Lesson video

Hello there.

It's really good to see you.

My name is Ms. Afzal and I'm so pleased because today, I get to share with you a fantastic novel.

It's called "Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths," and it's written by Maisie Chan.

So pause the video here for a moment while you go and fetch your copy of the novel.

It's great to see you again.

You've got your copy of the novel.

What else do you have? Hopefully, some curiosity, maybe some ideas, maybe some questions.

Let's get into it.

The outcome for today's lesson is, I can discuss the main ideas of "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.

"Cultural heritage," "stereotype," "theme." Fantastic.

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

Let's think carefully about them.

Let's be curious about them.

And here are some definitions of those words.

Someone's cultural heritage is the traditions, beliefs, and values passed down through generations.

Stereotype refers to a generalised and often unfair or untrue belief about a particular group of people or things.

And a theme is a big idea, topic, or message that recurs within a story.

In our lesson today, we have got two parts we're covering.

First of all, we're exploring the story, and next, we're exploring themes.

Let's begin with this story.

"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 throughout the novel to enjoy.

The text is set in Birmingham and has a lovely intergenerational relationship at its heart between Danny and his grandmother, or 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 cultures.

And remember, heritage, one of our keywords are the values, beliefs, traditions passed down through generations.

Danny learns about lots of his Chinese heritage and language from his grandmother.

Danny's parents speak Cantonese.

Nai Nai speaks Mandarin, which also includes some dialect from where she lives.

And dialect, that's a noun, means the word specific to a place or region.

And we can see a map of China here.

Danny and his grandmother begin the text, unable to communicate.

By the end of the text, Danny finds a way to communicate through his drawings and has picked up some Mandarin phrases too.

Here's my first question for you.

Why do you think "Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths" is an important text to read? Pause the video here while you talk to someone nearby about your answer.

Here's Jacob.

"This novel is important because it provides readers with experiences that might be from a perspective different to their own.

It explores Chinese culture, food, and traditions, alongside addressing stereotypes linked to race and age." And Jacob's used the word "stereotypes" here, which is that generalised unfair or untrue belief linked to a group of people or things.

Check for understanding, true or false.

At the beginning of the text, Danny isn't pleased about having to share his room with Nai Nai, his grandma.

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

You're right, it is absolutely true.

He's not happy about it.

And now, can you justify your answer? "Danny had plans for his own space with an area for drawing.

He had hoped that Ravi would be able to come over for sleepovers." Or, "Nai Nai speaks Cantonese.

Danny is not able to understand her very well at the beginning of the text." Pause the video while he decide which of these statements most directly links to your answer.

Well done if you chose the first statement.

Yeah, this one, although they're both true, the first one more directly links and justifies your answer.

Let's go through a brief summary of the text.

Danny's a keen artist.

He enjoys making his own comics.

He's looking forward to having his own room.

Danny's grandmother, Nai Nai, arrives as a surprise.

She stays with the Chungs in their flat.

She shares Danny's bunk bed.

Danny's teacher sets a maths project.

Danny can't come up with an idea.

Danny falls out with one of his best friends, Ravi.

He finds it challenging to repair their friendship.

Danny's trusted to look after Nai Nai.

He takes her to the shops and bowling before trying bingo, something she really enjoys.

Nai Nai helps Danny complete his maths project.

Check for understanding.

Put the following events from "Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths" in chronological order.

That's in time sequence, the sequence in which they occurred.

Use the text to support.

So here are our events.

Nai Nai wakes up Danny.

She frightens him by being so close.

Nai Nai becomes friends with Mrs. Cruikshanks.

They play bingo together.

Danny completes his math project on nature and art.

Ba, Danny's father, injures his back.

Danny and Nai Nai have to run the service at the takeaway.

So pause the video while you decide which order these events occurred in.

Okay, good to be back with you.

So let's see.

Did you get these events in chronological order? Beginning with, this one's first, Nai Nai waking up Danny.

Next, Ba injures his back.

Nai Nai becomes friends with Mrs. Cruikshanks, and Danny completes his math project.

Well done if you put the events in this order.

Now that we've explored the story, we're going to discuss our own thoughts and feelings about the text.

So for your first task, I would like you to answer questions in the grid that is coming up with a partner.

Be honest about your thoughts, and make sure you listen carefully to your partner's opinion.

So here's the grid we'll use to explore the story.

I'd like you to share your likes, dislikes, and puzzles.

So first of all, likes.

What caught your attention? What made you wanna keep on reading this book? And you might like to use sentence stems like, "I enjoyed" or "My favourite part was." What about dislikes? Was this something you didn't understand? "I wasn't unsure about." Or maybe you could start with, "I wanted to know more about." And finally, puzzles.

Is there anything you found strange or surprising? You could begin with, "I wondered" or "I noticed." So pause the video and use this grid to help you to answer these questions about your likes, dislikes, and puzzles.

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

And I am wondering what did you come up with.

I'd like to share with you some answers.

I enjoyed finding out about Chinese culture and language from the discussion that Danny has with his family.

I want to know more about the Fibonacci sequence and how maths can link to nature.

I found that's so fascinating.

Puzzles, I noticed that one of Danny's creations, the 'Druckon,' half duck, half dragon has significance in Chinese culture, symbolising love, good luck, and strength.

I wondered how to pronounce some of the Chinese phrases I read in the book and ended up looking some of them up online.

Wonder if you did too.

And now, let's move into exploring themes.

A theme is a big idea, topic, or message that recurs.

It keeps coming up within a story.

Identifying themes within a text involves inference.

It means looking carefully, looking between the lines.

Themes are not explicitly stated within a text, so the text doesn't say, "This book is about," but rather, we need to identify the themes.

And there's a few ways we can do this.

By considering actions and characteristics of people within the text, by identifying repetition, actions, emotions, traits and repeat, searching for deeper meaning using inference, and considering the overall message of the text.

One of the most prominent themes in the text is a celebration of cultural heritage.

So remember the beliefs, traditions, values are passed down through generations.

Danny explores his Chinese heritage through moments in the text, such as the visit to the restaurant with his ma, Auntie Yee, and Amelia, where he explains some traditional Chinese customs to the reader.

What themes do you think are shown within the text? Pause video while you share your ideas with someone nearby.

Some themes you may have come up with in this novel might include kindness, bullying, creativity, celebration of language, hope, and prejudice.

There are many possible themes that can be drawn out from this text.

It's such a rich text.

Readers may interpret themes and their importance differently.

Hope is the feeling of optimism and belief that things will get better even in difficult or uncertain times.

Creativity is ability to generate original ideas or solutions through imagination.

Prejudice is holding unfair and unreasonable opinions or feelings based on limited thought and knowledge.

Check for understanding, match the theme to how it is conveyed in the text.

So there are themes on the left, hope, prejudice, creativity, and how it could be conveyed or shown, represented in the text as on the right.

Danny wants to repair his friendship with Ravi.

He recognises that trying to be friends with Carter was wrong and wants to put things right.

Danny's approach to his math project is based on his love of drawing, combining artwork and nature.

Danny notices how some people's attitudes towards his grandma were based on Nai Nai's appearance.

So pause the video now while you link the themes and how they could be conveyed in the text.

Well done if you made this connection between hope and Danny's wish, his hope to repair his friendship with Ravi.

Prejudice is conveyed by Danny noticing people's attitudes towards his grandma, and creativity is about Danny's approach to his math project and his love of drawing.

Well done if you made these connections.

The Chinese way is mentioned a lot throughout the text.

It refers to listening and respecting the elders within the family.

It's first mentioned by Ba on pages four and five.

How do you think Danny responds to the Chinese way? Do you think his thoughts and feelings change throughout the text? Pause the video while you reflect on his questions.

I wonder what you came up with.

Let's see what Sofia has to say.

"At the beginning of the text, Danny sometimes wants to do nothing on the weekends, like his friends.

He feels he has responsibilities that they do not.

By the end of the text, Danny has formed a strong friendship with Nai Nai and his parents.

Danny and his family face stereotypes and misconceptions based on their cultural background." Refer to the text.

Can you think of other examples where characters make an assumption based on his family's Chinese heritage? Pause the video while you refer to the text and reflect on his question.

Here's Jacob.

"Danny is approached by Carter, the school bully, and his friends to help them with their maths project.

This is based on the stereotype that all Asian students are naturally good at maths." I wonder if you picked up on this assumption.

You might also have discussed Nai Nai's interaction with Enid at the bingo.

Check for understanding, true or false.

Danny's relationship with Nai Nai stays the same from the beginning of the text to the end.

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

Well done if you selected false.

And now, I'd like you to justify your answer.

Danny ends the text having formed a close bond with his grandmother through a shared appreciation of art.

Danny draws Nai Nai as a super villain.

When she discovers this, she's very upset.

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

Well done if you selected the first one.

Although both statements are true, the first one is one that more directly relates to the original statement.

A takeaway idea within a text may link to themes that are explored and developed in it.

It may include a key message, insight, or perspective that the author has communicated to the reader.

What are your takeaway ideas within "Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths?" Pause video while you share these with someone nearby.

What ideas did you come up with? Let's find out some more.

Here's Jun.

"We can make friends no matter our age or language that we speak.

Some things are universal." Oh, I love that one, Jun.

Here's Izzy.

"Honesty is always the best policy." Yep, it's a classic and it's true.

Some takeaway ideas you might have mentioned could be: "It's important to a range of different families that either reflect our own or introduce us to new perspectives.

Learning about our cultural heritage can help build understanding across generations of family.

You should not feel the need to conform to stereotypes.

You shouldn't judge someone or something based only on what you see on the outside." As our reading experiences are unique, your ideas will be too.

We have covered the following in our lesson today.

"Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths" is set in Birmingham and has a lovely intergenerational relationship at its heart between Danny and his grandmother Nai Nai.

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

Danny and his family face stereotypes and misconceptions based on their cultural background.

The takeaway idea within the text may link to themes that are explored and developed in it.

It may include a key message, insight, or perspective that the author has communicated to the reader.

Something I'd like to communicate to you is a big thank you.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for being part of this lesson, for sharing your ideas, developing your understanding, and sharing this discussion.

It was great to be here with you, and I'll see you at the next lesson.

Bye for now.