Lesson video

Hi everybody, it's Miss Gardner.

Welcome to the next lesson from our unit, "The BFG," reading and narrative writing.

Today's lesson's a really exciting one because we are going to be reading the opening chapter of the book.

So for today's lesson, you will need access to Puffin books 2001 edition of "The BFG" by Roald Dahl.

So if you need to, you can pause the video now to make sure you have it.

Okay, great, hopefully you've all got access to the text, which means we are ready to get started for today's lesson.

Off we go.

In today's lesson from our unit, "The BFG," reading a narrative writing, we are going to be reading aloud the first chapter of the book and then discussing it.

So your learning outcome is, I can read aloud and discuss the opening chapter of "The BFG." Let's start by looking at the key words.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

Evidence, that is the information from a text that can support or justify our reasoning.

Inference, that is a conclusion drawn from information and evidence in a text.

And finally atmosphere, that is the feeling a writer wants their reader to experience like suspense or fear or joy.

So there are two sections of our lesson today.

In the first we'll be reading the opening chapter and in the second we'll be inferring and discussing.

So let's start with reading the opening chapter.

So first let's recap what we know so far about "The BFG" by Roald Dahl.

"The BFG" tells a story of a young girl named Sophie, who befriends, becomes friends with, the BFG, also known as the Big Friendly Giant.

The BFG captures dreams and he delivers them to children.

Together Sophie and the BFG embark on a journey to stop the other mean giants who eat children.

And this is a story filled with adventure, friendship and the power of the imagination.

"The BFG" can be structured in this way an opening, a buildup, a climax and a resolution.

In this unit we are going to be writing the opening and the start of the buildup.

So before we go on to writing our narrative, we want to read the opening chapter.

And the purpose of the opening is to do all of these to engage the reader, introduce the characters and introduce the setting.

So before we read chapter one, I want us to think about the of the chapter.

Can you look at the name of chapter one? Why do you think the author named the chapter this way? Pause the video now and discuss this question with your partner, your class or whoever you are with.

Off you go.

Okay, so here are some possible responses to this question.

I think he named the chapter this way to create a creepy atmosphere.

I think he named the chapter this way to hook the reader in and make them feel a little bit spooked out.

Why did you think the author named the chapter this way? Here is some vocabulary we are going to encounter in the first chapter of this book.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

Dormitory, a dormitory is a large room with many rooms. Sophie is sleeping in a dormitory with the other orphans in the orphanage.

Lavatory, a lavatory is another word for a toilet.

Moonbeam, that is a ray of light from the moon.

Dim, that means quite dark, not bright.

Crooked, that means bent and twisted.

And finally misty, that's a synonym for foggy when it's hard to see because the sky is misty.

In a moment you're going to read page one of the opening chapter.

There are some key things to remember when you are reading aloud.

Try to use an expressive voice so use expression when you read aloud.

You don't want to say every word and every sentence in the exact same tone.

Try to vary the volume, some words or sentences might need to be said a little bit louder others a little bit quieter depending on what atmosphere you're trying to create.

Emphasise key words, so if there's a word you want the listener to particularly hear, maybe say it a bit more loudly or slowly.

And if you can, try to use facial expressions to make it even more engaging for the listener.

So pause the video now and off you go reading page one of the opening chapter.

Okay, well done everybody.

Great job.

Let us just check our understanding of that first page.

Here are four statements, are they correct? If they are not correct, can you explain why not? Pause the video now.

Okay, so let's go through these.

A, Sophie was unable to sleep.

That is correct, that's true.

B, the house was very noisy.

That is not true, why not? The house was completely silent.

C, the streets outside were empty.

That is correct.

D, it was daytime.

That is not correct.

We know it was nighttime because the moon was shining and Sophie was in bed.

Well done.

Let's continue to explore the text.

Now, you need to read the second page of chapter one, ending with the word window.

And again, remember to think about using an expressive voice changes in volume, emphasising keywords and using facial expressions.

Pause the video now and off you go, reading page two.

Well done everybody.

Let's just check our understanding of what happened on page two of the opening chapter.

Again, which statements are correct and if they are not correct, why not? Pause the video now.

Okay, let's go through it.

So A, the children were allowed to leave their beds at night.

That is not correct.

That is not true, why? Because they were punished if they were found out of bed.

Sophie wears thick rimmed glasses.

That's correct.

It was silent in the streets.

That's also correct.

And then D, Sophie ran loudly to the window.

That is not true.

She tread really quietly so as not to wake anyone up.

Well done.

Okay, it's time now to read the third page of chapter one, ending with the word thin.

Remember to think about using expressive voice, varying the volume, emphasising keywords and using facial expressions.

Pause the video now and off you go reading page three of the opening chapter.

Okay, well done everybody.

So let's just check our understanding of the end of chapter one.

True or false? When Sophie looks out the window, she thinks everything looks the same as normal.

Pause the video now That is false.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, Sophie thinks the street seemed different and the houses didn't look real or familiar.

B, Sophie is confused by what she sees.

Pause the video now.

That's right it is A, Sophie's looking outside the window and thinks everything looks really different to normal.

Well done.

Okay, it is time for task A.

You need to go back through the whole of chapter one and read all of it aloud.

And when reading out loud, try to think about all of these using that expressive voice, using expression, changing the volume, emphasising key words and using facial expressions.

You might want to read it out loud with your partner.

You might want to read a paragraph each, or a page each.

Or you might want to just read it out loud by yourself.

Either is great, but just make sure you're practising reading aloud.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Well done everybody.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Did you do all of these things? Did you use an expressive voice? Did you vary the volume? Did you emphasise key words and use facial expressions? If you want to, you can pause the video now and have another go at reading aloud chapter one, otherwise well done.

It is time for the second part of the lesson where we are going to be inferring and discussing the opening chapter.

When we infer we draw conclusions or make guesses based on information and clues provided in the text.

This is sometimes called reading between the lines.

For an example, the girl heard a sound and her heart began to pound in her chest.

What can we infer about the girl? What can we conclude or guess about the girl from reading this sentence? I can infer that the girl was scared of the sound because when I'm nervous my heart beats faster than normal.

So I'm using my own personal experiences and using what's in the text to help me make an inference or a conclusion about the girl in this sentence.

So checking for understanding which of the following statements are true? A, inference is sometimes called reading between the lines.

B, when you infer you must only use information from the text.

Or C, inference involves using your own knowledge as well as clues from the text.

Pause the video now.

Okay, so A is correct, inference is sometimes called reading between the lines and C, in the slide before I used my own knowledge to help me understand what the statement was because I know that when I'm nervous, my heart beats faster.

So I can use that knowledge to help me infer the statement.

Well done.

We can also gather evidence to support the inferences that we make about a character or an event in the text.

So for example, here is an inference about the opening chapter.

I think that the orphanage is a scary place to be during the night in the opening chapter.

And we can support this statement using evidence from the text.

So we can see lots of evidence from the opening chapter to support this.

The house is the quietest it's ever been.

That's quite scary that it's so quiet.

The street outside is dark and still quite a scary image there.

Everything in the village seems different.

Why is it different? That's quite creepy, that's quite scary.

And an unfamiliar figure is approaching, that's definitely quite a scary image.

I know I'd be scared if there was this huge, strange unfamiliar figure approaching and coming towards me.

So this is all evidence from the text to support the statement that she made that she thinks the orphanage is a scary place to be.

In the opening chapter, we are introduced to the protagonist, the main character, Sophie.

In a moment you need to pause the video and I want you to refer to all of chapter one and think about this question.

What do we learn about Sophie? Pause the video now and have a go thinking about this question.

What do we learn about Sophie? Okay, welcome back.

Here are some possible responses.

Sophie is the only person awake in the orphanage.

Sophie is bold as she leaves her bed, even when she knows she could be punished.

And Sophie is brave as she wants to know what's happening at this time of night.

I wonder if any of you had similar ideas and understandings about Sophie? In the opening chapter, we are also introduced to the BFG.

You need to now refer to the final sentences of chapter one that are written in italics.

And I want you to think about this question.

What can we infer, what can we conclude, about this figure? Pause the video now and have a go answering this question.

Okay, here are some possible responses.

We can infer that Sophie has never seen it before.

She doesn't recognise it, what could it be? We can also infer that it doesn't seem to be a human and this makes it seem even scarier.

So checking for understanding, true or false? We learn a lot about the BFG, the Big Friendly Giant in the opening.

Pause the video now.

That is false.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, Roald Dahl describes the BFG in little detail in the opening.

B, the BFG is only described as a mysterious something in the opening, so the opening ends on a cliffhanger.

We don't know what this figure is.

Pause the video now.

That's right, that is B, the chapter ends with us seeing this figure of the BFG but actually not having any idea who it is and what he's gonna do.

Well done.

So the atmosphere in the opening chapter is quite scary.

I want you to now refer to all of chapter one and think about this question.

How does the author create this scary atmosphere? Think about all of these, language choices and vocabulary choices, the character's emotions, how does Sophie seem in this chapter? Look at sentence structure and the setting, where the story is set.

How do these all help to create a really scary creepy atmosphere? Pause the video now, off you go.

Okay, well done everybody.

I hope you enjoyed thinking about discussing this question.

Here are some possible responses.

The author builds suspense by using really precise vocabulary to describe the eerie silence of the dormitory.

So the silence is what's so scary.

It's a really creepy place to be.

The final sentences where we meet the BFG for the first time uses repetition and ambiguity.

So we don't really know what it is to describe that mysterious something approaching.

If the author had just said a big friendly giant was walking down the street, that would be less scary 'cause we'd know what it is.

But the fact that we just see this mysterious figure and silhouette that we have no idea what it is, creates a more scary atmosphere.

The author ends the chapter on a cliffhanger.

It ends with us not knowing what's gonna happen next, but that something bad is probably about to happen.

And finally, short, simple sentences are repeated in a row for dramatic effect.

So that was a really effective way that Roald Dahl creates drama and suspense by using these short, snappy, simple sentences in a row.

And that's something that we can be thinking about doing ourselves when it comes to us writing the opening.

So it's time for task B.

You now need to draw two pictures that show each of these things from the opening.

What you imagine the street outside might look like and what you imagine that mysterious figure might look like.

There is no right or wrong to this question because you have to use your imagination and use information from the opening chapter to help us to create this.

But I'm sure all of us will look really different and that's a great thing.

So pause the video now and off you go drawing each of these.

Well done everybody.

Welcome back.

I hope you enjoyed drawing these.

Here's what I drew.

So firstly, the street outside with the crooked bent houses, the moonbeam shining down on it.

And I didn't add any colours 'cause I wanted to show that it was all dark.

And then that mysterious figure, again, the moonbeam shining down on it really, really big and coming closer and closer towards the orphanage, but with no facial details or anything like that because it's just this tall, thin, mysterious something.

I'm sure yours all looked really different and that's a great thing and I really hope you enjoyed Task B.

Well done on today's lesson, everybody.

Here is a summary of everything we've learned.

When reading aloud, it's important to use an expressive voice, vary your volume, emphasise keywords and use facial expressions.

When we infer, we draw conclusions or make guesses based on information and clues provided in the text.

We can gather evidence from a text to support inferences we make about a character or an event.

And the author creates a scary atmosphere in the opening chapter with precise vocabulary choices, setting descriptions, and purposeful sentence structures.

Great job today everybody.

Well done.