Hi there, thank you for joining me for today's reading lesson.

My name is Mr. Charlesworth.

In today's lesson, we're going to be using the text "Coming to England," which is written by Floella Benjamin and illustrated by Joelle Avelina.

Make sure you've got your copy of the text to hand.

If you haven't already, pause the video now whilst you do so.

Great work.

In today's lesson, we're going to be exploring the characterization of both Floella and members of her family.

I can't wait to find out more.

Let's get started.

The lesson outcome for today is: I can compare characterization across a series of events.

The key words are my turn, your turn: pull factors, comparing, characterization, character traits.

Let's say those once more.

Pull factors, comparing, characterization, character traits.

Well done, let's now look at the definitions.

Pull factors refer to the attractive aspects or opportunities that draw individuals to a new destination.

Comparing involves identifying similarities between two or more things, ideas, themes, or texts.

Characterization is the way an author describes and develops the personalities and traits of the characters in a story.

Character traits are the special qualities that make a character in a story unique and interesting.

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

We'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

In today's lesson, we're going to be looking at characters.

We're going to begin by reading chapter six before exploring characterization in more detail.

Let's get started by reading chapter six.

Here's a brief recap about what we've learned so far from the text.

In chapter 4, Floella described the weather in Trinidad as having almost two seasons, hot and rainy.

She enjoyed the warm climate of Trinidad.

I hope you've had the opportunity to read chapter 5.

Here's a brief summary about what happens.

In chapter 5, Floella talks about the different religions on the island and her association with each of them.

She vividly remembers baptisms, which happen on a Sunday.

This is a religious ceremony where people are immersed in water.

It's something that Floella can still recall now when she's writing the book.

Floella's parents took them to many churches to provide them with an understanding and appreciation of how other people worshipped.

I think this would make them more empathetic and understanding towards others.

We're now going to read and explore chapter 6 together.

In chapter 6, Floella's father hears how people from the Caribbean were moving to England to start a new life.

That means that might be some fresh, new opportunities that they might not have on Trinidad.

I'd like you to read the first part of chapter 6.

This is from pages thirty nine to 43, up until the word "true." Before you start reading, find the word true on page 43.

Pop your finger on it now so you know where you're reading up to.

Well done, now what I'd like you to do is to read from pages thirty nine to 43 up till that word.

Pause the video now whilst you do so.

Fantastic work.

I think you're beginning to see why the title is called, "Coming to England." I'd like you to discuss the following question: Why do you think many Trinidadians were tempted to move to England? Why might they want to move? Trinidad sounds beautiful, but there were a few things that might draw them towards the United Kingdom.

You can of course refer to the text in your answer.

Pause the video now whilst you discuss the question with your partner.

Some great discussion.

Let's have a look at a possible example from Laura.

She says that Floella mentions that many people from the Caribbean moved to England to help rebuild Britain after the Second World War.

Her father says that there's lots of potential there and a well-paid job.

I wonder if you can remember what type of music he mentions, too.

We'll be discussing that later.

When Floella's mother decides to join her husband and leave for England, the children are split.

Referring to page 42, I wonder if you can identify where were the children sent to live? Here's a map of Trinidad on the right hand side of the page.

Have a look through page 42 carefully.

Perhaps look for some proper nouns.

That means that it'll have a capital letter.

This might help you retrieve the information you need.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question with your partner.

Great work, did you find both place names? One was called San Fernando; my turn, your turn.

San Fernando, well done.

And the other was Tonapuna.

Tonapuna, great work.

An example answer might be like Sophia's, who says, "Floella's brothers, Lester and Ellington, were sent to the city, San Fernando; while Floella and her sister Sandra were sent to Tonapuna, a town.

Cynthia and Junior, who's Roy, went with their parents." I wonder why that might be.

Perhaps because they're the youngest they had to go with their parents, whereas the others were a bit older and were able to live with other people.

Here's our first check for understanding.

Can you put the following events in chronological order? That's the order that they appear in the first part of the chapter.

We have A, Floella's father decides to leave for England.

B, Floella and Sandra are sent north to live in Tonapuna with new guardians, their Auntie and Uncle.

And C, Floella's mother joins her father in England.

Which one of these statements comes first? Which comes last and which must go in the middle? Number them one, two, and three.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question.

The chapter begins by Floella's father finding out about life in England, so that must be coming first.

He then asks Floella's mother to join him, so that comes second, which means third is Floella and Sandra are sent north to live in Tonapuna.

They're sent to live with new guardians who are referred to as Auntie and Uncle, but I know they're not physical members of the family.

They might be friends of Mommy and Dardie.

From reading the first part of the chapter, we can tell that Floella is distraught at her family situation.

Referring to page 43, I'd wonder if you can find which simile does Floella use to describe her feelings and emotions at this time, and what does this simile convey? Remember, a simile describes something as like or as something else.

Have a look on page 43.

Perhaps look those two words to help.

You're looking for like, or as.

Pause a video now while you discuss the two parts of the question.

Great discussion.

You might have found something similar to Lucas who says, "Floella uses a simile that compares her emotion to blossoms strewn across a water's surface.

She might be feeling like her family, the flower, is falling apart." I wonder if you found the same simile.

How did it make you feel? What did it convey to you? The migration of people from the Caribbean to England during the Windrush period, nineteen forty eight to 1971, was driven by a combination of pull factors.

Well noticed on one of our keywords.

Pull factors refer to the attractive aspects or opportunities that draw individuals to a new destination.

It's important to note that while these pull factors attracted many people from the Caribbean to England, the reality of their experiences often included challenges such as racism, discrimination, and difficulties in integrating into a new society.

Floella describes lots of these in the rest of the text, too.

I wonder which of the following were pull factors for Floella's father to move to England.

Was it A, the British government advertised for work to help rebuild England post-war.

B, the Caribbean had a rich tradition of strong community and family bonds.

C, the prospect of better paying jobs, that means the opportunity.

Or D, the uncertainty and risk of what might happen to their family.

There may be more than one answer here.

Pause a video now whilst you answer.

Great work.

I know that in the chapter it describes the advertising, so I know the British government advertised for work to help rebuild England postwar.

The Caribbean does have a rich tradition of strong community, however, this wasn't a pull factor for Floella's father to move to England.

It was definitely the prospect, the opportunity of better paying jobs, so that's one of them.

And I don't think the uncertainty and risk of what might happen to their family is a pull factor, something that drew him to England.

It's very likely he'll have considered this, but it's not considered something that would tempt him to move.

The answers here are A and C.

Well done if you've got them both correct.

In this first task, I'd like you to compare the reasons why Floella's parents might leave for England and why they might stay in Trinidad.

Well done on noticing our keyword of compare.

To compare one thing to another, to discuss its similarities and differences.

I wonder how might moving to England benefit the family and what might some of the challenges or drawbacks be? You might like to discuss the job opportunities, the advertising that Floella's father brings to the house and also the impact it might have on the family.

You can of course refer to pages thirty nine and 43 to support your discussion.

Pause the video now whilst you complete the task with your partner.

Well done.

There were lots of possible options that you could have used from the text.

For reasons to leave, it was widely believed that pay was better.

There were more opportunities to improve life for the family.

The British government advertised for all types of workers and Dardie was also keen to return to playing jazz music.

Well remembered.

Under reasons to stay, it might be that the children were better cared for with all the family together and they would not leave their home country, a place of their birth.

I wonder if you found more reasons to leave or to stay and why do you think that is? For me, I think it links to the idea that we know that Dardie goes over to England, so perhaps Floella's writing describes all the opportunities and gives the reasons why they ended up moving, not the reasons to stay.

What do you think? We're now going to explore characterization in a little more detail.

We're now going to continue reading the chapter.

In this part, we discover that Floella isn't very happy.

Sadly, life for Floella was far from ideal.

She moved with Sandra to another home.

She writes about her experiences as well as those of her brothers and sisters.

I'd like you to continue reading now, chapter six.

That's on page forty three to 47, following the word true.

That's where we got up to last time, so make sure you're following from the word true up until the end of the chapter on page 47.

Pause the video now whilst you read.

Were you surprised by some of the experiences that Floella and her siblings faced? I wonder, does Floella describe her brother's lives as better or worse than her own? Perhaps refer back to the text to support.

Discuss the question with your partner.

Pause the video now whilst you answer.

Well done.

Let's have a look, at an example from Aisha.

She says that Floella mentions that her brothers were treated worse than servants.

They had to compete for food, work incredibly hard and didn't even have a proper place to sleep.

I wonder if you can remember where that was.

It must have been very different to their house with the rest of the family before.

From our reading, we know that Floella was exhausted.

She couldn't even pay attention at her new school and got into trouble.

Referring to page 44, I'd like you to discuss the following question: How does Floella stop her and Sandra from being bullied? It's quite an unconventional method, but stops them from being picked on at their new school.

Pause video now whilst you discuss the question with your partner.

Well done.

Let's have a look at an example from Jacob.

He says that Floella suffers an embarrassing situation and is laughed at by a boy.

She fights him.

After that, the bullying stopped for her and her sister.

I wonder if these traits that Floella shows here are picked up later in the text too.

Here's our next check for understanding.

True or false? Overall, Floella enjoyed her time with her Auntie and Uncle.

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

Well done, it's false.

Her and Sandra definitely didn't enjoy their time with their Auntie and Uncle.

I wonder if you can justify your answer.

Is it because A, Floella's character changed significantly; she got into fights at school.

Or B, Floella was made to work tirelessly.

She described her new family home as evil.

Which justification best fits with the original statement? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

What we are looking for here is an example to show that she didn't enjoy her time spent with her auntie and uncle.

Her character did change significantly, but this doesn't tell us about her relationship with the auntie and uncle, so it's the second option.

She's made to work tirelessly and describes her new family home as evil.

It doesn't sound like a nice place to live at all.

We're now going to explore characterization in more detail.

Characterization is the way an author and illustrator describe and develop the personalities and traits of the characters in a story.

Authors and illustrators use a range of methods to convey characterization.

That includes a character's appearance, the words that they use, the actions they perform, and how a character is depicted; that means illustrated or portrayed.

I wonder how might we describe Floella during chapter six.

She's very different to the girl we meet in chapter one.

We can use evidence from the text to support our understanding.

From reading this chapter, we know that she's exhausted.

She's made to work and do chores before and after school.

She's lost lots of her confidence.

She does not have all her family around her to support.

She might be annoyed as well.

Her letters are vetted by her Auntie and Uncle.

That means that there'd be checked and perhaps they might not be sent if they contained any disparaging remarks.

She's also a risk taker.

She avoids returning home by joining a local funeral.

This is very out of character.

Perhaps it shows a shift in Floella's feelings and emotions, too.

Here's our final check for understanding.

True or false, characterization can be only conveyed through actions a character performs within a text.

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

Well done.

This is only one of the ways that we can identify characterization, so it's false and I'll let you to justify your answer.

Is it because A, characterization can only be conveyed through what's written by an author, or B, characterization can be conveyed through the character's actions, alongside their dialogue and how they're depicted and their appearance.

Have a think back to the original statement, which justification best fits here? Pause the video now while you decide.

Great work.

It has to be B, because A mentions just work by an author.

We have the illustrations here as well to help us.

Also, it mentions their dialogue, the actions and their appearance.

In this final task, I'd like you to explore the characterization of Floella.

How does Floella's characterization change from the beginning of "Coming to England," to now? I'd like you to create two mind maps noting down Floella's character traits and how they're conveyed.

Use evidence from the text to support your answers, so your first mind map is going to contain what Floella is like in chapters one and chapter four, and your second mind map what her character's like in chapter six.

You can use some of the ideas from this lesson too.

You can of course use information from the words, illustrations or a mixture of both.

Aim for at least two character traits for each of the chapters we've read so far.

Pause the video now whilst you complete the task.

Fantastic work.

I hope you've enjoyed exploring characterization in lots more detail.

For chapters one and four, you might have mentioned that Floella was quite upbeat.

She enjoys her life in Trinidad.

She's also very kind and caring.

Floella loves her family and is supported by them.

I wonder which character traits you chose for chapters one and four.

In chapter six, we might say that Floella is angry.

She's treated like a servant.

Her life is controlled by her Auntie and Uncle.

You might also mention that she's still empathetic.

She cares deeply for her family and how they're being treated.

She mentions them throughout the chapter.

I wonder if these character traits will remain fixed or whether they'll change as we continue to read in other lessons.

In today's lesson, we've been exploring characterization in "Coming to England." We've learned that Floella's father moves to England for a better life.

The migration of people from the Caribbean to England during the Windrush period was driven by a combination of pull factors.

After her mother joins her father, Floella's life is altered quite dramatically.

Her attitudes and character traits also change.

Finally, characterization is the way that an author and illustrator describe and develop the personalities and traits of the characters in a story.

Well done for all your hard work today exploring characters, events and the effect that they have on one another.

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