Lesson video

Hi there, my name's Mr. Charlesworth, and in today's reading lesson we're going to be developing our reading preferences through personal reflection.

We're going to be exploring a range of authors, illustrators, and poets and the creative teams that put together a text.

Before then looking at researching an author in more detail.

I hope you're looking forward to the lesson.

Let's get started.

The lesson outcome for today is, I can understand my reader identity by reflecting on my reading experiences.

The key words are, my turn your turn.

Reader identity.

Reading preference.

Author.

Illustrator.

Poet.

You did those so well.

We're gonna just do them one more time.

Reader identity.

Reading preference.

Author.

Illustrator.

Poet.

Well done, reader identity is a reflection on who you are as a reader and why you read.

A reading preference can include what we read and where we read.

An author is responsible for crafting the words that make up a text.

An illustrator is responsible for creating the pictures, drawings or images that make up a text.

A poet is a writer who uses verse to convey emotions.

Don't worry if you're unsure about any of these keywords.

We'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

Today's lesson is all about developing our reading preferences through personal reflection.

We're gonna begin by reflecting on our own reading experiences in relation to authors, illustrators, poets, and the creative teams that make up a text, and then in the second part of the lesson, we're going to focus on researching an author, how that might work and what you might find out.

Let's get started on reflecting on our reading experiences.

Reading for pleasure is reading that we do of our own free will.

We want to read, we are engaged by it and we enjoy reading.

Reading for purpose is reading to gain information or to verify knowledge.

Sometimes we can do both at the same time.

Reading text by the same author or illustrator can be a great way to develop reading for pleasure.

There can be several benefits including gaining familiarity with the style, whether that's in writing or through the artwork.

A deeper exploration of themes.

Sometimes if a single author or illustrator is working on a number of texts, themes may be present in more than just one.

You can explore characters or plots.

Reading texts by the same author or illustrator.

You can't help but compare and contrast to other texts and make connections.

Some of these connections include a deeper emotional connection as you get to know the characters, or get to know the writing style in more detail.

Finally, a text for the same illustrator or author can offer readers comfort as they know what they come to expect from a particular creator.

One such author that does that for me is David Almond.

His text, I can't help but return to and reread many, many times.

He'll pop up a lot throughout today's lesson.

I wonder if you can spot all the references.

The thing I love about David Almond's work is that it is got a really authentic sense of voice.

David is based up in the northeast of England near Newcastle, and you can't help but feel as though you are part of the landscape when you are reading his words.

I wonder, do you have a favourite author or illustrator that you return to regularly? Perhaps it's one that you read often.

Pause the video now and tell your talk partner.

Fantastic work, I wish I could have heard the examples you'd shared.

When an author and an illustrator work on a text together, they each bring something unique to the words and illustrations.

This partnership can be called a creative team.

Well done on noticing the keywords.

The author and the illustrator in this case make up the creative team.

This can also sometimes include a translator or editor.

Have a look at the examples below.

You've got three front covers.

The author is the same person, David Almond, but have each been illustrated by a different person.

These creative teams have brought very different meaning to both the front covers and inside the text too.

I wonder if you are intrigued to read some of them.

They're all fantastic.

I wonder which one you choose first? While reading texts by the same creative team can provide many benefits, it's important to recognise that there are some limitations to exclusively reading a single person's work.

Exclusively reading text by a single author may not offer readers a range of texts from diverse perspectives, genres, and themes.

Wider reading allows you to compare and contrast across a range of texts and engage with a variety of writing styles.

Now it's time for our first check for understanding.

True or False, reading text by the same creative team only has positive benefits.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

It's false.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it A, reading text from a range of creators ensures your reading is diverse and offers a range of perspectives? Or B, reading text from a single creative team allows you to compare and contrast themes across the text.

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

Well noticed, it's A, reading texts from a range of creators ensures your reading is diverse and offers a range of perspectives.

This allows us to widen our reading, having texts from a single creative team, although offering some positives, there are a few limitations.

Making sure that you read a wide range of texts by a range of authors and illustrators and creative teams is really important.

I'm now going to explore some texts by the same author before you have a go doing it yourself too.

The author's name is Katya Balen, and she's written lots of fantastic texts including "The Space We're In," "October, October," "The Light in Everything," "The Thames and Tide Club," "Birdsong," and "Fox Light." I'm sure you can tell just from the front covers alone that one of Katya's themes that comes up across lots of her texts is the theme of nature.

She writes so empathetically also dealing with really complex themes that can be very emotional.

I've cried at a number of these texts and I think you might do the same too.

They've all very different with a range of different characters, but they make me think in a similar way.

Lots of Katya's texts I have to read in one sitting.

They're so well written.

I wonder, can you name an author that you enjoy reading? Perhaps someone as soon as they release a book, you either have to go to the bookshop or the library to borrow it.

Tell your partner about the reasons that you enjoy reading this author.

Perhaps it's similar to my example with Katya Balen.

There are common themes or maybe common characters or plots that you enjoy.

Maybe you are familiar with their style of writing.

Pause the video now and tell your partner.

Fantastic work, I hope you enjoy sharing one of your favourite authors with your partner.

Developing our awareness of authors is a great way to widen our reading.

I'd now like to share some texts by the same illustrator before you do the same after.

His name is Chris Riddell.

Perhaps you've heard of him.

He was the children's laureate, which is a very prestigious role within children's literature and he championed illustration.

He's written a number of texts and illustrated them.

Here are some examples.

There's "Free Lance and the Field of Blood." "The Edge Chronicles," "Beyond the Deep Woods," "Coraline." "Through the Looking Glass and what Alice found there." "Island," and "Gods and Monsters," methodological poems. As you can see from the range of different covers, there's a range of different themes in these texts as well.

Chris's illustrations are so distinctive.

There's almost a gothic feel about them, especially in "Coraline," which has some very dark and spooky themes.

I particularly like Chris's interpretations of certain poems, which he illustrates so beautifully.

I wonder, can you name an illustrator that you enjoy reading? What makes their artwork and drawing and illustration so special? Pause the video and tell your partner Fantastic work, I wonder who you chose? I'm now going to explore some text by the same poet.

Before you've guessed it, you do your own after.

Valerie Bloom is an amazing poet.

She writes lots of poetic texts that celebrate language and culture.

These examples, "Hot like Fire," and other poems. "Stars with Flaming Tales," and "Whoop and Shout," all have joyous poems which celebrate life and make me feel good when I read them.

They're even better if you perform out loud.

Another poet that I return to regularly is Kate Wakeling.

She writes texts such as "Cloud Soup," "Moon Juice," and "A dinosaur at the Bus Stop." These poems have a range of different themes.

I particularly enjoy the scientific ones where Kate explains where a glass of water has really come from.

It's quite shocking, surprising, and funny.

I wonder, can you name a poet that you enjoy reading? Perhaps they brought out a range of different poetic texts.

Tell your partner about your favourite poem and perhaps the poetry collection that it comes from.

Pause the video now whilst you do so.

Great work, I hope you enjoyed sharing your favourite poets.

In our first task, we're going to continue to develop our reader identity by looking at what we like to read.

These can be called our reading preferences.

Well done on noticing the two keywords.

I'd like you to write down a list of authors, illustrators, or poets that you have read a number of texts by.

We might have looked at a few examples that you might want to include yourself.

Fill in the table of authors, illustrators, and poets.

Pause the video now whilst you do so.

Fantastic work, I wonder if you needed more space.

Well done if so, and I'd now like you to share your list with your talk partner.

Pause the video now.

Whilst you do so.

We're now going to reflect on our experience.

What do you notice about the authors, illustrators and poets that you wrote down? Do you have more authors or maybe more illustrators or more poets? Were they different to your talk partners? Can you note down a new author, illustrator, or poet that you'd like to find out more about from the process? Acknowledging and reflecting on our reading preferences can help us to widen our understanding of a range of creators.

In the second part of the lesson, we're going to be researching an author.

This is one of my favourites and I can't wait to share them with you.

When reading for pleasure, a reader's engagement with the text can be explored more deeply by researching the author or creative team behind a text.

Researching can deepen your connection with their work, provided a richer understanding of their writing and artwork, and enhance your overall enjoyment of the reading experience.

Researching before reading a text is a matter of personal preference.

Some readers prefer to let the text speak for itself.

Ultimately, the choices the decision a reader can make independently as part of their reader preferences.

Discovering influences and learning about an author's life can create a personal connection between the reader and the text.

Researching can also be an opportunity to discover other texts that the author or creative team have made.

Exploring influencers of a text can be a really rewarding experience.

An example below is a picture book text called "The Dam." It's written by David Almond.

You might have seen a few of his texts in this lesson already.

Beneath the picture of the dam is the place where it's set.

It's called Kielder Water, and I found this out from reading the back of the text in the end papers.

In these notes, they explain where the story has come from.

And I decided to drive up there and explore it myself.

By reading David Almond's texts, he gave me a real affinity with the landscape of the north and I couldn't help but visit a number of the places that he references in his books.

I wonder if there's a text that has the same personal connection for you.

We'll be exploring these connections through the next part of the lesson.

Here's our next check for understanding.

Select the statements that are correct.

A, you must research a text before reading it.

B, researching the creative team behind a text can enhance a reader's connection to the text.

C, researching the creative team behind a text is a personal preference.

D, exploring other texts by the same author does not deepen your personal connection to their work.

There might be more than one example.

Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Fantastic work.

It's B and C.

Researching the creative team behind a text can both enhance the reader's connection and also it is a personal preference.

Readers can choose to do so or not.

You don't have to research a text before reading it.

It's a personal preference and exploring text by the same author does deepen your personal connection as you get to know more about the themes and the style of writing that the author produces.

When researching an author or creative team behind a text, there are a number of places that you can begin.

You can look at their biography, maybe research the author's website.

Look at interviews the author has given.

Influences that they have mentioned that influence their work.

Perhaps looking at the historical or cultural context, that's the situation or the period that the book or text is set in.

And finally you can look at the preface and forwards.

These are usually included before the text and give information about when it's set, the research the author has done or an introduction to the text itself.

Knowing about an author can enable you to engage more meaningfully in discussions with others who've read their works.

It can foster a sense of community among readers who appreciate the same author.

So just like when you are recommending text to one another, reading text by the same author can build connections across readers too.

Let's have a look at an example of some research that you can do on a particular author.

Catherine Johnson has written several books for children and young adults.

Catherine was born and raised in London, but now lives near the sea.

Her father was from Jamaica, her mother from Wales.

Catherine's text for children cover a range of genres, including historical fiction.

When growing up she didn't see children like her in stories, so set about writing stories with characters like her in the past.

Her recent text tell the story of inspirational Black figures from history.

This information is from the author's website and interviews she's conducted with other people.

I hope you are intrigued to read her texts.

She's an amazing author who does a huge amount of research and she explores all of this on her website.

Here's our final check for understanding.

Where can you find additional information about an author? Pause the video now and note down as many as you can remember.

Fantastic work.

There are a number of places you can get information about an author including their biography, the author's website, interviews that they've conducted with other people, influences that they've said have had an impact on the text.

Historical or cultural context or the preface and forwards that are sometimes included before a text begins.

In this final task, I'd like you to research a chosen author, illustrator, or poet.

Perhaps it's one of the people that you mentioned in Task A.

I'd like you to think about the following questions.

What are their key texts? What texts must you read by this author, this illustrator, or this poet? Where did they grow up? Why did they become a writer or illustrator? And finally, what inspires them? After gathering your information, share your chosen author, illustrator, or poet with your talk partner.

Remember, there are lots of places to go to for information.

Check with an adult, if you're unsure about any of them.

Pause the video now to go and research.

Great work, I hope you enjoyed researching a chosen author, illustrator, or poet.

I'd now like you to reflect on the following questions.

What did you find out? Was there anything that surprised you? Did you deepen any personal connections you had with the text? Whilst you're thinking about these questions, pause the video and reflect.

In this lesson we've been developing reading preferences through personal reflection.

We've understood that reading text by the same author or illustrator can be a great way to develop reading for pleasure.

We know that wider reading allows you to compare and contrast across a range of texts and engage with a variety of writing styles.

We know a reader's engagement with a text can be explored more deeply by researching the author or creative team behind a text.

Finally, discovering influences and learning about an author's life can create that personal connection between the reader and the text.

I've really enjoyed exploring the connections that we have through personal reflection today.

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