Lesson video

Hello and welcome.

My name is Mr. Santhanam.

And this is lesson five of 10.

Today's learning objective is to give opinions about what is read.

So we are going to be reading some persuasion texts today and then giving our own opinions about what we have read.

The reason why this is so important is because we need to be able to explain our own feelings and thoughts about things that we read and not just find it in the text.

Before we begin, I need to tell you something.

It's very sad because the little brave bird from our story and her forest animal friends have had an argument and we need you to solve this problem.

The Little Bird has written a letter to the forest animals, and she's very, very cross about them leaving her.

And then the forest animals have replied with another very angry letter.

It's all very, very confusing, and I'm going to need your help with it.

But before we get into all of that, let's start on a lighter note.

I've got a joke for you.

What kind of bird likes to write letters? What do you think the answer is? The answer is a penguin.

Get it? That's just a bit of fun.

Let's get started on the lesson now.

Okay, in this lesson, you are going to need some paper, a pencil or a pen, and your brilliant brain.

Pause the video now while you go and get those things.

Wow, you were like a flash of lightning then.

Well done.

Let's begin our lesson.

In today's lesson, we're going to start off with thinking about how can we give our opinions about what we have read.

After we've done that, we're going to do some reading about the persuasion texts that the Little Bird has written.

She's written a letter to her forest friends complaining about them leaving her in the forest when it was on fire.

We're then going to have some time for reflection and think about what our opinions are about the letter.

After that, we're going to have a look at another persuasion text.

This one is from the forest animals replying to the Little Bird.

And you guys are going to have a go at writing down your opinions and explaining your opinions about what you think of the whole situation.

Let's get started.

Okay, before we begin we're going to have a look at our spellings.

This week we have been really focusing on tricky words.

We know that tricky words are common exception words, which means that when you look at them, you can't just sound them out and then blend the sounds together.

We need to be able to look at them, recognise them, lock them in our brains, so we remember them, and just be able to read them from sight.

Let's have a look at some of the words that we've been learning.

Plant, improve, whole, should, again, half, money, class, sugar, steak.

Remember, you can always look at the word, say it in a sentence, write the word and then check your spelling.

If you feel like you're ready for it, why not give yourself a quick spelling tests? Give yourself two minutes to write down all the spellings.

Pause the video now while you give yourself a spelling test.

Okay, listen carefully as we think about how we can give our opinions.

This can sometimes be really tricky, so let's break it down a two bit so we can understand.

Giving your opinion about what is read.

Now, this can be really tricky 'cause if I read something in a book, I might not be able to find the answer to this in the text.

That's why it's really tricky, because we need to think about how we feel about what we've read.

How do we feel? And what do we think about what we've read? It's all about coming up with your own original answer.

Sometimes there isn't a right or wrong answer.

Sometimes it's just about what you feel.

So trust your heart.

And don't forget to explain your answer.

The first thing we need to do when we explain our opinions is say, what do you think? What is your opinion? Not what your friend thinks, not what Bob down the road thinks.

What do you think? Your voice is really important here and want to know what you believe.

So you can explain what you think by saying, I think my, my turn, your turn.

I think, I believe, in my opinion, and you could even say, however, I also think.

Because you don't just have to believe one thing, you can believe two things at once and compare the two things.

Then we need to give evidence from the text.

Why do you think that, which part of the text has made you think that? We give an example of evidence from the text and we can do that by picking out one word, one phrase or one sentence.

Then this is the tricky part, this is why.

Then we finally need to say, why do we think that.

We can say this by explaining it with, because.

I think this because, what is your reason for saying that? remember this has to come from your own mind or your own heart.

And what is it that really makes you feel strongly about what you've said? Okay.

Okay, we're going to have a look at the persuasion text from "The Little Bird" first of all.

Now I want to warn you, she's very cross in this letter, but remember she's been through a lot, so we need to be kind to her.

Let's have a look.

Okay, here we've got the Little Bird's persuasive texts that she's written to the forest animals.

I'm a little bit worried about reading it because she does seem very upset, but I'm going to give it a go.

Okay.

Are you ready to read with me? Remember when we're reading through it, think about what do you think about what she's saying? What is your opinion? How does it make you feel? In the text we're going to try and pick out words, phrases, and sentences that support our opinions.

And don't forget, we need to think about why do we feel these things? How can we explain our opinions? Let's get started.

"Dear forest animals, "My name is the Little Bird "and I have something important I want to tell you.

"I demand an apology and I demand it now.

"I feel outraged, abandoned and betrayed by you.

"I believe how you treated me in the forest was unfair.

"And let me tell you why.

"Firstly, I thought we were friends.

"Friends always stick together and you all left me.

"None of you wanted to help me.

"If it was me, "I would have stayed to help you "because I care about my friends.

"All you cared about was looking after yourselves.

"Therefore, I think you are selfish, "cowardly and neglectful.

"Secondly, our beloved forest was being destroyed.

"I loved that forest more than anything.

"I loved the trees.

"I loved the flowers.

"I loved the beautiful river.

"It was my home and now it is destroyed.

"Do you know what that feels like? "You should have stayed to help me save the forest "that I loved so much." Don't forget to be thinking about what your opinion is about what she's saying.

What in the text support that opinion and why do you think that.

"Lastly, I would like to point out "that you are all much bigger, stronger, "and more powerful animals than me.

"I am just a tiny bird.

"How would you feel if you were a small as me "and you were left to defeat "that gigantic forest fire all alone.

"Thankfully the Eagle God came to help me, "which is more I can say for you.

"In conclusion, "I would like to repeat what I have already said.

"I think you are bad friends "because you are selfish.

'You did not try to help me "and you run away even though I am much smaller than you.

"I am willing to be friends again, "but I would like an apology.

"From the Little Bird." That was a lot of anger in there.

What do you think about what she said? What in the text makes you think that and why do you think that? Now it's time for our question time and I'm going to show you how I would answer this question.

The question is, do you agree with what the Little Bird said? Pause the video now to think about what you might say.

Don't forget, when we explain our opinions, we need to say what we think, to give an example or evidence from the text and why we think that.

I think this because.

Remember this comes from your own mind and your own heart.

No one else can tell you what the right answer is, only you, and what makes you feel so strongly about that? Remember, we don't just have to think one thing we can think more than one thing, as long as we explain both of them and compare what we think.

Okay, we're now going to have some reflection time on the question.

The question was, do you agree with what the Little Bird said? Now, I see here, that the Little Bird is obviously really upset.

I think she's had a really, really difficult time in that forest fire and she must've been so upset.

But it does say here, "I demand an apology "and I demand it now." Obviously she's very upset and she's feeling a little bit aggressive now because she's demanding an apology.

If someone has been through something really difficult and it's someone else's fault, then obviously they are going to feel very, very sad and very angry and they might demand an apology.

But we need to think about, was it the forest animals fault that the fire started? I'm not so sure about that.

And is she asking for this apology in the right way? I'm not so sure about that either.

The next part it says, "I loved that forest more than anything "and you should have stayed to help me "save the forest I loved so much." Again, she's talking about herself a lot here.

I'm not so sure she's thinking about what it was like for the other forest animals.

They lost their home too.

And it's almost like she's expecting them to care about the forest as much as she did.

So if I wanted to answer this question, I would start with what do you think? So I said, what I think is, I think that the Little Bird is being a little bit unreasonable and only thinking about herself.

That's my opinion.

In the text it says, "You should have stayed to help me save my forest "I loved so much." And I'm going to explain my point now with why do I think that.

I believe that it is important to consider other people's feelings in life.

The Little Bird doesn't know why the animals run away.

Maybe they had a really good reason.

It's now time to read the persuasion text that the forest animals have written in reply to the Little Bird.

Should we find out what their side of the story is.

In this part of the lesson, you are going to try and answer these questions independently now without my help.

Remember to think about as you're reading, what do you think, in the text it says, and why do you think that, how can you explain your opinion by using your own thoughts.

Okay, we're ready to listen to the forest animals letter? "Dear Little Bird, "We were incredibly angry to receive your letter "demanding an apology.

"Do you really think we want to be friends with you now? "Do you? "We are in shock.

"We are in disbelief.

"We are outraged.

"Let us tell you why.

"Firstly, we feel that it is unfair of you to blame us "for what happened in the forest.

"It was your decision to stay and try to protect it.

"The forest was just trees and leaves and grass.

"Is that more important to you than our lives? "You clearly do not value us very much.

"We think it is you who is the selfish one.

"Furthermore, we would like to remind you "that we did in fact ask you to come with us.

"However, you wanted to be the hero and save the forest.

"Even though we are big and strong animals, "we knew that we were no match for the fire.

"So we made a sensible decision by leaving.

"What you did was reckless.

"Also, some of us forest animals had babies to protect.

"Our Cubs and calves would have been killed "if we'd stayed to protect the forest.

"We had to put them first.

"Surely, even you can understand that.

"In conclusion, we will not apologise.

"We believe we made the right decision.

"We believe we did what we had to do.

"We believe we had no choice.

"We also believe that friends forgive each.

"So if you truly care about us, "then you will leave this in the past "and we can move on together as friends.

"We hope to hear from you soon.

"The forest animals." That was a lot of emotion as well.

Okay, now that we've read both persuasion texts, what do you think? And don't forget, it's okay to challenge what someone is saying.

If you don't agree with what the Little Bird was saying, or you don't agree with what the forest animals were saying then that's up to you.

You can challenge things.

When you're ready, you're going to have a go at answering this opinion question.

Who do you think was in the wrong? Do you think the Little Bird should forgive the forest animals? Do you think the forest animals should forgive the Little Bird? Remember, there's no right or wrong answer.

This is about what you think.

And remember, you can have more than one opinion.

You can think two different things at the same time, as long as you compare them.

Don't forget when we're explaining what we think we can say, I think, I believe, in my opinion, however, I also think.

Don't forget to give an example of evidence from the text.

You might need to go back in the video to check for your evidence and explain your reasons by saying, because.

Remember, it's not about what your friend thinks, it's not about what Bob down the street thinks, it's about what you think.

Oh my goodness, I have seen, I have heard so many amazing opinions today.

And what I love the most about it is that it really comes from your own minds and your own hearts.

You're not relying on the text or what your friends are saying.

Don't forget to share your work with Oak National.

If you would like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and hashtag learn with Oak.

I'll see you next time.

Bye-bye.