Good morning! My name is Miss Halliday.

Thank you for joining me today.

It's a pleasure to have you all here.

Today's lesson is focusing predominantly on writing, and I can't wait to see all the amazing written responses that you'll come up with today.

So let's get started.

So today's lesson is called "Writing about Stave 3", and that's exactly what we'll be doing.

We're going to be combining everything that you've learned in relation to Stave 3 and producing one fantastic written response.

So by the end of today's lesson, you will have demonstrated really rich layers of textual analysis in your extended response.

But first, here are some keywords that you'll need in order to unlock today's learning.

We've got to analyse, method, discourse marker, and accustomed.

Here are the keyword definitions.

If you'd like to take a little longer to read them at your own pace and digest them, then please feel free to pause the video as you do so.

So here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start by focusing on getting that really rich textual analysis.

We're then going to look at how to include this within a larger written response.

But let's start first with that rich textual analysis.

So whenever you're analysing a text or a quotation, what you are effectively doing is exposing layers of methods.

And within that, you are analysing these methods for meaning.

Now, any text that a writer's ever written is formed in layers and the writer will layer method upon method to create multiple meanings to enrich the experience for the reader.

So what you are doing when you're analysing is effectively exposing these different layers of methods and meanings.

Now, it's sometimes helpful to think of a text, a bit like an onion.

We know that onions have several layers, and that before you can cook or chop that onion, you need to peel back many of the layers to get to the real, you know, the soft part of the onion.

Now, if you imagine that the text is like an onion, when you are analysing that text, just like you would when you are cooking, you have to peel back several layers of methods and their corresponding meanings in order to get to the very centre, so the very origin or the beginning of the writer's method, which is always that singular word, because that is the smallest matter of the writer's method.

So think as the individual word as the smallest method the writer can use.

Now, here's a visual representation of this idea.

So if you imagine that this here is like our onion, but it's our text.

Now, when you are analysing a quotation, it's always a good idea to start by analysing it quite generically, quite holistically.

And this is the largest method that you are analysing because the whole quotation itself is in fact a method because it's something that the writer does.

So when you come to analyse that method, that quotation or that text, you should give a general overarching impression of roughly what it shows you.

Okay, so what is it that you are reading? What do you learn from what you are reading, basically.

Now, this could be an impression of the character.

It could be an impression of the setting.

It could just be your opinion about what you have read.

So you're giving that overarching impression, that general or holistic interpretation of the writer's method, which in this case is the quotation.

What you start to do then is you start to drill down or peel back these layers.

Exposing more of the writer's methods and zooming in on some of the more specific methods that the writer uses.

So these larger methods like the similes, the motifs, the metaphors.

And once you've examined those, you can really zoom in even further to expose the writer's smallest method, which of course is the individual word.

So there's a better visual representation of what we mean by this idea of layers of methods and layers of meaning.

Now, here's an example from "A Christmas Carol".

So for example, if this is our quotation, "The pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, "so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-aquartern "of ignited brandy, and bedight "with Christmas holly stuck into the top." So let's imagine that we're trying to analyse that quotation now.

I'd like you to have a go first before we go through the example, just to see how much you can do independently before you get a little bit of help.

So I'm going to ask you to discuss with the people around you.

Well, what layers of methods can you already identify and explain in that quotation? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at that activity and before we share some ideas together.

Fantastic work.

Really good effort there.

And I can see lots of people, you know, unpicking a few of the layers of meaning that we've got here and some of the methods that Dickens has used.

So let's see what you could have put.

So in the outer ring, that larger method, okay, when we read this quotation, we see that this is a really typical Christmas pudding.

All Christmas puddings are set on fire before they're served and many of them do have holly stuck into the top.

So then we've got to think, "Well, what do we learn from reading this quotation?" Now this quotation is taken from Stave 3 where we see the Cratchits celebrating Christmas.

And what this pudding shows us is the Cratchit's Christmas spirit.

And it shows us how willing they are and how enthusiastic they are in their celebrations of Christmas.

The idea that they as a family embody Christmas spirit.

So that's kind of a general holistic impression of that quotation and what we learn from it.

Now, if we drill deeper down into that quotation and peel back another layer, we might notice that actually Dickens has used symbolism, as the larger method here, because fire we know represents generosity in the novella.

And we see that here because the Christmas pudding is blazing, and that word "blazing" because we know that fire symbolises generosity, shows that the Cratchits are a very generous and loving family.

So that's what that shows us.

If we're to take this one step further and such as smallest method, which we know are the individual words, then we could talk about that word "blazing" itself and talk about the fact that it shows the extent of their generosity.

The pudding's not just on fire, it's not just burning, it's blazing, and the word "blazing" has really rich connotations of very kind of developed fire, which shows how generous the Cratchit family are.

Same with that word "ignited".

Now again, you could talk about that verb and you could mention how perhaps in this moment, Scrooge's generosity itself is ignited because he realises that he can actually help the Cratchit family.

So again, that word ignited there has real significance within this quotation.

So what I'm hoping you can see there is that in this one quotation, we can actually just keep peeling layers and layers of methods and meaning back and actually, although we've restricted it to three layers here, you could just keep going and you could probably analyse every single word within this quotation because language is that rich and your job as a critical writer when you are analysing a text is to expose and explore those layers of meaning.

You're almost like a detective or an investigator.

You're looking for meaning, and you're looking for how the writer achieves that meaning.

So when you are analysing a quotation, you should absolutely be exploring it as much as possible, peeling and digging up those layers of methods and meanings together and how they interlink with one another one.

So that is just an example of how we can start to analyse quotations really richly.

So what we're going to do now is we're going to have a little bit of a check for understanding, and we're going to analyse one quote together before I set you off to do your own independently.

So our question here is, well, what methods has Dickens used? So again, we're looking to expose those layers of methods to look for the layers of meaning.

So here's our quotation, "As good as gold," said Bob, "and better." Now this quotation again is taken from Stave 3 and it is taken from the part when Bob returns with Tiny Tim and Mrs. Cratchit asks how he has behaved and this here is Bob's response.

So, in terms of analysing those layers of methods and therefore meanings, remember that we start big.

So what does this tell us? Well, layer one, so our overarching impression is that it shows that Tiny Tim is a very well-behaved child and is very pleasant to be around.

That's what we learned from this quotation.

So it's that overarching impression.

Now, if we drill down a little bit more deeply into that larger method, well we can see that Dickens has used a simile.

"As good as gold" that's a simile.

But what does it teach us? Well, it shows us that he's a very valuable member of the Cratchit family and that they feel an abundance of love for him.

So he's very precious and valuable to the Cratchits.

Again, if we drill down further into an individual word, this word here "better" shows that they value love over money and the minute that Bob adds that word "and better" that shows us the extent of their love for Tiny Tim, and how precious and how valuable he is to the Cratchit family.

And it's actually really significant word choice there because it links to Belle and Scrooge's mistakes.

It links back to this whole scenario where Belle ends the engagement with Scrooge because he values money over love.

And here we see that the Cratchits are not making that mistake and that they do value human connection over material wealth.

So here even that word "and better" has real significance not only in this moment but in the rest of the novella as well, because it's Dickens showing us that actually, you know, money doesn't buy happiness and the Cratchits value their family much more than they value being wealthy or being financially comfortable.

So now I'm going to hand over to you, and I'd like you to have a go at taking this quotation here.

So we've got, "Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; "but prostrate, too, in their humility," and peeling back those layers of methods to expose the layers of meaning.

Now, I understand that this is quite a difficult task.

So what I've done is I've put a little bit of help for you on the slide just to remind you of what it is that you are looking for.

So remember, you are looking to first of all, layer one, give that overarching impression of what it shows you about ignorance and wants 'cause this forms part of the description of ignorance and want here.

Then we're looking for that larger method.

So is it characterization, is it simile, is it metaphor? You know, what's that larger method that Dickens is using here? And then we're looking to examine layer three.

So which individual words are really significant here? Which would you pick out and what can you say about them? What's Dickens trying to show us? So what I'm going to do now is invite you to pause the video for a few moments while you have a go at unpicking and peeling back those layers of meaning, sorry, those layers of methods to expose the layers of meaning.

So off you go.

Fantastic work.

Some really good suggestions there.

And here's what you could have said.

So first of all, your overarching impression might have been that actually ignorance and want the children are presented as really unpleasant characters here.

Not unpleasant necessarily always in nature, but definitely in appearance.

Now, Dickens uses zoomorphism here.

So he compares the children to animals and dehumanises them so that they appear animalistic.

And this is to convey their lack of humanity because they've been treated so poorly by society.

And then if we drill down even further and we peel back even more layers, we get to that use of the individual word.

And you could talk about here yellow or scowling and this idea that they are sick with injustice, they're almost ill from their neglect.

And we also see from that word "scowling", the resentment towards society and other people growing because of the way that they've been treated in their youth.

So well done if you've got any of those ideas.

Excellent work.

So once we've analysed our quotations, we've then got to write up our opinions and ideas about the quotation in the form of a critical paragraph of analysis.

Now I'm going to show you how the quotation "Good as gold and better," from the previous slide would look in a paragraph of critical analysis.

And as I read it, I'd like you to try and identify those layers of meaning that you picked out earlier in the task.

So we've got, "When Mrs. Cratchit asks "'how little Tim' behaved, "Bob responds that he was 'as good as gold and better.

' "This response illustrates that Tiny Tim is a pleasant "and well-behaved child who is cherished by his family." So already here we're seeing that layer one.

We're seeing that overarching impression being discussed and we're discussing kind of what it shows us and what it says.

So here we agreed earlier that Tiny Tim is a pleasant child and we learned that from the quote.

So again, we've just popped in here well, this response shows me that Tiny Tim is pleasant and that he's well-behaved.

Let's carry on reading.

"Dickens' use of the simile "illustrates Tiny Tim's value to the Cratchits "and conveys that they value family "and love over material wealth.

"Their son is far more precious to them than any real gold." And as I'm sure you can identify here, again, we see that layer two, that larger method of the simile, and again, always linking back and always explaining the layer of meaning that we've uncovered.

And it's that fact that Tiny Tim is really precious.

"Furthermore, Dickens' use of the words "'and better' shows his harsh condemnation "of materialism and avarice." So again, here, I'm sure you can see that layer three, that individual word analysis, okay, that word "and better" is being really picked apart here and it's being explained exactly what it shows us about Tiny Tim and what Dickens is trying to criticise here.

So let's carry on reading our paragraph and we're going to unpick another word to expose more layers of meaning.

"His use of the word 'gold' "reminds us of the conversation "Scrooge and Belle had in Stave 2, "where she informed him "that she felt 'displaced' by a 'golden idol' "because Scrooge prioritised his relentless pursuit "of wealth over her happiness." So again, here another element to that layer three, because we're looking at that individual word of "gold" and we're talking about the colour symbolism, we're talking about the significance of that within the novella and what it reminds us of in Stave 2.

So again, really exposing those layers of meaning here.

And let's finish the paragraph.

"Here in using the word 'gold' "and suggesting that Tiny Tim is better than gold, "Dickens draws parallels between the two scenarios, "condemning the decisions "and adolescent Scrooge made all those years ago "to choose money over love.

"Through the Cratchits, Dickens illustrates "that though they are not materially wealthy, "they have an abundance of love "and this is worth more than any amount of 'gold'." Now, once you have analysed the quotation, what is absolutely imperative and crucial is that you then go back and you link that analysis back to the writer's intentions.

So in using these methods and conveying this meaning, what was the writer trying to show us about humanity, about society? And you need to include that every time you include your analysis.

It's no good just saying, the writer does this because of this.

You need to say, "Well, why does the writer do it? "What do we learn about humanity "and society from the writer's text?" So here, all layers of analysis need to link back to the writer's intentions, that is really important.

So I'm passing the baton over to you now, just like we've seen with our first quotation from our previous task, you are going to now write up your own paragraph analysis using the quotation that you analysed in the previous check for understanding.

So just to remind you, this was the quotation that you unpicked, and these were the things that we said about it.

So we said that layer one, the overarching impression was that the children are unpleasant.

We talked about Dickens' use of zoomorphism.

The fact that they're compared to animals shows the lack of humanity.

We talked about the significance of the individual words, yellow and scowling, and talked about how they're presented as sick with injustice.

And that we can see that resentment towards society already growing.

So you don't need to remember the analysis that we did together because it's on screen for you now.

What I'd like you to do when you've written up your analysis and you've worked your way through the layers is then link it back to the writer's intentions.

Now you can link your layers of analysis together and back to the writer's intentions using discourse markers like in addition, furthermore and moreover.

So again, I've given you some discourse markers to help you link your sections of your writing together.

So a little reminder of the task, you are writing up a paragraph of analysis using the quotation that we analysed I have given you the suggestions that we came up with together in the previous check for understanding.

So you can use those.

All you are doing is writing them up into a cohesive paragraph using discourse markers to link your layers of analysis together and link back to the writer's intentions.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at that activity so off you go.

Some fantastic work there.

Really well done.

I can see many of you really synthesising everything that you've learned in this first learning cycle to produce your best piece of analysis work yet.

So a massive well done.

What I thought would be really nice is if we could undertake some self-assessment on this task now.

So I would like you first of all to read back through your work.

So what did you write? What do you think of it? I'd like you to highlight your layers of analysis in different colours and label them layer one, overarching impression, layer two, larger method, layer three, which individual words.

The reason I want you to do this is so that you can see the layers of analysis that you have achieved through that quotation, and you can see really clearly the fact that we've peeled back all those layers of methods and therefore meanings.

Once you've done that, I'd like you to decide, well, did you link back to the writer's intentions enough? And I'd like you to underline your use of discourse markers to link different sections of your paragraph together.

So I'm gonna invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at that self-assessment task.

Fantastic work.

Let's move on.

Onto the second part of the lesson now, which I'm really excited about.

'cause hopefully you'll be able to take everything you've learned from learning cycle one and demonstrate it in your task in learning cycle two, which is all about writing an extended response.

So you are going to write a response to the following question.

Using the following quotation how does Dickens present children in "A Christmas Carol"? "The school is not quite deserted," said the Ghost.

"A solitary child, neglected by his friends, "is left there still." Now this is a quote from Stave 2 where the Ghost shows Scrooge, his younger and former self.

What I'd like you to do now is discuss, well, what children can you remember in the novella? How are they presented and what's Dickens' message about childhood? So again, I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you have a little bit of a recap and get your ideas flowing before we start planning our response.

Fantastic.

So let's just recap the role of children in the novella before we start planning and writing our response.

So here's what you could have said.

Remember that we meet young Scrooge in Stave 2, where we see him neglected by his friends, and we see that he has a very, you know, challenging childhood that's not very carefree because he only has himself to depend on.

And he reads for escapism because he's so lonely.

Similarly, Peter Cratchit also has quite a difficult childhood as we're told in Stave 3 that he likely knew the inside of a pawnbrokers.

And this shows his lack of innocence in his childhood.

He's seen and witnessed the poverty of his family and he tries to support them however he can.

We also see that Bob has a job lined up for him because we're told that Bob has a quote "situation for Peter".

So again, we see Peter's family depending on him for income.

This is much like Martha Cratchit who we understand is a poor apprentice.

And we're told that in Stave 3 as well.

And this shows that she works to support her family.

So again, her childhood isn't carefree either because the Cratchit family are also depending on her first as a source of income.

And finally, Tiny Tim, a really significant child in this novella, arguably the most significant child in this novella.

Now we learn in Stave 3 that Tiny Tim is disabled and that his life is withering away from him.

And again, Tiny Tim, much like the other children in this novella, has a really difficult childhood because his disability means that he has to face more challenges than the average child.

So not only is he poor, but he also faces challenges as a result of his disability and that makes him entirely dependent on his family.

So well done if you've got any of those ideas in your recap.

So let's check for understanding before we move on.

What is Dickens trying to illustrate about children in the novella? Is it A: That they're all miserable because of the widespread poverty in Victorian London? Is it B: That they should be used as a resource to help grow the economy? Is it C: That they hold the keys to a more moral and equal society so they need to be protected from injustice? Or is it D: That it doesn't matter how they are treated because they will grow up to change society for the better? So what I'm going to ask you to do now is pause the video while you write down the answer that you think corresponds to the correct letter.

So off you go.

And a massive well done to those of you that wrote C, you are absolutely right.

Dickens is trying to illustrate that children hold the keys to a more moral and equal society.

So they must be protected from injustice from an early age.

So well done if you got that right.

So onto our final task of the lesson, and this task is actually split into two parts, and I'll talk you through both parts in turn.

So the first part of the task is a planning task.

And what I've done is I've given you a planning grid and I would like you to complete it.

Now, this should take you between five and 10 minutes.

And you'll notice here that we're starting with that overall thesis statement where you've got to declare what you think Dickens is trying to say about children in the novella.

It's then split up into your paragraph outlines, which have your topic sentence, your supporting details, and your summary sentences included.

You'll then notice that I'm asking you to plan what you're going to say in your conclusion, which is basically where you link back to your thesis statement and you restate your opinion.

So what I'm going to get you to do now is pause the video while you plan your response using the discussions we've already had this lesson about the role of children in the novella.

So pause the video and take those five to 10 minutes to plan your response now.

Some fantastic work there and some really full plans, which tells me that you're in the best position possible to write up your response.

So let's move on to just that.

So, surprise, surprise, the second part of your set, last task of the lesson is to actually write a response to the question.

Now, here's a reminder of what you were being asked.

Using the following quotation, how does Dickens present children in "A Christmas Carol"? And here was our quote, "The school is not quite deserted," said the Ghost.

"A solitary child, neglected by his friends, "is left there still." Now, you may include your paragraph from earlier in the lesson from learning cycle one, where we analyse that yellow, meagre, ragged, scowlish, et cetera, where we analyse that quote.

So you can use that work that you've already done to get you started with your response.

So you can include that as one of your paragraphs.

However, as you are writing up the rest of your response, I would like you to remember to focus on those really detailed layers of analysis.

Remember that layer one is that overarching impression of what the quote shows you.

Layer two is that larger method characterization.

Similarly metaphor, what is it? Layer three is those individual words and what they show you.

So remember that every time you use a quotation to support your opinion, you need to be peeling back those layers of methods to expose Dickens' layers of meaning.

Please remember that.

And I want you to really focus as you're writing your response on nailing that rich textual analysis.

So that's your priority for your extended response today.

And finally, after you've analysed and you've demonstrated your amazing capability to analyse a text really thoroughly, make sure that you then link your analysis back to Dickens' intentions.

And that's really important for you to do that.

Remember, analysis link to the writer's intentions.

Now I'm expecting an extended response here, so I'm expecting at least a page.

And what I'd like you to do is really try your best here and see how much rich textual analysis you can actually demonstrate in your response, and making sure that you're linking back to Dickens' intentions.

So I'm going to invite you to pause the video now while you undertake this task.

Enjoy it, and off you go.

Fantastic effort.

And I could see that most people definitely got to that page of writing.

So really well done there.

So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to show you a paragraph and I'm going to ask you to use the following paragraph that I'm going to read to you to improve your own work.

So you could be taking things out that you like.

You could be stealing bits, magpieing bits.

It might be the use of discourse markers.

You might really like the analysis.

There might be a little bit of context that you've not included in yours that you want to steal.

It's up to you, okay.

So as I'm reading, start thinking about what it is you think you could steal from this response to enhance your own.

"In Stave 1, the Ghost of Christmas pass shows Scrooge "his long-forgotten childhood "in which he was a 'solitary child, "'neglected by his friends' "who was 'left' at boarding school during the holidays.

"Here, Dickens illustrates that Scrooge had a miserable "and lonely childhood, perhaps demonstrating "that Scrooge as an adult "is simply the product of his childhood environment "as he became accustomed to being alone.

"Dickens' use of the word 'solitary' here "is reminiscent of his description of Scrooge in Stave 1, "where he is described as 'solitary as an oyster'.

"In using the same word to describe young Scrooge, "Dickens is illustrating his concerns for society: "that children who are 'neglected' "or who face injustice in their youth, "grow up to be resentful adults "who turn their backs on society, "thus highlighting the importance of kindness "and empathy to society's functioning "and reinforcing our moral obligation "to protect children from misery and 'want'." So remember, you are taking parts of this model answer to improve your own work.

So what I'm going to do now is invite you to pause the video while you get stealing.

Sharing is caring.

Do not be afraid to steal, steal whatever you want and add it into your own response to improve it.

So pause the video and off you go.

Well done.

Some fantastic improvements there, and I can see that some of you really stole a lot from this response, which is fantastic 'cause that's what it's there to do.

You're supposed to steal from it.

So I'm really glad to see that many of you took advantage of that opportunity.

Well done.

So to summarise the learning from today, please remember that writers layer methods upon methods to create a literary text.

And that's all that text is.

It's just layers and layers of methods and the corresponding meaning.

Now, when you are analysing that text, you can analyse the layers of meaning.

Now, the smallest method that a writer uses is the individual word.

And remember that a method is anything that the writer does.

It's any choice that the writer makes.

You can analyse a quotation by starting with a general overarching impression of the quotation, and then drilling down into the larger method before exploring the smallest of the writer's methods, which is the individual word.

Remember that when you're writing your analysis up, you can use discourse markers to link your layers of analysis together and then link back to the writer's intentions.

I'd like to thank you for coming to today's lesson and producing such fantastic extended written responses.

I was so impressed by your effort and your resilience.

So a massive well done.

Thank you for coming, and I hope to see you next time.

See you later.