Lesson video

Hello there.

How are you today? I hope you're really, really feeling fantastic.

My name is Ms. Afzal.

I'm feeling just fine.

I'll tell you why.

'Cause we're going to be exploring one of my very, very favourite books.

I love books so much, and this one is just, it's one of the best.

We're going to be exploring a book called "The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark," which is written by Jill Tomlinson.

So before we get into it, you're going to need your copy of the book.

So I'm gonna pause here while you go off and get your copy of the book.

All right, you're back.

You've got your book.

Fantastic.

We can get started in a moment, but let's just check what else have you got.

Have you got your thinking brain? Have you got your listening ears, your looking eyes, and have you got lots of energy and enthusiasm and excitement for this wonderful book? I hope so.

Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can read the opening of "The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark." There are some keywords in today's lesson.

Let's go through them one at a time.

My turn, your turn.

Title.

Fiction.

Opening.

Nocturnal.

Fantastic, I heard those loud and clear.

Let's make sure we look out for those words.

Let's listen for them.

Let's think about them.

Let's be curious about these words.

So today's lesson has two parts to it.

First of all, we'll be discussing the dark, and next we'll be reading the opening.

Let's begin with discussing the dark.

So here's the cover of our book, "The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark." What can you see on the front cover? So pause the video while you share with someone nearby all the things that you can spot that you can notice on this front cover.

Okay, it's good to be back with you.

What did you notice? Did you notice the title? There's the title.

"The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark." Did you notice the illustration? Look at that gorgeous little owl sitting on a branch in a night sky.

Did you notice the author, Jill Tomlinson, the name of the author? And we have one of our keywords here, which is title.

The title is the name of the book.

It's what the book is called.

So this book is called "The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark." That's the title.

Now, I'd like you to look at the front cover, and I want you to point to a few things.

Are you ready? Point to the title.

Next, point to the illustration.

After that, point to the author.

Fantastic.

"The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark" by Jill Tomlinson.

"The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark" is a fiction text.

So fiction is one of our keywords.

It means it's a story which is made up or imagined.

The author is Jill Tomlinson.

She wrote many children's books, but this one is her most popular.

It's a fantastic story.

Jill Tomlinson wrote a series of animal stories, which tell the tales of different animals and their approach to everyday life.

I wonder if you enjoy books about animals.

Check for understanding.

True or false? "The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark" is a nonfiction text.

Pause the video while you decide if that's true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

"The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark" is not a nonfiction text.

In fact, we know it's a fiction text.

It's a made up story.

Okay, I'm wondering now, what do you know about owls? I'd like you to pause the video now and share with someone nearby, and tell them everything that you know about owls.

All right, let's get back together again.

What did you discuss? Did you know that they're nocturnal animals? We can find out more about that keyword in a moment.

Did you know that they have a heart-shaped face? Beautiful heart-shaped face.

Look at that.

So lovely.

Did you know that they have special feathers to help them fly quietly at night, and that they eat small animals like mice? Did you know that they have amazing night vision? They can see in the dark.

Well done if you knew any of these facts.

Owls are nocturnal animals.

Here's our key word, nocturnal.

And what does this word mean? Pause the video and share with someone nearby if you have any ideas about what the word nocturnal means.

There might be a bit of a clue in that picture as well, actually, if you look at that photo of the owl.

Nocturnal means that they sleep during the day and they are awake at night.

Owls do all their hunting at nighttime.

Check for understanding.

When are nocturnal animals active? Is it A, during the day, B, at night, or C, when the lights are on? Pause the video while you decide which of these answers is the correct one to when are nocturnal animals active? Well done if you selected at night.

Absolutely.

Nocturnal animals hunt and are active at night, and they sleep during the day.

So this story is about a barn owl called Plop, who is scared of the dark.

Why would this be a problem for an owl, do you think? So pause the video now, and share with someone nearby, and again, maybe there's something in that picture that might give you an idea.

Why would that be a problem if Plop is scared of the dark? All right, it's good to get together again.

What answers did you have? I wonder if you had something like this.

Owls do all their hunting at nighttime.

If an owl's afraid of the dark, then it won't be able to hunt at night and catch its prey.

Okay, I've got another question for you now.

Why might someone be afraid of the dark? Pause the video here and talk to someone nearby.

Why do you think someone might be afraid of the dark, scared of the dark? What answers did you come up with? I wonder.

I wonder if you had anything like this here.

It's hard to see in the dark, and this might be scary.

They might be afraid of monsters or ghosts, which could be lurking in the dark.

Even though, of course, those things don't exist, but you might be afraid of them.

Being in the dark can make you feel alone and away from your family and friends.

You might hear loud noises, but cannot see where they're coming from.

Check for understanding.

Why is it a problem for an owl to be scared of the dark? Let's go through some of the possible answers.

So A, owls cannot see in daylight.

B, owls can only be awake at nighttime.

C, owls are nocturnal animals and do all their hunting at nighttime.

So pause the video while you decide which answer is the best one for why is it a problem for an owl to be scared of the dark? Well done if you selected C, absolutely.

Owls are nocturnal animals.

They sleep in the day, and they do all their hunting at nighttime.

So it'd be a bit of a problem if they were scared of the dark.

Okay, time for another discussion with your partner.

So for your task, I'd like you to discuss how do you feel about the dark? What are some scary things about the dark? And what are some good things about the dark? It's not all scary.

There's some great stuff about the dark too.

You might like to use some sentence starters like this.

So you could say "The dark is fun because.

," and "I like the dark because.

," or you could say, "I don't like the dark because.

," or "The dark is scary because.

." So pause the video here and have a good discussion with your partner about how you feel about the dark.

What are the good things, why is it fun, and also maybe why you don't like it, and it will be great to hear from you soon.

Okay, well done, everyone, for having that discussion.

I'm so curious.

How do you feel about the dark? I'm wondering.

Anything like this? The dark is fun because I like seeing all my glow-in-the-dark stickers.

Yeah, if you got any of those stars, or planets, or something else.

I like the dark because I can snuggle up with my dog and feel cosy.

Oh my goodness, how lovely.

The dark is scary because there are spooky shadows.

Oh.

Or maybe I don't like the dark because it makes everything hard to see, and I feel afraid.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Okay, next, we are looking at the opening.

We're gonna be reading the opening of this fantastic story, "The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark." Story structure refers to the way a story is organised and order of events within a narrative.

It's important for stories to have a clear structure, so that readers can understand and enjoy them.

There are four main parts of a story structure.

Let's go through them, and here's a really helpful visual that's gonna help us to understand the way that these parts of the story form the story structure.

So we begin with the opening.

It's one of our keywords we're gonna go into a little bit later.

Next comes the build-up.

Then, we get to the climax.

And then we finish with the resolution.

So the beginning of the story is called the opening.

Should we say that one more time? Ready? Keyword, opening.

Yep, fantastic.

The opening of the story establishes the setting and introduces the key characters.

So it lets us know where the story is set, and who is involved in the story.

It often presents a conflict or problem that hooks the reader in, and it makes them want to read on, keep turning those pages.

Check for understanding.

What does the opening of a story usually do? A, it introduces the characters.

B, it solves the problem.

C, it introduces the setting.

So pause the video while you decide what the opening of the story usually does.

Well done if you selected introduces the characters and introduces the setting.

Yep, there is a lot that goes on in an opening.

Well done for choosing these.

Now, I'd like you to read the opening of the story, starting on page one to the end of page four, ending with the word it.

So pause the video now while you read those pages.

Okay, so who are the characters that have been introduced in the opening? Plop, the baby barn owl, Plop's mother, Plop's sister.

Pause the video while you decide which characters have been introduced.

Well done if you selected Plop, the baby barn owl, and Plop's mother.

The text also said that Plop lives with his father too, but he hasn't been introduced yet.

Now, let's think about the setting.

Where is the setting? Is it in a zoo, in a forest, high up in a tree? So pause the video while you decide where is the setting of the story.

Well done if you selected high up in a tree.

Plop lives in a tree in a meadow.

A meadow is like a field.

All right, it's time for our next task.

I would like you to discuss the following questions with your partner.

How has the opening hooked you in and made you want to read more, just keep turning those pages, keep reading? What do you predict is going to happen in the story? A prediction is making a sensible guess using what we already know.

So pause the video now, and share with someone nearby.

How have you been hooked in by the opening and what's your prediction? What's going to happen in the story? Okay, so what hooked you in? What are your predictions? I'm so curious.

Anything like this? The opening has made me want to read on because I want to find out whether Plop learns to like the dark and hunt like other owls.

Yeah, great one.

Maybe something like this.

I want to know whether Plop will be the only daytime barn owl.

Or I predict that Plop will learn to like the dark, as his mother is going to help him to learn about it.

Oh, very interesting prediction.

Really well done for sharing your ideas, everyone.

In our lesson today, we covered the following.

"The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark" is a fiction story.

Fiction means a story which is made up or imagined.

The opening of a story introduces the characters and the setting.

Plop is a baby barn owl who is scared of the dark.

Plop's mother wants Plop to learn to like the dark because owls are nocturnal animals.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson, for reading the opening of this wonderful story, "The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark," and beginning to explore it.

I can't wait to explore some more with you.

So I'll see you in the next lesson.

Bye for now.