Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

My name is Ms. Voyle and welcome to today's lesson where we are going to be engaging with the story "The Borrowers".

For this lesson, you need a copy of the 2014 Puffin Books edition of "The Borrowers" by Mary Norton.

Pause the video and get your copy of the book now.

Great, now I know you have the book with you.

During this lesson, you'll need to be listening carefully and there will also be tasks where you need somebody to talk to.

I hope you're feeling excited and ready to learn.

Let's get started.

The learning outcome for today's lesson is, "I can order the key events of 'The Borrowers'." Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

Let's practise saying them.

My turn, your turn.

Fantasy fiction, summarise, structure.

Great job, well done.

Let's take a look at their definitions.

Fantasy fiction is a story which is made up or imagined and involves magical elements.

Summarise means to pull out the key events and ideas from the text.

And structure refers to the order of events within a narrative that gives it a coherent and engaging flow.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

In the first part, we will be having an introduction to the story, and in the second part, we will be ordering the key events.

So let's begin with an introduction to the story.

Let's learn about the text "The Borrowers".

"The Borrowers" is a fantasy fiction text.

Fantasy fiction means it is a story which is made up or imagined and involves magical elements and imaginary worlds.

"The Borrowers" is about miniature people who secretly live under the floorboards of an English house and borrow from the big humans in order to survive.

"The Borrowers" was first published in 1952 and won the highly prestigious Carnegie Medal for children's fiction.

The book was so popular that in 1997, it was adapted into a film.

Let's check your understanding.

What makes "The Borrowers" a fantasy fiction novel? A, it was written in 1952.

B, it is about miniature people who borrow from big humans.

Or C, it was adapted into a film in 1997.

Pause the video and select the correct answer.

The answer is B, well done.

What makes "The Borrowers" a fantasy fiction novel is that it is about miniature people who borrow from big humans.

Let's learn a bit about the author.

Mary Norton, who was born in 1903 and died in 1992, wrote "The Borrowers" in 1952.

What inspired Mary Norton to write "The Borrowers"? Mary Norton was very shortsighted as a child, which made it difficult for her to enjoy natural elements like the sky and the birds.

Instead, Mary found herself gazing at hedgerows, riverbanks and puddles, examining the small creatures that lived there.

This prompted her to consider what it might be like to live as a human of this size in the world and inspired the story "The Borrowers".

Let's check your understanding.

What inspired Mary Norton To write "The Borrowers"? A, the sky and the birds.

B, small creatures in nature.

Or C, huge animals in the ocean.

Pause the video and select your answer.

The answer is B, well done.

Mary Norton was inspired by small creatures in nature and she imagined what it might be like to be a human of this size in the world.

Let's learn a bit about the characters and the plot.

"The Borrowers" tells the story of the Clock family, who are three miniature people that live under the floorboards of an old English house.

The Clock family is made up of a father named Pod, a mother named Homily, and their 13-year-old daughter named Arrietty.

The humans who live upstairs are referred to as human beans and the miniature people are known as Borrowers, because they secretly borrow items from the human beans in order to survive.

Let's check your understanding.

Match the character name to the description of who they are.

The character names are A, Pod, B, Homily, C, Arrietty.

The descriptions of these characters are the mother of the Clock family, the 13-year-old daughter of the Clock family, and the father of the Clock family.

Pause the video and do this now.

Let's go over the answers together.

Pod is the father of the Clock family.

Homily is the mother of the Clock family.

And Arrietty is the 13-year-old daughter of the Clock family.

Well done for demonstrating your understanding of which character is which.

A protagonist is a main character or central figure in a story or narrative.

The protagonist in "The Borrowers" is Arrietty.

Arrietty is a strong-willed, clever, and determined young girl who cannot wait to borrow with her father.

The story explores Arrietty's meeting and resulting friendship with Boy, who is a 10-year-old human bean staying in the house upstairs.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false? Arrietty is the protagonist in "The Borrowers".

Pause the video and select your answer.

That is true, well done.

Now it's time to justify your answer.

A, she is the lead Borrower, or B, the story explores Arrietty's borrowing expeditions and her friendship with a human bean named Boy.

Pause the video and select the correct justification.

The answer is B, well done.

Arrietty is not the lead Borrower, her father is.

The story explores Arrietty's borrowing expeditions and her friendship with a human bean named Boy.

Let's learn a bit more about the setting.

The story is set in an English home that is thought to have been inspired by a house that the author, Mary Norton, grew up in.

The Clock family live under the floorboards of the kitchen.

They access the upstairs through a hole at the bottom of the clock in the hallway.

The Clock family's home is made out of items they have borrowed from the house upstairs.

For example, wallpaper made out of handwritten letters and drawers made out of old matchboxes.

Let's check your understanding.

What is the Clock's family home made from? A, items they have bought from a shop, B, items they have borrowed from the human beans upstairs, or C, items they have been gifted by the human beans.

Pause the video and select your answer.

The answer is B, well done.

The Clock's family home is made from items they have borrowed from the human beans upstairs.

And remember, this is why they are called Borrowers.

It is time for your first task.

Fill in the blanks with the vocabulary listed below.

I will read this to you.

"The Borrowers" is a fiction text.

"The Borrowers" is about people who secretly live under the floorboards of an English house.

The humans who live upstairs are referred to as.

And the miniature people are known as Borrowers, because they secretly items from the human beans in order to survive.

The Clock family, the Borrowers, is made up of a father named, a mother named Homily, and their 13-year-old daughter named.

The vocabulary for you to choose from is borrow, Pod, fantasy, human beans, miniature, Arrietty.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Welcome back.

Let's take a look at the answers together.

"The Borrowers" is a fantasy fiction text.

"The Borrowers" is about miniature people who secretly live under the floorboards of an English house.

The humans who live upstairs are referred to as human beans and the miniature people are known as Borrowers, because they secretly borrow items from the human beans in order to survive.

The Clock family, the Borrowers, is made up of a father named Pod, a mother named Homily, and their 13-year-old daughter named Arrietty.

I hope you enjoyed having an introduction to the story and well done for demonstrating your understanding of what you know about the story so far.

It's now time for the second part of our lesson where we will be ordering the key events from the story.

Story structure refers to the order of events in a story that gives it a flow from beginning to end.

It is important for stories to have a clear structure so that readers can understand and enjoy them.

There are four main parts of a story structure.

First, the opening, then the buildup, then the climax, and finally the resolution.

The opening and the resolution are usually the shortest sections.

Most of the action and the most exciting moments take place in the buildup and climax.

In this unit, we are going to be writing descriptive sections based on extracts from the buildup.

Here is a summary of the opening of "The Borrowers".

A lady called Mrs. May tells a little girl called Kate about the Borrowers.

She recalls stories her younger brother had told as a child about seeing the miniature people.

The Clock family are introduced.

They are miniature people who live under the floorboards of a kitchen in an old English house and borrow items from the human beans upstairs.

Pod is the father and he's often out on a mission to borrow what is needed.

Homily is the mother and she is a nervous character who worries a lot.

Arrietty is their 13-year-old daughter who loves to read and write in her diary.

Here is a summary of the buildup of "The Borrowers".

One evening, Pod comes home distressed at having been seen by one of the human beans upstairs.

This makes the Clock family worried.

Homily decides that Arrietty should be allowed to go on an expedition upstairs with Pod so that she can learn how to borrow safely.

Arrietty works hard at her chores for three weeks, preparing herself.

Finally, Pod takes Arrietty upstairs on a borrowing mission.

On this trip, Arrietty goes into the garden and encounters Boy.

Arrietty and Boy develop a friendship.

She offers to help him read and in return, he gives the Clocks items for their home and takes a letter to their nearby relatives.

Here is a summary of the climax of "The Borrowers".

The Clock family enjoy a time of receiving fantastic items from Boy, but soon, the human beans realise their things are going missing and they think Boy is involved.

Mrs. Driver, the lady who owns the house, locks Boy in his room and hires a rat catcher to catch the Borrowers.

Boy manages to escape his bedroom and breaks open their house to provide them with an escape route.

Whilst he is waiting for them to escape, Boy is taken away and never knows what happens to the Borrowers.

Here is a summary of the resolution of "The Borrowers".

The story ends as it began, with Mrs. May and Kate sewing their quilt.

Mrs. May is Boy's older sister.

She visited the house herself to check if her brother's stories were real, and there, she would leave small gifts at the Borrower's new home.

These would be gone when she returned to check.

She also found a miniature book in which the whole story was written, perhaps by Arrietty.

It's time for your task.

Cut out each key moment and place it on the story staircase.

Your story staircase has four key parts, the opening, the buildup, the climax and the resolution.

I will read each key moment to you.

Pod gets seen and Homily decides that Arrietty should be allowed to go on an expedition with him to borrow.

The human beans realise their things are going missing and they think Boy is involved.

The story ends as it began with Mrs. May and Kate sewing their quilt.

On this trip, Arrietty encounters Boy in the garden and they develop a friendship.

A lady called Mrs. May tells a little girl called Kate about the Borrowers.

The Clock family are introduced.

And Mrs. Driver hires a rat catcher to catch the Borrowers, but Boy helps them to escape.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Welcome back.

Well done for arranging the key moments on the story staircase.

Let's take a look at what happens in the opening and the buildup.

In the opening of "The Borrowers", a lady called Mrs. May tells a little girl called Kate about the Borrowers.

The Clock family are then introduced.

In the buildup, Pod gets seen and Homily decides that Arrietty should be allowed to go on an expedition with him to borrow.

On this trip, Arrietty encounters Boy in the garden and they develop a friendship.

Let's take a look at what happens in the climax and the resolution.

In the climax, the human beans realise their things are going missing and they think Boy is involved.

Mrs. Driver hires a rat catcher to catch the Borrowers, but Boy helps them to escape.

And in the resolution, the story ends as it began with Mrs. May and Kate sewing their quilt.

Well done for arranging each of the key moments on the story staircase.

You have identified and demonstrated your understanding of what happens in the opening, the buildup, the climax, and the resolution of the story.

We've now come to the end of our lesson, so let's go over a summary together.

"The Borrowers" is a fantasy fiction text written by Mary Norton in 1952.

"The Borrowers" is about miniature people who secretly live under the floorboards of an English house and borrow from the big humans in order to survive.

The protagonist in "The Borrowers" is Arrietty, who is the daughter of Pod and Homily.

The story is set in an English home that is thought to have been inspired by a house that the author, Mary Norton, grew up in.

And it is important for stories to have a clear structure so that readers can understand and enjoy them.

Well done for your hard work in this lesson.

I have really enjoyed teaching you.