Lesson video

Hi there, my name is Mr. Charlesworth.

And in today's reading lesson, we're developing our reading preferences through an appreciation of character.

In today's lesson, we're exploring inspirational figures in nonfiction and also exploring the genre of historical fiction.

I hope you'll leave the lesson with someone new to inspire you.

Let's begin.

The lesson outcome for today is, I can explore characters in historical fiction and nonfiction texts, researching what makes them inspirational.

The keywords are, my turn, your turn: historical fiction, empathy, nonfiction, inspirational figure.

Let's try those once more.

Historical fiction, empathy, nonfiction, inspirational figure.

Well done.

Historical fiction is a genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events.

Empathy is the ability to experience and understand other people's feelings and points of view.

Nonfiction is a genre of text which presents real events, information, or knowledge.

An inspirational figure is a character who embodies certain values or qualities that resonate with readers and serve as a source of inspiration.

Don't worry if there's any words that you're not sure about right now, we'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

Today's lesson is all about developing reading preferences through an appreciation of character.

We're going to begin by looking at exploring reading for pleasure through historical fiction before moving on to exploring inspirational figures in nonfiction texts.

Let's start with exploring reading for pleasure through historical fiction.

Historical fiction is a genre that blends fictional narratives with real historical settings, events, and often real historical figures.

Authors of historical fiction use research to immerse their readers in the past, creating a vivid and authentic backdrop for their stories.

Historical fiction texts usually have a foreword or afterword to explain the process the author took to ensure their writing was as accurate as possible.

A foreword or afterword is like a few additional pages before the text starts or after it finishes, sometimes explaining the research that the author did or contextualising the story.

Historical fiction can be set in a range of time periods, including the Romans through "Circus Maximus: Race to the Death"; Tudor through "Diver's Daughter: A Tudor Story"; Victorian through "Frost Hollow Hall"; the First World War through "An Eagle in the Snow"; and the Second World War through "Noor-un-Nissa: Inayat Khan".

These texts offer us a range of different perspectives of a range of different time periods, and there are many more.

I hope you'll explore a few more through today's lesson.

Historical fiction can develop our reading for pleasure through engaging, accessible stories, empathetic characters, that's characters that we feel we can step into the shoes of and see from their perspective or viewpoint.

Historical fiction also allows us to appreciate a range of different cultures that may be similar or different to our own.

They allow us to find inspirational role models, that's role models that inspire us.

They also allow us to connect from past to present.

Reading about someone in the past can impact our life in the present.

And finally, historical fiction allows us to appreciate a range of historical context too.

Just like this example "Now or Ever", which follows an Indian soldier called Faisal through the Battle of Dunkirk, offering a new and perhaps untold perspective that we haven't heard about before.

Here's our first check for understanding.

Can you match the titles to their historical setting? Have a look for clues on the front cover.

Pause the video now whilst you match them up.

Great work.

Let's see if you've got them correct.

"Diver's Daughter" links to the Tudor era, "Viking Boy" links to the Viking Age, and "Windrush Child" links to the Windrush generation.

All three of these texts are fantastic and I really encourage you to check them out either in your school library or your local library.

Historical fiction contains characters who are often based on real historical figures or are fictional characters placed in historical settings.

By understanding what drives a character in a historical context, readers can draw parallels to their own lives and motivations, or gain insights into the motivations of people from the past.

Reading about characters in this way can develop empathy.

Well done for noticing one of our keywords.

The text "After the War" is a very empathetic text.

It focuses on the plight of some refugees escaping from Auschwitz and moving to the Lake District.

The characters stayed with me for a long time after reading, and I hope they will with you too.

It's well worth checking out.

Tom Palmer, the author, also includes the research and information that he gathered to write the book.

This is included in the afterword.

Through character and plot development, readers can read about a range of things.

These can include social justice, that's issues that affect society; identity; cultural change and traditions; injustice and oppression; resilience and survival, so that's all about perseverance and persevering through challenge; discovery and exploration; power and politics; and freedom and rebellion.

As you can see, these themes are really complex and multifaceted.

Historical fiction is a great way to explore these quite complicated themes in really accessible ways.

Historical fiction can shine a light on a range of historical figures.

Writing can reflect both positive and negative aspects of the time period.

It's important to read about history through a range of perspectives so that we deepen our understanding and empathy for our own history and that of other people.

A text that does that really well is "Son of the Circus", reviewed the text through the eyes of Ted, a young Victorian boy, as he begins to explore his relationship with Pablo Fanque, the first black circus owner.

It's a really inspirational tale, but also shines a light on particular areas of history that I didn't know much about.

I really hope you go and explore and check it out yourself.

Here's our next check for understanding.

True or false.

Reading about characters in historical fiction stories can help readers develop empathy.

Is that true or false? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

It's true.

Now, I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it because A, through reading historical fiction, readers can learn about a character's feelings and perspectives? Or B, authors use research to ensure their texts are authentic and accurate to the time periods in which they're set.

Which one best links to the statement above? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

Were you correct? It's A.

Through reading historical fiction, readers can learn about a character's feelings and perspectives.

That's exactly what empathy is all about.

The second justification, authors using research to ensure their text are authentic, is also true.

However, it doesn't best link to the statement above, which is all about characters and empathy.

We're now onto our first task.

I'd like to know is there a particular era within history that you'd like to read about? Note down the time period alongside a reason why.

You could choose from the following: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Tudors, Stone Age, Victorian, the First or Second World War, the Islamic Golden Age, the Shang Dynasty, or the Age of Exploration.

There are a range of other time periods.

These are just a few examples.

When you're writing down, you might like to use the sentence stem: I want to find out about.

Because.

Pause the video now whilst you note yours down.

Great work.

I wonder which time period you chose.

I'd be really interested to find out more.

Here are two examples.

The first is from Jacob.

He says, "I want to find out more about Ancient Egypt.

I'd love to know more about the hieroglyphics and inventions from their civilization." Sofia says, "I want to find out about the Victorian Era because there were a lot of social and cultural changes, including the Industrial Revolution." I wonder if either of them matched with yours.

We're now going to move on to exploring inspirational figures in nonfiction texts.

In the text that we read, we can encounter characters that inspire us.

Inspirational figures can appear in a range of texts.

They're especially prominent in the genres of historical fiction and nonfiction.

An inspirational figure is a character who embodies certain values or qualities that resonate with readers and serve as a source of inspiration.

Well done on noticing the keywords.

An example of this is in the Scholastic Voices series.

You might have seen a few of these in the lesson already.

This one is "A Different Kind of Freedom: A Romani Story".

It explores the life of Rab Howell, a really inspirational Romani footballer.

It tells the story through the eyes of a young boy called Lijah.

I really think you'll enjoy it.

It's well worth checking out.

Readers can explore figures that relate to aspects of themselves or they might enjoy discovering about someone who is from a background different to their own.

Below are a few examples of a range of inspirational texts.

They're all in the nonfiction genre and they take many different forms. I wonder if there's any that inspire you to pick up and read.

The next check for understanding is a talk task.

I wonder if you can remember what we've just learned.

The question is, what are the benefits of reading about inspirational figures? Pause the video now and have a chat with your talk partner.

Great work.

There are lots of different reasons.

Reading about inspirational figures can be a source of personal growth, motivation, and knowledge.

They can offer you valuable life lessons, encourage empathy, and deepen our understanding of the world around us.

I wonder if you mentioned something similar too.

Through reading nonfiction text, readers can find out: biographical information that can include the date of birth and place of birth, information about their life achievements, their impact they had on society, inspirational qualities that they possess, they're like our character traits, motivations and values, things that motivate them to succeed, and also about challenges and struggles that they might have faced or had to overcome.

Inspirational figures can demonstrate a range of inspirational qualities and values.

These might include resilience, courage, integrity, determination, overcoming prejudice or discrimination, leadership, compassion, that's all about caring, creativity, dedication to a cause, and sacrifice.

We can develop awareness of these qualities and begin to nurture these skills in ourselves through reading.

A fantastic text that embodies lots of these qualities and values is "I Am Not a Label".

It's a really important text to develop understanding around disability and includes lots of disabled artists, thinkers, athletes, and activists from past and present.

Here's our final check for understanding.

Which of these examples demonstrate inspiring qualities? A, someone who only looks out for themselves? B, someone who cares for a member of their family or local community? C, someone who doesn't look after their local environment? Or D, someone who stands up for what they believe in? There may be more than one.

Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

It's B and D.

Someone who cares for a member of their family or local community is demonstrating compassion, and someone who stands up for what they believe in might be overcoming discrimination or prejudice or overcoming a challenge.

These all demonstrate inspiring qualities.

In our final task, I'd like you to find out about a real life inspirational figure.

Perhaps this could be a person from a historical period or is there someone that inspires you now? I'd like you to create a reading top trunk.

You might include their year of birth, what they're known for, inspiring qualities, their greatest achievement, and an interesting did you know fact.

You can use the template to support you.

I'm really looking forward to seeing who you've researched and the information that you gather about them.

Remember, when you're researching, use an encyclopaedia, your school library or local library or trusted websites.

If you're ever unsure, you can speak to a trusted adult.

I really hope you're looking forward to researching.

Pause the video now whilst you create your reading top trunk.

Great work.

I hope you enjoyed the task.

Let's have a look at an example of Marcus Rashford.

I wonder if you can think about why I might have chosen him as an inspirational figure.

His year of birth is 1997.

He's known for being an international football player.

His inspiring quality is being a child food poverty campaigner, campaigning for the rights of children on having access to free school meals.

His greatest achievement is winning the FA Cup.

That's the Football Association Cup for non-football fans.

And an interesting did you know fact, Marcus Rashford's Book Club has delivered over 100,000 free books to children living in the most disadvantaged areas.

I wonder if you know why I might have chosen him as an inspirational figure.

It links to not only sport, but reading and social justice issues too.

I hope you've enjoyed exploring inspirational figures through historical fiction and nonfiction.

Well done for all your hard work.

In today's lesson, we've been developing reading preferences through appreciation of characters.

We've understood that historical fiction is a genre that blends fictional narratives with real historical settings, events, and often real historical figures.

It's important to read about history through a range of perspectives so that we deepen our understanding and empathy for our own history and that of other people.

We've understood an inspirational figure is a character who embodies certain values or qualities that resonate with readers and serve as a source of inspiration.

And finally, we've learned that inspirational figures can appear in a range of texts.

They are especially prominent in the genres of historical fiction and nonfiction.

I hope you've been inspired in today's lesson.

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