Lesson video

Hello, everyone, my name is Mr. Brown and I'm going to be your English teacher for today's lesson.

And I am very excited because we have such an interesting text.

We are going to be engaging with the plot of a book called "The Viewer".

So for this lesson, you will need this copy of "The Viewer" by Sean Tan.

Can you pause the video and go and get your copy of "The Viewer" now? Welcome back, so now you have your copy of the text.

You will also need someone to share ideas with and you fabulous ideas yourselves because we are going to be interpreting and analysing and predicting what's happening in this fabulous text.

So lots to do.

Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can engage with the plot of "The Viewer".

The keywords we'll use are fiction, setting, fantasy, mystery, let's say those together.

My turn first and then your turn, fiction, setting, fantasy, mystery.

Fabulous, well done.

Let's look at the definitions.

Fiction is when authors create made up stories with characters, places, and adventures, which did not happen in real life, that's fiction.

A setting is where or when a story takes place.

Fantasy is a genre of fiction involving magical elements typically set in a fictional universe.

Mystery is a literacy genre that builds suspense and plots for the reader to solve.

Our lesson outline, we will start by exploring the text and then move on to reading "The Viewer".

So let's take a look.

"The Viewer" is written by Gary Crew and illustrated by Sean Tan.

Now the front cover that you can see on screen now, the front cover can provide the reader with clues as to what might occur in the text.

So have a chat with the person next to you about what can you see on the front cover and how does it make you feel.

Have a conversation, pause the video and share your initial ideas on this front cover with the person next to you now.

And welcome back.

So what could you see on the front cover of "The Viewer"? Did you see a swirl leading to a black hole in the middle of the page? There were clouds, wasn't there? A keyhole I saw.

A buckle.

Parts of people's faces.

Mysterious artefacts and symbols.

It was quite hard to make out exactly what they were, but you could see there were some symbols and some artefacts.

Now, how did the front cover of "The Viewer" make you feel? So when you saw all those different things, how did it make you feel? Did you feel any of the following? Did you feel curious? Did it make you wonder what exactly was going to be in this story? Did it make you feel uncomfortable? The fact that the front cover created lots of questions without many answers, there wasn't a picture of the main character on the front cover that you could easily go, "Oh, okay, I see that's the person that's going to be in this story." Intrigued, similar to curious, wanting to know more, wanting to find out more.

Mesmerised, were any of you mesmerised by looking at the front cover and just not being able to look away because there were so many different things that you could explore and find.

And the closer you looked, the more detail there was.

Confused, I certainly think I felt a little confused about the story.

What's the story about? Where is it set? It gives me lots of questions, but not many answers.

Now tell your partner why you felt that way using evidence from the front cover.

So we've talked a little bit now, haven't we, together, but I want you to now pause the video and tell your partner why you felt, however the front cover of "The Viewer" made you feel.

Using as much evidence as you can from the front cover itself.

And I'll include this speech scaffold example for you.

The front cover made me feel curious because, so that's curious as an example.

You can use any other, the front cover made me feel intrigued.

The front cover made me feel confused.

And then use the word because to be able to justify and give reasoning behind your opinion.

Okay, pause the video and talk to your partner now.

Welcome back, everyone.

I hope you had some positive discussions.

Remember, at this stage, there's no right, there's no wrong.

Whatever you feel and however you define that and justify that, that's absolutely valid.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

Look at the front cover.

Select the objects that you could see on the front cover of "The Viewer".

A, a keyhole, B, parts of people's faces, C, a castle D, a swirl leading to a black hole.

Your job is to select which of these you can see on the front cover of "The Viewer".

Pause the video and have a go now.

Welcome back, everyone, so what could you see? Did you see a keyhole? Well, if you did, that was correct, it was there.

Parts of people's faces is also correct.

C, a castle or D, a swirl leading to a black hole.

Only one of these is correct, which is it? Absolutely, it is a swirl leading to a black hole.

Well done if you said A or B and D.

The author of "The Viewer" is Gary Crew.

He is an Australian author who's writing style is often characterised by its vivid imagery, intricate storytelling, and attention to detail.

He has an ability to create atmospheric settings that draw readers into his narratives, whether they're exploring historical mysteries or delving into the supernatural.

And supernatural means anything that is beyond this world, beyond the natural world, super.

It's beyond that world.

The illustrator is Sean Tan.

He is from Australia too, and he's known for his distinctive illustrations, which combine vivid colours with sweeping backgrounds and distinctive shapes.

"The Viewer" is a narrative fiction book.

It tells a story that is created and imagined by the author.

It's not real.

It contains elements of mystery and supernatural fantasy.

And we talked about supernatural, didn't we? Sometimes we make links between supernatural and ghosts and things that might be happening that seem beyond reason.

Things you can't explain.

Making it a captivating book to read.

It is a very captivating book to read.

And captivating means you can't put it down.

You want to keep reading.

It has captured your attention.

It is illustrated throughout and doesn't have a great deal of text.

So this resembles the form of a picture book and these will be books that you will know before.

There might have been some books that perhaps you remember from younger classes.

That's more picture books where you might have encountered them.

The distinctive illustrations play an important part in enhancing the mysterious and suspenseful atmosphere of the story.

Let's check our understanding.

Which of the following are true of "The Viewer"? A, it is a nonfiction text.

B, it contains distinctive illustrations throughout.

C, it's contains elements of mystery and supernatural fantasy.

Which of these are true? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back, okay, let's see if you found the right answers.

So B was correct.

It contains distinctive illustrations throughout.

So is it A, it's a nonfiction text? Or B, it contains elements of.

Or C rather, it contains elements of mystery and supernatural fantasy.

Well, well done if you said C.

A, nonfiction, it's not a nonfiction text.

This is a fiction text, so B and C were the correct answers.

"The Viewer" is a mysterious story about a boy who discovers a magical object, which allows him to view strange and images from the past.

Now the object defiance is based on an old toy called a View-Master.

And you can see there is a picture of a View-Master.

And these were popular toys in the 1970s and 80s and allowed the viewer to click through a reel of images.

And that's a reel, the circular disc that's sticking in the top that could be viewed through the machine by holding it to your eyes.

Let's check our understanding.

The viewing machine in "The Viewer" is based on which popular to from the 1970s and 80s? This is A, a slinky B, a Rubik's cube, C, a View-Master.

A, B, or C.

Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back, okay, well done if you said see a View-Master, that's not a slinky and it's not a Rubik's cube, it's a View-Master.

The setting of the story is where and when the story takes place.

Look at pages three and four.

These pages show Tristan, the main character, in the setting of the opening.

So time for a discussion with your partner.

Look at those pages three and four.

And I want you to talk about what is the setting for the opening of "The Viewer".

What objects can you see? How does this setting make you feel? So look at pages three and four and have a discussion with your partner.

What is the setting for the opening of "The Viewer"? What objects can you see? And how does this setting make you feel? You can use these talk scaffolds to help you.

I think the setting is.

I can see.

which tells me.

So you might say, I can see a whatever you can see.

A television screen which tells me, there you go.

The setting makes me feel.

And then you talk about how the setting makes you feel.

Pause the video and have a discussion with your partner now.

Welcome back, okay, I hope your discussion was interesting.

I'm sure everyone had lots of different opinions.

Let's look closely again at pages three and four.

Did you spot any of these objects in the setting? Did you spot a car, television, light bulbs, glasses, a camera reel, a pocket watch, a satellite dish, a grammar phone? So that's an old piece of equipment used to play music, has a big horn on it that the music comes out of.

A ship in a bottle, a clown's head, a gas mask, a typewriter, a factory with chimneys, a toy knight.

How many of those did you spot? How many of those objects did you see in the setting? Let's have another discussion.

Can we generate any meaning from the inclusion of these objects in the setting? These objects have each been chosen to be included by the illustrator and probably by the writer in discussion.

But why? Why have they been included? What might they tell us about the story? Can we read into their inclusion? So here's an example.

There seems to be a lot of objects that involve viewing something, a TV, glasses, a camera reel, light bulbs.

Hmm.

What could that tell us about the story? Why has that decision been made? Time for a discussion.

Please talk to your partner and see if you can generate any meaning from the inclusion of the objects in the setting.

Pause the video and have a discussion now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Okay, let's move on.

You are now going to use the front cover and the image of the setting on pages three and four to make a prediction.

Now, making a prediction means deciding what you think will happen next in a story using illustrations and the text as evidence.

So that's what you're going to be doing.

You're gonna be deciding what happens next in a story using the illustrations and the text as the evidence.

Making a prediction helps us to understand the story more and makes reading fun.

There is no right or wrong answer when making a prediction.

And your prediction may be different to someone else's.

In fact, I'm sure it will be different to someone else's.

That's the interesting thing.

We are all going to predict different things and there's no right, there's no wrong.

We'll only know when we actually read the text.

So let's make predictions, shall we? What is a prediction? Let's just check our understanding on that first.

Is it A, reading on to find out what happens next? B, retelling the story in your own words? Or C, guessing what you think will happen using evidence? A, B, or C.

Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back, okay, let's see if you found the right answer.

What is a prediction? Well done if you said C, guessing what you think will happen using evidence.

It's not reading on to find out what happens next.

And it's not retelling the story in your own words.

Well done if you said C.

Time for a practise task, based on the front cover and the image of the setting on pages three and four, discuss and make predictions for the answers to these questions.

Where is the opening of "The Viewer" set and how do you know? What is Tristan doing there and what do you think will happen next? Your job is to answer these questions based on a discussion with the person next to you and making predictions for the story too.

So pause the video, make a predictions and answer these questions now.

Okay, welcome back.

Let's see some example answers and we'll see how close your answers were through your discussions to mine.

So question one was, where is the opening of "The Viewer" set and how do you know? And an example might have been, I predict that it is set in a rubbish dump or scrap yard because there are lots of different objects and most of them seem to be broken in some way.

Yes, the setting is full of hundreds of objects that are all slightly broken.

It might be a smashed piece of glass.

The car that was crumbled up looked like it had been in an accident.

The television screen that was smashed through, light bulbs that were broken.

Everything seems to be broken in some way and that is how it usually ends up at a place like a rubbish dump or a scrap yard.

Because it is no longer of use, it doesn't serve its purpose anymore.

And so it is to be disposed of.

Now, number two is, what is Tristan doing there? Now this is not a place that I would expect to see children gathering at or hanging out at.

Now I predict Tristan is there because he's searching for something in the dump because he appears to be touching the floor, possibly having a closer look at something.

So you could see he's bending over looking at something and touching the floor to perhaps pick something up or move some dust away from something.

So he appears to be searching for something.

What he's searching for in a rubbish dump, I do not know.

Number three, what do you think will happen next? I predict that Tristan will find something special, possibly something worth a lot of money or with magical powers.

Now that would be an interesting setup for a story.

You find something that could be worth millions of pounds or something with magical powers.

So they were my predictions.

I wonder what your predictions were.

Let's move on to reading "The Viewer".

So what do we know so far about the story of "The Viewer"? We know the main character is a boy named Tristan.

The setting for the opening of the story is a rubbish dump.

Tristan is in the dump on his own and appears to be looking for something.

So now we're going to read and discuss "The Viewer".

I would like you to read "The Viewer" up to page five.

And the last word on that page is inside.

So when you reach a page with the word inside, that is going to be page five.

I want you to stop reading there.

Share your initial thoughts with your partner, what caught your attention and why? And was there anything you found surprising? So I would like you to pause the video, read up to page five of "The Viewer", and then discuss with your partner.

And can you do that now? Welcome back, everyone.

So I hope you enjoyed the first five pages of "The Viewer".

Here's an example of the type of thing that I may have heard in your discussions.

I liked that the story was set in such an interesting and unusual place.

Yes, definitely, I don't think I know any other story that's set in a rubbish dump.

So well done if that was something that you focused on.

Or I found it surprising that Tristan took a strange object home with him because it could be dangerous.

Absolutely, when he takes home this wooden box, we don't know what's in the wooden box.

It's quite irresponsible if you think about it.

'Cause it could have been very dangerous.

So that was something that might have provoked an interesting discussion between you and your partner as well.

Let's check your understanding.

What word on the first page describes Tristan's personality? Is it A, curious, B, popular, C, obedient.

Which word on the first page describes Tristan's personality? A, B, or C, curious, popular or obedient? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Let's check the correct answer.

Well done, if you said A, you're curious, there is no mention of him being popular or obedient.

So A is the correct answer.

Well done if you said A.

Let's check again, what did Tristan find at the dump and bring home with him? Is it A, an old broken TV, B, a glass bottle with a ship inside or C, a wooden box? Pause the video and choose your answer now.

Welcome back.

Let's see if you found the correct answer.

Well done if you said C, a wooden box, he takes home a wooden box and doesn't know what's inside.

I would now like you to continue reading "The Viewer" from page five up to page nine.

And the last word on this page is turn.

So when you get to page nine and the last word is turn, please stop there.

Pause the video and continue reading "The Viewer" now.

Welcome back, everyone.

I hope you enjoy the next section of text that you've read there.

So let's check your understanding.

True or false.

Everything inside the box was designed to enlarge, focus or light up.

Is it true or false? Pause the video and decide true or false now.

Welcome back, okay, let's see if you are right.

Everything inside the box was designed to enlarge, focus, or light up is true.

So let's justify our answers.

A, are you going to justify with the box featured items such as viewing machines, binoculars, and magnifying glasses? And of course these all would be designed to enlarge, focus, or lights up.

Or B, the box features items such as balls, toys, and musical instruments.

Is it A or B? Can you pause the video and decide how you will justify your answer now? Welcome back, okay, A or B? Well done if you said A.

The box does feature items such as viewing machines, binoculars, and magnifying glasses.

I would now like you to finish reading "The Viewer" from page nine up to the end of the story.

So pause the video and finish reading "The Viewer" now.

Welcome back, I hope you enjoyed reading "The Viewer".

You've now read the book in its entirety.

What an amazing text it is.

Let's move on to check your understanding.

The resolution of "The Viewer" contains a traditional happy ending.

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

Welcome back, so let's check your answer.

The resolution of "The Viewer" contains a traditional happy ending.

It absolutely does not.

It is not a traditional happy ending.

Is it? What a unique and unusual and bewildering ending.

But let's justify our answer before we dive into that a bit deeper.

A, the characters end the story in a positive place and any problems have been resolved.

Or B, the main character ends the story having disappeared and his mother forgetting he exists.

A or B, how would you justify your answer? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back, everyone.

A or B? What do we think? Well done if you said B.

The main character ends the story having disappeared.

Absolutely right, Tristan disappears at the end of the story.

His mother goes into his bedroom and there doesn't seem to be any sign that he ever was there, that he ever existed.

Did he exist? Has his mother just forgotten? Did he never exist? It's a bewildering and very, very unique ending, but certainly not traditional happy ending.

Order these events from "The Viewer" correctly.

He went to school but couldn't stop thinking about what he had seen.

His mother seemed to forget why she had gone into his room and went to have her breakfast, seemingly forgetting Tristan ever existed.

Tristan used the machine again, but this time the images changed.

Tristan saw strange and scary images in "The Viewer".

They were different scenes from history and around the world.

And finally, Tristan didn't come down for breakfast and when his mother went to get him, his bedroom appeared like he hadn't been there.

I would like you to order these events by putting numbers next to them to say which one is first, second, third, et cetera.

Okay, pause the video and have a go at this task now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Let's see if you've managed to order these correctly.

So well done if you said number one was Tristan saw strange and scary images in "The Viewer".

There were different scenes from history and around the world.

Number two, he went to school but he couldn't stop thinking about what he had seen.

Number three, Tristan used the machine again, but this time the images had changed.

Number four, Tristan didn't come down for breakfast.

And when his mother went to get him, his bedroom appeared like he hadn't been there.

And number five, his mother seemed to forget why she had gone to his room and went to have her breakfast, seemingly forgetting Tristan had even existed.

Well done if you ordered these correctly.

Time for a practise task, the ending of "The Viewer" is written to provide a sense of mystery for the reader.

You may not have come across an ending like this before and it can feel unresolved, which means unfinished when a story ends with unanswered questions.

I would like you to reflect on the ending of "The Viewer" with your partner and discuss the following questions.

Number one, did you like the ending and why? Number two, was there anything you found strange, surprising, confusing? Number three, what makes the ending so different to stories you have read before? Three very open questions that should allow you to have a really rich discussion with your partner.

So can you pause the video and have that discussion now? Welcome back, everyone.

Let's see some examples of the discussions that you might have had.

So did you like the ending and why? Perhaps you might have said, I liked the ending because you can interpret what happened in any way that you like and it's different to other stories.

Yes, the ending can be interpreted in different ways.

Some people may think that Tristan never existed.

Some people may think that he has vanished.

Some people might not understand why his mother has forgotten about him.

Perhaps there's some kind of magic and she will remember.

Perhaps he's downstairs waiting for her.

Interesting.

Number two, was there anything you found strange, surprising, confusing? Well, I found it confusing that his mother seemed to forget about him.

What a twist at the end of the story.

His mother just forgets and goes down to have her breakfast.

Number three, what makes the ending so different to stories you've read before? Well, you might have said, stories I have read before usually end with the problem being resolved and the characters being happy.

So this was a little different.

Let's summarise the learning we've done today.

"The Viewer" is a narrative fiction story with elements of mystery and supernatural fantasy.

The setting in the opening is a dump in the city.

The story features a magical object that is found at the dump.

The distinctive illustrations play an important part in telling the story.

The story ends in an unusual and mysterious way.

Brilliant work today.

I will see you again very soon.