Lesson video

Hello, everybody.

It's good to see you.

My name's Ms. Afsal.

and I'm feeling pretty excited about being here today.

That's because we are going to be exploring a really, really fantastic novel.

It's not just any novel, it's an illustrated chapter book, and it's this one here, "How to Train Your Dragon" by Cressida Cowell.

Cressida Cowell has both written and illustrated this novel.

So this is really quite something.

You are going to need a copy of the novel that looks just like this one for our lesson today.

I'm gonna pause here.

So please pause the video and off you go and find your copy of the novel.

Okay, you are back.

You've got your copy of the novel.

Hopefully, you've got some enthusiasm for dragons, for adventure stories, and for exploring fantastic fiction.

Let's get into it.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can identify and reflect on the key themes in "How to Train Your Dragon." We have got a number of keywords in today's lesson.

Let's go through them one at a time.

My turn, your turn.

Theme, convey, hero.

Fantastic, I heard those loud and clear.

Let's find out more about these keywords.

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

To convey means to communicate a message to the reader directly or indirectly.

And a hero is a protagonist with noble qualities, often saving or helping others.

I wonder if you have any favourite heroes in books that you've read before.

Today's lesson, exploring and engaging with themes in "How to Train Your Dragon" has two parts to it.

First of all, we'll be reading chapter 13.

After that, we'll be identifying and reflecting on themes.

So let's get started with chapter 13.

Here is our amazing text.

Look at that front cover.

What a talented person is Cressida Cowell, having both written and illustrated "How to Train Your Dragon." So let's see what we've covered so far.

After getting into an argument, the novices and their dragons are to be exiled.

In chapters 10 to 12, the predicted storm arrives and a humongous dragon washes up on the island's beach.

The villagers try to scare it away, however, this does not work.

Hiccup bravely volunteers to go and speak with the dragon to see if it comes in peace or war.

I wonder how you're feeling about the text so far and about what's to come.

In chapter 13, Hiccup leaves the arguing leaders.

To his surprise, the other novices from both islands follow him and ask his advice.

I'd like you now to read the first part of chapter 13, page 170 to the page break on page 175, ending with the word thought.

After that, I would like you to refer to pages 171 and 174.

Why do you think Hiccup was respected by the majority of the other novices? So pause the video here, read that part of chapter 13, and then answer the question and share your answer with someone nearby.

And I'll see you when you're finished.

Okay, good to be back with you.

And I am curious, what did you think? So why do you think Hiccup was respected by the majority of the other novices? Let's see what Aisha has to say.

"Hiccup is the only islander to be able to speak with the dragons.

The novices are impressed that he was able to speak with Green Death and survive." Absolutely, that is pretty impressive.

Yeah, really great point there, Aisha.

Thank you for sharing.

I wonder if you had a similar response to the one that Aisha gave us.

Thuggory stands up for Hiccup and says that he is a great thinker.

He asks the other novices to give Hiccup space to think of a plan.

What do you predict will happen? What would you do in Hiccup's position? So pause the video here while you share your prediction with someone nearby and also get into Hiccup's shoes.

What would you do if that were you? I'm very curious.

What are your predictions? I wonder what do you think is gonna happen? What would you do if you were Hiccup? Well, maybe something like this.

If I were Hiccup, I would try to convince the dragon that there was a better opportunity for them on another island.

Mm, very cunning.

I like it.

What else? I would try to use the dragon's power against it.

Perhaps there is a way to trap it.

Fantastic.

Oh, these are some really great ideas here.

Hope you enjoyed sharing your ideas.

Check for understanding.

Which of the following characters stand up for Hiccup when Snotlout is picking on him? Choose two.

So we have Wartihog, Fishlegs, Dogsbreath, and Thuggory.

So pause the video here while you decide which two of these characters stood up for Hiccup.

Well done if you picked Fishlegs, his loyal friend.

Fishlegs always there, and Thuggory.

Great job.

The novices discovered there is another dragon.

This one is slightly larger than the one they named Green Death, oh my.

So I'd like you now to read the second part of chapter 13, pages 175 through to the bottom of page 179.

And then after that, I'd like you to reflect on these questions.

So referring specifically to page 176, what is the name the novices give the newly discovered dragon? And why is it called this? So pause the video now, read the second part of chapter 13.

And then answer these two questions, and share your answers with someone nearby.

So what did they call the dragon and why? Let's hear from Sam.

"The new dragon is nicknamed The Purple Death.

It's the same breed as the other dragon, has purple skin and breathe plumes of violet smoke." Oh my goodness, can you imagine such a thing? Just picturing that.

Just imagining that is wow, quite something.

So well done if you got the name Purple Death and the reason why it was given this nickname.

So just like their masters, the dragons are also meeting.

They're meeting and they're discussing a plan.

And now I'd like you to refer to pages 178 and 179 of the text and ask yourself this.

What other dragons planning to do if Hiccup's plan does not work? So pause the video, read those two pages, and then answer the question, what are the dragons planning to do if Hiccup's plan does not work? And share your answer with someone nearby.

Pause the video here.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed the reading, and discussing, and sharing your ideas.

Let's see what Izzy has to say.

"The dragons do not like losing and hope to desert their masters upon Brightclaw's signal.

They hope to flee only when they're certain that it is the correct decision." Okay, well done if you came up with an answer similar to Izzy's.

Check for understanding.

Match the following masters to their dragons.

So we have Thuggory, Hiccup, and Chief Stoick.

And their dragons are Toothless, Newtsbreath, and Killer.

So pause the video while you match up the masters to their dragons.

Okay, did you match Thuggory with Killer? Hiccup, we know has Toothless, and Chief Stoick has Newtsbreath.

Well done if you made these connections.

So let's carry on thinking about Hiccup and his dragon Toothless.

So there are lots of similarities and differences between the two of them, between Hiccup and Toothless.

Referring to the text as a whole, list two similarities and two differences.

Think about their character traits.

So what are those things, those qualities that make them unique and interesting? Think about their actions, what they're doing, how they're thinking, the dialogue they use, and the way they interact, their interactions with other characters.

So there's a helpful chart here for you to use.

So we've got similarities and differences.

So I'd like you to think of two similarities and two differences, and I've got one to start you off.

So here we go.

Similarity, Hiccup and Toothless both defy expectations that people have of them.

That means they go beyond what people are expecting of them.

I wonder if you've ever done that.

Can you think of a time where you have defied expectations that people had of you? It's quite wonderful when you do that.

It can feel quite wonderful when you do that.

Okay, so pause the video here and take a little time to refer to the text and then come up with two similarities and two differences between Hiccup and Toothless.

I'll see you when you're done.

So let's have a look at a example of a completed grid.

I wonder if your grid looks anything like this.

So we've got that first one.

Hiccup and Toothless both defy expectations that people have of them.

Another similarity, both Hiccup and Toothless stand up for what is right.

Toothless confronts a much larger dragon, Hiccup speaks with the Green Death.

Again, I wonder if this is something that you've done.

Have you ever stood up for what is right? I hope so.

It's a really important thing to do in life.

All right, how about differences? Hiccup is brave and selfless.

So he is not thinking about himself alone, he's thinking of others.

He puts others before himself.

In contrast, Toothless is quite selfish.

He's thinking about himself.

Another difference, Hiccup is very active and seeks to make a positive impact on his tribe.

Toothless is quite lazy.

He complains about having to help.

I hope you enjoyed reflecting on these two characters and their similarities and differences.

And maybe you have some similarities with them as well.

And now, it's time for us to move onto the next part of our lesson, identifying and reflecting on themes.

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

It keeps coming up within a story.

Within literature, authors use techniques to convey themes to the reader.

So to communicate themes.

We've got two of our keywords in a row there.

Oh, that's pretty great.

These themes often mirror issues and topics that we encounter in our own lives, making the story relatable to the reader.

Here are some examples of themes.

Friendship, family, love, courage, betrayal, good versus evil, death, protection, loneliness and survival.

Oh, I wonder, let's just take a look at those 10 themes there.

I wonder which ones are really jumping out at you.

Which are the themes that you really connect with or enjoy reading stories about? Maybe take a moment to reflect on that.

If you like, share with someone nearby.

What are your top one, two, or three? I think all of these themes are so fantastic, but maybe some of the ones that stand out for me are friendship, family, love, courage.

Oh, I'm just going through the whole list now.

Okay, in terms of friendship and love, I really love the book, "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane," which really has these themes, and it themes of friendship and love.

That's by Kate DiCamillo.

And in terms of family, I love the graphic novel "When Stars Are Scattered" by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed.

That has, yeah, a real theme of family, love, and courage, I would say, and survival.

Yeah, it's a tough one, but it's also very, very inspiring.

So as we can see, themes can really draw us in.

Identifying themes within a text involves inference.

So themes are not explicitly stated within a text.

So a text will not say this text is about X, Y, Z, but there are ways in which we can identify themes, which we'll come to.

Authors commonly use repetition to convey themes, to communicate their themes to a reader.

And there are a few ways to identify themes.

For example, considering the actions and characteristics of people within the text.

Identifying repetition, so actions, emotions, traits that occur again and again.

Searching for deeper meaning within the text using inference or reading between the lines.

And considering the overall message of the text.

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

It's so rich, it's so full.

Readers may interpret themes and their importance differently.

Here are some of the themes that really struck me in this novel.

Loyalty, bravery, what makes a hero, and embracing differences.

Let's take a look at this word, loyalty.

So loyalty, it's a noun.

Loyalty means being a faithful friend who sticks by others through thick and thin.

I wonder if you've been a very loyal friend or a loyal family member, sticking by those you care for.

And these are just some of the themes that can be inferred.

There are many more.

Check for understanding.

Match the theme with how it is conveyed in the text.

So here are our themes.

Loyalty, bravery, embracing differences.

And how it could be conveyed or communicated in the text? Hiccup does not have brute strength, yet he's looked up to because of his creative ideas.

Hiccup stands up for what is right, comes up with a plan to save both tribes.

Fishlegs supports Hiccup through several challenges.

So pause the video here while you match the theme with how it is conveyed in the text.

Did you match up loyalty with Fishlegs, supporting Hiccup through so many challenges? Bravery, Hiccup stands up for what's right, comes up with a plan to save both tribes.

And embracing differences.

Sure, Hiccup may not have brute strength, yet he's looked up to because of his creative ideas.

Well done if you made these connections.

It's time for your task.

I would like you to discuss which other themes appear throughout the narrative.

So I shared these ones with you, loyalty, bravery, what makes a hero, embracing differences.

What I'd like you to do now is to discuss other themes that appear throughout the narrative.

And some themes are more complex and encourage us to consider their meaning.

So pause the video here, and turn to someone nearby, and have a discussion about themes that appear in the narrative of "How to Train Your Dragon." I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

I am very curious.

Let's see how full we can make this board.

All right, let's go.

What have we got? Traditions, yep, good one, I like that.

Determination, yeah, so, so determined is Hiccup.

Parent expectations, yeah.

Wonder if you've come across that one yourself.

Environment, conservation, acceptance, identity.

Oh, such a rich one there.

So much to that, just that one word.

And friendship.

Classic, love that one.

Well done, well done, well done, everyone, for coming up with so many themes.

It just really, really shows us what rich, involving novel this is.

"How to Train Your Dragon" is an enjoyable read with underlying messages about heroism and self-belief.

Try to answer the following questions.

What makes Hiccup the unlikely hero of the story? What messages or takeaway ideas do you have from reading the text? You could use a sentence starter like I think Hiccup is an unlikely hero because.

Or a takeaway idea I had after reading the text was.

So pause the video here and really get involved, get into sharing about these two things.

Why is Hiccup an unlikely hero? And what are you taking away? What is your takeaway idea from this text? I'll see you when you're finished.

Pause the video here.

I am very curious.

What have you come up with? Why is Hiccup such an unlikely hero? What are your takeaway ideas, messages? Let's have a look at this sharing.

"I think Hiccup is an unlikely hero because he begins the text very unsure of himself and wary to speak up.

Towards the end of the text, he's more confident and sharing his ideas and opinion." Oh, love a transformation story like that, wonderful.

What else? "Reading 'How to Train Your Dragon' made me think about how we can accomplish great things by working collaboratively as a team rather than independently.

By listening to Hiccup's ideas, the novices succeeded." Oh, that is such a great takeaway idea.

I wonder, have you ever had that experience? Have you worked together collaboratively on something and actually achieved more than if it had been just you, just everybody working independently? I love that.

I hope you enjoyed sharing your ideas, and I hope you enjoyed listening to others.

There's so, so much to take away from this novel.

It's really interesting to hear everyone's ideas.

In our lesson exploring and engaging with themes in "How to Train Your Dragon," we've covered the following.

Hiccup's character goes on a transformation throughout the text.

He begins the text as an unlikely hero.

Hiccup's characterization does not remain fixed.

By the end of the text, he demonstrates many heroic qualities such as confidence and bravery.

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

Some themes are more complex and encourage us to consider their meaning.

Themes can leave us with ideas and questions that we'll reflect on after reading the text.

I really enjoyed being with you in this lesson today.

Thank you so much for all of your sharing and your engagement with these themes.

I especially enjoyed hearing about those takeaway ideas.

So inspiring.

Great to be with you.

I'll see you in another lesson soon.

Bye for now.