Hi there, I'm Mr. Buckingham and it's so good to see you here for today's lesson.

Today we're going to continue reading "Beowulf," and we'll see what happens when he returns from Denmark to his native Geatland.

He's certainly not finished having adventures just yet, so let's get going and see what happens.

Today's lesson is called Beowulf and the Dragon, and it comes to my unit called Beowulf Reading.

By the end of today's lesson, you will have described and discussed how Beowulf responds to the threat of a dragon and you will have connected the story to different themes.

For this lesson, you will need to have access to the 2013 Oxford Children's Classics Edition of "Beowulf" written by Kevin Crossley-Holland, and illustrated by Charles Keeping.

If you've got that with you, let's begin.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

If you summarise you pull out the key information and ideas from a text.

A prediction is an educated guess based on evidence in the text or prior knowledge.

A theme is a central idea of a text that the author wants us to think deeply about, and a debate is a formal discussion about a question or subject held in public.

Here's our lesson outline today.

We're going to start off by reading about a dragon appearing in Geatland and then will see Beowulf fight the dragon.

So as you know, we are reading a translation and adaptation of the old English epic poem "Beowulf," written by Kevin Crossley-Holland.

And in chapter five we read about the following exciting events.

Grendel's mother killed a Dane in revenge for Beowulf killing the monster, Grendel.

And so Beowulf killed Grendel's mother using a sword.

He took Grendel's head back to Hrothgar at Heorot in Denmark and Hrothgar was extremely grateful of course for what Beowulf had done.

Then Beowulf told Hrothgar he needed to return home to Geatland and Hrothgar was very sorry to see him go.

And the Geats began their journey back across the sea to Geatland.

So that's the point at which we left the story last time.

So true or false, Beowulf is now the king of Geatland? Pause the video and decide.

Well done, you're right.

That's false, can you explain why? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, at the point at which we left the story, Hygelac is still the king of Geatland.

Hrothgar did say that he thought that Beowulf should be the next king, but that is not yet the case at the point at which he left the story so far.

So how do you think Beowulf feels about his time spent in Denmark, and why? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Great thinking.

Here's what Lucas says.

He says, "I think he'll be very proud of what he achieved there.

We know that fame is very important to him, and he did lots of things that have won him the approval of the Danes and of Hrothgar." Jacob says this, "I think he'll also feel pleased with all the treasure and rewards that he's received from Throthgar.

He's coming back a very rich and a very well-known man." So that's chosen that he's won lots of fame, but he's also won lots of riches from Hrothgar and the people of Denmark after their gratitude for what he's done.

Pretty well done for your thoughts there.

So we're going to read chapter six over two lessons.

So here's some of the vocabulary we're going to see in the first section we read in this lesson.

Foretold means predicted.

It was foretold that something would happen.

Precipitous means steep, like a cliff.

A hoard is a stash of treasure.

A torque is a band of metal, and they were often worn around the arm.

Gutted means destroyed, and girdled means surrounded.

Stubble can be on your face, but it could also be the cut stalks of plants that have been harvested from a field.

Oaths are promises.

Wretched means unfortunate.

Mournful means sad, and slaughter means killing.

So I'd like you to now read just one paragraph, just the first paragraph of page 38.

You won't see all those words here.

Some of them will come up in the next section, but I'd like you for now just to read that first paragraph of page 38.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

So we can see that Beowulf did in fact indeed become the king of Geatland.

We've just read that, so which of the following are correct? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Good job.

So is it true that Beowulf became king after Hygelac's son was killed? Yes it is, so it sounds like Hygelac was king, then Hygelac's son was king, and then When Hygelac's son was killed, Beowulf then became king.

Is it true that Beowulf has been king for 50 years? Yes, it is.

It says for C, "The Geats have been at peace with all countries." Now that's not true, is that they've been fighting some and at peace with others.

And D says, "Beowulf was seen as been good at defending his land." Yes, that is true, because even though these other countries were attacking, Beowulf was able to protect Geatland, to protect his people.

Well done for getting this.

So now we're going to read about a new foe, a new enemy for Beowulf, a dragon that's terrorising Geatland.

So even though he's quite old now, having been king for 50 years, Beowulf now has someone new to fight, a new monster to fight.

So we're going to now read up to the word "Anvil" near the end of page 39, and that's going to use some of the words we discussed before.

So let's find out about this new foe.

Pause the video and read up to that word on page 39.

Well done.

Great reading.

So you've got Beowulf now at the place where he thinks the dragon is, and he's banging on the rocks trying to get the dragon to emerge so that he can fight it.

But why is this dragon terrorising Geatland in the first place? Why did it attack and burn down their stronghold? Can you summarise the events that led the dragon to attack the stronghold based on what you've just read.

Pause the video and have a chat to the person next to you or think on your own.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So first of all, we know that a slave ran away from his master who had been whipping him.

And then at night the slaves sheltered in a cave.

And when it was light he realised it was a dragon's cave which was full of treasure.

But although he was terrified the dragon, he still stole this goblet.

And when the dragon woke up, he realised the goblet had been missing.

So he had been robbed, so in anger it flew to the Geat stronghold and it breathed fire in it in revenge, so it burned down the stronghold there.

And that's what causes Beowulf to go and try and confront it as we've just read.

So can you answer the following questions now.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great work.

So for A it says, "Why do the men meet in Wiglaf's hall?" Well it's because it's still standing because it's still made of stone, because all the other wooden buildings in the stronghold have been destroyed by the dragon's fire.

For B, we said, "Why does Beowulf say they must act fast to tackle the dragon?" Well he says, because if they don't, the dragon will come back and attack again, and they need to deal with this threat once and for all if they're to avoid being even more in trouble from the dragon's fire.

And C says, "Why does Beowulf not want a wooden shield?" Well, it's because it would burn in the dragon's fire.

He wants to wait until a metal shield has been made before he goes to confront it.

So we can tell from that that metal shields were quite unusual at this time, and most people would've had wooden shields.

Well done for three answers there.

Now on page 39 we see a discussion, don't we, over who should tackle the dragon? So what are the two sides of that argument? Pause the video, have a look back at page 39 if you need to and decide what the two sides of this argument were about who should be facing the dragon? Well done.

Good job.

So we know that on one side Beowulf thinks he's the only person who can tackle the dragon because of his victories over Grendel and his mother, which were of course 50 years ago.

So that's what Andeep says.

Well, Alex says this, "Yes, his cousin Wiglaf, who's much younger, thinks that Beowulf is too old to fight and that he and the other warriors have sworn to protect Geatland said they should be involved.

But Beowulf says that Wiglaf has never fought alone before.

So on the one hand we've got Beowulf saying this is my job to do alone.

And on the other hand we've got Wiglaf saying, "Well, me and the other warriors are sworn to protect you, so we should be helping as well." So we've got bit of tension there between the two sides.

Really well done for spotting that.

Now I'd like you to look at the paragraph beginning with the word, "Beowulf" on page 39.

How is Beowulf feeling at this point and why? What is motivating him at this point? Pause the video and see if you can work out.

Well done, so Aisha says this, "He's mournful or sad that the Geat stronghold has been destroyed along with lots of the land.

He's angry about this and he wants to slaughter the dragon in revenge, and to protect his people and their homes." So he is both sad and angry, isn't he? And vengeful, he wants to take revenge on the dragon, but what's his motivation? Well, Aisha says, "He's motivated by the idea of being famous after he dies.

I think he's thinking of the fact that he's old so this could be his last chance to win some glory even if he dies doing it." So he's thinking of his legacy, isn't he? About how people would think of him after he dies.

And he's thinking, "Well, this could be my last shot at really showing what a hero I am." So you've got some really interesting thoughts going on at the moment.

Very well done for working that out.

Let's do our first task for this lesson.

We're going to make a prediction.

The section we've just read ends with Beowulf giving a roar and hammering on the rocks of the dragon's cave.

He's trying to summon it out to fight him.

So think about what has been discussed by the characters so far in this chapter.

And I want you to make a prediction about what's going to happen when Beowulf confronts the dragon.

And I want you to make sure that you justify your prediction with reasons.

So pause the video and make your prediction, thinking carefully about what you've heard in this chapter so far, and make sure it's a prediction with a few steps, so you can a bit deeper than just the first next event.

What's gonna happen after that, and then after that? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Great job.

So perhaps your prediction sounded like this.

Jim says, "I think Beowulf is going to prove Wiglaf wrong by defeating the dragon easily.

He'll be able to be safe from the Dragon's fire behind his metal shield and I think he'll kill it quickly." Notice how Jim's prediction there is based on two things we learned in the text.

Wiglaf thinks that there's a risk here because Beowulf is old, and Beowulf has gone through the trouble of getting that metal shield.

And Jim's incorporated both those pieces of information into his prediction, which I think is really clever.

Here's what Sophia says, "I think the Beowulf is going to fail to beat the dragon because he's too old now.

Wiglaf has mentioned that the other warriors have sworn to protect him so I think it'll be a team effort.

That will show Beowulf he can't always fight alone." Again, Sophia's drawn on things from the text here.

She's noticed this idea that Beowulf thinks he can manage it alone, so Sophia's thinking, "Well, maybe this is the author hinting that he actually can't manage alone." And she's noticed, well, Wiglaf was mentioning how the warriors have sworn to protect Beowulf.

So maybe they're going to have to follow through on that promise and be forced to protect him from the dragon at some point.

Let's find out in the next part of lesson.

So we're going to now read the section where Beowulf fight the dragon.

So we're going to find out what happens to Beowulf now.

It's gonna be one of the most dramatic sections of the whole book.

So here's some vocabulary we'll see in the next part of the text.

A corslet you might remember from earlier in the book is a piece of armour covering the torso, the main body.

Cinders are ashes left after a fire, and of you round on someone, you turn to face them with annoyance.

Tempered swords are extra strong, so it's a way of treating metal to make it stronger.

Scree is loose stones.

You might have seen them on a mountain side rolling down.

Hued means coloured, abate means die down.

We should talk about flames abating.

A salver is a tray made of metal, and a barrow is a burial mound.

So a bit like a hill but with a person buried inside.

So I'd like you to now read from the final paragraph of page 39 to the word "snapped" at the top of page 42.

Don't go any further than that just now.

If you finish, start again from the final paragraph of page 39.

Pause the video and have a go at reading that section.

Well done.

Fantastic job.

So we can see that Beowulf is struggling against the dragon at this point.

He's locked in a very dramatic fight.

So he tries to stab the dragon, doesn't he, with his sword.

But it's not strong enough to penetrate or get through what's called the dragon's scale-corslet.

Now I bet you spotted already that this is a kenning.

Why is this kenning an effective description? Why is scale-corslet an effective description of what's covering the dragon? Pause video and have a chat to the person next to you.

Well done.

Good job.

So as we know dragons have scales and we also know that a corslet is a piece of armour covering your torso.

So a scale-corslet is like a piece of armour made of scale.

It's like saying the dragon scales are armour and that's what's stopping the sword.

So just like Beowulf has his corslet, the dragon has a scale-corslet, which is what's stopping Beowulf's sword from doing any damage.

So we've seen that Beowulf isn't able to stab the dragon and then when Wiglaf sees that Beowulf is struggling, he comes over to help and he feels he must help because he swore an oath to protect him.

And he shouts a Beowulf to fight to be famous and for his reputation.

So he really understands what's motivating Beowulf.

He understands that Beowulf really wants to have a brilliant reputation after he dies.

So can you answer the following questions now based on what we've just read? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

So A says, "Why is Beowulf in trouble at the end of this section?" Well, it's because his sword has snapped so he has no weapon in front of him.

B says, "Why has Beowulf shield proven useful?" Well, because it's metal, it's not melting in the flames and he and Wiglaf, whose wooden shield has burned, hasn't it can hide behind it and be protected from the dragon's fire.

And C says, "Why did Wiglaf call the other men rats?" Well, because they chose to stay safe instead of going to help Beowulf.

They've backed off while Wiglaf has gone to help.

They behaved in very different ways.

Wiglaf really takes seriously this oath, this promise he's made to protect Beowulf.

Really well done for your answers there.

Now the other men decided not to help Beowulf as we just said.

How did they justify that decision to themselves? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good work.

So here's what Alex said.

He says, "Beowulf himself had told them that this was his fight, it was Beowulf's fight, that only he could do it.

So they're saying to themselves at this point, 'Well, we're just following orders.

We are just doing what Beowulf told us to do.

' And also they know that Beowulf has a metal shield and they don't, and that means that like Wiglaf, they would be unprotected from the dragon's fire.

And they can't all hide behind Beowulf's shield." Like Wiglaf is doing.

So we can see that even though it seems like they're just being cowardly, they actually have two quite clear reasons possibly for what they're choosing to do.

Really well done for spotting that.

So let's find out what happens next to Beowulf who is now, as we said, in a very difficult situation.

I want you to read from this second paragraph of page 42 to the end of that page.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done, really good reading.

So we can see that now sadly Beowulf is very close to death and we're going to work through the section we've just read and talk about how that's come to be.

So first of all, let's think about this word "bathed." What's the effect of saying that blood has bathed Beowulf in this section? Why has the author chosen that word, "bathed" and what effect does it have? Pause the video and have a chat to the person next to you or I think on your own.

Well done.

Good job.

So it gives the impression, doesn't it, that Beowulf has been covered in a huge amount of blood as if he'd taken a bath in it.

So he must be completely soaked in blood, which makes sense because we know that the dragon has grabbed him by the throat and that would cause an awful lot of blood to cover his body.

Really well done for working that out.

So the dragon of course at the end of this section is now dead, so what steps were involved in killing it and was Beowulf right that he could do it alone? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good job.

First of all, what were the steps involved in killing it? Well Sam says this, "The dragon lunged at Beowulf grabbing his throat and then immediately Wiglaf stabbed it in the belly so that it dropped Beowulf.

And then Beowulf found his dagger and he cut its throat with his dagger." And that's what caused the dragon to die.

So was Beowulf right that he could do it alone? Well no, he was wrong, wasn't he? They both had to be there to defeat the dragon.

If the dragon hadn't been biting Beowulf, then Wiglaf could never have stabbed it because it would've been breathing fire and stabbing it is what made it stop being able to breathe the fire.

And then that was what allowed Beowulf to deliver the final blow, the fatal final blow by squashing its throat, so it was teamwork, wasn't it? If the other person hadn't been there, both of them probably would have died.

So they were able to help each other and together they defeated the dragon.

Now at the point we've got to Beowulf is not quite yet dead but we can tell unfortunately he is very close to being dead.

And before he dies he wants to see the dragon's hoard, his treasure, and to know that he's going to have a huge barrow or burial mount built for him.

Why are these two things so important to Beowulf? Why does he need to know before he dies what the hoard looks like and that Wiglaf will promise him that this barrow will be built? Why are these so important for Beowulf? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So first of all, let's think about the hoard.

Jim says this, "He wants to see the hoard so that he dies knowing he has helped his people by bringing them all this treasure." And what about the barrow? Well, Sophia says, "The barrow is important to him because he's very keen to be remembered for his brave deeds after his death.

And he knows that a huge barrow will be a constant reminder of his legacy." So on the one hand he wants to know I've helped my people by getting this hoard for them.

And on the other hand he wants to know I've made sure of my own reputation is secure in the future after my death because I know this barrow is going to be built for me in memory of me and over my body as a burial mound.

Really well done for your thoughts there.

So based on what we've just read, are each of these statements correct or incorrect? And for each one can you explain how you know based on the text.

Pause the video and have think.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So for A says, "The dragon's bite contained poison." That's true and we know that's true because the poison made Beowulf's neck swell up, didn't it? B says, "Wiglaf refused to leave Beowulf's side as he died." That's not true because at Beowulf's request he went to get the dragons hoard or parts of it to show Beowulf.

C says, "The Geats burn people's bodies after they die." That appears to be true because Beowulf mentions a fire at his funeral.

And then D says that dragon's hoard was mostly silver items. No, that's not right.

It was all gold items, wasn't it? Which was probably the most precious metal at that time.

Really well done for getting this.

So let's do our final task for this lesson.

We're going to do it in two parts.

First of all, let's explore some of the themes raised by what we've just read.

Now remember, a theme is a central idea of a story or a piece of artwork that the author wants us to engage with, wants us to really think hard about.

So here are some themes that I think might connect really well to this story.

The first one is, "We achieve more together than we can alone." I could also have this theme, "Pride comes before a fall." I could also have this one, "Heroes never truly die." And finally, "All good things must come to an end." So looking at each of those themes, can you discuss with a partner how they might link to the story? You might not agree with them all, but can you see how each of these could link to the story of "Beowulf" that we've read so far? Pause the video and have a chat to the person next to you or in a group about how these themes connect to the story of "Beowulf." Have a go.

Well done.

Really good job.

Let's see how we could link these themes to the story of "Beowulf." The first one says, "We achieve more together than we can alone." Well that links because we know that Beowulf needs Wiglaf's help to defeat the dragon, and he could not have done it on his own.

So even though Beowulf has been killed in this situation, we know he's very close to death at this moment.

If Wiglaf hadn't been there, then they would never have been able to defeat the dragon.

So they achieved more together than Beowulf would've been able to do without Wiglaf's help.

The second one is kind of similar.

We've got, "Pride comes before a fall." Well, we know that Beowulf thought he could defeat the dragon alone, but he couldn't, could he? And that's what led to his death.

His belief that he could do this all on his own is partly what caused his death there.

The next one says, "Heroes never truly die." Well we know that that huge barrow they're going to build will help the Geats to remember Beowulf's amazing deeds long after he's dead.

So he'll live on in the stories that are told about him and in the memories people have of him.

So he'll be a hero even after he's dead, because he'll be remembered by the people that he helped.

And the last one says, "All good things must come to an end." Well we know that Beowulf had had an incredible life and done amazing thing is to help the Geats, and the Danes of course, but nothing lasts forever and he was ready at this point to lay down his life.

So we've got this sense that even though Beowulf achieved incredible things and was an incredible hero, we know that that can't last forever.

And that sadly at some point his life was going to come to an end, and we might think that Beowulf is glad to have died in this way, acting as the hero still to the very end, rather than just dying of old age as other people might do.

Really well done how you made those connections there.

So now we're going to have a debate based on the ideas we've just discussed.

I want you to decide which theme out of these ones links best to the story.

Then I want you to explain your choice to the class in a debate and try as you do that to build on other people's answers by saying if you agree or disagree.

So take a few minutes to decide which one you think links best and why, preparing what you might say.

Then hold your class debate and see if, as you do it, you can build on each other's responses.

And see if you come to a conclusion together or you might continue to disagree throughout.

And that is absolutely fine.

Pause the video and have a good debate.

Well done.

Good job.

So here's an example of what you might have said during the debate.

Izzy he said this, "I think 'pride comes before a fall' links best because if Beowulf hadn't been so determined to work alone, he wouldn't have died." But Sophia says this, "I'm not sure it's fair to call him prideful.

He just thought he was the best person for the job.

I think 'heroes never truly die' links best because Beowulf will always be remembered by the Geats for being a hero." It doesn't matter which side of the debate you fell down or which of those themes you thought laid best.

Really well done for taking part in the debate so well and for building on other people's responses in what you said, good job.

So to summarise our learning in this lesson.

We said that after Hygelac and his son die, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats and rules well for 50 years.

When he's old, a dragon is provoked to destroy the Geats stronghold and Beowulf is determined to kill it.

But what he tries to take on the dragon alone, his sword is destroyed.

Together, Beowulf and his young cousin Wiglaf killed the dragon, but Beowulf is mortally wounded.

He asks that a huge burrow be built so that his memory lives on.

And we've seen that a story like Beowulf can raise many themes that we can debate.

Really well done for your work in this lesson.

I hope you've enjoyed discussing the themes that I've raised by this story.

In the next lesson, we're going to finish reading the book.

I'd love to see you there.

Goodbye.