Hello and welcome to the lesson.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

I'm Mrs. Butterworth and I will be guiding you through the learning.

Now today's lesson is all about planning an excellent "Animal Farm," essay.

I know, I know some of you may find this a long and laborious process, or may even think it's a waste of time, but I promise you, getting really good at planning will make writing essays so much easier and your written responses so much better.

So today we'll look at a few strategies that will help you to be an effective planner.

So should we get started? So by the end of the lesson, you will be able to effectively plan an "Animal Farm," essay.

So before we delve into the lesson, there are a few key words we need to be aware of to ensure your understanding of the lesson.

These are thesis, topic sentence, concluding sentence, main quotations, and finally supporting quotations.

So you may wish to pause the video now in order to thoroughly read those definitions and some of you may even want to write them down.

So the outline of our lesson, planning an excellent "Animal Farm," essay looks like this.

We're gonna start by thinking about those all important thesis statements and how we go about writing them.

And then we're going to focus in the second part of our lesson on concluding sentences.

So let's start by writing a thesis statement.

So obviously if we're going to plan an essay, we need to know what the question is first, and this is the question we're going to be using in today's lesson.

How does Orwell use the pigs to explore ideas around lies and propaganda in "Animal Farm?" Now Aisha, our student has very kindly offered her work for us to have a look at.

And this is how she has annotated the question.

So you can see here she has picked out this key word there how, and you'll notice that how pops up a lot as a very key steering word in our questions.

And what how is our inviting us to do is to explore the writer's methods.

So in this case we'll be exploring how Orwell uses language, structure, characterization, all of those things in reference to the question.

So that how is really important.

Aisha then picked out the pigs, because quite rightly, this tells us what specific character or characters we are focusing on.

So in this case, it's asking us to explore these characters, the pigs.

And then finally, Aisha has picked out the lies and propaganda because this tells us specifically what themes we are going to be exploring.

So it's telling us we are exploring the themes of lies and propaganda in relation to the characters, the pigs.

So that's a really good example question annotation there.

So again, Aisha has very kindly shown us her planning grid.

So what we have here is this really useful planning grid and each section has a purpose.

So let's just explore what each of those sections is all about.

So we've got our thesis statement at the top here.

And this a thesis statement is our overarching argument supported by the whole text.

So this really introduces everything that your essay is going to be about.

We then move into our topic sentences.

Now these appear at the start of every paragraph and it states the paragraph's main idea.

So this is slightly different to the thesis statement because it's becoming more specific, whereas the thesis statement is all about the whole text, the whole argument, your topic sentences are about each individual section and each specific paragraph focus.

There we've got our supporting details.

Now these are all of those lovely quotes and references to the text that really support your arguments and they will also support your topic sentence.

Now these will be written in note form and they will need to include main quotations, so those nice big juicy quotes that we can say lots about.

And also our supporting quotations, which are those kind of key words and phrases that also support the paragraph.

We then also have our concluding sentences.

Now these are the final sentences in your paragraph.

So this will summarise the ideas outlined in your paragraph and bring it to a nice end.

And then finally we have our conclusion.

Now the conclusion is about the whole essay.

So like the thesis statement, it refers to the whole argument in your essay and it will sum up your whole essay.

So let's see how much you remember.

So what I would like you to do is on the left are all of the sections of the planning grid, and on the right are the purposes.

And what I would like you to do is match the sections of the planning grid to its purpose.

You'll need to pause the video to give yourself plenty of time to work out which ones match to which.

So pause the video and off you go.

Okay, so shall we share our answers? I think some of you're feeling quite confident, which is great.

If you are not feeling so confident, that's fine.

You can just use this as an opportunity to check your understanding of each of the sections.

So let's start with our thesis.

So yeah, our thesis is our overarching argument supported by the whole text.

Then we have our topic sentence.

Yeah, absolutely.

The first sentence of a paragraph, it states the paragraph's main idea.

Then we have our supporting detail.

Yep, absolutely.

So these are our references to the text or our quotes which support our topic sentence.

Then our concluding sentence absolutely is that final sentence that appears at the end of each paragraph.

And this is all about concluding the specific paragraph.

So there's only one left the conclusion which sums up your essays, the whole essay's overall thesis.

So well done to those of you that got all of those rights.

So Aisha has decided that she wants to start her plan by drafting a thesis statement.

A very good place to start.

Now before we do this, I just want us to think about comparing thesis statements to topic sentences as it's can help us to really understand what the expectations of a thesis statement are, because they do sound quite similar, but actually they're very different.

So let's look at those now.

So our thesis statement is the overarching argument of the entire essay.

So it's really about the big ideas from the question and the big ideas that you'll be looking at in your essay.

Now the topic sentence is a bit more specific 'cause this is about explaining the purpose of your individual paragraph.

The thesis statement is supported by the entire text.

So you are making those big statements about the novella as a whole, for example.

So it's about the entire text, whereas the topic sentence is all about being supported by key moments.

So you are a lot more specific.

And then the thesis statement is found in your introduction only, whereas your topic sentence is found at the start of each main body paragraph.

So now what I'd like us to do, now we kind of understand those differences between our thesis statements and our topic sentences, is to actually look at some examples.

So let's read these examples together first.

So we'll read our thesis statements first and then we'll read our topic sentences.

So let's go from thesis statements, Orwell shows how the pigs wield lies and propaganda to control the animals, distorting truth to secure power and betray the rebellion's ideals.

Let's look at the next thesis statement Orwell depicts how the pigs use deception to consolidate power, erase descent, and perpetuate a self-serving reality, revealing the destructive role of lies in oppressive regimes.

Now let's look at our topic sentences.

The character of Squealer shows the power of language.

His powerful rhetoric effectively convinces the animals of the pigs' lies.

And our final topic sentence, Orwell used as the commandments to show how language can be manipulated to serve the interests of totalitarian regimes and those in power.

So what I would like you to do is now consider those thesis statements in contrast to the topic sentences and discuss what you notice, what are the differences? So you will need to pause the video to give yourself time to really discuss or think about what those main differences are.

We'll feedback in a moment.

Now time to pause the video.

Okay, fantastic.

I really liked hearing how some of you have started to pick out specific examples to show those differences.

So let's just share some of those ideas.

So our first thesis statement, so what you might have noticed is that you can see here we've got that reference to the writer, but we've also got some more big ideas in there, the propaganda reference to the pigs.

So we can see it's those kind of big ideas and reference to the whole text.

So yet you might have said that the idea is supported by the whole text.

Now you'll notice in contrast to this that topic sentence, we've already got something very specific.

So the character of Squealer.

So in the thesis statement it was referencing the pigs in general, whereas the topic sentence is now going to focus on Squealer specifically, and it uses this example of his powerful rhetoric.

So whereas in the thesis statement it was talking about the power of language.

Here we've got the rhetoric so it becomes really specific and talks about specific characters and parts of the text.

So our next thesis statement, again, you can see how it references the pigs as a whole.

So that word from our question.

And then we've got those big ideas.

So the deception, the descent, you know the lies in oppressive regimes.

So you can see how this talks about those really big ideas and the text as a whole.

Now in contrast, if we look at our topic sentence, Orwell uses the commandments to show how language can be manipulated.

You can again see how the example is really specific.

We know that this paragraph is going to talk about the commandments and it's gonna talk about how the commandments use language in relation to manipulation and totalitarian regimes.

So it's going to give us a specific example.

So you can see there just those key differences between our thesis statements and our topic sentences.

Okay, so true or false time, thesis statements start every paragraph.

False, well done everyone that got false, but now you need to justify your answer.

Well done.

That was a bit tricky, wasn't it? Yes, a thesis statement starts your essay.

So those big ideas and is an argument supported by the whole text.

Okay? So it doesn't need to be in every paragraph.

Those are topic sentences.

Okay, let's keep going.

So we've reached our first task already.

So what I would like you to do is I would like you to write your own thesis statement for our key question.

So how does Orwell use the pigs to explore ideas around lies and propaganda in "Animal Farm?" Now remember, your thesis statement must be the overarching argument of the entire essay.

So think about the key characters in the question, think about those big themes in the question, and it must be supported by the entire text.

So what is Orwell saying in his novella "Animal Farm?" So you'll need to pause the video to give yourself plenty of time to get this completed.

Great work, everyone.

Now let's look at some feedback.

So again, Aisha's very kindly given us her work for us to look at.

So this is the thesis statement she originally wrote.

Orwell uses the character of Squealer to show how powerful propaganda is reliant on a mastery of language.

Now, thinking about our checklist, this doesn't quite meet the checklist of our thesis statement.

Now remember, the thesis statement needs to have an overarching argument of the entire essay and it needs to be supported by the entire text.

Now what Aisha has done here is that she's made it too specific.

So she's focusing already on the character of Squealer.

So really that's almost a separate specific section on its own and own paragraph, and you know, talking about propaganda is reliant on the mastery of language.

So again, that's quite specific to the text as opposed to a general overarching argument supported by the entire novella.

So Aisha then went back and she did a redraft.

So let's look at that and this is what you should be doing with your own work too.

So make sure you are thinking about how yours compare with these.

So here is her redraft, Orwell emphasises the power of education and language in the perpetuation of lies and propaganda.

He reveals how totalitarian regimes gain and maintain power through these methods.

Wow, isn't that such an improvement? That's so impressive.

So let's just think about that checklist again.

So absolutely this does meet the checklist because we've got that overarching argument about education and language and how that links to the keywords in the question.

So lies and propaganda.

So again, it's really thinking about the big ideas in the whole text and the big ideas in the question and the big ideas that you'll be looking at in your essay.

And then reference to the whole text of how Orwell reveals totalitarian regimes and how they gain and maintain power through these methods.

So if Aisha was going on to write this essay, she can then find some specific examples to explore those specific methods of power that the pigs use.

So this is a really good thesis statement, so make sure you are like Aisha and self-assessed your own thesis using this checklist.

So pause the video now just to give yourself time to make sure you've got a really good thesis statement.

Okay, we are already at the second part of our lesson.

So we're now going to move on to think about our concluding sentences.

So let's get on with that.

So we have part of Aisha's plan here, and what I would like us to do is just read together the concluding sentence.

So let's read it together, ultimately Orwell uses Boxer to warn the readers of the peril of an uneducated working class.

So what I would like you to do is discuss what is the purpose of the concluding sentence.

So by reading this, what do you think the purpose of the concluding sentence is? So I'm going to ask you to pause the video so you've got plenty of time to discuss your ideas or just think to yourself.

Okay, great, so let's look and explore this concluding sentence a bit further and feed back some of those ideas.

So this concluding sentence, it really makes clear that the paragraph has reached its conclusion.

So using words like ultimately in conclusion can really help signal to your reader.

This is the end of the paragraph.

It also focuses on the writer's intention.

So using the writer's name can really help you do this.

So Orwell uses Boxer to just to really hammer home what it is you are trying to say.

And then finally the whole sentence it links to, but it doesn't repeat the topic sentence.

So you just want to kind of summarise how you have talked about that initial idea in your topic sentence.

So let's look at another section of Aisha's plan.

Here we can see that in this paragraph plan, the concluding sentence is less successful.

So it says this proves Snowball is corruptible.

So thinking about what we've just said about good concluding sentences, discuss what feedback would you give her to improve this concluding sentence? Again, pause the video so you have time to discuss this feedback or just quietly think to yourself.

So let's just draw on some feedback for Aisha's other concluding sentence.

So this proves that Snowball is corruptible.

So the feedback you might have thought about is does it make clear that the paragraph has reached its conclusion? Well, it doesn't really does it? It doesn't use those nice conclusive phrases.

Does it focus on writer's intention? Can you see Orwell's name in there? I can't.

So I would say this is feedback that I would give Aisha that she needs to make sure she mentions the writer's intentions.

And then finally, does it link but not repeat the topic sentence? Well actually, if you remember back to the plan, it does sort of repeat those ideas or the sentence structure that was initially in that topic sentence.

So Aisha has redrafted her concluding sentence with the feedback we have given her.

So let's just read the improved sentence.

Fundamentally, the character of Snowball demonstrates the inevitability of hierarchy.

Orwell reveals that power is always morally precarious.

Now we can see here that it is a really skillful concluding sentence.

It's so much better, isn't it? And we know this because she has made clear that the paragraph has reached its conclusions.

So she's used this lovely phrase, fundamentally We've got Orwell's name in there.

So we know that she has now focused on the writer's intention.

And it links, so it links to the idea of the character of Snowball, but it doesn't repeat the topic sentence.

So here, Snowball demonstrates the inevitability of hierarchy.

So it's just summarising the main ideas in that paragraph.

Okay, so let's look at these three concluding sentences.

So a pupil has written a paragraph, exploring Snowball and ideas of corruption.

Which outta these three do you think serve as the strongest concluding sentence? You'll probably need to pause the video now so that you have time to read through those sentences and then we'll go through the answer.

Okay, great.

So hopefully you picked B.

So let's just think about why this is the most effective.

So it starts with perhaps through the character of Snowball.

So again, it's signalling to the reader.

This is the last sentence in my paragraph.

So we could have used fundamentally or ultimately just to really make sure that the reader knows this is our concluding sentence.

And then we've got through the character of Snowball, Orwell, so we've got that mention of the writer's name there to show that we're really thinking about the writer's intention.

So Orwell is examining how power is inextricably linked to corruption.

So that's a really lovely example of a concluding sentence.

Okay, we are at our second and final practise tasks.

Well done everyone for reaching this so far.

Just got a little bit more work to do.

So what I would like you to do, thinking about everything we've looked at this lesson, thinking about Aisha's own examples, her own redrafting, I want you to plan your response to the question, how does Orwell use the pigs to explore ideas around the lies and propaganda in "Animal Farm?" Don't forget, you've already written your thesis statements and make sure you put that in first.

And then it's about doing the rest of the plan.

So pause the video, can't wait to see what you come up with.

And good luck.

Well done everyone.

That's so great.

I love how some of you were checking that your topic sentence wasn't turning into a thesis statement.

So that's really lovely that you can see that difference.

And hearing those phrases like ultimately and fundamentally to write your concluding sentences is just really great to see.

So fantastic work.

So what I would just like you to do now is to self-assess your plan using these questions.

So just make sure that your topic sentences, do they state your main idea for each paragraph.

So remember that topic sentence needs to be really specific.

Does your supporting detail contain both those juicy main quotations that we can analyse really well? And some supporting quotations? So some shorter words or phrases to support that main quotation.

Do your concluding sentences.

We've done lots of work on this today.

Do your concluding sentences make clear the paragraph has reached its conclusion? So use those lovely phrase in conclusion, perhaps, fundamentally.

Ultimately, does it focus on the writer's attention? So have you got Orwell's name in your concluding sentence? And then finally, does it link but not repeat the topic sentence.

Spend a few moments just making sure that you have included all of these things well in your plan.

Well done everyone.

We have reached the end of the lesson.

And hopefully you can see just how important and effective planning is in the writing process.

And hopefully you now have some really clear strategies to create those excellent plans.

And I'm sure you will begin to see the improvement in your written essays.

So really well done, let's just remind ourselves of everything we've looked at this lesson.

So you must annotate an essay question so you know its focus.

A successful plan follows a clear structure.

A thesis is a clear overarching argument supported by the whole text.

Topic sentences states a paragraph's main idea.

Concluding sentences, focus on the writer's intentions and link to your topic sentence without repeating it.

So again, very well done.

And I look forward to seeing you all in another lesson soon.

So hope to see you then.

Bye-Bye.