Hello everyone.

How are you doing? I hope you're feeling really good.

My name is Ms. Afzal.

I tell you what, I'm feeling great today.

Guess why? We're going to be exploring a graphic novel, and I love graphic novels.

This one in particular I adore.

It's called "Frizzy," and it's written by Claribel A.

Ortega, and it's illustrated by Rose Bousamra.

I would like you to go and get your copy of the text, so I will wait here for you.

Pause the video while you go and get the text.

Okay, you're back.

You have your text in hand, your copy of "Frizzy." I'm really excited because this novel has some fantastic themes.

I can't wait to get into them.

I can't wait to find out about identity, to explore identity, to explore our values, and cultural heritage, and so many other really important and interesting themes.

Shall we begin? Let's do it.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can explore characterization in a graphic novel.

We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them, my turn, your turn.

Characterization.

Character traits.

Body language.

Prediction.

Let's find out what these words mean.

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.

Body language, the way people communicate their thoughts, feelings, and emotions through their movements and gestures without using words.

Prediction, an educated guess based on evidence in the text or prior knowledge.

These are our key words.

Let's look out for them.

Let's listen out for them.

Let's think carefully about them.

They'll be occurring in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is all about identity and characterization in "Frizzy." It has two parts to it, exploring characterization and making predictions.

Let's begin with exploring characterization.

"Frizzy" is a fictional graphic novel text which follows Marlene, a young Dominican American girl coming to terms with growing up.

In the section titled "Quince," pages 18 to 43, Marlene doesn't enjoy herself at the start of the celebration.

Lots of her family berate her, which means they criticise her or they act in an angry manner towards her, for not acting in a traditional or expected manner.

At the end of the scene, her mother dances with her, however, all Marlene can think about is how she will look in the photographs.

And we can see an image of Marlene and her mother looking at their reflections.

I'm not sure that Marlene's feeling too happy about how she looks.

In the section "Best Friends," pages 45 to 59, Marlene has been back to the salon to have her hair straightened.

We are introduced to Camilla, who talks about Marlene's experiences at the quinceanera with her, and they both agree that perfect hair isn't everything.

They decide to find a way for Marlene to embrace her natural curly hair.

The girls research different styles on her beauty blog and decide to come up with a plan.

Check for understanding.

Sequence the following events from "Quince," pages 18 to 43, into chronological order, that's the sequence in which they occurred.

As the celebration begins, Marlene is unfairly compared to her cousin Diana.

Marlene runs to the closet upset.

Marlene's Auntie Ruby arrives.

She empathises with Marlene.

Marlene's cousin, Angel, makes rude comments towards her.

Pause the video while you sequence these events from "Quince" into chronological order, and refer to the text to support you.

So did you begin with, as the celebration begins, Marlene is unfairly compared to her cousin Diana? Next, Marlene's Auntie Ruby arrives.

She empathises with Marlene.

Marlene's cousin, Angel, makes rude comments towards her is next.

And finally, Marlene runs to the closet upset.

Well done if you sequenced these events from "Quince" into this order.

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

And remember, traits are the special qualities that make a character in the story unique and interesting.

And of course we can't continue until we consider our own character traits.

So pause here for a moment and just reflect on what are some of your character traits? What is it that makes you unique and interesting? Are you creative? Are you caring? Are you sporty? Are you funny? Are you wise? Pause the video while you reflect on some of your character traits.

If you wish to, you could share them with someone nearby.

Okay, thanks for reflecting on that and possibly sharing.

It's interesting to think what is it that makes us unique.

Authors and illustrators use a range of methods to convey characterization: a character's appearance, a character's words, a character's actions, how a character is depicted.

Marlene starts the section titled "The Plan" reflecting on her life when she was younger.

Read and explore pages 60 to 64.

Pause the video while you do this.

And now I have a question for you.

Discuss one change between Marlene when she was younger and now.

Pause the video and share your answer to this question with someone nearby.

Here's Jun.

"When she was younger, Marlene was allowed to play all day.

She could get sweaty and dirty, and there were no comments about her being a young lady.

Now she has to stay in and avoid those activities." Oh my goodness, that does not sound fun.

I think the running around and playing outside all day being sweaty and dirty sounded much better.

Check for understanding, true or false.

The expectations of Marlene when she was younger and now haven't changed.

Pause the video while you decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

And now I would like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of the following two statements: Marlene has a plan after researching hairstyles on an online beauty blog.

When Marlene's mother said she was becoming a young woman, Marlene had to make sure not to sweat too much, get too dirty or play too rough.

Pause the video while you decide which of these statements most directly justifies your earlier answer.

Both of the statements are true, but it is the second one that is more of a direct justification of your earlier answer.

Well done if you selected this statement.

We can tell a lot about characters through their appearance, the words they use, the actions they perform, and how they are depicted in the illustrations.

What can we infer about Marlene from pages 62 to 64? Pause the video while you refer to those pages and infer what you can about Marlene.

So we can see that Marlene is facing away from the reader in that panel in the middle.

Her hand on the window might represent her longing to go outside.

Viewing her from the other side of the window, they can see Marlene's sad expression and empathise with her frustration.

I really like the way that we've got those two views on Marlene from behind and then seeing her face.

What can we infer about Marlene from pages 62 to 64? Pause the video and share with someone nearby.

Marlene is alone unable to look at the reader.

She's surrounded by white space.

Her body language suggests that she's hugging herself, perhaps needing reassurance.

Marlene has direct eye contact with the reader.

Perhaps she wants us to see the real her.

And the words and phrases she uses to describe herself surround her.

Such a lot that we can infer just from these few pages here.

Check for understanding.

At this point in the narrative, how is Marlene likely to be feeling? Happy, sad, hopeful? Pause the video while you decide.

How is Marlene likely to be feeling at this point? Well done if you selected sad.

And now it's time for your task.

I'd like you to refer to page 64 and discuss the following questions with your partner.

Do you think Marlene is able to show all of the character traits and aspects of herself at all times? Why or why not? And what are three things that you would describe about your own character? Do you share any similar characteristics to Marlene? So pause the video while you have a go at this task.

Do you think Marlene can show all of her character traits? And you already had a little think about character traits, but what are three character traits that you would use to describe yourself? And do you share any similar characteristics to Marlene? Pause the video while you have a go at this task.

So how did you get on with that task? I am wondering, is Marlene able to show all of her character traits? And what are some of yours? And are they similar to Marlene's? Let's hear from Sofia.

"I don't think Marlene is able to show her true self.

She's different around her mum and older members of the family.

Perhaps she's not given the opportunity to show these aspects of herself to them." Yeah, thanks for sharing that Sofia.

And let's hear from Aisha.

Wanna know what you're like, Aisha.

"I'm mindful of others." Love that.

"I also love music.

I can play an instrument, and I love coding." Oh my goodness.

Wonderful.

Love hearing those.

And I hope you enjoyed sharing your character traits.

I wonder if you're anything like Marlene.

I think I'm a little bit like Marlene in that I like being creative too.

I really love that.

And now we are onto the next part of our lesson, making predictions.

Marlene puts her plan into action.

As she sneaks past her mother on page 65, we're able to gain more of an understanding into her cultural heritage.

I'd like you to read and explore pages 65 to 70.

What do you notice about Marlene's family home? What does Marlene draw attention to? So pause the video while you read and explore these pages.

Answer these questions and share your answers with someone nearby.

I'll see you when you're finished.

Here's Andeep.

"Marlene draws attention to the fact that in her family home there are lots of religious crosses and pictures of Jesus." Perhaps you have some objects in your home that share your cultural heritage, your faith, or something about your family.

Pause the video and show someone nearby if there are any particular objects in your home that represent your cultural heritage.

Marlene's plan backfires and her mum has to put her hair in trenzas, braids.

I'd like you to read and explore pages 71 to 77.

Refer to the top panel on page 76.

What do you think the blank space between Marlene and her mother could represent? Use their body language to support you.

So pause the video while you read and explore those pages.

Refer in particular to the top panel on page 76 and answer the question.

Share your answer with someone nearby.

What does the blank space between Marlene and her mother represent? Here's Alex.

"The gap between Marlene and her mother could represent the words that they do not say to one another.

Marlene wants to share that she does not like their tradition of going to the salon every Sunday, but she doesn't want to upset her mum.

Their body language suggests that they aren't sharing everything.

They are guarded." Really good spot there, Alex.

I like the way that you're really noticing their body language and what that's showing us.

Check for understanding, true or false.

Marlene is able to talk to her mother about anything.

Pause video while you decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

And now I would like you to justify your answer by selecting from one of the following two statements: Marlene doesn't want to tell her mum that heading to the salon together is making her sad.

Marlene says that everything is fine.

Pause video while you decide which of these statements best justifies your earlier answer.

While both of these statements are true, it's the first statement that more directly justifies your earlier answer.

Well done if you selected this statement.

And now it's time for our next task.

We leave Marlene on page 77, about to step onto the school bus, ready to head to school.

Having explored the characters in more detail, what do you think will happen next? I'd like to make a prediction about what might happen to Marlene.

Use evidence from the text to support your prediction.

And you can begin your sentence "I predict." Tell us your prediction, "Because." Give us your reasoning.

Give us your evidence from the text.

So pause the video here, refer back to the text, make your prediction and give your evidence to support.

I will see you when you're finished.

Okay, we are back.

You have shared your predictions.

That's exciting.

Let's hear what Jacob thinks will happen.

"I predict that Marlene will try to fit in at school and not draw extra attention to herself.

She doesn't like wearing her hair in braids.

Perhaps Camilla will try and help her fix them during break time?" Hmm, interesting prediction, Jacob.

Thank you for sharing.

Were your responses similar or different? If your predictions are based on evidence in a text, they are likely to be good predictions.

So that's what we always want to be doing is when we're predicting is coming back to the text to find our evidence there.

Let's explore some more of what happens in this fantastic graphic novel "Frizzy" in our next lesson.

In our lesson today, Identity and characterization in "Frizzy," we have covered the following: characterization is the way an author and illustrator describe and develop the personalities and traits of the characters in a story.

We can tell lots about characters through their appearance, the words they use, the actions they perform, and how they're depicted in the illustrations Through eye contact and body language, we can infer how a character might be feeling and what this might convey to a reader.

Having explored the characters in greater detail, readers can make predictions about what might happen next.

Thank you everyone for joining in with this lesson.

It was really interesting to explore identity and characterization in this graphic novel.

I think they're really interesting things to consider about characters and also about ourselves as well.

Like to consider our own identities and what makes us who we are and what traits we possess.

And maybe there are some traits that perhaps we feel that we wanna develop and cultivate even further, which could be a really interesting thing to focus on.

I would like to thank you one more time for being here in this lesson today, and I'm really looking forward to the next one.

So I'll see you there in another lesson soon.

Bye for now.