going to draw a picture of each character, and write adjectives to describe their feelings in the opening scene.

Remember, we are just thinking about the opening, and we're just thinking about what details we now know about those characters and how they're feeling that aren't there in the opening that I told at the beginning.

So I've got some ideas here to help you.

Some of them, you might think, that is a great adjective, Ms. Cashin I definitely want to write that down.

And some of them you might think, I don't think that makes sense in this part of the story.

I don't think that's a good adjective to use here, so you can make your own choices.

There might even be some that you think you can use for more than one character.

So let's have a go, my turn, your turn at reading these words.

Bored, worried, happy, relaxed, annoyed, curious, anxious, strict, frustrated.

If there are words that you don't know the meaning of as well, you can maybe ask somebody at home to explain them to you, or think carefully about how you might use them in a sentence, and if you've heard them anywhere before.

Remember, I only added a few to mine.

But you can add as many adjectives as you like to really build up that picture of how each person is feeling in the opening of our story.

So now you can pause the video, and go and complete your character grid.

Well done for doing your character grid.

That is absolutely fantastic.

And I would love to hear some of the adjectives that you've used, especially if they're not some that are up on my screen here.

Oh, I tripped over my words there.

Right, let's have a look at our challenge task.

I have got a picture of somebody here.

She looks a bit different in each picture, but who do you think this picture is of, can you tell me? These are pictures of Baba Yaga.

I would like us to do a character grid now for Baba Yaga.

So we're going to draw a picture of her, and write how do we think she's feeling at the beginning of the story? This is an extra challenge, because we don't know how she's feeling at the beginning of the story.

We don't meet her until the middle of the story.

So you've got these here, some ideas about how you're going to draw her.

Are you going to give her a long, crooked nose? Are you going to give her these long, pointy fingers? Are you going to give her a mean face? Oh, I bet you're going to do a really frightening picture.

So this is your challenge task.

Draw a picture of Baba Yaga, and how might she be feeling at the beginning of the story? I've given you three adjectives that I thought might help to get you started.

I thought she might be feeling bored.

She might be feeling hungry.

She might be feeling excited.

Now again, you might think some of those adjectives work, well, you might think, actually I don't think that does help with Baba Yaga in the opening of my story.

I've got a different idea.

So you can pause the video now, draw your picture of Baba Yaga, and cover her in adjectives about how she might be feeling at this point of the story.

Well done for completing the challenge.

Absolutely amazing storytelling today.

So we've got such a brilliant idea of how all our characters are feeling in the opening of the story.

In our next lesson, we're going to be thinking about where the story takes place.

We're going to be thinking really carefully about the forest, and what details we can add about the amazing forest that Olga lives in.

So, I would love to see some of your work, especially if you've done some fantastic pictures.

So you can always share your work with Oak National.

If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

I really hope to see you for our next lesson, where we carry on thinking really carefully about the opening scene, bye!.