Lesson video

Hi everyone, my name is Ms. Voyel and I am so excited to be teaching you your reading lesson today, where we will be exploring the theme of belonging in the story of "Leaf." For this lesson, you need to be listening and looking carefully, you need your thinking brain and there will also be some tasks where you need somebody to talk to.

I hope you are feeling excited and ready to learn and have lots of rich discussion about the meaning behind the story of "Leaf." The learning outcome for today's lesson is, I can explore the theme of belonging in the story.

Here are the key words in today's lesson.

Let's practise saying them.

My turn, your turn.

Theme, interpret, climate change, belonging, empathy, well done.

Don't worry if you are not sure about all of their meanings, because we will discuss them throughout the lesson.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

In the first part, we will be understanding and identifying themes within the story of "Leaf" and in the second part, we will be specifically exploring the theme of belonging.

So let's begin with understanding and identifying themes.

What do we know about the story "Leaf?" "Leaf" is a fiction story written and illustrated by Sandra Dieckmann.

It tells the story of a polar bear who is displaced from his habitat and tries to adapt and survive in a new environment among creatures who initially fear him.

The story is based on the real life issue of climate change and explores other important themes.

It's time to read the book "Leaf." Pay attention to key events in the story and consider how they make you feel.

Pause the video and read the story now.

I hope you enjoyed reading the story.

Let's check your understanding.

Which statement is the best summary of "Leaf?" A, "Leaf" tells the story of a polar bear who gets lost but then finds his way back home.

B "Leaf" tells the story of a polar bear who is displaced due to climate change and how others perceive and support him or C, "Leaf" tells the story of a polar bear who tries to fly using leaves for fun.

When answering, consider that a summary should describe the most important elements of a story.

Pause the video and answer now.

The answer is B, well done.

"Leaf" tells the story of a polar bear who is displaced due to climate change and how others perceive and support him.

Stories often have themes which communicate a deeper message.

A theme is a big idea, topic or message that appears in a story.

Examples of themes you might notice in stories are friendship, environment, bravery, family, good v evil, belonging, suffering, teamwork, climate change, celebration.

Readers can interpret themes and their importance differently, which means different readers might take away different meaning from a story.

"Leaf" conveys important messages through exploring the following themes, environment, which means the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives.

Climate change, which refers to the changes in global temperatures and weather patterns.

Belonging, which is the feeling of being safe and protected within an environment or group and kindness, which is the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate.

<v ->Let's check your understanding.

</v> Match the theme to the correct definition.

The themes are environment, climate change, belonging, kindness.

The definitions are the changes in global temperatures and weather patterns, the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate, the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal or plant lives and the feeling of being safe and protected within an environment or group.

Pause the video and answer now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

Environment means the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal or plant lives.

Climate change refers to the changes in global temperatures and weather patterns.

Belonging means the feeling of being safe and protected within an environment or group and kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate.

Well done.

All of these themes appear throughout the story of "Leaf." We know that these four themes are key themes in the story of "Leaf." The polar bear is displaced from his natural habitat and environment due to climate change and he searches for a sense of belonging in a place that doesn't feel like home to him and eventually he is shown kindness by the other creatures in the forest.

There are also lots of other possible themes you could identify from the story, so for your task, discuss what other themes could be interpreted from the story.

Consider the meaning behind the story and the character's actions.

Pause the video and discuss with your partner now.

Let's take a look at some possible answers for themes that could be interpreted from the story.

Maybe you identified themes such as responsibility, planet Earth or survival.

The story of the polar bear in "Leaf" might have made you think about the responsibility we have as humans to protect planet Earth and ensure the survival of animals.

Maybe you identified themes such as perception and judgement , empathy, acceptance, community.

We know that at the beginning of the story the different animals in the forest had different perceptions and judgements of Leaf.

Eventually, when they listened to him, they were able to show him empathy and they accepted him into their community.

Well done for identifying themes within the story of "Leaf." It's now time for the second part of our lesson, where we will be specifically exploring the theme of belonging.

Let's recap the themes that are explored in "Leaf" and why they are so important.

"Leaf" explores themes of environment, climate change, belonging and kindness among others.

These themes are used to convey deeper meaning and messages to the reader.

Readers can interpret themes and their importance within a story differently.

This helps readers to generate their own opinions and link the story to their own personal experiences.

What is belonging? Belonging is the feeling of being safe and protected within an environment or group of people.

What creates a sense of belonging for living things? An environment that provides safety and supports survival.

This includes appropriate climate, food, water, shelter and space and a community that provides a sense of safety.

This means a community that shows acceptance, protection has shared experiences and show one another kindness.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false? A sense of belonging is an essential part of survival for living things.

Pause the video and answer now.

That is true.

Well done.

Belonging is an essential part of survival for all living things.

It is important for our environments and communities to offer us safety, protection and kindness in order for us to survive and thrive.

Why and how did Leaf encounter problems with belonging? The ice in Leaf's habitat melted due to climate change and he drifted far across the sea.

He had to try and adapt to an environment that didn't meet his needs for survival.

The forest is not a place where polar bears can easily survive and the other creatures were scared of him and so they didn't initially show him acceptance or kindness, which meant he didn't have the community he needed.

We know that eventually the animals in the forest listened to Leaf's story and this impacted their perception of him.

How do these creatures support Leaf once they know his story? How does this increase his sense of belonging? They listened to his story and show him empathy.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

They promise to share Leaf's story to try and protect all polar bears.

This is a form of activism for climate change.

Through these actions, they provide a supportive community for Leaf, this increases his sense of belonging.

Let's check your understanding.

Select the ways in which the other creatures support Leaf and increase his sense of belonging.

A, they play games with him and teach him to adapt.

B, they listen to him and show him empathy.

C, they promise to share his story and they fly him home or D, they ignore him because he's different.

Pause the video and select the right answers now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

The other creatures support Leaf and increase his sense of belonging by listening to him and showing him empathy and promising to share his story and flying him home.

Well done, showing empathy and kindness can increase another's sense of belonging.

It's time for a task.

Reflect on what we have learnt and discuss the following question.

When do you feel like you belong? Why? Let's remind ourselves of the definition of belonging.

Belonging is the feeling of being safe and protected within an environment or group of people.

You could consider environments where you feel like you belong, people that make you feel like you belong and behaviours that make you feel like you belong.

Your sentence starters are, I feel like I belong at, I feel like I belong with and I feel like I belong when.

Pause the video and discuss with your partner now.

Let's take a look at some possible answers you might have given.

Maybe you said, "I feel like I belong at school, because my teacher creates a safe and happy environment for me to learn in." Maybe you said, "I feel like I belong with my family, because they show me love and take care of me in lots of ways or you might have said, "I feel like I belong when my friends accept me for everything that I am and show me kindness.

All of these are wonderful examples of how communities and environments can provide a sense of belonging to the people within them.

Well done, it's time for your final task.

Reflect on what we have learned and discuss the following question.

How are we responsible for ensuring that everyone feels a sense of belonging? What actions can we take to ensure this? Remember, belonging is the feeling of being safe and protected within an environment or group of people, so think about how you can provide that feeling to others.

Your sentence starters are, I have a responsibility to, to ensure that and I can show, or I would like to, pause the video and discuss with your partner now.

Let's take a look at some possible answers.

Maybe you said something like, every living thing deserves to feel a sense of belonging, especially if they have been forced away from home.

I can show kindness and acceptance to help them feel a sense of community and belonging.

That is absolutely true.

People who've been forced away from their home really struggle with a sense of belonging and showing them kindness and support and generosity among other qualities can help increase their sense of belonging.

Maybe you said something like, I can carefully consider how my actions impact the environment, to try and ensure that their sense of belonging isn't disrupted.

I would like to do more for the environment to protect animal habitats.

That would be a great lesson to learn from the story of "Leaf," that we as humans can ensure a sense of belonging for animals by doing more to protect the environment and the habitats they live in.

Well done for considering a variety of ways that you could ensure a sense of belonging for others.

It makes our world a better place to live in.

We've now come to the end of our lesson, so let's go over a summary together.

"Leaf" tells the story of a polar bear who is displaced due to climate change and how others perceive and support him.

"Leaf" explores the themes of belonging, kindness, environment and climate change.

A sense of belonging is essential for the survival of all living things, and the story of "Leaf" can help us reflect on respect for the environment and how to support others' sense of belonging.

Well done for all of your hard work and learning and having such wonderful and thoughtful discussions and sharing your ideas.