Lesson video

Hi there, my name is Mr. Charlesworth and I'm going to be working with you in this English lesson today which is all about reading.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can understand my reader identity by reflecting on my reading experiences.

The keywords that we'll be encountering throughout the lesson are, my turn, your turn, genre.

Form.

Reader identity.

And perspective.

Well done.

A genre is a category used to group different types of literature.

Form is the way a text can be presented.

Reader identity is a reflection on who you are as a reader and why you read.

Your perspective is a way of thinking about and understanding something.

Throughout the lesson, we're going to be developing our reading preferences through personal reflection.

We're going to begin by looking at what is reading for pleasure.

We're then going to move on to reflecting on our own reading experiences.

And then finally, we're going to make a reading river.

Don't worry if you're not sure what any of these are at the moment, we'll work on them together.

When we're thinking about reading for pleasure, it's really important to start with what we can read in the first place.

So, what can you read? Have a bit of thinking time to think of things maybe beyond books that you enjoy reading.

Pause the video now and have some thinking time.

Well done, how many examples did you think of? I wonder if you got the same as me.

Some examples might include chapter books.

Picture books, they're some of my favourite.

Instruction manuals, recipes, reviews.

Magazines, so that could be on a favourite sport, for example, football, or even linked to gaming such as "Minecraft." Poetry collections, these are sometimes called anthologies.

You might have also included graphic novels, comics, emails, blogs.

Websites, so that's maybe to research someone or something.

Newspapers, to find out all about the wider world.

And lyrics, which are the words that singers sing in a song.

It's really important to remember that reading can take many different forms. All are equally as valid as each other.

Well done for spotting one of our keywords, the form of the literature is the way that it is presented to us as we read.

As well as thinking about what we can read, it's also really important to consider what we enjoy reading.

Here are some examples.

Poetry and verse.

Non-fiction.

Realistic fiction, that's fiction about real world events that feel like they could happen to us or people in our local community.

Historical fiction, myth and legend.

Humour, that's funny books like "Horrid Henry." Biography, folklore and fairytales, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and adventure.

Reading can be grouped into many categories.

We call these genres.

Well done for noticing another keyword.

I wonder, which genre is your favourite? Do you have a favourite out of those on the screen? Which one is it? Why? Pause the video and whisper to a partner or person from home.

Well done.

Reading for pleasure is reading that we do of our own free will.

We want to read, we are engaged by it, and we enjoy reading.

There's also something called reading for purpose.

Reading for purpose is reading to gain information or to verify knowledge.

Sometimes we can do both at the same time, reading for pleasure and reading for purpose.

Now we're going to do a quick check for understanding on the keywords that we've just learned.

Can you match these terms to their definitions? There's reading for pleasure, form, and genre.

Pause the video now to match them.

Fantastic work, let's see if you've got them all correct.

Reading for pleasure is reading because you want to, not because you have to.

Form is a way a text can be presented.

And genre is a category used to group different types of literature, well done.

In this task, we're going to explore three texts that we enjoyed as a reader.

I thought what I'd do first is share some examples.

One of the texts I really enjoyed when I was younger was "Asterix & Obelix." This is a new book in the series, it's called "Asterix and the Gryphon." It's in graphic novel form and it follows Asterix and Obelix and Dogmatix through the Roman Empire as they get up to lots of mischief and mayhem.

The genre is a mixture of historical fiction and humour, and it balances that really well.

I used to remember chuckling in the pages.

I really enjoyed it when I was younger and I still enjoy it now.

Another text that I enjoyed is "The No.

1 Car Spotter." This is an illustrated chapter book, which means it's got text and illustrations to accompany.

Its genre is a mixture between realistic fiction, it's set in a small village in Nigeria, and it also has humour, which makes me smile.

Each of the chapters is split into an individual story, and Atinuke, the author, writes so richly about these families and friends and relationships that you can't help be drawn in.

They feel like my own family and my own friends.

I wonder if you've got a text that does just that.

A final example is "The Rainmaker Danced." This is a poetry collection, so it contains lots and lots of different poems. The great thing with poetry and poetry collections is that they can cover a range of different genres.

So there's poems about important issues, poems that make you laugh and chuckle, as well as poems to inspire.

I've shared three of my examples, now it's over to you.

Can you think of three texts that you really enjoyed as a reader? Pause the video here and note them down.

Great work, I can't wait to hear some of your responses.

What do you notice about the texts that you selected? What's their form? Do they all have the same form or do they have different forms? Remember, a form is how a text is presented, so it could be a graphic novel, a picture book.

Next, consider their genre.

Remember, genre is a category of text, it's a type that we enjoy.

For example, mystery or science fiction.

Are all your genres the same or do you read a range of genres? Do some of your texts go over more than one genre? Fantastic work.

Let's have a look at our next section.

It's reflecting on our reading experiences.

A reader's identity is all about the books that make you have an emotional response.

You might be happy, excited, curious, or even sad.

It's important to remember that texts can make us feel a range of emotions, both positive and negative, and that's okay.

Your reader identity can change and grow as you read more.

It's something to be proud of because it makes you who you are as a reader.

This text, "Felix After the Rain," makes me feel a range of emotions.

I wonder if you have texts that do the same.

A reader's identity is like a reading fingerprint.

It's unique to you.

Here's another check for understanding.

True or false.

A reader's identity is unique.

Is that true or false? Pause the video now for some thinking time to decide.

Well done, it's true.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

It can be, A, a reader's identity stays the same, it's fixed and never changes.

Or B, a reader's identity is your personal reflection on what you read and why you read.

Pause the video now and maybe talk with a talk partner, or if you're at home, maybe have a discussion with a family member or friend.

You're right, a reader's identity is your personal reflection on what you read and why you read.

It's like that reading fingerprint.

As we grow and read more, our reader identity changes, so it definitely doesn't stay fixed.

Reading has the amazing ability to also allow us to change our perspective on a subject or even ourselves.

Maybe a text had amazing ideas or stories that you didn't know about before and it made you think differently or understand something better.

It's a bit like when you learn something new at school and it makes you look at a subject in a whole new light.

That's what a text that change your perspective does.

It helps you see the world in a fresh and exciting way.

Well done for spotting another one of our keywords.

A text that changed my perspective is "Sam Wu is Not Afraid of the Dark." As well as being really empathetic, it also taught me lots about Chinese culture and family through the character of Sam.

Have you ever read a text that changed your perspective? Here's another example.

It's called "A Planet Full of Plastic." It's a non-fiction picture book text.

By reading the text, I discovered lots about the environmental impact that plastic has on our environment.

Found out that there are engineers and scientists all working on solutions to combat the issue.

And I learned new vocabulary, such as biodegradable.

Let's do a quick check for understanding.

What does it mean when a text changes our perspective on something? Is it, A, a text changes our thinking or ideas on a subject? B, a text can allow us to escape from our own world? Or C, a text can make us feel a range of emotions.

Pause the video now to have some thinking time before you decide.

Great work, it's A.

A change in perspective means that we change our ideas or thinking on a subject, just like the example before.

In this second task, we're going to reflect on ourselves as readers and we're going to create a mind map of our reading identity.

Here's an example of my own.

Part of my reader identity is that I really like books that explore a range of perspectives that are different to my own.

As you can tell from the texts before, I really enjoy texts with humour, funny texts that make me laugh.

Another part of my reading identity is that I prefer visual texts such as graphic novels, comics, and picture books.

I really like pouring over the pages and spending time looking at all the details that the illustrator and artist has put in.

How about you? Pause the video now and create your own mind map about your reading identity.

Well done, I hope you learned something new about your reading identity.

Remember, a reading identity is like that reading fingerprint.

It's completely unique and personal to you.

The final section of the lesson is all about reading rivers.

A reading river is first explored by Pamela Bernard and then further developed by Gabrielle Cliff Hodges.

It's a way of showing your reading journey over a period of time, so that could be days, months, or even years.

Your reading river is a reflection of texts that you have read that are significant and meaningful to you.

It's a metaphor, it shows the journey that our reading can go on.

Let's explore one now.

My reading river is an example of what I could have read from Years 1 to Year 3.

The first text, "Zeki Hikes with Daddy," is a beautiful picture book which explores the relationship between a father and a son.

Next is a text that I'm sure you'll know.

It's called "Fantastic Mr. Fox," and this was a book that really grabbed me as a reader when I was in Year 2.

I can still remember it being read to me aloud.

The descriptions of the farmers really stays in your mind, as do the illustrations by Quentin Blake who really brought all the characters to life.

The next text on my reading river is "The Phoenix." It's a weekly comic so it could go in lots of different places on my reading river.

However, I've placed it just in the middle as I enjoyed reading it between Years 2 and Year 3.

"The Phoenix" comic has lots and lots of different stories and narratives and they're in comic strip form, so that means you get a little bit every week.

The next is one of my favourites.

It's a small but mighty picture book called "Eric." I really enjoy "Eric" because I'm a big fan of the creator, Shaun Tan.

Shaun Tan does lots of picture books and this picture book is perfect for Year 3 because it explores themes like kindness and being kind to other people, which I think is really important for everybody to read.

The text also links to the wider world, so when you're reading you might think of things that are going on in the news at the moment.

"Eric" barely has any text in, so it's a really visual text.

We sometimes call these wordless or silent books.

Up next is "Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright." This is a poetry anthology and it contains a mix of poems, both contemporary, so modern day, as well as poems that are classics, or traditional poems. The poems are beautifully illustrated and there are 366, so there's one for every single day of the year, including leap years.

The final text on my reading river is "El Deafo." This is a graphic novel that's written and illustrated by Cece Bell.

It tracks Cece's real life experiences with deafness and it does this with such warmth and heart and humour.

It's a beautiful graphic novel and I really recommend you go and read it.

So you can see on my reading river I've got my journey from Year 1 all the way to Year 3.

Before you create your own reading river, here's our final check for understanding.

What could you include in a reading river? Choose two.

A, books that were read to you that you've enjoyed.

B, books that you have read that you have enjoyed.

C, books that you hope to read in the future.

And D, books that your friends have enjoyed.

Pause the video here to think about the two that you're going to choose.

Well done, did you get them both? A reading river can include texts that were read to you, so texts that are read aloud maybe by a teacher or a parent or carer, and you can also include books that you have read that you have enjoyed.

We don't tend to include books that you hope to read in the future because the reading river tracks your journey of reading, and we don't include texts that our friends have enjoyed unless we've also enjoyed them too.

Now's the time to create your own reading river.

You can create your reading river using a piece of paper and some colouring pencils and pens.

You can also draw the text if you want to illustrate their front covers.

Or you can print these off and create a collage.

Pause the video here whilst you go off and create your reading river.

I can't wait to hear more about them.

I hope you had fun creating your reading rivers.

Now's our time to reflect on them.

What genres do you enjoy reading most? Can you spot any common themes? Are there any specific authors or illustrators that you like? Are there themes or topics that interest you? And finally, does your reading reflect a range of different perspectives and cultures? It's important that texts reflect our own lived experiences, but also the lived experiences of other people, both within our community and the wider world.

Throughout this lesson, we've been developing reading preferences through personal reflection.

We've learned that reader identity is a reflection on who you are as a reader and why you read.

We've understood that reading is a personal experience.

It's unique to us, like that reading fingerprint.

Reading can take many forms, it does not have to be restricted to books.

And finally, a reading river can show a reader's significant texts over a period of time.

I've really enjoyed exploring our reading preferences together.

I hope you have too.

To deepen your understanding, have a go at the exit quiz following the lesson.

I'm really looking forward to working with you again soon.