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

And today is special because we're going to be starting to read the fantastic book, "When the Sky Falls," by Phil Earle, which is set during World War II.

Now it's a very dramatic and emotional book, and I think you're going to absolutely love it.

The arson scenes in this book, which you may find upsetting because it's set during a war and it features some very emotional storylines.

So please check with an adult that they're happy for you to continue with this unit before you begin.

If you're ready, let's make a start.

Today's lesson is called Exploring Characterization in "When the Sky Falls," and it comes from our unit called "When the Sky Falls" Reading.

By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to explain how the author has shaped our initial impressions of key characters in "When the Sky Falls." Now for this lesson, you will need to have access to the 2021 Anderson Press Edition of "When the Sky Falls" written by Phil Earle.

If you have that with you, let's make a start.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

If we summarise, it means we pull out the key information and ideas from the text.

The historical context is the time period in which a narrative is set.

And characterization is the way an author describes and develops the personalities and traits of the characters in the story through their actions, thoughts, dialogue, and interactions with others.

Here's our scenario of today.

We're going to start off by reading and exploring chapters one and two, and then we'll be discussing the main characters in more detail.

So "When the Sky Falls" is a novel that's written by Phil Earle, and it's written in the third person, so we're writing about someone else, and it's set in World War II.

So what do you already know about the Second World War or World War II? Pause the video and have a chat to the person next to you, or have a think on your own.

Well done.

Good job.

Maybe you said something like this, "The Second World War, as we know, lasted from 1939 to 1945, and it happened because Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland, triggering the U.

K.

to declare war.

And then Hitler's Germany took over large areas of Europe and carried out the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jewish people were killed.

And eventually, with the help of Russia and the U.

S.

A.

, Germany was defeated." So now I'd like you to listen to your teacher read pages one and two of this story and let's see if we can spot any clues that it set in World War II.

Pause the video and have a listen to your teacher.

Read those pages or read them to yourself.

Well done.

So we've now met our first new character, who is Joseph.

And Joseph has arrived in a city to a station.

So based on what we know about World War II, what is strange about where Joseph has come to? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done, you're right.

So Laura says, "He's come to the city instead of leaving it.

And we know that hundreds of thousands of children were evacuated or sent away from the U.

K.

cities during the war, and that was because the cities has lots of factories and ports and important buildings, which were targets of the bombing raids." So Laura is saying, "I'm wondering why Joseph is doing the opposite to what we'd expect." We'd expect him to be leaving the city, like we see other children doing in these first two pages of the book, but instead, he has come to the city.

So we're wondering why that's the case.

Really well done for your thoughts there.

So based on these first two pages, which statements are correct? I'd like to give your evidence to support your choices.

So decide if it's correct or not correct and why? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good job.

So A says, "Joseph thinks a policeman is talking to him." That's correct.

And we see the word bobby.

So a bobby is another word for a policeman.

B is not correct.

Joseph is not excited.

He said he doesn't want to be there.

C is not correct.

Joseph is not missing his grandmother.

We know that because he refers to her as a cow, very cheeky.

And then Joseph's father is fighting in the war.

That is correct.

And it says he's been away for two months.

So he's not seen his father for two months because his father is fighting in the war.

Really well done if you got this.

So what's your first impression of Joseph based on these first two pages and why? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So Lucas says this, "He seems very angry.

He touched the children who are sad about leaving their family and he's rude about his nan.

It sounds like all this anger is being caused by his dad leaving for the war, but that'll be true for almost everyone at that time." So Lucas is saying, "We don't really get why he's so angry, when all these other children will have experienced something very similar." Here's what Jun says.

"I think he's quite vulnerable and scared underneath all this anger.

He's alone in a new city, looking for someone he doesn't know, and that's scary." So that's true, isn't it? Joseph is all alone in a new city and he's searching for someone who he's never actually met before.

So it is a very difficult situation to be him.

So Jun's being a little bit more sympathetic than Lucas towards what Joseph is feeling, but our feelings about Joseph will obviously develop as we find out more about him, about his situation, about his background, and about what he's like as a person.

So now I'd like you to listen to your teacher read up to the penultimate line, the second to last line, of page three with the word yet, or read it to yourself.

Pause the video and have a read.

Well done.

Good reading.

So what's your first impression of the woman he've met? The woman who has come to collect Joseph.

And why do you have that first impression? Pause the video and have a chat to the person next to you, or think on your own.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So maybe you said something like this.

She seems a bit cold and a bit harsh in the way she talks, and she doesn't seem to make any effort to make Joseph feel at ease in a difficult situation.

And she's holding onto the strap of his gas mask box really tightly.

We're also told that she's not very pleased to be there and that she doesn't want to be with Joseph.

So we're getting quite a negative initial impression of this woman who's come to collect Joseph.

Let's find out more.

So now I'd like to listen to your teacher read the rest of chapter one to the end of the chapter, or read it to yourself.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

So can you now summarise what happened in the rest of that chapter? Pause the video and have a chat of the person next to you, or a think on your end.

Well done.

So maybe you summarised it like this.

First of all, a man accuses Joseph of having stolen from him, and then Joseph denies that.

Then the man opens up Joseph's luggage and finds his cheese and bacon.

And then Joseph nearly attacks the man who says he will speak to the police, but the woman threatens to report the man to the police for having more food than his ration.

And the man realises he's made a mistake because, of course, food was rationed during the war, and so the man's got way too much cheese, way too much bacon compared to what he should have compared to what his ration is.

So the woman has realised that she can get the man in trouble too.

And then the woman takes Joseph outta the station so he doesn't get in trouble with the police and she introduces herself as Mrs. F.

So we've now met and been introduced to you a second main character.

We have Joseph and Mrs. F, the woman he's been sent to stay with.

So do you agree with Andeep? And why or why not? pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

So Andeep says he's not sure based on this chapter whether he admires Mrs. F or not.

Well, Izzy says this, "I agree.

she seems honest, but she was really cold towards Joseph and I didn't think that was fair, given the difficult situation he was in.

So Izzy was expecting a bit more warmth given that Joseph is in a very difficult situation, alone in the city without his parents.

Here's what Sam says.

"Yes, but I really admired the way she managed to outfox the man and make sure Joseph didn't get in trouble with the police.

I think she's quite a complex person." So we don't yet know very much about either Mrs. F or Joseph do we? But Sam saying she's already impressed with the way Mrs. F managed to think her way out for that situation to make sure Joseph didn't get in trouble with the police by noticing that the man could also be in trouble as well.

So we've still got lots to learn about these characters and we'll develop our ideas as we read 'em off.

So it's not clear in this chapter why Joseph is in the city and why he's staying with Mrs. F.

So what's your prediction based on what we've read about why he might be there and why he might be with Mrs. F? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good job.

So Aisha says, "It says that he's come from Yorkshire, and Yorkshire has both cities and countryside.

So maybe the city he's come to is safer than where he's left behind, but it's still strange he's not going out into the actual countryside." So Aisha's still quite confused about why Joseph is in this city.

And Alex says this, "Mrs. F mentions a favour she owes Joseph's gran, and I think maybe they're old friends.

So maybe Joseph's gran looked after Mrs. F's children long ago and now she's returning the favour." So we've got a clue there in the text, haven't we? And I like how Alex has referred to something that he's read.

He knows that Mrs. F mentioned this favour to gran, and he's wondering what that favour might have been that Mrs. F is now repaying.

Again, we still are can't be sure about this, but we'll develop our ideas the more we read.

Really well done with your thoughts there.

So now you are going to read chapter two, and here's some vocabulary you're going to encounter in this chapter.

If something is obliterated, it's destroyed.

So lots of things in the city are going to be obliterated, aren't they, during the war, during bombing raids.

Carnage is total destruction.

And shambolic means chaotic.

So we might say something is in a shambolic state.

If something is surreal, it's bizarre and unbelievable.

And if you're being monosyllabic, you're talking very little.

Macabre means sinister.

It's a tricky word to say.

We don't say macabre, we say macabre.

So that means it's a sinister situation.

Austere means uncomfortable or without luxury.

So I could say the room was decorated in a very austere manner.

It didn't look luxurious or comfortable.

If you're conscripted, you're sent to war.

So lots of people were conscripted to fight during World War II.

Dallying means wasting time.

I'm sure you've heard that one before.

And an inclination is an urge to act in a certain way.

So if I said I didn't have the inclination to do it, it means I didn't feel that urge to act.

So can you now read up to the word baggage on page 12? Pause the video and have a read.

Well done.

Hopefully you spotted some of that vocabulary in what you read.

So based on what you've just read, are the statements below true or false? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Good job.

So A says, "Mrs. F's home is a short distance from the station." That is false.

They travelled quite a long way, didn't they? First by bus and then walking.

B says, "Joseph and Mrs. F talk little during their journey." That's true.

They were both quite monosyllabic.

They hear people on the bus discussing deaths due to bombing.

Unfortunately, that is true.

And D says, "The bus moves easily through the streets." No, that's false.

It goes so slowly, they decide to get off in the end, probably because there's so much damage to the street that it's very difficult for the bus to move forward.

Really well done have you've got this.

So what are Joseph's first impressions of this city? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good job.

So Lucas say this, "Well, we find out it's the first city he's been to," so he's not from the city, he must be from the countryside, "but it's not what he's expecting because everything is in ruins.

And he's seeing the destruction caused by the bombing with buildings left as smoking rubble." So he is surprised, isn't he, by the level of destruction he's seeing.

It's not the kind of city he was expecting to see.

And Jacob says this, "He also seems determined not to be impressed or amazed by anything he sees, no matter how dramatic and unusual it is for him." So this would be a really shocking scene, wouldn't it, to see a city obliterated and destroyed in this way.

But Joseph's really trying hard not to show that to Mrs. F and to the people around him.

He's really determined not to be amazed by the destruction that he's seeing.

Really well done for your thoughts there.

So now I'd like you to read the rest of chapter two.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Good reading.

So let's have a think about what we just read.

What was Mrs. F's house like when they got there? Pause the video and have a chat with the person next to you, or a think on your own.

What was the house like? Well done.

Good ideas.

We could describe it like this.

We could say it's dark, it's lifeless.

That's a word you use in the story.

It's sparsely furnished, doesn't have much furniture.

And it's quite cold.

So why do you think new author has described the house in this way? Why has the author chosen to describe the house as dark, lifeless, sparsely furnished, and cold? Pause if you don't have a chat to the person next to you, or have a think on your own.

Well done.

Good ideas.

Andeep says this, "I think it's partly just to show that there's a war on and things are pretty depressing." So that would explain maybe why it's so cold.

They can't afford to heat stuff.

"But I think they're also trying to make the house match Joseph's feelings about Mrs. F, that she is cold and unkind.

So the house is supposed to be like her personality." So Andeep's kind of suggesting maybe the author's trying to reinforce this initial impression of Mrs. F as a little bit cold by making her house similar as well, making her house a little bit austere and cold as her personality has been described to us so far.

And we'll see if that remains true during the book.

So what evidence is there to support Izzy's view here? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good ideas.

So Izzy says, "There seemed to be a lot of rules at Mrs. F's house." Gloria says, "Well, yes, she tells him he can only use a sitting room on Sundays, that he can't waste toilet paper, that he can't read in bed because she doesn't trust him with a candle." So there's a few different rules, isn't there, that Mrs. F lists about this house that supports Izzy's view.

But Sophia says, "Well, we should remember that in war times, there would've been lots of shortages.

So she's having now to look after two people.

So she needs to be quite economical with all these resources that she has." Like the water and the toilet paper and the electricity and the candles.

So she's having to have these rules partly because the war creates all these shortages of resources.

So she's not just being mean, a lot of it is about the difficulties of living in wartime.

Well done for your thoughts there.

So let's do our first task for the session, and we're going to focus on the historical context of this book.

So the historical context is the time period in which a book is set.

And we know that the historical context of "When the Sky Falls" is World War II and the Blitz, the bombing of British cities by Nazi Germany.

So I'd let you to now look back through chapters one and two and see what evidence you can find of that historical context.

I want you to list all the details you can see in this book, which show you the historical context, which show you that it is set during World War II and during the Blitz.

And then I want you to think why might this historical context be important to the book.

Why is it important for us to know this historical context as part of our reading of this book? So pause the video, list your evidence, and then have a think about this question, why might the historical context be so important in this book? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

So here are some of the clues to the historical context that we can find in chapters one and two.

First of all, there are evacuees at the station, and it refers to battles happening in France.

Joseph we know is carrying a gas mask, as all children would've done at that time.

And his father, we know, has gone to fight in the war.

They refer to rations and to ration books.

Joseph hands over his ration book to Mrs. F so that she can get his ration as well for the household.

And the city is in ruins.

We know it's been devastated by some bombing.

We know that houses have been destroyed as well.

And people on the bus are referring to people being killed.

We know that air raid sirens have been mentioned.

Mrs. F tells Joseph what to do in the event of an air raid siren going off.

And there's no coal in the house because the workers have been sent to fight.

They've been conscripted to war.

And finally, Mrs. F, as I said, explains what to do in the event of an air raid.

So loads of clues there about the historical context of the book that proves to us that this book is set during World War II and during the Blitz.

So why might this historical context be so important? Well, here are a couple of ideas.

So Jun says this, "I think it's important because we have to imagine that all the hard things about war will affect people's behaviour and the choices they make.

They're living with constant uncertainty and the risk of death." So Jun saying we have to bear in the back of our mind that we read that these people are living in a situation where their lives are very much affected by the fear of the war and by all the traumatic things that are going on around them.

Aisha says this, "Yes, there are also other pressures like rationing and men being away fighting instead of working, and we have to consider those too." So yes, Aisha's reminding us it's a very different situation.

Resources are incredibly scarce.

Men are often going to be away fighting.

So people are gonna be left alone with smaller families with maybe less resources to rely on.

So things like Mrs. F's decoration in her house, we have to view that through the lens of the shortages and the difficulties of war.

Hopefully you have some really good ideas there too.

Well done.

So we've read and explored those first two chapters, now let's look at our main characters in a bit more detail.

So we've met two main characters in the book, Joseph and Mrs. F in chapters one and two.

So what have we learned about their families, first of all? For both this characters, what have we learned about their families? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good ideas.

So we know that Joseph's dad is away fighting in the war, and he refers to not having a mom.

It doesn't say much more than that.

And Mrs. F seems to be living alone.

We see that Joseph has been living with his grandmother in the past who has struggling to cope with his behaviour, and that's why she sent him to Mrs. F.

And Mrs. F has taken Joseph in as a favour to his grandmother who helped her in some way, we don't know how, in the past.

So there's still a bit of mystery there isn't there? We don't know what's happened to Joseph's mom.

It's not mentioned.

And we also dunno what favour Mrs. F owes Joseph's grandmother.

We don't know why there's this debt she's trying to repay that.

So we don't know everything, but we know some things about their families already.

Well, don't forget this.

So let's now think a bit more about Joseph and Mrs. F's personalities.

Do you agree with Sam here? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So Sam says she thinks Joseph and Mrs. F seem quite similar to each other.

Well, Andeep says this, "I agree.

They both seem a bit grumpy and a bit cold, and they don't really make much effort to be kind or positive.

They're both quite negative and a little bit hostile to each other." S Andeep's saying they're both a little bit negative in their personalities so far.

Alex has a bit of a different view.

He says, "Yes, but Joseph is a child in a difficult situation meeting a stranger.

I'd expect Mrs. F to at least try to be kind, even if she doesn't want him to be there.

So there is a difference, isn't there, between the way a child would behave and the way an adult might behave in this situation.

We know that a child in this stressful situation might be very withdrawn or upset, but we would expect the adult to, in some way, help them, and we're not seeing that quite so much.

So Alex is a little bit shocked about the way Mrs. F is behaving.

He's saying, "Well, Joseph's behaviour is a bit more understandable because he's in a very difficult situation." Perhaps you have a completely different idea.

Well done for sharing your thoughts.

Now let's now talk about one of our key words for today, which is the word characterization.

So characterization is the way in which authors create our impressions of characters.

We have to remember that authors are trying to make us think that certain things about characters.

So they're trying to create an image in our mind of the character, and that process where they're trying to build that image is characterization.

So characterization is done in a range of ways.

It's through the things characters say, through the things the character does, through the way the character is described, and through the details given about the character's life.

All of these things help to build that mental image we have of each character, which will develop, of course, and change as we read more.

So the author is using these techniques, things the character says, does, the way they're described, details about their life, to build our mental image of the character, which might change as we find out more about those different elements.

So now we're going to think about how Joseph and Mrs. F have been characterised so far.

So the following details in chapters one and two are quite key to how the characterises Joseph.

In terms of things we've said, we've heard him in being insulting about his grandma.

In terms of things he does, we've seen him steal from that man on the train.

In terms of the way he's described, he's shown to have dirty, smelly clothes.

Remember when the man looks through his suitcase? And in terms of details about his life, we know that his father has gone to war and he has no mum.

So the authors told us all of those things about Joseph to contribute to the characterization of Joseph.

So all these details are part of the characterization of Joseph that build up a mental image of him.

So which qualities are most applicable, which relate most to Joseph based on his characterization in the first two chapters? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Good ideas.

So Jacob says this, "I think I would choose spiky and vulnerable to describe Joseph.

He obviously has lots of feelings that he's struggling with, which may be affect his behaviour, and he's in a very vulnerable situation, where he has neither of his parents with him and he's living with a stranger." So Jacob could have just gone with spiky because Joseph has shown some negative behaviours, but he's also chosen some vulnerable because Jacob's seeing, "Ah, there might be some reasons behind these behaviours," that we need to think about too when we think about Joseph.

And the author has told us about these difficulties Joseph has because maybe he wants us to think, "Ah, Joseph's not just a nasty person, he's not just rude.

There's something going on here which we, as the reader, need to know about." So this is some clever characterization by Phil Earle where he's making a see that Joseph already after two chapters, maybe a bit spiky, but he's also got these vulnerable sides to his character.

Maybe he spotted that too.

Well done.

So what details does the author use to characterise Mrs. F in the first two chapters? Have a think about these ways authors can characterise characters.

And can you find one for each box for Mrs. F based on what you've read in the first two chapters? Have a go.

Well done.

Great ideas.

So for things she said, she's very abrupt and quite stern, isn't she? For things she does, she gives Joseph that long list of rules we talked about earlier.

The way she's described is having wild hair and she wears boots in her own house, doesn't she? And then details about her life.

Well, she seems to live alone.

So there's some important details we've learned about Mrs. F so far, and we have to imagine that the author has chosen to tell us those things in order to create a certain impression of Mrs. F.

So remember, the reader, you and I, are also part of this characterization process because we're all focused on different details based on our own interests, based on what we are interested in knowing about characters.

And so we'll each have a slightly different view of each character.

It might also be affected by people we've experienced in our own lives.

Maybe we've met people like Mrs. F or like Joseph, and that will build into our characterization of them, our mental image of them in our heads.

So based on her characterization so far, what words would you use to describe Mrs. F's personality? Pause the video and think of a word and explain why that relates well to Mrs. F.

Have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

So Izzy says this, "I describe her as blunt.

She doesn't waste any words and get her to know Joseph.

Instead, she sticks to talking about serious things, but she seems brave because of how she stood up to the man from the train." So Izzy's come for blunt and brave.

Laura says this, "I think she's quite honest.

You wouldn't expect an adult to tell a child that she doesn't really want him to be there, but she does." So blunt, brave, and honest are the words we've chosen here for Mrs. F.

Really well done with your ideas there as well.

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

We're going to think carefully about the way the author has characterised Mrs. F and Joseph in these chapters.

And based on that characterization, we're going to do a little bit of role play.

I want you to imagine you are Mrs. F and say what her thoughts might be as she heads out of the house at the end of chapter two.

So based on what we've been told about her, that mental image we've constructed, what would you say in role as Mrs. F as you leave the house there? And then based on the characterization of Joseph, can you imagine you are Joseph and say what his thoughts might be as he's alone in the house at the end of chapter two there? And I want you to try and use details from the first few chapters to try and inform what you're saying in role for each of these two characters.

So pause the video and have a go at speaking in role, first is Mrs. F, and then as Joseph.

Have a go.

Well done.

Great ideas.

Let's start with Joseph.

Here's something you might have said in role as Joseph.

"Why has Nan even sent me to this woman? She obviously doesn't want me here.

It's just another person who doesn't want me around.

I bet in a few weeks, she'll have had enough of me and she'll send me back to Nan." So there, we've used the characterization of Joseph as a little bit spiky and maybe a little bit unsure about his place in this house, and we've used that to inform what we've said in role as Joseph.

What about Mrs. F? I said, "Well, I hope this boy starts falling in line soon.

I think he's been doing what he wants for too long.

I'll do my best to look after him though.

I owe it to his nan, but I don't want him around my ankles the whole time." So again, we've used the characterization of Mrs. F as a little bit abrupt and a little bit, again, unclear as to what she's supposed to do in this situation to inform what we said in role as her.

Really well done for your ideas there as well.

So let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We've said that "When the Sky Falls" is a book written in the third person, which follows two main characters, Joseph, a 12-year-old boy, and Mrs. F, who has taken care of him.

The historical context of the book is the Second World War, specifically during a period of the Blitz, when cities in the UK were heavily bombed.

And this context is key to the way characters behave in the book.

And we've said that by describing things characters do and say, describe their appearance, and telling us about their life, authors contribute to characterization, helping us to build a mental image of the characters in our heads.

Now remember, those mental images are going to change and develop as we continue to read.

I hope you've enjoyed beginning this book with me today.

I'd love for you to continue reading it.

And if you'd like to complete the next lesson, please make sure you've read up to the end of chapter 10 by that point.

I'd love to see you there.

Goodbye.