Lesson video

Hi there, my name is Mr. Charlesworth, and in today's reading lesson, we're going to be exploring the text "Shackleton's Journey".

This is one of my favourite picture book texts.

It's illustrated and written by William Grill, and it tells the tale of Ernest Shackleton and his crew as they set off on the endurance expedition to Antarctica.

I hope you're looking forward to the lesson.

Let's get started.

The lesson outcome is I can understand the context of "'Shackleton's Journey".

The key words are, my turn, your turn.

Non-fiction, context, expedition, Antarctica.

Let's try those once more.

Non-fiction, context, expedition, Antarctica.

Well done.

Non-fiction is a genre of text which presents real events, information, or knowledge.

The context is the surrounding details that help you understand what you are reading.

An expedition is an organised journey for a purpose, often exploration, research, or adventure.

Sometimes it can be all three.

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent.

It's covered by ice with unique wildlife and extreme conditions.

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

We'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

In today's lesson, we'll be introducing the context of "Shackleton's Journey".

That's finding out a little bit about the background information before we start reading the book.

We're going to begin by exploring the genre and the context, then we're going to have an introduction to the text before we form some initial responses to the text itself.

Let's begin by exploring the genre and the context.

"Shackleton's Journey" is a non-fiction text.

The text is presented as a picture book which chronicles the extraordinary Antarctic expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton in 1914.

He's an important person.

Let's say his name together.

Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Well done.

The narrative focuses on the resilience, that's like persevering or determination, and leadership of Shackleton and his crew faced numerous challenges, including the eventual loss of their ship, which was called the Endurance.

This is also an important word.

Let's say it together.

Endurance.

Well done.

I wonder if we'll find out why the ship was so named as we read the text.

The author and the illustrator of "Shackleton's Journey" is William Grill.

He did extensive research for the text.

Quotes are included from Shackleton and his crew, and they're based on documents which were written at the time.

Grill used coloured pencils to create the illustrations.

This allows him to capture the vivid details of the Antarctic landscapes, the ships, and the various elements of the expedition.

Well noticed on our keyword.

The front cover can provide readers with clues as to what might occur in the text.

I wonder, what do you notice from the front cover? Take a really close look and see what you can find out.

Have a chat with your partner and maybe infer what might be included in the text.

Pause the video now whilst you discuss.

Great discussion.

There are lots of things you might have drawn out.

Let's have a look at a few in some more detail.

You might have spotted small triangular markings along the spine.

Could these represent perhaps the ice breaking up? They look as though they're part of an ice sheet, or ice float.

The colours that William Grill uses are predominantly shades of blue and white.

Perhaps this could represent the cold of Antarctica.

We usually use dark blues, light blues, and white to signify cold or colder elements.

Did you notice the figure in the centre of the circular pattern? It's likely to be Ernest Shackleton, who the text is mainly about.

The pattern around him reminded me of compass points like the directions.

I wonder if navigation will play an important part in this text, being able to navigate from one place to another.

And finally, you might have noticed various icons, including penguins, boats, orcas.

These are sometimes known as killer whales, seals, and various crew members and dogs.

They are all featured in the outer circles outside of Shackleton.

I wonder if you noticed anything else.

What might it link to in the text? Let's read on to find out.

Here's our first check for understanding.

Using the front cover, can you match the following information about the book? You've got William Grill, "Shackleton's Journey", and Flying Eye Books.

On the other side, publisher, author and illustrator, and title.

Have a think, use the front cover for support if you need it.

Pause video now whilst you match them up.

Great work.

I know William Grill is the author and illustrator.

He's the person creating the artwork, as well as doing the research for the words as well.

Shackleton's journey is the title of the text.

Therefore, Flying Eye Books is the publisher.

Publishers are usually found either on the front cover, towards the bottom, or on the spine.

Before we begin exploring the text, it's important to build up some information about the context, in this case, the setting.

Most of "Shackleton's Journey" takes space in Antarctica.

Antarctica is a vast and frigid continent located on the southernmost part of the earth.

In this case, vast means huge, and frigid, very cold.

Known for its extreme cold, it's the driest and windiest continent with temperatures that can plummet to as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius.

That's minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit.

Covered by a thick ice sheet, Antarctica is home to unique and diverse wildlife, including penguins, seals, and various seabirds, making it both a scientific interest and of environmental importance.

You can see an image of what Antarctica looks like and where it's located on the world map below.

Perhaps when you've been reading, you've noticed a dedications page.

These are usually located before the title page.

There's one in "Shackleton's Journey".

A dedication page in a non-fiction text is a section where the author expresses appreciation or acknowledgement to specific individuals or groups.

It's usually found at the beginning of the book before the main content or introduction.

It can also serve as a heartfelt tribute to individuals who played a significant role in the author's life or work.

From reading and exploring books, I'm really interested when authors and illustrators, or even translators make dedications to people and the reasons and words that they used to do so.

Perhaps you'll notice one in your next read.

Here's our next check for understanding.

True or false, Antarctica is a polar region in the northern hemisphere? Is that true or false? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well remembered.

It's the Arctic in the north.

The Antarctic is in the southern hemisphere.

Now, I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it because a, Antarctica is a continent located in the southernmost part of the Earth, or b, Antarctica is home to diverse wildlife, including penguins, seals, and orcas? Which justification best links to the original statement? Pause video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

The second example is referring to wildlife, which doesn't link to the original statement, so it must be a, Antarctica is a continent located at the southernmost part of the Earth.

Well done if you got both correct.

In our first task, we're going to explore the dedication.

Can you locate the quote on the dedication page? It says, "No man fails who sets an example of high courage, of unbroken resolution, or unsinking endurance." It's by a person called Roald Amundsen.

Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer who led the first successful expedition to the South Pole in 1911, beating other explorers, including Robert Falcon Scott.

Perhaps you've heard of him.

I'd like you to discuss with your partner, why do you think William Grill included this quote here? Perhaps it links to some things we've read, or seen or heard before.

Have a discussion with your talk partner.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question.

Great discussion.

Let's have a look at two possible examples.

Andeep says, "I think that William Grill used a quote from the explorer, Roald Amundsen, as he has spent a lot of time in Antarctica.

Izzy says, "The quote refers to never giving up, being brave, and persevering in the face of challenge.

Perhaps this will be a theme reflected in the text." Were your comments similar or different to both Andeep and Izzy? Perhaps used your own prior knowledge to help you.

I wonder if we'll deepen our understanding as we read the book.

We're now going to have a look at the introduction to the text and the first few pages.

I'd like you to first read and explore the contents page.

You'll find it just after the title page in the book.

I wonder what you're interested in finding out about from reading the contents and why? What jumps out at you? What you most interested in finding out more about? Have a discussion with your partner.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question.

Well done.

Let's have a look at two possible examples.

Aisha says, "I'm really intrigued to find out more about Shackleton's crew and how the dogs play a role in this expedition." Whereas Jacob says, "I love geography, so finding out about the different places that the Endurance visited is fascinating." I wonder if your responses were similar or different.

We are now going to start reading the text.

We're going to begin with page one, the introduction.

Pause video now whilst you read this with your talk partner, or as a class.

Well done.

I wonder, do you think Shackleton enjoyed his time at school? How do you know this? You might like to refer to the text in your answer.

Discuss with your talk partner.

Pause video now whilst you answer the question.

Well done.

The section of text we're going to need to refer to is in the top of the first paragraph.

In it, it says, "Born on the 15th of February, 1874, Shackleton was the second of 10 children.

From a young age, Shackleton complained about teachers, but he had a keen interest in books, especially poetry.

Years later on expeditions, he would read to the crew to lift their spirits." Hmm.

In this case, it says that Shackleton complained about teachers, so I don't think he enjoyed school, but he did have a keen interest in books, especially poetry.

Perhaps some good books were passed into his hands and he began to read.

It says later in the paragraph that he was always restless, but young Ernest left school at 16 to go to sea.

This tells me perhaps that he wasn't so keen on the school system and wanted to go off and explore instead.

An answer might be, I don't think that Ernest enjoyed his time at school.

He complains about his teachers and leaves school at 16 to go to sea.

However, Ernest does have a love of books, especially poetry, which may have been a result of his English lessons.

As we can't speak to Ernest directly, we can only infer what we might think about him from the text.

Here's our next check for understanding.

Referring to page one, which of the following are mentioned in the introduction? Is it a, Shackleton had a keen interest in books and used to read to his crew to lift their spirits? B, Shackleton understood there to be only one great challenge left, crossing Antarctica from sea to sea? C, Shackleton's journey was the first expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, which went from 1888 to 1914, or d, Shackleton was the eldest of 10 children? Refer to the text if you need to, to help.

Pause the video now whilst you answer.

Well done.

The answers are a and b.

We know Shackleton had a keen interest in books, although he didn't like his teachers, and we know that he thought that there was one great challenge left as lots had been completed already during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Shackleton's journey wasn't the first expedition.

It was one of the last, and Shackleton was the second oldest, not the eldest of all his brothers and sisters.

Well done if you got those correct.

In the second task, we're going to develop our questioning skills.

From reading and responding to the contents page and introduction, what do you want to find out? What questions would you like to find out the answers to? You could focus on the author, William Grill, you could focus on the text itself, or Ernest Shackleton, or perhaps the journey he's about to embark on.

Come up with three questions with your partner that you want to find out about.

You might like to use the sentence stems, why, how, what, can, where, and are there? Pause video now whilst you come up with your three questions together.

Well done.

I hope it's made you really curious and wanting to read on to find out more.

Some of the questions that I came up with were, why was Ernest Shackleton "strangely drawn to the mysterious south"? That's a direct quote.

How did Ernest Shackleton and his crew survive during the freezing temperatures? How did William Grill create his illustrations? What inspired him? What research did William Grill do to create the text? Where did Shackleton and his crew visit on their expedition? And finally, did they succeed in what they set out to achieve? Perhaps you'd like to find some time to research some of the answers to your questions at home.

In our final part of today's lesson, we're going to look at our initial responses to the texts.

These are our first thoughts or opinions about it.

Let's discover a little bit more about Ernest Shackleton.

Ernest Shackleton had lived in several places before setting off for Antarctica.

One of his first challenges was securing funding and recruiting a crew.

To secure funding is to make sure you've got enough money for the expedition, and the crew would be a lot of people.

If they're going to Antarctica, they might need lots of different skills.

I'd like you to read and explore pages three to six.

Pause the video now whilst you read these together.

Well done.

I'd like you to answer the following question.

Why were the lifeboats given names such as the James Caird, and why do you think Shackleton did this? He was very clever and inventive, and this was a really good way to secure funding.

Pause the video whilst you discussed with your talk partner.

Well done.

You might have noticed Shackleton's ingenuity here.

Shackleton named lifeboats after sponsors to convince them to fund his expedition.

I think if the expedition was successful, the sponsors would be mentioned in lots of the newspapers and articles.

And as luck would have it, we now know the names of the three that they took with them.

These are referenced later on in the text, too.

Here's our next check for understanding.

Referring to pages five and six, can you match the following crew members with their role on board the Endurance? The names on the left are Frank Wild, Frank Worsley, Charles Green, and Percy Blackborrow, and their roles in the crew are ship's captain, ship's cook, stowaway, and second-in-command.

You might be wondering what a stowaway is.

A stowaway is someone who sneaks on board.

They're not originally part of the group, but this person became part of the group and an integral part later on.

Feel free to refer the text in your answer.

Pause the video now whilst you match them up.

Well done.

Frank Wild was the second-in-command, the person responsible if Shackleton got indisposed.

Frank Worsley was the ship's captain, Charles Green, the ship's cook, and Percy Blackborrow, the stowaway.

Well done if you matched all those correctly.

In our final task, referring to what we've read so far, I want to know your first impressions of the text.

Those are your initial thoughts.

Perhaps you might like to discuss your likes.

What caught your attention? What did you enjoy so far? Perhaps you might like to note your dislikes.

Was there anything that you are unsure about, or confused by perhaps? And finally, any puzzles or questions that you had.

Was there anything that you found strange or surprising? Have a discussion with your talk partner, referring to these three different areas.

Pause the video now whilst you complete the task.

Great work.

In your likes, you might have said, I really like the illustration style.

Each crew member is distinctive.

I really enjoyed looking at the different types of roles and the equipment that they used.

You might also have said, I'm looking forward to discovering more about the expedition and the challenges that Shackleton and his crew faced.

Under dislikes, you might have said, I want to know where some of the locations are that are mentioned in the text.

We saw a few of these in the contents page.

Also, you might have said, I would like to know more about some of the crew's roles.

Perhaps you wanted a little more information about what they might do and what they're there for.

Under puzzles, you might have said, I was surprised that Shackleton had a meteorologist in his crew.

I wonder how they predicted the weather in 1914.

That would be a really interesting question to research yourself.

I hope we'll find out the answers to lots of these as we continue to read on.

In today's lesson, we've been introducing the context of "Shackleton's Journey".

"Shackleton's Journey" is a non-fiction picture book text, which chronicles the Antarctic expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton in 1914.

We've learned that Antarctica is a vast and frigid continent located at the part of the Earth.

We've discovered that exploring the context of a text can allow readers to engage with it more deeply.

Finally, we've noted a dedication page and a non-fiction text can acknowledge a specific individual or group that influence the text creation, or reference themes present in the text.

I wonder if you'll notice more of these features as you read your own texts, too.

Well done for all the hard work today.

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