Lesson video

Hello everyone.

How are you doing today? I hope you're well.

My name's Ms. Afzal and I am really thrilled because we get to explore, "Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths", fantastic novel by Maisie Chan.

And we're gonna be really getting into our responses to this novel, getting into some rich discussion.

But first of all, you need your copy of the text, so pause the video here while you go and fetch that.

It's great to see you again, you've got your copy of the text.

What else have you got? Some responses to share, got your listening ears, you're all set for this discussion? Let's get into it.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can develop my own response to, "Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths".

There are some keywords in today's lesson, let's go through them one at a time.

My turn, your turn.

Character trait, impression, connection and recommendation.

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 them, let's find out more about them right now.

Character traits are the special qualities that make a character in a story unique and interesting.

An impression refers to initial feelings about a person, place, or thing gained from reading a text.

How a text relates to a reader, another text or the wider world can be called a connection.

A recommendation is a suggestion for a text that is well suited to a reader's age and their interests.

Our lesson today has two parts to it, first will be exploring characters and relationships and next connections and recommendations.

Let's start by looking at those characters and relationships.

"Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths", is written by Maisie Chan.

"Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths", is a novel with illustrations by Anh Cao.

Cao's drawings mirror Danny's own artwork.

The text is set in Birmingham and has a lovely intergenerational relationship at its heart between Danny and his grandmother, Nai Nai, who arrives from China.

The text explores Danny's identity as a British Chinese child and how he navigates between his Chinese heritage and British culture.

Here's my first question for you, who do you think the main characters in, "Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths", are? Pause the video while you decide.

Here are some responses.

Aisha thinks that two of the central characters are Danny and his grandmother, Nai Nai.

Izzy says, "Danny's best friend is Ravi.

Carter, the school bully tries to be friends with Danny in order for him to help him with a school project".

And Jacob says, "Danny's family include Ma, his mother, and Ba, his father.

Their friends are Auntie and Uncle Yee and Amelia, their daughter.

Mrs. Cruikshanks is a member of the local community who often visits the Chung takeaway".

Lots of different characters there, I wonder which one you came up with.

Danny's relationships with his family and friends change throughout text.

How would you describe Danny at the beginning of the text, in the middle and at the end? And what character traits and emotions does he exhibit? So these are the particular qualities that make a character unique and interesting.

So pause the video while you reflect on these answers and share with someone nearby.

I wonder what you discussed.

Danny is shocked to find that his room is now being shared with his grandmother.

So that was near the beginning of the story.

Danny's impressed at how well him and Nai Nai worked covering takeaway shift.

Later on Danny's regretful about what happened to his relationship with Ravi and he wants to put things right.

And towards the end, Danny's proud of his family and his heritage.

So we can see quite a bit of change there in Danny and his relationships throughout the text.

Check for understanding.

Match the following characters to their descriptions.

Mr. Potempa, Carter, Mrs. Cruikshanks.

Let's look at the descriptions.

She's a regular customer of Danny's parents' takeaway.

She becomes good friends with Nai Nai at Bingo.

He is the owner of a local mini mart where Nai Nai gets lots of fruit, especially lychees.

He is a child at school who taunts and bullies Danny and his friend, Ravi.

So pause the video while you match their characters to their descriptions.

Well done if you linked Mr. Potempa being the owner of the local mini mart.

Carter is the school bully and Mrs. Cruikshanks is regular customer at the takeaway and becomes good friends with Nai Nai.

Well done if you matched up the characters and these descriptions.

What is your first impression of Danny? And remember, an impression is our initial feeling, our initial response to something in a text or to someone.

So refer to chapter one.

And here's an additional question, do you empathise, do you feel with, do you understand, have understanding for Danny? What does he do that might be similar to you or your classmates? So pause the video while you reflect on these questions and refer to chapter one.

And share your responses with someone nearby.

So what did you come up with, I wonder? Anything similar to this? Here's Sam.

"I really like Danny.

He loves creating comics and hates tidying his room, just like me." Oh, I wonder if anyone else has any feelings similar to Sam and Danny.

And here's Alex.

"My first impression of Danny is that he's curious.

He wants to know what his parents are talking about and why there's a big fuss all of a sudden." Yeah, that's a really interesting observation there.

Thank you, Alex.

Danny creates comic strips with his best friend, Ravi.

Danny does the drawing and Ravi enjoys writing the speech bubbles.

What a great team.

Refer to pages 24 and 25.

How can you tell that Danny and Ravi are good friends? Think about what is said alongside their actions and reaction.

Pause the video while you refer to those pages and discuss why Danny and Ravi are good friends.

And share with someone nearby.

Did you come up with anything like this? "Ravi has shared lots of things with Danny, including his old trainers and a backpack." Really? That's really lovely.

"Danny playfully pokes Ravi in ribs.

They call this game finger jousting on page 28." That sounds like fun.

Check for understanding, true or false.

Danny is always kind and thoughtful.

Pause the video while you decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

And now how about your justification for your answer? Danny lies to his friend, Ravi, so he can hang out with Carter.

He leaves Nai Nai at bingo when he's meant to look after her.

Or Danny has a talent for drawing.

He creates imagined comic characters.

Some of these are based on his family and friends.

Pause the video while you decide which of these statements best justifies your answer.

Well done if you selected A.

Both statements are true, but the first one is a more clear and direct justification of your original answer.

Some friendships are not based on a shared language.

Throughout the text, Nai Nai and Mrs. Cruikshanks become firm friends.

Which character traits does Mrs. Cruikshanks show that make her a good friend? And you might like to refer to page 148 where Nai Nai joins Mrs. Cruikshanks at bingo for the first time.

So pause the video while you refer to the text and discuss this question and answer with someone nearby.

Here's a response from Laura, "Mrs. Cruikshanks is very welcoming and inclusive", lovely traits.

"She helps Nai Nai when she's unsure of how to play.

Nai Nai mirrors her actions.

Mrs. Cruikshanks also enjoys having someone to talk with as she lives alone." Fantastic, love that answer.

And hope you found some character traits, maybe these ones or maybe something else that makes Mrs. Cruikshanks a great friend.

I wonder if you are a good friend to someone and what character traits do you have that make you a good friend? Continuing to explore friendships.

The relationship between Danny's mom and Auntie Yee, her friend, is sometimes quite challenging I'd like you to refer to the text now, what impression do you get of Auntie Yee? Is she a good friend to Danny's mother? Pause the video while you refer to the text and share about your impression of Auntie Yee and if she's a good friend to Danny's mother.

Let's see this response from Izzy.

"Auntie Yee is always showing off at how well her daughter is doing.

She makes Danny's mom feel inferior", or sort of less than or not so important.

"I don't think she's a good friend to her." I wonder if you had a similar answer to this.

Check for understanding.

At the end of the text, which of the following friendships are positive, which are negative? So we have Danny and Ravi, Ma and Auntie Yee, Danny and Carter, and Nai Nai and Mrs. Cruikshanks.

So pause the video while you decide which are positive and which are negative by the end of the text.

Well done if you selected positive relationships as Danny and Ravi and Nai Nai and Mrs. Cruikshanks.

And if you selected the negative relationships as being Ma and Auntie Yee and Danny and Carter.

Friendships and relationships do not always remain the same, they can change with the plot of the story and indeed in life.

For your task I'd like to choose one of the following friendships to discuss with your partner.

And discuss whether the friendship is positive or negative and why.

So you could choose Danny and Ravi, Ma and Auntie Yee, Danny and Carter, Nai Nai and Mrs. Cruikshanks, or Danny and Amelia.

You could use sentence stems such as, I think the friendship between so and so and so and so is, or it is positive or negative because.

Does the friendship stay the same throughout the text? So pause the video now while you reflect on one of these friendships using the following sentence starters and question prompts and share with someone nearby.

I wonder what you discussed.

Here are some responses.

"I think the friendship between Nai Nai and Mrs. Cruikshanks is positive, because they get on really well.

They share a love of bingo.

Nai Nai helps Mrs. Cruikshanks when she falls unwell." "The friendship between Danny and Amelia ends positively.

However, they are always compared to one another by Auntie Yee." Danny finds it difficult to empathise, to understand or feel for Amelia.

You might like to share a response with a larger group or with the whole class.

Enjoy sharing your responses.

And now for the next part of our lesson, we'll be looking at connections and recommendations.

Connections are ways in which you connect personally with the text.

The way that one reader connects might be different to another based on their own life experiences.

Connections can be from text to self, from text to text, or from text to the world.

Text to self is when the content of the text relates to personal experiences, feelings or thoughts.

Text to text is when the content of the text relates to another text, this could be something you've seen, read, watched or heard.

And text to the world is when the content relates to events and issues in the real world.

Connections can also relate to patterns that you spot when reading.

I wanna share some connections with you.

So connections that I made to the text are to Chinese customs, traditions and language, which are explored throughout the text.

And to the text, "Mayhem Mission", an illustrated chapter book, which celebrates British-Bengali culture and language.

Which connections do you make to the text? And are they text to self, text to text or text to world connections? Pause the video while you share these with someone nearby.

I'm curious about what your connections were and I hope you enjoyed sharing them with somebody.

Making connections and recommendations can significantly enhance the reading experience and broaden our understanding of literature.

Here are some recommendations based on the themes, forms, and connections in, "Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths".

"Sam Wu is Not Afraid of the Dark", "Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu", "Drawn Together", "The Great (Food) Bank Heist", and, "Stuntboy: In the Meantime".

Let's explore these texts in a little more detail.

So firstly, "Sam Wu Is Not Afraid of the Dark", this is another series that celebrates and represents Chinese culture really well, a funny illustrated chapter book.

"Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu", it's by the same author, Maisie Chan.

This text explores Lizzie Chu's relationship with her grandfather.

It's moving and heartfelt.

"Drawn Together", is a celebration of language and family relationships through a shared love of storytelling and art.

"The Great (Food) Bank Heist", someone is stealing food from the shelves of the food bank.

Nelson must uncover the culprit before it's too long.

And finally, "Stuntboy: In the Meantime", Portico Reeves creates a superhero persona to help him deal with his parents arguing, a real mix of form and genre.

Which text would you recommend for Jun? So Jun wants to read more books by the same author as, "Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths".

I think you're gonna get this one pretty speedily, but pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected, "Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu".

Why does it make such a good recommendation? Well it's because it's written by Maisie Chan.

Fantastic, fantastic author.

And we know that Jun is keen to read more books by Maisie Chan.

For your task, I'd like you to research one of the recommended text.

Discuss with your partner which of these five would you like to read.

And do you have a text that you'd like to recommend and why? Pause the video while you do your research and have this discussion.

I wonder which text you researched.

How about Aisha? Aisha, oh, Aisha went for, "Drawn Together".

"I love the art style of this picture book text.

It looks like it mixes traditional and modern techniques." Yeah, I like that.

Great observation there.

And how about Izzy? Izzy went for, "The Great (Food) Bank Heist".

"This looks like a really empathetic text, while also written in my favourite genre, mystery!" Okay so you're into mystery is see.

Fantastic.

What about you, I wonder what your favourite genre is? In our lesson today we've covered the following, character traits can be explored through the text, illustrations or words used by the characters.

Connections are ways in which you connect personally with a text.

The way that one reader connects might be different to another based on their own life experiences.

Connections can be from text to self, text to text or text to world.

Making connections and recommendations can significantly enhance the reading experience and broaden the reader's understanding of literature.

It's been great to explore responses to this wonderful text here with you today.

Thank you for joining in with this lesson and for sharing your ideas and your insights and your recommendations.

And I'll see you another lesson.

Bye for now.