Hi, there, I'm Mr. Buckingham, and I'm so glad you've decided to join me for today's lesson.

Today, we'll continue reading Joseph's story in Phil Earle's brilliant World War II book "When The Sky Falls." Hopefully, you've now read up to the end of chapter 23, and I'm sure that you're enjoying the drama and tension and emotion of this book as much as I am.

Now, of course, this book contains some scenes which you may find upsetting, so make sure you've checked with an adult before you begin.

And make sure if anything in this story upsets you, you discuss it with a trusted adult afterwards.

If you're ready, let's find out what happens next, together.

Today's lesson is called Making Comparisons and Connections, and it comes from our unit called "When the Sky Falls" Reading.

By the end of today's lesson, you will have described key events in chapters 24 and 25, and drawn comparisons and connections between characters and their experiences.

For this lesson, you will need to have access to the 2021 Andersen Press edition of "When the Sky Falls," written by Phil Earle.

If you have that with you, let's begin.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

A prediction is an educated guess based on evidence in the text or prior knowledge.

If you compare, you're making a judgement about the similarities and differences between different things, or whether one is better than the other.

And a connection is a similarity or a link between two things.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start off by reading and exploring chapters 24 and 25 of "When the Sky Falls," and then we're making comparisons and connections from different points in the story and between different characters.

So here's a summary of the events of chapter 13 through 23, which you should have read already.

First of all, we saw Syd explain why Mrs. F points the gun at Adonis during air raids.

It's in case he escapes and causes harm to other people.

We saw that Joseph goes to school, but he throws over desks when he's asked to read and he's caned by Mr. Gryce, and he explains to Syd that he's always had trouble reading and she offers to help him.

Joseph and Mrs. F then keep watch over Adonis during an air raid.

And this time, they're doing it together with the rifle.

And Syd explains to Joseph that, sadly, both of her parents died in an air raid very recently.

Joseph then has a fight with Bert at the school.

And at the zoo, Syd tries to help Joseph read, but, unfortunately, she isn't able to do that.

And then Mrs. F teaches Joseph how to feed Adonis, and he very nearly manages it.

And that's the point at which we leave chapter 23.

So at the end of chapter 23, Joseph gets close to feeding Adonis, but he's interrupted and fails.

Can you answer the questions below to show your understanding of that chapter? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

So a says, "What distracts Joseph from feeling Adonis?" Well, there's a loud noise behind him of something hitting metal, so that's what causes him to be distracted.

And why is Mrs. F annoyed with Joseph? Well, because he turned his back on Adonis near the bars, which she says is unsafe to do.

And what does she say might have happened to him because he turned his back? Well, she says Adonis could have grabbed him through the bars of the cage with those long arms of his.

And what upsets Joseph about this moment? Well, Mrs. F had shown some warmth to him while he was managing to begin to feed Adonis and connect with Adonis, and now it's like it was gone straight away.

As soon as he did something wrong, it's like she snapped back to how she was before.

So I think he feels disappointed that the warmth he was feeling from her has disappeared all of a sudden.

Really well done if you got this.

So how would you describe Syd and Joseph's relationship at this point, at the end of chapter 23? And how has it changed? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Great thinking.

Here's what Aisha said.

She said, "Syd has shared something very personal, the death of her parents, with Joseph, and she helped him to escape punishment at school.

And just the fact that he was willing to try reading with her shows that he's starting to trust her a lot in return." So Syd's been very generous with both sharing her feelings with Joseph and also helping her at school.

And in return, Joseph seems to be starting to trust her a little bit, by letting her help him with his reading.

Here's what Jacob said.

He said "Yes, but he shouts at her to go away when she can't help him.

I think he's so used to people leaving him or giving up that he wants to push her away before she gives up on him." Yeah, so Joseph didn't respond very well to the fact that Syd couldn't help him with his reading.

So there, it looked like, as Jacob says, he's trying to almost make sure she doesn't get too close because he's worried that she might give up on him, like other people have done in the past.

Really well done for your ideas there.

So now let's imagine that we're Joseph.

Where would you place the other characters in my list here, according to how close you feel to them right now in the story at the end of chapter 23? Obviously, put the ones you think are closest to you nearest to the name Joseph, and the ones which are furthest from you, further away.

Pause the video and decide where you'd place each of these names.

Well done.

Great ideas.

So here's one example of how you might have done this.

Now, notice that I'm gonna show you that I haven't put any of the characters very close so far.

I'm going to place them here.

And I haven't put anyone very close to Joseph because I don't think anyone really has cracked through, have they, yet, to be really close to him.

I've put Syd as the closest one, closely followed by Adonis, who he's starting to have that good bond with now, based on what we just saw happening.

Mrs. F, slightly beyond that.

Gran just beyond that.

And then Bert and Mr. Gryce outside the circles altogether because those are definitely not good relationships for Joseph.

You might have chosen differently, and that's fine.

And we will, of course, see these characters move around as the story progresses.

So keep this in your mind as you read, to think where would the character be moving at this point I'm reading right now? Really well done for your ideas.

So now we're going to read chapter 24, and I'm going to show you some vocabulary you're going to encounter along the way.

We'll see the word impulsively.

If you do something impulsively, you do it without thinking.

Something is incongruous if it's out of place.

So I might say, "Oh, that looks very incongruous there," if it's something which shouldn't be there.

Your territory is the area that is yours or belongs to you.

And a dunce is an old-fashioned word for someone considered to be slow at learning things.

We'd now consider that word to be offensive, but in the past, people used that word to describe someone who struggled to learn things.

So I'd like you now to read chapter 24 with your partner, swapping at every sentence.

If you're reading on your own at home, that is fine, too.

And if you finish the chapter, repeat from the beginning until your teacher tells you to stop.

Pause the video and have a go at reading chapter 24.

Well done.

Good job.

I'd like you now to have a go at summarising the events of chapter 24 to your partner.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

So you might start off by saying, "Joseph wants to have another go at feeding Adonis, this time without Mrs. F.

And then, just starts to get Adonis' attention, he's shoved against the bars, isn't he? And then it turns out that that was Bert and Jimmy, and they're looking down at him as he's on the floor.

And then Bert gets Joseph in a headlock and they both hit and kick Joseph.

And then Bert has his back to Adonis' cage and he's about to hit Joseph again.

And at that moment, Bert is pulled back against the bars by Adonis." So this chapter finishes, doesn't it, on a real cliffhanger.

We've got Bert pulled against the bars just as he was about to hit Joseph.

So thinking back now, what clues were there in previous chapters that something like this, the attack on Bert, might be coming? Pause the video and see if you can think of any clues the author might have dropped in the last few chapters that this was coming up in the story.

Have a go.

Well done.

Good ideas.

So maybe, like Laura, you spotted this.

"Just before this happened, Mrs. F had warned Joseph," hadn't she," "not to turn his back on Adonis' cage in case he got grabbed.

And that's just what's happened to Bert." So that was kind of hinted at, wasn't it, by the author.

Here's what Izzy said.

"We know that what interrupted Joseph feeding Adonis before was a loud noise on metal, and maybe that was Bert and Jimmy breaking the zoo fence or climbing over the fence somehow.

And in chapter 21," a bit further back, "Bert could have got Joseph in trouble at school, but he chose not to.

And maybe that was him biding his time for this instead." He knew he could do something bigger than just get Joseph in trouble at school.

And this was the kind of thing he was waiting for, to attack him at the zoo.

But, of course, it has, of course, backfired on Bert now because he is now the one under attack by Adonis.

So what's your prediction for what will happen now? We've got Bert pulled back against the cage by Adonis, and we've got Joseph, who's just been beaten by Bert and Jimmy.

What's gonna happen next? Make your prediction.

Well done.

Great ideas.

So here's what Andeep said.

"I think Joseph might try and just walk away, but then Syd or Mrs. F will come back and be annoyed with him for leaving Bert to be hurt by Adonis, and they'll make Adonis set Bert free." So Andeep is saying Syd or Mrs. F is gonna come to the rescue when Joseph decides to walk away.

Well, here's what Jun says.

"We know that Joseph has just learned how to approach Adonis calmly.

I think he'll use that new skill to help distract Adonis so that he frees Bert.

I don't think he wants Bert to die." So Andeep thinks Joseph's just gonna walk away.

Jun thinks that he's gonna use his new skills to distract Adonis and keep Bert safe.

We'll have to wait and see.

But those are both good predictions because they're based on things that we know about Joseph or things that we know about other characters, like Syd and Mrs. F.

So they are educated guesses, and not just completely random.

Really well done for your predictions, too.

So let's test our predictions now by reading chapter 25.

Here's some vocabulary we're gonna see along the way.

First of all, a cusp is an edge.

And if something is obstinate, it is stubborn.

So if I said, "I obstinately refuse" to do something, I stubbornly refuse to do it.

Instantaneous means immediate.

So if the effect was instantaneous, it happened straight away.

Retaliation means fighting back.

So someone might say to you, "No retaliation." You're not supposed to fight back.

If you're adept, you're good at something.

I might say, "I'm very adept at sewing or at handwriting." Adrenaline, I'm sure you've heard of, is a chemical in our bodies that prepares us to run or fight.

We're in danger.

So if you're in a dangerous situation, your body might flood with adrenaline, which means you're feeling like you can run away really fast or that you might need to attack at that moment to defend yourself.

Remnants, I'm sure you've heard, are leftover pieces.

So I'd like you now to read chapter 25.

And, again, if you finish, repeat from the beginning.

Pause the video and have a go at reading chapter 25.

Well done.

Great reading.

A really exciting and dramatic chapter there.

Let's see if we can start off by putting these events from chapter 25 in order from one to four.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

So you should have started with Adonis has Bert pulled against the bars of the cage.

That was the start of the chapter.

Then we had Bert wetting himself and Jimmy running away.

So he wasn't a very good friend to Bert, was he? And then Joseph unbuttons Bert's coat to free him from Adonis' grasp.

So his jacket comes off and he's able to kind of wriggle out.

And finally, Bert is not grateful, is he? He pushes Joseph to the ground once more and then he leaves.

So definitely not showing any gratitude to Joseph having saved him there from Adonis.

Really well done if you've got those in the right order.

Now, Joseph did choose to help Bert, didn't he? So Jun was right in his prediction, although the way that Joseph helped him was slightly different to what Jun had predicted.

So did this feel in character for Joseph? Was it in keeping with what we've learned about him? What do you think? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Good ideas.

Here's what Lucas said.

"I think it was in character.

We've only seen Joseph hurt people before when he's been provoked.

The fact that he can sometimes get angry doesn't mean he wants someone else to get seriously injured." Now, you could argue, of course, that Bert has provoked him on this occasion.

Let's see what Sophia thinks.

She says, "Yes, I think what we've seen is that Joseph has a lot of anger about his own life, but it's usually directed at himself.

He's not a bad person, and he's not cowardly like Jimmy." Now, whatever your view on that, we can say, can't we, that Joseph has been kind of put to the test in this situation.

And he's actually made a really good choice, hasn't he, a really brave choice in order to help Bert.

So he might have seen Joseph do some unkind things before or some aggressive things or some hostile things or spoken in a hostile way, but when he's put to the test here, he's shown real bravery and kindness, hasn't he, and compassion for Bert, even though Bert's been so unkind to him.

So that's gonna inform what we think about Joseph going forward.

Very well done with your ideas there.

So Joseph is left wondering, isn't he, whether Adonis' actions in pulling Bert towards the bars just as he was about to hit Joseph were intentional or not, whether he meant to do it.

So what do you think? And I'd like to give some evidence based on what we've learned about Adonis and about Joseph.

Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good thinking.

Here's what Alex said.

"I think it was intentional." So Alex is saying Adonis meant to help.

"Adonis had the opportunity in the previous chapter to do the same thing to Joseph when he was pushed against the bars, but he didn't.

He only did it to Bert when he was about to punch Joseph.

Also, we'd seen Adonis starting to trust Joseph in the previous two chapters, as Joseph learned to show him respect, and it makes sense that he'd be willing to defend him.

And we shouldn't forget that gorillas are very clever." Of course, they're one of our closest relatives, aren't they? So Alex is saying, "Well, we've seen before this bond forming between Adonis and Joseph, and it looks like Adonis is paying Joseph back for that kindness and the respect he was showing in the way that he's treated Bert differently to Joseph when his back was against the bars." So let's do our first task for this lesson.

I want you to imagine you're Joseph at the end of chapter 25, sitting in front of Adonis' cage after this dramatic scene has just happened.

So I want you to prepare to say Joseph's thoughts in this moment, out loud, just speaking as Joseph.

So what feelings do you have? What questions are you asking yourself? Can you try also to show a comparison between how you feel about Adonis now and how you used to feel about him? So you might say, "I thought this, but now this." And I want you to be ready to share these ideas out loud.

And, remember, you're speaking in role as Joseph.

So pause the video and prepare to share your ideas in role as Joseph.

Have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

Here's an example of what you might have said in role as Joseph.

"Did Adonis really mean to do that? It really felt like he did.

I fell against the bars before and he didn't hurt me, but when Bert was there, he attacked him.

I'm not used to having anyone on my side, least of all a gorilla, although I suppose Syd stuck up for me at school.

It's funny, when I first met Adonis, he was terrifying, and he still is, but now I feel like he might be the person, well, the thing I care most about.

Maybe one day he'll trust me as much as he trusts Mrs. F." So I've tried to show there that Joseph's thoughts have changed in how he views Adonis.

He used to be just afraid of him.

Now, he is still a little bit wary, maybe, because we've seen that Adonis can be dangerous to humans, but he's showing that he believes him and Adonis are starting to form the kind of bond that Mrs. F and Adonis have already.

So Joseph has made here some comparisons between his old relationship with Adonis and his new one.

And hopefully, you managed to share the same thing in your ideas.

Well done.

So now that we've read those chapters, let's talk some more about some comparisons and connections we can make in this story.

Now, we know that when we're reading stories, the things that characters experience often go from good to bad, and good to bad, and back again.

So if characters' fortunes, their experiences, didn't go up and down like that during a book, we'd find things very boring, wouldn't we? It wouldn't be exciting to read.

But because they do go up and down like that, we can compare characters and their experiences at different points in narratives, in stories.

And when we do this, we can identify some character lows, negative points, and character highs, positive points, for them in the story.

So whether something is a low or a high will depend on that character's previous experiences, won't it? So if they've always had a hard time, then even something very small could be considered a character high.

If they've always had a really, really easy life, then even something quite small could be considered a character low.

So, for example, we know that Syd has lost both her parents, sadly, very recently, and that's clearly a character low.

So coming to work at the zoo might be a huge character high for Syd in that context.

It's one positive standing out in a really negative situation for her.

So when we think about character highs and lows, we have to think about what has that character's life been like recently? Does that make their current experience a high or a low? So let's compare Joseph's experiences across the book so far.

From your own perspective, what are his character highs and what are his character lows? And it's okay if Joseph would disagree with you.

From your perspective, what are his highs and his lows so far? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good ideas.

So here's what Lucas said.

"I think the experience of forming a stronger bond with Adonis," which we've just seen, haven't we, "is probably the high point for Joseph so far.

He also seems to have a great friend in Syd, though he might not realise it yet." So we've spotted, as the reader, a good relationship with Syd there, haven't we? Joseph hasn't necessarily made that connection yet.

So to him, meeting Syd might not yet seem like a character high, but to us, as the reader, who maybe has a more clear view of what's going on there, we can see that meeting Syd is a character high for him.

Here's what Sophia said.

She said, "I think the low point would be being caned at school by Mr. Gryce after he knocked over the desk.

He would've felt angry and humiliated at that moment." And that was hard to read, wasn't it? Because Mr. Gryce was being so unpleasant in that moment and because we knew, from our knowledge of Joseph's past, that he isn't able to read well.

And that's something which isn't his fault, and Mr. Gryce was punishing him for it, nonetheless.

And so that's what makes it really unpleasant for Joseph and a real character low for him in that moment.

Really well done for your thoughts there.

Now, we can also make connections, links, between the experiences of different characters.

So there might be connections that the characters themselves don't recognise between their experiences.

Laura says, "I think there are connections between Joseph and Mrs. F's experiences.

Mrs. F lives alone, and she's very abrupt and quite hostile, and she doesn't seem to know how to show her positive feelings.

And Joseph is very similar, isn't he, in some ways.

He has no one left in his family with him, and he struggles to show positive feelings towards people, too." So they're both kind of alone, aren't they? And they're both struggling to connect with other people.

They struggle to form positive relationships.

So even though they're set up in the story as almost being opposed to each other, we can see they actually have a big connection between them in what they are like and in their circumstances, their situation that they're in.

So sometimes those connections might not be ones that the characters recognise, but we can see them as the reader, from the outside.

So what connections can you make between Joseph's experiences and Syd's experiences, and what differences are there? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good ideas.

Here's what Izzy says.

"I think there is a connection because Joseph has lost people, and Syd has lost her whole family.

I think it's because Joseph sees that connection that he gets on better with Syd than other people.

But there are big differences.

Joseph is very angry, whereas Syd doesn't show this, or at least not on the outside.

And Syd is also open to having Mrs. F's help, whereas Joseph isn't." So there are some connections there and some differences as well.

And I'm sure you spotted some of those as well.

Good work.

Let's do our final task for this lesson.

We're going to discuss an idea as a class.

Sam says this: "I think the author is trying to make us see a connection between the lives of Joseph and Adonis.

I think we're supposed to think of them as being in similar situations and acting in similar ways." So Sam thinks that Phil Earle is trying to draw a connection between Adonis and Joseph, the way they act and the situation that they're in.

So do you agree with Sam, and why or why not? And what connections and comparisons can be made between Adonis' story and Joseph's story? I want you to try and refer to points from across the whole story as you respond to this, and try to build on other people's contributions in your class discussion.

So you might say, "I agree with what you said about this, but I would add this." Or you might say, "I disagree with this because of this reason." So always respectful in a discussion, of course.

So pause the video now.

Have a think about whether you agree with Sam, and why or why not, and how you would link that to evidence from across the book.

And then take part in your class discussion on this point.

Have a go.

Well done.

Great discussion.

So Andeep agreed with Sam, and here's what he said: "I think you're right, Sam.

Adonis has lost his partner and his child, and Joseph has lost lots of his family, too.

So they're both kind of in mourning for what they've lost.

Also, Adonis is obviously in a cage, but Joseph sort of is, too.

He's so angry and unable to trust people that it's stopping him from enjoying life, just like a cage.

Adonis wasn't able to accept Mrs. F's help to cure Malachi, and Joseph struggles to ask for help with his reading, too.

So there are lots of similarities." So Andeep's saying that although Adonis is in a real cage, it's like Joseph is in a, what we'd call metaphorical, a symbolic, cage, because of the way he's unable to connect with people because of how angry he is.

So he's almost like caged in by his own anger about all the things that have happened to him.

Now, Jacob wasn't so sure whether he agreed with Sam.

Here are his ideas.

He says, "I can see what you mean, Andeep, but I think there are some big differences.

First of all, we don't know that Joseph's mother is dead, and his father is still alive, but Adonis has suffered the loss of his child.

Also, Joseph has lots of people who went to help him, like Syd, his teacher and Mrs. F, but he just throws it back in their faces.

Adonis' situation is different.

He didn't understand that Mrs. F was trying to help Malachi.

Joseph does understand, but he still won't let them help." Now, you could argue, if you disagree with Jacob, that maybe Joseph doesn't understand that Mrs. F is trying to help him and he doesn't understand that it's possible for people to be kind to him in that way.

Whatever you thought, really well done by having a go at that discussion.

Great job, and well done for seeing those connections and comparisons within the story.

Great work.

Let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We know that in this section of the book, we've seen Joseph being bullied before being saved by Adonis, and Joseph believes that this may have been intentional.

When we read, we know that we can make comparisons between the different experiences characters have, and identify lows and highs of each character in the context of their whole story.

And we know that we can also try and spot connections between characters and their experiences.

And these may be made explicit or they could be open to interpretation.

And we saw in that last task that we can interpret differently.

We might have different views, and that is fine.

Really well done for the effort you've made in this lesson.

I'd love for you to keep reading this book with me.

If you'd like to join me in the next lesson, please make sure you've read up to the end of chapter 34 by that point.

I'd love to see you there.

Goodbye.