Lesson video

Hello there.

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

My name's Ms. Afzal.

I'm feeling mighty fine today.

That's because we're gonna continue exploring one of my favourite ever books, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson.

I'm feeling very excited about it.

I'm gonna stay here and be excited while you go off and get your copy of the book.

All right, you're back.

You've got your copy of the book in hand.

What else have you got? Have you got lots of ideas in your head? Are you excited to share them? Have you got your listening ears ready and you're looking eyes all set to go? Let's get started with our lesson today.

The outcome for today's lesson is: I can describe Plop's appearance and personality.

We have got a number of keywords in today's lesson.

This is very exciting.

Let's go through them all.

My turn your turn.

Characterization, character traits, appearance, personality.

Fantastic.

Well done, I loved hearing those.

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

Let's listen carefully for them.

Let's think about them and let's be excited and curious about them.

Today's lesson has got two main parts to it.

First of all, we'll be exploring appearance.

Next, we'll be exploring personality.

Let's start with appearance.

Well, I like the appearance of the front cover of The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark.

Doesn't this look fantastic? So what do we know about The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark? Well, the story is about a baby barn owl called Plop who fears the dark.

Plop's mother wants Plop to learn to like the dark, so she sends him down from their tree to discover more.

Plop met a young boy who talked to him about fireworks and said darkness is exciting.

Plop met an old woman who said, nighttime is kind, and she likes to be still and remember.

And Plop met some scouts who said, darkness is fun because they can play games and have fires.

So many different ways of relating to the dark.

Hmm, here's a question.

What is characterization? One of our keywords, let's say it, characterization.

Fantastic.

Characterization is the way an author describes and develops a characters in a story.

Authors and illustrators use different methods to show characterization.

For example, they might write about a character's appearance, a character's words, a character's actions.

And appearance is how a character looks on the outside.

Check for understanding.

What is the definition of characterization? Is it how fictional characters talk to each other, the way an author describes and develops the characters, a conflict between characters in the story? Pause the video while you decide on your answer.

Well done if you selected B.

Characterization is the way an author describes and develops the characters.

We are gonna show our understanding of the main character, Plop, by describing his appearance and his personality.

So appearance is how a character looks on the outside.

We can look at different features including facial features, so eyes, nose, mouth, hair, or in the case of birds, feathers, body shape and size, e.

g.

round, tall, et cetera.

And movements, very fast, graceful, jumpy and so on.

So let's remind ourselves of Plop's appearance.

I'd like to read the opening page where there's a description of Plop's appearance.

So read page six and then read the last two paragraphs on page 18 from the word 'So' to the end of the page.

So pause video now while you go off to read these three pages.

Okay, I'm feeling very excited because we are going to have a go an activity now.

So we're going to do I do, you do.

So first of all, I'm going to describe Plop's appearance using what we have read.

So, hmm, I think these questions will help me.

So let me think about what does Plop look like.

So I'm gonna describe his size, shape, feathers, eyes.

So let me think.

So Plop is a tiny, cute barn owl with fluffy feathers and big round eyes.

And let me think about how does Plop move? And I'm gonna use the word because and give some examples from the text.

Let me think.

So Plop is very wobbly because when he tries to fly out of his nest, he falls and he lands with a thud.

Okay, so that's me.

Those are my sentences.

I'm really excited now for it to be your turn to describe Plop's appearance.

So same question.

So what does Plop look like? I want you to describe his size, his shape.

You could talk about his feathers.

You could talk about his eyes.

And how does he move? And again, use some examples from the text.

I'd let you to pause the video now while you come up with one sentence for how Plop looks and one sentence for how he moves.

Off you go.

All right, well done.

It is great to be back with you.

So what did you come up with? Okay, ooh, this was a great one.

So you said, Plop is a small barn owl and he has a round body with soft, fluffy feathers.

Oh, I love that one.

Great description of how he looks.

And this about how he moves.

What did you say? Plop is clumsy because, I like you got because in there, because he gets mistaken for a thunderbolt and a firework due to the uncoordinated way that he flies and lands.

Oh, I love that example.

Fantastic job.

Now we're gonna keep exploring experience because now, we're going to develop our understanding of Plop by doing a character activity.

Look at this fantastic owl outline that we have on the screen.

So I'd like you to use this outline, and what we're gonna do is write down description of Plop's outer characteristics on the outside of this owl.

So this could include what we just talked about.

So his physical appearance and his movements.

And we can support ideas with examples from the text.

So that's a great thing to do is always keep going back to your text.

And now let's just check that you are all clear on what you're doing.

So true or false, we should describe plots appearance on the inside of the owl outline, true or false? Pause video while you decide.

Well done if you selected false.

No, we're not gonna write this on the inside.

We're gonna write this on the outside of the owl.

So your task is to write down words and phrases to describe Plop's appearance on the outside of the owl outline and using examples from the text.

So I'd like you to try to include something about his facial features.

So his eyes, his nose, his mouth.

What about his hair? Oh, something about his feathers.

And what about the shape of his body and how he moves? So I'll just give you one word there as an example just to show you where to write your text.

So just writing it outside of the outline.

Okay, off you go.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to see you again.

How did you get on? I wonder if you managed to fill the space outside of this owl outline with words or phrases to describe Plop's appearance.

Let's have a look at some of what you came up with.

So we've got fluffy, chubby, round body.

Okay, nice.

Round eyes.

Yeah.

Oh, bless him.

He is clumsy, not very good at landing.

What else? Soft feathers.

Oh, how lovely.

Awkward, wobbly, landed with a thump.

Uncoordinated, thunderbolt, oh yes.

So the author's characterization of Plop makes him a likeable, relatable character.

So we can relate to him, we can understand him.

His cuteness and clumsiness adds humour to the story and also leaves room for him to develop.

Fantastic.

We've been exploring appearance and now it's time for us to explore personality.

Personality, sort of our key words.

Let's go through it again.

Ready? Personality? Yes.

Oh, I liked hearing that.

Personality refers to what characters like on the inside.

It's the special way someone acts, feels and thinks that makes them who they are.

Character traits are the specific parts of a person's personality.

There's another one of our key words, character traits.

Your turn.

Fantastic.

They're the special qualities that make a character unique and interesting.

Here are some examples of character traits: Thoughtful, funny, shy, friendly, quiet, confident, polite and curious.

Oh, I really liked reading those.

Hmm, and I'm thinking about my own character traits and I'm thinking about your character traits.

What are your character traits? What is it that makes you who you are, those special qualities? It's a lovely thing to think about.

Okay, we've been thinking about our own character traits.

Now let's move over to Plop.

So we're going to do another activity, I do, you do.

I'm going to go first.

I'm gonna describe Plop's personality using what we know so far.

So I've got some questions to help me.

So what character traits would I use to describe Plop? And I need to give some examples to back up my idea.

Hmm, let me think about this.

So what character traits would I use to describe Plop? Hmm, I would say he's quite unsure and he's nervous, quite nervous.

What about examples? How can I back up my idea? Right, so I think he's unsure and nervous because he's afraid of the dark.

He's scared of the dark and he doesn't want to go out hunting with his mom and dad.

He's scared to do that.

He doesn't want to go.

Those were my answers.

And now it's over to you.

It's your turn to describe Plop's personality.

So same two questions I've got for you.

So what character traits would you use to describe Plop? So what are those things that make him unique and interesting and make him who he is? What are those character traits? And also what examples can you use to back up your idea? If you're saying Plop is mm, can you give us some examples? Can you, can you gimme some examples? Why have you said that? Give some examples from the text to back up your idea.

So pause the video here while you answer those two questions.

So what are the character traits? And give some examples to back up.

Okay, well done.

It's good to be back with you.

Let's see what you came up with.

All right, here's one, oh, I like this answer.

I think Plop is unsure and nervous and he's scared of the dark, even though owls are night birds.

Yeah, really great point.

Okay, and another idea, Plop is curious and friendly because, oh, I like, we've got this justification here, because he goes to meet different people to learn about the dark.

Yeah, fantastic.

I like, that's quite a different idea.

So we've got he's sure nervous, that's one thing.

But he's also, he's got these other traits as well, hasn't he? He's curious.

He's friendly.

And I love how you backed that idea up with an example from the text.

Fantastic.

Great, great job everyone.

So now we're going to continue to develop our understanding of Plop by doing a character activity.

I'd like to use the owl outline and we're going to write down descriptions of Plop's personality on the, where do you think? Outside or inside? Yes, you've got it on the inside because personality is about what we are like inside.

So this should include his character traits and feelings.

And we can support our ideas with examples from the text.

So let's just check, true or false, we should describe pop's personality on the inside of the owl outline.

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

Yes, well done.

It's true because personality is all about what we're like on the inside.

All right, this is your task, describe Plop's personality on the inside of the owl outline.

Use examples from the text and try to include character traits and feelings.

So pause video now while you have a go at this task.

Okay, how did you get on with describing Plop's personality? Friendly.

Oh, that's a great one to start with.

Uncertain.

Yeah, absolutely, he is.

He's so unsure.

But he's curious, he wants to learn more about the dark.

And he's inquisitive.

He asked lots of questions.

He wants to know more and more.

And also he's nervous.

Yeah, absolutely.

The author's development of Plop's personality makes the reader engage with and relate to him.

His initial struggles with fear and uncertainty around the dark leave room for his character to develop and for him to grow in courage.

Yeah, let's see what happens as we continue through this text.

And now I'd like you to discuss with your partner, has Plop's character changed at all so far in the story? And do you think he'll change anymore as he meets more people? You might like to use a sentence starter like this: Plop has changed already because.

Give you a reason.

Or I think Plop will.

What do you think is gonna happen as we carry on through the text and as he meets more people? So pause the video while you have these discussions with your partner.

All right, it's good to see you again.

How did you get on with that discussion? Let's see what Lucas has to say.

"Plop has changed already because he's becoming braver and he is more willing to stay up during the nighttime, showing courage." Yeah, what a great point, Lucas.

And how about Sam? "I think Plop will continue to learn about the dark from lots of different people and eventually he will learn to like it just like the owls are supposed to." Really, really nice point there.

So yeah, some really interesting shares here.

I hope you enjoyed sharing with your partner as well.

In our lesson today, we've covered the following: Characterization is the way an author describes and develops the characters in a story.

Appearance is how a character looks on the outside.

Personality refers to what a character is like on the inside.

It's the special way someone acts, feels and thinks that makes them who they are.

The author's characterization of Plop makes him a likeable character, which is engaging for the reader.

Well, I really enjoyed engaging with you today in this lesson.

Loved how you joined in with our exploration of character, appearance, personality, discussions.

It was fantastic to be with you and I can't wait to see you on the next lesson.

Bye for now.