Lesson video

Hello, I'm Miss Corbert, and welcome to today's lesson, Expressing an Opinion About Events and Themes in "Jack and the Beanstalk." Now, this is one of my favourite things to do.

Once I read a story or a book, I really like to think about how I feel about it, how it's made me feel, and that's just what we're going to be doing today.

So all you need for this lesson are your listening ears, your looking eyes, and your thinking brains.

It would also be really great if you could have someone nearby to talk to.

I think we're ready to get started.

Today's learning outcome is I can express my opinion about a character's actions.

And these key words will help us to get there.

Can you repeat them after me? My turn, then your turn.

Character.

Opinions.

Heroes.

Villains.

Well done.

And the first part of our lesson will be thinking from characters' perspectives.

We know that rereading a story helps us to remember the plot as well as notice details in the text and illustrations.

I'm going to read the story to you now.

Can you get those listening ears ready? I am going to read my version of "Jack and the Beanstalk." "Once upon a time, there was a boy named Jack who lived with his lonely mother.

They had very little money for food, but they had a cow named Betsy, who gave them milk every morning.

One day, Jack took Betsy to the market to sell her milk, but on the way, he met a strange old man who offered him some magical beans for the cow, and Jack excitedly agreed.

However, when Jack got home, his mother was furious.

She angrily threw the beans out of the window and sent Jack to bed without any supper.

The next morning, Jack woke up to find a gigantic green beanstalk had grown outside his window, and it went all the way up into the clouds.

He decided to climb it to see what he could find at the top.

Up, up, up, Jack climbed, into the sky, until he reached a kingdom above the clouds.

There he saw a huge castle and quietly sneaked inside.

Inside the enormous castle, Jack tiptoed past a sleepy, smelly giant in a room filled with treasures.

Jack spotted a goose who laid golden eggs and more coins and jewels than he had ever seen.

But what caught his attention most was a beautiful golden harp in the corner of the room.

When Jack grabbed the magical harp, it started yelling loudly, 'Help master, a boy is stealing me!' The angry giant woke up and saw Jack running away with the harp, the golden goose, and a sack of gold.

Jack raced down the beanstalk with a fuming giant stomping after him.

As soon as Jack reached the bottom, he shouted for his mother to bring an axe.

With a big swing, Jack chopped the beanstalk down.

The giant tumbled down, crashing onto the ground below.

Jack and his mother were safe at last.

With the treasure Jack brought home, they would never be poor again, and they lived happily ever after." Thank you for listening so well, and I really hope you enjoyed the story.

I would like you to have a think.

If you were Jack, do you think you would've swapped Betsy the cow for the magic beans? I would have swapped the cow or I wouldn't have swapped the cow.

Can you share very quickly? Pause the video now.

Fantastic.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Thinking about our own experiences can help us to understand how different characters might feel at different moments and what makes them make their decisions.

I can think of a time when I really wanted a new toy, but my mum said it was too expensive.

I remember feeling desperate to buy the new toy, but I did not want my mum to have to spend lots of money.

Now, Jack is in a similar moment, isn't he? He knows that he should keep the cow, Betsy, but he's desperate to get his hands on those magic beans.

So is this true or false? Get those thumbs ready.

We can use our experiences to help us understand how a character might be feeling.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video now and decide.

Well done if you said true.

When we're thinking about why a character did something or said something, we could try and imagine that we are them and think about what we would do.

So we know that an old man offered Jack some magical beans in exchange for his cow.

First, think about an experience you might have had where a stranger or somebody you're not that familiar with, spoke to you, or where you saw something that you really wanted, like that new toy that I wanted.

Now, imagine you are Jack.

Hmm.

What might you be feeling? So try and think of an example from your own experiences, and then imagine that you are Jack.

Jack is probably feeling the same as you.

Can you pause the video now and discuss? Well done.

Let's see some ideas.

When we imagine we are a character, we use our knowledge of the story to think from their perspective, which means imagining we are them.

So for example, "I'm feeling excited because I think these beans will stop us from ever being hungry again." Hmm, a good idea.

"I am feeling nervous because this man is a stranger, so I'm not sure that I can trust him." So this person has used their own experiences of knowing that maybe we shouldn't talk to strangers and then linked it to the story and how Jack might be feeling.

The illustrations in a story can also help us to recognise how a character is feeling.

Does he look excited or does he look nervous? Hmm.

Have a look a bit closer at the picture.

How do you think Jack is feeling? I have four adjectives here that I'd like you to choose from.

Bored.

Unhappy.

Loving.

Excited.

Pause the video now, Jack is feeling, mm, because.

.

.

Well done if you said excited.

Jack is feeling excited because he wants the magic beans.

Now, I would like you to pause the video again and decide how we know he looks excited.

Think about his face.

Jack is excited.

I know this because.

.

.

Pause the video now.

Fantastic.

Jack is excited.

I know this because he has a big grin on his face and his hands are out desperate to take them.

We know that different characters can act differently in different situations.

A character's actions often show us how they are feeling.

Jack felt really excited to show his mother the magical beans, but that's not how Jack's mother felt.

How did Jack's mother feel when Jack told her what he'd done? Jack's mother felt, mm, because, and again, look at the illustration.

Be a detective.

I know this because.

.

.

Pause the video now.

You are being such fantastic reading detectives, really looking closely at the illustrations and thinking about the story.

Her actions show us that she's angry with Jack.

I have taken a part of the story 'cause as well as the illustrations, we can look back at the story to help us.

"She angrily threw the beans out of the window and sent Jack up to bed without any supper." So she angrily threw them.

We've got an adverb to show how she threw them.

So she didn't want them, and she was so cross at Jack, that she didn't even want to see him, and she sent him to bed without any supper.

The illustrations, like we know, show us that Jack's mother is cross.

Her mouth is wide, her arm is out, and her brows are down, showing how angry she is.

And she's angry because she knows how important Betsy the cow was to the family, whereas Jack was excited.

So we've got one character that's excited and one character that's angry.

(gasps) We can use our knowledge of the story to understand why Jack's mother felt this way.

Jack and his mother don't have much money for food.

We know that from the text.

So Jack then sells the cow for some magical beans from a stranger.

Hmm.

Jack and his mother now have no cow to bring them money each day.

So she's angry because Jack sold the cow, even though they need the cow to make money.

So, I wonder if you can be that reading detective.

Why was Jack's mother angry with him? Is it because she does not like the taste of the beans? Is it because Jack sold the cow in exchange for the beans? Or because Jack was late home from the market? Can you pause the video? Jack's mother was angry because.

.

.

Did you get it? Jack's mother was angry because Jack sold the beans in exchange, sold the cow, not the beans, in exchange for the beans.

We don't know that she doesn't like the taste of beans, but I don't think that's why she's angry.

And we also don't know that he was late back from the market, and even if he was, the reason why she is most angry is because Jack sold Betsy the cow.

So from that example that we've discussed, we know that different characters can have different perspectives about the same event.

So Jack was excited about the beans, but Mum was angry about the beans.

Same event, but different feelings, and then different actions.

Let's have a look at another event in the story and think about how the different characters felt about it.

The event is Jack was in the giant's house, taking the giant's things.

Hmm.

Which characters were involved? Jack and the giant.

Jack, "I am taking these things because my mother and I need money for food, so I deserve them." Hmm.

That's Jack's perspective on it.

The giant says, "I am chasing you because you are stealing things that don't belong to you." That's the giant's perspective.

Two different points of view.

I wonder who you agree with.

I agree with, mm, because.

.

.

Pause the video now.

Some really interesting points of view about who you think is in the right there.

Keep those in your head for now, because we're going to be talking about those later.

We might agree with how a character feels, but we might disagree with how they behave.

If someone is doing something you don't like, you could: stay calm and take some deep breaths, use your words and talk to the person, ask an adult to help you, or think about what you believe is the right thing to do.

Did the giant do any of those things? I believe that the giant was right to be a bit angry because Jack stole things that belonged to him.

But I don't believe that the giant was right to be scary and stomp after him.

Maybe he should have tried these strategies instead.

Taken a deep breath and then called Jack and spoke to him, and then maybe offered him some of his treasures if he knew that Jack didn't have very much money.

How would you feel if someone took something that belonged to you and what would you do? Try to think from the other person's perspective.

If somebody took something from you, maybe imagine your favourite thing, and they took it without permission, how would you feel? I would feel, mm, because that's my favourite thing.

But what would you do? It would be really great if you could think of some strategies to keep calm and then solve the problem, like I just explained about Jack and the giant.

Pause the video now.

I'd loved hearing how you would feel and what you would do about it to try and find a solution, well done.

"I would feel upset if someone took something that belonged to me.

I would tell an adult so they could come and help me talk to the person calmly and solve the problem." That's such a great idea from somebody.

Well done, because then those people could be happy.

Fantastic.

Now the next part of our lesson is expressing your opinion.

I would like you to have a think about how you would answer these questions.

What is your favourite fairytale? My favourite fairytale is.

.

.

Who is your favourite character in "Jack and the Beanstalk"? My favourite character in "Jack and the Beanstalk" is.

.

.

And what is your favourite part of "Jack and the Beanstalk"? My favourite part of "Jack and the Beanstalk" is.

.

.

Pause the video and answer those questions.

Brilliant, I loved hearing all of your answers and it's great to hear that they were different to others.

Did you have an answer for any of those questions? Give me a thumbs up.

Yes, you did.

If you did, that answer that you gave is called an opinion.

One of our key words, opinion.

Well done.

An opinion is what a person thinks about something.

One person's opinion is not always the same as someone else's opinion because it's how they personally feel about it.

This means it's personal.

So for example, I heard, "My favourite fairytale is 'Jack in the Beanstalk.

'" Or I heard, "My favourite fairytale is 'The Magic Porridge Pot.

'" Neither of those are wrong.

There's not a set answer about which is the best fairytale.

It's about what you think and your opinion.

So true or false, all opinions are the same.

True or false? Show me your thumbs in five seconds.

Five, four.

.

.

And zero.

Show me.

Well done if you are saying false because an opinion is personal to you or to somebody else, then it means that somebody's opinion might be different to yours.

So you might have the same opinion as someone, but it's also okay to have a different opinion.

Everybody is allowed to have an opinion on something.

Our opinion belongs to us.

So we would use words like I, me, my.

"My favourite food is dumplings." "I like pasta best." So we're expressing our opinion from our point of view.

Again, you might disagree with somebody's opinion.

You might not like pasta.

You might not like dumplings.

But that does not mean that their opinion is wrong because it is personal to them.

So which of these sentences is an opinion? Okay, "The sky is blue." Okay, "My favourite colour is blue." "Pass me my coat." Which one of those is an opinion and how do you know? Pause the video now.

Let's see what you got.

I said that "my favourite colour is blue" is an opinion.

"The sky is blue." That is true, but that is a fact.

That is not an opinion.

It's not something personal to one person.

Everybody knows that the sky is blue.

It's not an opinion, it's a fact.

"Pass me my coat" is asking someone to do something for you.

Again, it's not how you feel about something.

You might say, "Pass me my coat.

I am too cold today." I am too cold today would be your opinion on how you're feeling, but "pass me my coat" on its own is not an opinion.

"My favourite colour is blue" is an opinion, 'cause you're thinking about what your favourite colour is that's personal to you.

Now my opinion isn't the same as that one because my favourite colour is green.

I wonder what your favourite colour is.

Is it the same as that one? Same as mine, or different? And that's okay because it's an opinion.

Let's share our opinions about our favourite characters in "Jack and The Beanstalk." "My favourite character is Jack." "My favourite character is Jack's mother." Who is your favourite character in "Jack and the Beanstalk"? Can you tell me in five seconds? My favourite character is.

.

.

Five.

My favourite character is.

.

.

I heard so many different opinions there.

Well done.

To help others understand our opinion, we can give a reason why we feel that way using "because." Using "because" helps to explain our opinion.

"So my favourite character is Jack," rather than just leaving it there, "because he's daring and brave." So we are listing the things that we like about him.

"My favourite character is Jack's mother because she comes to the rescue with the axe." So Lucas has found an event in the story to explain why he likes that character, because he thinks it's so important that she's the one that gets the axe to help Jack.

It's really important to listen to and respect other people's opinions, even if you don't agree.

Which one of these words can help you to explain your opinion? Is it and, the, because, or if? I would like you to choose the word that helps you to explain your opinion and then add it to your sentence, "My favourite character is, mm," and then explain why they're your favourite character.

Pause the video now.

Well done if you said because! My favourite character is the giant because he makes the story really exciting.

Because explains why.

So we are going to share our opinions about different characters actions, what they do in the story.

Jack sold the cow for some magical beans from a stranger.

"I think Jack was clever to sell the cow." Hmm.

I wonder why they think that.

Don't forget to use "because" to give you a reason for your opinion.

"I think Jack was clever to sell the cow because it meant that he found gold at the top of the beanstalk." I hadn't thought of it like that before.

That's a great opinion.

What do you think about Jack's decision to sell the cow for some magical beans? I think it was a good decision because, I think it was a bad decision because.

Pause the video now.

I loved hearing your opinions and you using because to explain why.

I heard, "I think Jack's decision was a bad decision because it puts him in danger going to the top of the beanstalk and they were left without money for food." "I think the decision was a good decision because it meant he could go on an exciting adventure." Everybody's opinion is different.

I wonder whether you have the same opinion as one I've said or as the person you have nearby.

I would like you to try and find the opinion that best answers the question, "What do you think about Jack's decision to sell the cow for magical beans?" "I think Jack was sensible to sell the cow." "I think Jack was young." "I think Jack was foolish to sell the cow because it got him into a tricky situation." Which opinion best answers the question? Pause the video now.

Let's have a look at the options.

"I think Jack was sensible to sell the cow." That's an opinion, but there's no explanation why or anything linked to the story.

"I think Jack was young." Hmm.

That doesn't really answer my question.

Doesn't really explain what I thought about the decision.

"I think Jack was foolish to sell the cow because it got him into a tricky situation." I think that opinion best answers the question, even if I don't agree with it, because it explains why using "because." "I think Jack was sensible to sell the cow" is an opinion, but it doesn't explain why you feel that way.

So important to explain our opinions.

We know that fairytales often have heroes and villains.

Our key words.

Heroes, the strong characters, villains, the not so nice characters.

Heroes are the good characters in the story.

Cinderella, Snow White, the Fairy Godmother.

Villains are the bad characters in the story.

The Ugly Sisters, the Wicked Stepmother, the Big Bad Wolf.

Oh! In "Jack and the Beanstalk," people might have different opinions about who the hero is and who the villain is.

Jack enters the giant's castle and takes the giant's golden harp, goose, and a sack full of gold.

The giant wakes up to see Jack in his castle stealing his things.

So he gets very angry and chases after him.

That is a summary of what happens in the middle of the story.

Let's hear someone's opinion.

"Jack is stealing and trespassing." "The giant is mean and scary." So just from hearing that part of the story, one person thinks Jack is doing the wrong thing, stealing and trespassing, which means going to somewhere where you're not allowed to go.

But somebody else thinks the giant is mean and scary.

Hmm.

Our opinions can be different.

It is now your turn to give your opinion.

Here is the question.

In "Jack and the Beanstalk," which character is the villain? And you need to use because to explain the answer.

And because we're trying so hard to listen and respect other people's opinions, ask someone else for their opinion.

In Jack and the Beanstalk," which character is the villain? I think, mm, is the villain because.

.

.

What is your opinion? Pauses the video now.

Well done.

I am so impressed with your really careful listening to other people's opinions and how well you explained your opinion respectfully and explained why using because.

Here are some opinions that you might have shared.

"I think Jack is the villain because it is bad to break into someone else's house and steal their things." I love that this person used because and explained why using parts of the story and events that happened in the story.

"I think the giant is the villain because he is greedy and unkind, not sharing all of the golden treasure with Jack's family, who have nothing." So again, this person has got a different opinion, but it's been explained really clearly using "because" and using evidence from the story.

Was your opinion the same or different to your partners? And did you manage to use "because" to explain why? Well done if you did.

I loved today's lesson.

It really let us get stuck into the story and really, really think about how we feel about it.

We now know that personal responses are a way of sharing our own thoughts, feelings, and opinions about a story.

We know that making connections between the story and our own experiences and feelings can help us to form an opinion about a character or something that they have done.

Opinions are best supported by evidence from the text using "because." And people might have different opinions about different things, including which characters in the story are heroes and which are villains.

Thank you so much for learning with me today.

Like I said, I really enjoyed our lesson and I loved how respectful you were and such a great listener.

I really hope see you again soon.

Bye!.