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

Today, we're going to finish reading Kevin Crossley-Holland's fantastic adaptation of "Beowulf" and we'll learn what happens after Beowulf's death.

I think you'll find this is a beautiful ending to the book.

So let's make a start.

Today's lesson is called Beowulf's Burial and it comes by unit called Beowulf Reading.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll explained the events that occur after Beowulf's death and you will have explored his legacy for the Geats.

For this lesson, you will need to have access to the 2013 Oxford Children's Classic 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.

Fluency means reading a text accurately, smoothly, and with appropriate speed.

Expression refers to reading with feelings and emotion to bring the text to life.

A legacy is the long-lasting impact of a person's life on their culture and on other people.

And a speech is the communication of someone's thoughts through words to an audience.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start off by looking at Wiglaf's anger after Beowulf's death, and then we'll look at Beowulf's legacy.

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

And we're going to finish that book today.

In the last session, we read about the following dramatic events.

Beowulf, we know, have been king of Geatland for 50 years, ruling well, and a runaway slave had then stolen gold from a dragon, provoking it to burn down the Geat stronghold and Beowulf, of course, wanted to fight that dragon.

The dragon then bit Beowulf, and meanwhile, his young cousin, Wiglaf, stabbed it in the belly and this caused the dragon to drop Beowulf who then slit its throat killing it.

But unfortunately, Beowulf was mortally wounded by that dragon bite.

And he asked Wiglaf to show him the dragon's treasure and have a huge barrow built in his honour after his death.

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

So based on what we've read so far in the book, which of the statements below are true and can you correct any incorrect statements? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

So A says, Wiglaf struck the bow that killed the dragon.

That's not correct, is it? We know that Wiglaf stabbed it in the belly and then Beowulf slit its throat after the dragon dropped him back to the ground.

B says, Beowulf was still young when the dragon injured him.

Again, that's not true.

He must be quite old because he'd been king for 50 years at this point and so he must be probably an elderly man at this point.

C says, Beowulf wanted to see the dragon's treasure before he died, which is true.

He sent Wiglaf off to the cave to bring some back.

And D says, Beowulf wants his barrow to be built by the sea, which is correct that he wanted that idea of his barrow being the first thing that people see as they come to land.

Well done for getting this.

Now we know that Beowulf is in a very bad situation.

He's about to die, but he did defeat the dragon and he was very keen, wasn't he? To do that by himself.

So do you think what happened with the dragon and that whole situation involving Wiglaf will improve or worsen Beowulf's reputation after he's died? Pause the video and have a chat to the person next to you or think on your own.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So Izzy says this, "I think the fact that he needed Wiglaf's help to kill the dragon will mean he's seen as being weaker and less important." So he kind of made a mistake, didn't he? In not getting help from Wiglaf to start with.

But here's what Sofia says, "I disagree.

He was still the one who dealt the fatal blow to the dragon.

Yes, he needed Wiglaf's help, but I don't think that will affect his reputation.

He will still be remembered as a hero." And we're going to find out if that's the case in the part of the book we read today.

So we're going to read the final pages of the book during this lesson.

We're going to start off by reading most of page 43.

So here's some vocabulary we'll see along the way.

Tenderly means lovingly.

Cringing here means desperate to impress.

If you condemn someone, you sentence them to something.

And forfeited means a given up.

So your teacher might say, "You forfeited the right to play a game at the end of the day, if you've behaved badly." Burnished means polished by rubbing.

Usually referring to metal.

A serpent is a snake or, in this case, a dragon.

If you reap something, you gather it in or harvest it.

And a vessel is just a hollow container.

So I'd like you to read from the top of page 43 to the word happiness on the final line of the page.

Pause video and have a go.

Well done.

So on this page, we sadly saw Beowulf's death and we also saw Wiglaf's reaction to that.

So why do you think we author said, "The Beowulf nearly smiled before dying?" Why was that? Pause the video and have a chat with the person next to you or think on your own.

Well done.

Good ideas.

So Alex says this, "I think the author is showing us the Beowulf is not afraid to die and he never has been.

Wiglaf has shown him the treasure and told him that the barrow will be built.

So he's dying content in the knowledge that he's done great things and that those deeds will be remembered forever, which is what he wanted.

So he's almost dying contentedly, isn't he? He's achieved everything he wanted and he knows that he's going to be remembered for a long time to come.

So that's why he's almost got that smile on his mouth as he dies.

So can you put these events in the order that they happened on the page that we just read? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

So hopefully, you spotted, first of all, Wiglaf watched Beowulf die and then Wiglaf told the oath-breakers, those people who'd runaway, that they would be exiled, sent away as punishment.

Then a crowd came to Eagleness where Beowulf died to see Beowulf and the dragon and they tipped the dragon's huge body off the cliff and into the sea.

And finally, the Geats took the treasure from the dragon's lair and they carried it and Beowulf back to the stronghold.

So that's the point at which we're at right now.

So why is Wiglaf so angry with the other men in this section.

Pause the video and try to explain.

Well done.

Good explanation.

So here's what Izzy says, "It's partly because they broke the oaths, the promises, that they had made to protect Beowulf and Geatland.

And he sees them almost like traitors because they wouldn't help out their king." But Sofia says this, "Yes, and I think he also holds them responsible in part for Beowulf's death.

He's thinking that if they'd come to help, they could have prevented Beowulf from being bitten And he thinks they're cowards who put themselves before their king and their country." So he saw that Wiglaf was incredibly angry and he exiled them and sent them away to different places.

Well done for your thoughts.

So have another look now at Wiglaf's speech to the men on page 43.

Which of the following does he say as part of that speech? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Great job.

So he said three of these things.

He said that they've broken their promises, that they've given up the right to live happily in Geatland, and that it would be better if they were dead.

So he was really quite harsh towards them, wasn't he? Before he excelled them.

But it's not true that he's gonna have 'em executed.

So he's showing a little bit of mercy.

He's sending them away instead of having them killed.

Really well done for spotting those inside this speech.

So now that we've really understood this section, we're going to think for a moment about what good reading aloud sounds like.

And we know that when we read aloud, we're aiming towards having good fluency and good expression.

And fluency is, of course, the ability to read smoothly at a good speed.

And we can improve our fluency by reading the same passage several times with increasing speed, getting more and more fluent.

Reading with expression on the other hand means reading with feeling and emotion to bring words to life.

And we can work on reading with expression by considering the emotions that are being shown in the text and trying to show them in our voice.

So we know that when Wiglaf is speaking to the men, he is very angry and we can show this in our expression as we read.

So I'd like to try reading the passage below with both good and poor expression.

What can you do differently to show your anger? So try reading it, first of all, maybe with poor expression and then with good expression, really showing the anger that Wiglaf feels.

Just to show yourself the difference between what good and bad expression sounds like.

Pause the video and have a go both ways.

Well done.

Good job.

So with poor expression, I could say this, "You have disgraced your families, you have disgraced your king and you've disgraced the whole of Geatland.

Shame on you all." That didn't sound very expressive at all, did it? I didn't show any of Wiglaf's anger.

So I could say this, "You have disgraced your families, you have disgraced your king, and you have disgraced the whole of Geatland.

Shame on all of you." So I've tried to show much more of that anger in my voice.

Here's what Laura said about this.

"It's tempting to just shout to show you angry, but I don't think that works very well.

Instead, I tried to almost snarl the words.

I imagine that I really hated the men I was talking to, and I also emphasised the word shame to show my strong feelings about what they've done." So Laura said, "Shame on all of you." Really emphasising that word to show their strong emotions.

I'm sure you did the same.

Well done.

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

We've seen that Wiglaf is extremely angry with the men and we're going to try and show this anger by reading aloud with good expression.

So I want to look at Wiglaf speech to the men, starting from that word ten and finishing with disgrace.

You can ignore any words that aren't spoken by him.

So we're just focusing on Wiglaf's words and I want you to practise saying Wiglaf's words with your partner swapping and repeating until you can say them with good fluency.

So focus on fluency to start with.

Then practise reading with expression, trying to show Wiglaf's emotions when using your tone of voice.

And you might want to consider showing Wiglaf's body language as well.

Maybe he's emphasising points with his hands or using his face as well to show his anger.

And then when you're prepared, perform your speech as Wiglaf to the class or a small group.

Pause the video, practise your fluency, practise your expression, and then perform to a group.

Have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

Let's reflect on how we did this task.

Lucas says this, "There were some tricky words in Wiglaf's speech.

So reading this section repeatedly really helped me with my fluency.

Otherwise, I would've been stumbling over the words all the time." And Jen says this, "Yes, you need to have good fluency before you can add in the expression.

I tried to use my turn of voice to show just how angry I was in role as Wiglaf and I pointed at the imaginary men as I was talking with a sneer on my face to show my anger." So once we've got good fluency, we can add in all that expression and we can add in our body language to really show the emotion in what we're reading.

Really well done for your effort there.

So we're now going to talk about Beowulf's legacy and read the final part of the book.

Now we can see on pages 44 and 45 of the book, an illustration of Beowulf and Wiglaf together.

What do you think the illustrator's trying to show us in this image? Pause the video and look at the picture and have a chat to the person next to you.

Well done.

Good thinking,.

Here's what Alex said, "We can see the horizontal lines, which must be the dragon's fire, taking up the whole page.

This shows how powerful it is.

Then we Wiglaf sheltering behind Beowulf and his metal shield.

Beowulf still has his sword raised.

I think this illustration is showing us how Beowulf is unafraid of death.

He's standing tall in the face of huge danger." So yes, perhaps this illustration is the illustrator's attempt to show just how brave and determined Beowulf is, even in the face of the huge risk he's facing by standing up to this dragon.

So now let's read the final page of the whole book.

Here's the vocabulary we'll see as Beowulf's legacy is discussed.

Remember, your legacy is what you leave behind may be the ways in which you've changed the world around you and the place that you live.

So first of all, if you lay something bare, you reveal it.

A pyre is a heap of wood used for burning a corpse.

A dirge is a sad song of mourning for the dead.

So people might sing a dirge.

A maiden is a young woman.

A plume is a trail of smoke.

A beacon is a visible object used as a guide for navigation.

So maybe a fire on the top of the cliff used to warn you not to come close to that cliff.

And if you bequeath something, you pass it on to someone.

So you might bequeath a family heirloom to a child.

So can you now read from the final sentence of page 43 to the end of page 46, which is the end the book.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Fantastic reading.

I think it's a beautiful ending to the book and I hope you agree.

So we can see that the Geats had quite a complicated burial process.

Can you put the steps of that process in order referring back to the page if you need to? Have a go.

Well done.

Good work.

So you would've started with this one.

They built a huge pyre and surrounded it with weapons and then they burned Beowulf's body on top of that pyre.

Then they praised Beowulf and sang songs about him as they mourned his death.

Then they built a vast barrow, that burial mound, around Beowulf's ashes and they buried a huge amount of treasure inside it.

And finally, the warriors rode around that barrow chanting and praising Beowulf.

So lots of complicated steps, but they really showed us the respect in which he was held.

Really well done splitting those in the right order.

So we can see that Wiglaf and the Geats are very upset by Beowulf's death and they actually see it as a sign of darkness to come.

Wiglaf says that the Geats will soon be holding spears and he says that animals, ravens and wolves will be revealing the bones of dead bodies.

Hmm.

What do you think Wiglaf is suggesting will happen when he says these two things? Pause the video and have a chat to the person next you.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So I think he's suggesting that the Geats will soon have to fight against their enemies who have been waiting for Beowulf to die and that many of them will be killed now that Beowulf no longer needs them.

So Wiglaf said they're going to be holding spears that suggests they're going into battle against their enemies.

And he said animals will be revealing the bones of their bodies, which suggests to me that the animals will be eating away at their dead bodies.

So it suggests that in this war, lots of them might die and that will lead to them being just corpses on the ground being eaten by these animals.

So Wiglaf not very optimistic about what's going to happen to the Geats now that Beowulf is gone.

So what evidence is there on page 46 to support the idea that the Geats had a lot of respect for Beowulf? I bet you can find lots of evidence.

Pause the video and have a careful look.

Well done.

Good thinking.

Aisha says this, "They arrange weapons all around the pile to be burned even though they know they're now at risk and their enemies, and this shows just how much respect they have for him." So I want to sacrifice these incredibly valuable weapons that they could need at any minute outta their respect for Beowulf.

Sam says this, "They're also willing to give up all their gold and treasure to the barrow.

We also see people praising him and talking about all his achievements as a hero.

I think this is the part that Beowulf would've wanted most of all." So yeah, they've put lots of treasure, valuable treasure, inside this barrow too, and they're sing all these songs and praising all his achievements as they go around the barrow.

Which, as Sam says, might be something that Beowulf would've really enjoyed because he was really concerned, wasn't he? About his reputation after his death.

But it looks like he need not have worried.

He's definitely secured that reputation for himself, that really strong legacy for himself.

So we see some very powerful language choices on this final page, which I really enjoyed.

The maiden's dirge, that song of mourning, is said to be dark and full of dread.

And this tells us that the song spoke of something sad, but it was also talking of bad things to come.

So the darkness talks about the sadness of Beowulf's death, but the idea of dread suggests Beowulf's death is going to lead to some future problems. The smoke from the pyre is described as being swallowed by the sky.

Hmm, and that's a really interesting language choice because this is kind of a beautiful way of showing that the smoke disappeared into the sky.

It was swallowed up by the sky.

So perhaps the author is suggesting that, like smoke and like Beowulf's life, nothing lasts forever.

So just as the smoke is disappearing, Beowulf's life is disappearing at the same time or has just disappeared in the same way.

And finally, Beowulf's name is described as breathing.

And I think this is the best one of all because this suggests that his name is still alive, things which breathe are alive.

So it's living on through his deeds just as he wished it would.

See, even though Beowulf is dead, his name is alive, his name is still living, it's living on in these songs which are being sung about him in the memories of the people he knew him.

And, of course now, it's memorialised in this barrow that's been built so that he will always be remembered by his people.

Now in the final lines, Beowulf is described as being kind, gentle, just, and keen for fame.

So this is part of his legacy, the way in which he's remembered.

Which of those four descriptions best matches Beowulf from your point of view or is there a better one you would choose? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

Andeep said this, "I think his eagerness to be famous is what drove him on throughout his life and that's what inspired him to do brave and heroic things." So Andeep thinks that the idea that he's keen for fame is really the best description there.

Jacob says this, "Yes, I don't really think gentle matches what we've heard about Beowulf.

I think courageous or selfless might be better.

He was always willing to sacrifice himself for others." Jacob sorts some words of his own, courageous and selfless there, instead of the ones we've mentioned there.

You might have had a different view and that's fine.

We can all interpret Beowulf's life in different ways.

So let's do our final task for this session and for this unit now thinking about the book as a whole and what we think about Beowulf's life.

I want you to imagine you're one of those warriors circling Beowulf's barrow.

I want you to take a few minutes to jot down some of Beowulf's achievements and his attributes.

What did he do that impressed you? What was he like and why was that impressive? And then I want you to rehearse a short speech that you would give in tribute to Beowulf and his legacy and you ride around his burial site.

You could start by saying, "Beowulf was the greatest king the Geats have ever known." And then start listing some of the things that you respect about him.

And I want you, when you're prepared, to present your speech to the class using that good expression we practised earlier.

So take some time to make your notes about his life.

Then practise your short speech.

You don't have to learn it off by heart, but you could do if you wish, and then present it to the class using that great expression.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Fantastic job.

Here's an example of the speech you might have given about Beowulf's legacy.

Laura said this, "Beowulf was the greatest king the Geats have ever known.

He saved our friends in Denmark from two terrible beasts before he returned here to rule us our wise and gentle king for many years.

He died doing what he has always done, putting our lives ahead of his own.

He was the bravest man Geatland has ever seen and his deeds will live on into eternity." So Laura's shown that she was impressed by his bravery in Denmark and her home in defeating these terrible beasts and in keeping his people safe.

And I tried to show there some of the expression in my voice to show that emotion that Laura will be feeling.

Really well done for your efforts there.

We've now finished reading "Beowulf".

And remember that this was a story first written down over a thousand years ago, but I think it's still just as incredible today and that's why we're still talking about it all this time later.

I hope you've really enjoyed it too.

Let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We know that we aim to read any text with fluency and expression and this takes practise.

We've seen that the Geats show great respect for Beowulf in death, praising his achievements and giving him an elaborate burial ceremony, Beowulf's motivation throughout the whole story, to be remembered after he died, was fulfilled as he would've wanted.

And his legacy was that of a respected king and a great warrior who performed many impressive deeds.

Really well done for your effort in this lesson and throughout this whole unit.

I really hope you've enjoyed reading the story of "Beowulf" with me.

I'd love to see you again in a future lesson.

Goodbye.