Hello, everyone.

My name's Ms. Keller.

I'm so glad that you could join me for today's lesson.

In this session, we are going to be exploring Kayo Chingonyi's poem, "Kumukanda." So grab your copy of the text and let's get started.

Okay, so by the end of today's lesson, we will be able to show understanding of the poem "Kumukanda" through annotation and an exploration of its big ideas.

So let's have a look at today's keywords.

We have initiation, initiates, pretensions, dislocation, and ritual.

So we're going to be discussing all of these words in today's lesson as we explore the poem.

So do pause the video here and take a moment to make sure you're really familiar with those words.

And in particular the links between those words, for example initiation and initiates there.

And we also have the words ceremony in that first and second definition, but then also we have it there down at the bottom.

So how could rituals perhaps link to the idea of an initiation? But before we move on, I would like to draw your attention to two of the words there in the middle; pretensions and dislocation.

So pretensions is a claim to something, and often an unsupported claim.

So it might even be perhaps an ambition or a belief in something.

And in the context of the poem, the writer describes his pretensions with regards to writing.

So this idea perhaps that this claim that our speaker is a writer, and perhaps an unsupported claim that the speaker is a writer.

And then that word dislocation, which is going to become really important when we start discussing the meanings and effects of the different ways that Chingonyi uses language in this poem.

And it's that feeling of being out of place, and it's the opposite of a sense of belonging.

So where we might feel like we belong to a community or group, feeling dislocated means that you are feeling like you don't belong, and you feel out of place.

And almost your lack of belonging draws attention in itself, you so obviously don't belong in a place.

So do pause the video here and take some time to read through these definitions carefully.

And when you're ready to continue, click play and we'll carry on.

So, how is today's lesson going to look? Well, in the first half of the lesson, we are going to get straight down to reading "Kumukanda," and we are going to begin annotating and identifying what we think the key ideas, the messages, and any important use of language or form or structure that we can see in the poem.

We're gonna be focusing on drawing out those big ideas.

And then when we've identified those big ideas, in the second half of the lesson, we're going to evaluate them.

Considering what it is they're trying to convey, perhaps how effectively they convey these themes or emotions or messages.

So let's start off with a discussion.

So our Oak pupils, Lucas, Laura, and Sam have been discussing how you know when you are an adult, and what it means to no longer be a child.

So before we think about what their responses are, I would like you to take a moment for a quick fire discussion, either with the people around you, or perhaps just make some notes to a spider diagram on your piece of paper or in your exercise book if you're working on your own.

How would you go about exploring this idea? So what things might you think about? What things might you include in your discussion? So pause the video here while you take some time to have a think, and discuss it with the people around you.

And when you're ready for us to be back together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Some really, really great discussions there to start us off.

It was so great to see so many of you respectfully listening to each other's responses, and even better trying to build on these responses or ask really pertinent questions to challenge the responses of other people.

So that is fantastic, and well done if your discussions were doing that as well.

So let's see what our Oak pupils had to say.

So Lucas thinks that the difference between childhood and adulthood is to do with age.

"When you're 18, you are an adult." Whereas Laura said, "It's to do with experience.

Some things like certain responsibilities make you an adult, for example, having a job." And Sam said, "It's to do with certain events, like leaving school or passing your driving test." So over to you for one more quick fire discussion then.

Do you agree with one or more of these ideas? And crucially, why? Which ones do you agree with and why? So pause the video here while you take some time to discuss which of these opinions you most agree with or which ones you agree with.

Or make some notes, and when you're ready for us to discuss it together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Some really fascinating discussions again there.

And interestingly, from what I overheard, most groups didn't necessarily agree with just one of these ideas.

And I actually heard one group having a really interesting discussion and thinking about the ways in which all three of these things might be linked.

Because with approaching a certain age, for example 18, suddenly you reach lots of milestones.

You are able to have certain responsibilities, for example voting, or buying alcohol, or maybe driving a car.

And all of these things come with responsibilities.

Being able to do them means that you have to behave in a certain way, and there are laws to follow, and procedures that you have to go through.

But also, we have other milestones, like leaving school, or perhaps attending university, or perhaps getting your first job.

So actually, this age and responsibility and milestones can all be thought of maybe as part of this time, where we shift from being a child to being an adult.

So now it's time to have a look at the poem.

And the reason I've been asking you these questions so far is because "Kumukanda" sees a speaker contemplate experiences that mark the transition from child to adult.

So it focuses on this point in somebody's life.

And we could argue that the speaker seems to be, the poet himself, Kayo Chingonyi, so we could argue perhaps that this poem is maybe semi-auto biographical based on events or experiences from Chingonyi's own life.

So Chingonyi was born in Zambia, but moved to England when he was six.

So now it's time to pause here and take some independent reading time for you to explore "Kumukanda." So grab your copy of the text and read the poem carefully.

Read it through a couple of times if you think you need to in order to grasp an understanding of what you think the poem is about.

And then when you've had a chance to read it, take a few moments to discuss or make some notes thinking about this question here at the bottom, how are ideas of childhood and adulthood important to this poem? So pause the video here for as long as you need to to read through this poem.

And when you are ready for us to move on and feedback together, then click play.

Okay, welcome back.

What did you think of the poem? Did you like it, what did you think of the poetic voice? I quite like the poetic voice of this poem because I think it's quite conversational and easy to relate to.

And although the speaker of the poem has had very different life experiences to me, I find it very easy to imagine the experiences that they're describing.

So I wonder if that tallies up with your opinion of the poem.

So I hope you had some time to discuss this question then, or to at least think about it.

How are ideas of childhood and adulthood important to this poem? So we could have spoken about what happens at the beginning, because on one hand the speaker has had challenging experiences in England.

So just at the beginning of that second stanza, our speaker moves to England.

And it means that he's grown up in increments, so small gradual movements.

So perhaps slightly differently to how he was speaking about it at the beginning.

It wasn't just a point in the speaker's life that he realised where he suddenly became an adult.

Instead, he views his transition from childhood to adulthood as something that perhaps happened in small chunks.

However, on the other hand, because he left Zambia, which is what's described in the first stanza, the speaker did not undergo the initiation ceremony, which sees boys from the Zambian Luvale tribe, his tribe, transition from a child to an adult.

And this was a whole description about how they go down to the river, and then they have to cross over the water, and then when they return they are grown.

And actually, as we can see there in that next sentence, the word come kumukanda means initiation.

So we know that this idea of initiation and of this transition from childhood to adulthood is a central idea in this poem.

And so therefore, perhaps the speaker is concerned that to the people of this tribe, the speaker's identity, and particularly their identity as an adult, is unfinished.

They're perhaps stuck in this childlike state.

So over there on the right hand side, we've got this idea that perhaps there is a definite moment where you stop becoming a child and you start becoming an adult.

And perhaps that links to this Zambian side of our speaker's identity viewing it in one way, but then perhaps this British side to the speaker's identity viewing it in a different way.

So Sam says, "I can see why this poem is in the "Belonging" anthology." Because obviously, it is part of the cluster of poems that you are studying with the title "Belonging." So, what might have led Sam to this argument? Why do you think she said this? So take a moment to discuss this with the people around you, or make some notes.

You've got lots of information there that we've been discussing about the poem as well to help you along.

So, what do you think led Sam to make this argument? So pause the video here and click play when you're ready for us to discuss it together.

Okay, welcome back.

Some really, really interesting responses that I overheard there.

We've had lots of people picking up on the speaker's dual identity and thinking about this British side to their identity versus this Zambian side to their identity, and considering how this might link to ideas of belonging in a cultural sense.

But also in terms of this idea that perhaps the speaker doesn't feel maybe like they belong in either of these communities or they relate to either of these life experiences, because one was unfinished and the other one occurred in increments, in small perhaps chunks.

So there's lots of ways that the speaker here is starting to discuss ideas of belonging.

So let's pause here and check our understanding so far.

So, what does the word kumukanda mean? So pause the video while you have a think.

And when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

And well done to those of you who said initiation.

So we are about to read and annotate the poem for the first practise task of today's lesson.

So I'd like before we do that to just run through what it means to annotate a text, and how we're going to do that using lots of different labels and symbols to make it a document that when we return to it has these really clear notes on it.

Because annotating is a really great way to unpick our initial impressions of a poem, but we need to make sure that we're doing this in a way that means something to us when we return to that text later on.

So we're going to run through a list of the different sorts of things you might identify if you are annotating a text.

And today for each one of those things, we're going to attach a different symbol or a different way that we can mark up the text.

Now, obviously you don't have to use these exact symbols to represent these things, but it's a good way to start until you develop your own system.

So the first thing we might look for in the text then, we might circle key vocabulary.

So important words.

So these might be words like initiates or pretensions that we can spot in the poem there.

We also might underline important words and phrases.

And the way that this differs from what we're circling, so the key vocabularies.

Perhaps words where when we come to analyse it, we might zoom in on that word and think about why the writer has chosen to use that specific piece of vocabulary.

Whereas when we are underlining, perhaps we are thinking about things that more link to the key ideas or emotions or themes.

So for example, when we learn something about the speaker, or when we learn something about how, I don't know, their impressions of belonging.

Or when we learn something about what their thoughts are about their childhood.

These all might be things that we could underline.

So then we will also use square brackets around important lines.

So if you notice we've got a key here for increasingly larger and larger pieces of information.

So we would probably expect to see more circles, for example, than square brackets.

Because when we are looking at chunks of a text, we have to be quite selective about this or else we are gonna know square brackets over the whole poem.

So we've got to be really careful thinking about what makes that section particularly important.

So for example, when the speaker describes how some would consider him still a child, this might be something we could put square brackets around.

Or another great way to use square brackets, we might put square brackets around each of the stanzas in order to talk about what we think each stanza focuses on.

And that might help us to discuss the structure of the poem as a whole later on.

We could use stars, and put stars next to a key idea.

So for example, when the speaker asks himself questions in stanza three.

So here we might be using stars to think about methods that we could spot the writer using.

Perhaps a certain shift in the tone.

So this idea of asking themselves questions, maybe shift into more of a question in tone, suggesting confusion or uncertainty.

And finally, we would use the space around the text to write notes about key inferences and ideas.

So for example, we might write about the speaker or ideas connected to belonging or dislocation.

So thinking about how we can see that through the text.

So the notes there at the bottom are just as important as all these symbols and all these markups that we're going to use.

It's great to pull things out of the text, but it's really important that we're always drawing back what we've identified towards our personal interpretations of the text, because that is the most important part of your analysis.

So, what I would like you to do then is, I would like you to read "Kumukanda" again, and I would like you to annotate the poem using the prompts as a guide.

So using each of these different symbols and markups and notation to guide your annotations of the text.

So pause the video here, and take as much time as you need to to make your notes and annotate this text as fully as you can.

And then when you're ready for us to feedback together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

I could see some really well annotated texts.

There are lots of people using different colours.

Lots of people really get into grips with that key, and making a really fantastic working document that is gonna help them to remember and recall key ideas from that poem really, really quickly.

So well done for giving that such a good go.

So Sam is going to draw our attention, some of her most important annotations.

So as we are going through some of these annotations, do think about perhaps the notes you made for these sections of the text.

If there's anything that you'd like to add and maybe magpie from Sam, then feel free to pause the video and add to your notes as we're going along.

So first of all then, she circled the words initiates and pretensions.

And then the notes that she made around this, "Initiates describes a group the speaker is not a part of, and the word pretension shows the speaker doesn't feel like he has the right to claim being a writer." And actually, they both develop this idea of dislocation.

Perhaps the speaker doesn't feel like they're accepted or like they belong with other members of the tribe.

But then equally, they don't really feel like they belong in the world of being a writer either.

So neither of these identities perhaps our speaker assumes that they really feel like they're a part of, they don't feel a sense of belonging.

So some underlined details about the speaker's life in stanza two, focusing on the actions he has to take, such as bathed, chose and dress in relation to his mother.

So we've got this idea of the work and perhaps the hardships that came to our speaker moving to the UK, and then their mother falling ill and eventually losing her life.

So underlining these details about the speaker's life then, they're really fantastic short quotations that are easy to remember and easy for you to include when it comes to writing and analysis.

Three then, use square bracket.

So Sam put square brackets around the line in which the speaker thinks about how they wouldn't be considered a grownup by the Luvale tribe, his tribe.

So something there in stanza one.

So just take a moment to have a look at stanza one, and see if you can pick out the part of that stanza that Sam might have put these square brackets around.

So I'll just pause the video there for a second while you have a think.

Okay, well done if you thought that Sam would've put those square brackets around the middle of that stanza, and in particularly around that word unfinished.

'Cause that's our key word there, when the speaker's considering how people from the tribe might view them because they didn't take part in this initiation ceremony.

So the star then, which we would use to put next to a key idea.

So Sam says, "I put a star next to the question about the speaker asks himself at the start of stanza three." So again, just take a moment to think here, have a look at that question at the beginning of stanza three and think, why do you think that Sam put a star next to that? Which key idea do you think it might link to? So just pause the video here for a few minutes while you have a think, and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Lots of interesting ideas for people really thinking about the big ideas that link to that question, but I definitely overheard lots of people saying it links to these ideas of belonging and dislocation because this is where the speaker really begins to question if they met a version of themselves that had never left Zambia in the first place, what would that person think of them now? Think of them as a writer, think of them as perhaps somebody who stepped away from these tribal rituals and this tribal way of life and become a writer in the UK.

So we've got that really interesting link there to those two themes.

And finally then, write notes about key inferences and ideas.

I can see lots of people with some fantastic notes, but Sam wrote, "That the poem seems to be split into three parts.

Stanza one focuses on the initiation ceremony the speaker wasn't part of.

Stanza two seems to focus on grief.

And the final stanza sees the speaker question his connection to himself and his heritage." So interestingly actually, if we make notes on the different stanzas in the way that Sam has done here, we almost begin to see a similar journey to the journey that the boys take in the initiation ceremony.

Because there's this idea that they go out across the water to die, and then they come back almost reborn as adults.

And we've got this idea that stanza two focuses on a death.

And then this final stanza almost questions this idea of the fact that maybe the speaker was reborn as someone else by leaving Zambia, because we've got these two versions of the speaker.

So just take a moment to have a look over your annotations and share a couple of your most important ones with the people around you.

This is a fantastic opportunity to magpie the ideas from other people and add them to your notes.

And if you're working on your own, instead maybe just take a few moments to highlight, or underline, or circle some of your most important notes that you really want to flag to yourself next time you look at your annotated copy of the text.

So pause the video here and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, so we've made it to the halfway point of today's lesson then.

So now we've begun unpicking the key ideas in "Kumukanda".

It's time for us to evaluate them.

So Laura, Lucas, and Sam are discussing the big ideas in this poem then.

So Lucas says, ""Kumukanda" is all about what it means to grow up." Laura says, ""Kumukanda is about feelings of dislocation and unbelonging." And Sam says, ""Kumukanda is all about feelings of loss." So my question to you is this, who do you agree with more? And crucially, why is that? So take a moment to discuss this with the people around you, or make some notes.

But really trying to make those all important links to some of your annotations that you did in the first half of the lesson; some of your inferences and some of your evidence.

So pause the video here, and click play when you're ready for us to feedback together.

Okay, welcome back.

So arguably, these are three of the most important thematic ideas in the poem.

This idea of what it means to grow up, what it means to be a child, and then what it means to be an adult.

This idea of a cultural identity and the sense of belonging or unbelonging that the speaker feels with the different communities that they've been a part of in their life.

And also this idea of loss; loss of childhood innocence, loss of the speaker's mother, loss perhaps of the speaker's Zambian cultural identity.

So these are the three of the most important ideas that we need to remember when we're considering this poem.

But it's interesting to hear that not all of you agreed that each one was the most important or was more important than the other two.

And this is all down to your personal interpretation and the lines or the phrases which have had the most impact on you while you are reading.

And actually, what you're doing here is evaluating because all of these things we have analysed in the text, and now we're beginning to weigh up to make value judgements.

And if you can hear you've got that word value in the middle of evaluating, we are evaluating which one is perhaps more effective or more impactful.

And this is a fantastic way to write about a poem when you're analysing it.

Thinking, particularly if you're comparing them, two poems or more, thinking about which one is most effective, most powerful, most relatable perhaps.

So Sam, who argued then about feelings of loss being the most important theme in this poem, wrote up her ideas into a paragraph.

And she said, "Arguably, "Kumukanda" focuses on feelings of loss.

More specifically, the speaker has explicitly lost his mum, who we find out passed away in stanza two.

The speaker had to bathe his mum, and then he chose the clothes that she was buried in.

Not only has he lost his mum, but he's also lost the feeling of being the child because he has to look after her rather than the other way around.

This sense of loss is developed, but altered in stanza three, where the speaker suggests he feels he has lost connection with his heritage as he speaks a different language to his father and other Zambian ancestors." So what was quite interesting here is Sam actually did draw a lot of Laura and Lucas's ideas in her answers.

This idea of cultural identity and dislocation, and also this idea about growing up and becoming an adult.

So my first question to you then is, what is effective about this paragraph? So if we're going to give Sam a what went well, what might we say? So pause the video here while you discuss this with the people around you, or make some notes to yourself.

And when you're ready to discuss it together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So lots of really positive feedback for Sam there.

So lots of people picking up on this idea that the topic sentence here was really clear.

Straight in with that link to feelings of loss to one of those big ideas in the poem.

We also had multiple quotations selected.

And as you can see, they're peppered throughout the response.

Which is a really fantastic way, because that means that we are not just chunking them all in together and not really doing anything with them.

But actually, Sam has taking the time here to explain and put each of those quotes into context, and link them to the different inferences that she has made.

And there we can see those explanations after each or around each of those uses of evidence.

And finally, she does something very clever, which is she comments on the connections between stanzas, which is a fantastic way that you can begin to start analysing the structure of a poem.

Because she's looking at how a particular theme has been developed and perhaps changed as the poem continues, and then what that suggests about this big idea in the poem.

So it's really clever the way that she did that, and perhaps something you might want to try when you next come to writing an analytical paragraph.

So my next question then is, how could Sam add extra detail? So if we were going to give her an even better if, what might we give? So same again, take a few minutes to discuss this with the people around you or make some notes.

And when you're ready for us to discuss it together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Some really constructive advice for Sam there.

I was really impressed to see people focusing on things she could do to improve, rather than just criticising perhaps what wasn't good enough.

So that's a really great way to frame your feedback.

So let's have a look at what she could have done to add extra detail.

So she might have considered the poet's intentions.

So she might have thought about why Chingonyi has chosen to perhaps use language in the way that he has, or why that he's chosen to structure his ideas in the way that he has.

She could have also identified methods, so perhaps we could have looked at the word classes with these different words that she was exploring here, or could have looked at some different methods that the writer has used.

And also relevant links to wider context.

So she could have made some important links here to what we know about Chingonyi's life as well, and perhaps his influences, his inspirations, and also what we know about the wider context of the word kumukanda and growing up in the Luvale tribe.

So check for understanding then.

So here is a big list of the four what were wells that we just gave Sam, and those three even better ifs.

Can you fill in the missing word in each case? So pause the video while you have a think.

And when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answers, click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's see what the missing words were.

So that first one was clear, topic sentence.

The second one, multiple quotations selected.

And that third one also linked to quotations, explained quotations.

And then connections between stanzas.

And then onto those even better ifs, we said that perhaps Sam could consider the poet's intentions, identify methods, and relevant links to wider context.

So well done if you got those missing words.

So now it is time for the final practise task of today's lesson.

And I would like to hand over to you to write an analytical paragraph about this poem.

And I'd like to have a go at building your own question.

So if you see here we have got a gap feel question.

How does Chingonyi present something in "Kumukanda?" And if you have a look down there on the bottom right, you can choose either Lucas's, Laura's or Sam's ideas to fill the gap above.

So you could do, how does Chingonyi you present growing up? How does Chingonyi present feelings of dislocation? Or how does Chingonyi you present loss? So have a think about which of those key ideas you would like to choose.

And then I would like you to have a go at writing your analytical paragraph.

So thinking really carefully about those what and wells, and even better ifs that we identified in Sam's paragraph.

And also making sure that we're referring quite closely to the poem in our analysis writing.

So you have got some sentence starters there to get you going with the first couple of sentences if you need them, but don't feel like you have to use them.

So take as much time as you need to give this a really good go.

And when you're ready for us to feedback together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Well done for giving that a really, really good go.

It's not easy to analyse poetry, but is such a useful skill for us to have.

So let's explore the sorts of things that we could've include in our answer.

And we're also going to revisit that checklist so that you have a chance to review your own response against those success criteria that we came up with earlier.

So first of all, let's have a look at Sam's paragraph.

So this was what we looked at earlier.

And as we identified, she had that clear topic sentence, she had used unexplained multiple quotations, and she'd really effectively begun to discuss the connections between stanzas.

And then based on the feedback that we gave her, she added some extra sentences to the bottom of this paragraph.

So she says, "When comparing his life in England versus the life he may have had in Zambia, it's interesting to consider the word classes Chingonyi uses for each.

His life in England is described using verbs, perhaps symbolising the chores he must do to care for his mum.

Whereas he uses nouns to reflect on a Zambian life, describing the things he could have had, and thus emphasising a sense of loss.

It has been argued this poem is autobiographical, depicting Chingonyi's immigration to England as a young child.

His use of language here perhaps provides insight into how he viewed the life he had in England versus the life he could have had." And if you have a look there in green, I've highlighted where Sam has identified those methods, talking about the verbs and the nouns.

The intentions, perhaps why.

At the very bottom there as well, he might have made these language choices.

And then those links to the wider context, and what we knew about Chingonyi's life.

So what I would like you to do is take some time to review your own paragraph and see where it meets the checklist we've been using in today's lesson.

So perhaps go through, you can tick things off, you could annotate your own work even, showing where you've done each of these things.

So pause the video where you take some time to review your response.

And when you're ready to continue, click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, so we've made it to the end of the lesson.

And a massive well done for all your hard work today, you should be really proud of what you've achieved.

So let's just summarise what we've covered in today's lesson.

"Kumukanda" was written by Kayo Chingonyi, a Zambian poet who moved to the UK when he was six.

Kumukanda means initiation, referring to a ceremony marking the transition from boy to man in the Luvale tribe.

The speaker, seemingly Chingonyi, didn't participate in this initiation, so would be considered unfinished by his tribe.

The speaker reflects on how he grew up in other ways, particularly caring for his dying mother.

And finally, stanza three sees the speaker think about feelings of connection and disconnection to his Zambian roots and ancestors.

So thank you very much for joining me in today's lesson, and I hope that you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

Have a fantastic day, and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.