Lesson video

Hello everyone.

It's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr.

Clayton.

I'm here to guide you through a learning journey today.

So grab your pen, laptop, whatever you're using for this lesson, and let's get started.

Welcome to today's lesson.

The lesson is called "Responding to an extract from 'The Secret Garden'".

What we're gonna focus on today is to consider how we can make predictions by an unseen text, and then we're going to think about how we can first comprehend and then understand the unseen text.

You'll come across many unseen texts in a study of literature and beyond, so it's useful to have a guide for how to approach them.

As it can seem quite intimidating sometimes to be confronted with a text and then be expected to answer questions on it.

So hopefully today will help you build your confidence and set you up for success with future unseen texts.

So we have four words today we're gonna focus on as our keywords.

Our first word is predict, which means to say what you think will happen in the future.

We're going to apply this concept to a text in order for you to say what you think will happen in the text.

Our second key word is to infer, which should inform an opinion or a guess that something is true because of information that you have.

We're going to apply this to an unseen text where you are going to form an opinion about the right intentions based on the information you have.

Our third keyword is extract, and that means a short passage taken from a text, film, or piece of music.

Our final keyword is tone, which means the general mood or feeling of a text.

Now I'll just give you a few moments to write down those words in the definitions.

So pause the video and write them down now.

Amazing.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So we have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to look at two book covers for "The Secret Garden" and think about how we can use those images to make a prediction about what the story of "The Secret Garden" will be like.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to read through an extract together and use our first reading in order to establish information about the plot and characters.

For our third learning cycle, we're going to delve a little deeper into the language used in the extract in order to consider what Burnett's intentions were.

Now in this lesson we're going to be reading extract from Frances Hodgson Burnett's, "The Secret Garden", which was published in 1911.

Now, normally I'd tell you a little bit about the story, but in today's lesson, we're going to make a prediction about the story.

So instead I'll just tell you it's a classic children's story.

Now, before we read the extract, as I said, we're going to look at a couple of book covers to make a prediction about the story.

Now, predict is one of our key words.

It means to say what you think will happen in the future.

So we're going to use the book covers to say what you think is gonna happen in the story itself.

Before we look at the book covers, what I'd like to do is think about why book covers might be a useful tool for making a prediction about the story.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Now there's a saying you may have heard, "I'm not judging a book by its cover." And while that metaphorically means you shouldn't judge someone in their appearance, you can in many cases literally judge a book by its cover because a book cover has been purposely created by an illustrator and chosen to introduce the reader to the story and entice them into buying the book, and therefore offer clues about the nature, mood, and plot of the story.

So here is our first book cover, and what I'd like you to do is create a mind map about the book cover.

What details do you notice? So think about the images, think about the text itself, think about the way it's presented on the page.

What do you notice about it? So pause video, take a few moments to consider.

Amazing work, everyone.

You might have noticed the untied shoe.

Now we potentially might see this as showing someone who doesn't feel quite fully put together, and that could represent someone who's feeling outta place or someone who doesn't quite feel whole for some reason.

You also might have noticed the bright natural colours, the pinks and the greens, they're very delicate, but natural colour palette.

Now the image also seems to have been embroidered.

I love this detail in the image and perhaps we might interpret it as you'd have something or people coming together 'cause when you're embroidering something, you're putting something together and creating something new.

You also might have noticed the natural images, the flowers, the cherry and the bird.

Now we have our second book cover.

So again, I'd like you to create a mind map and think about what details do you notice.

Again, think about the colours, the positioning of the image, what draws your attention? So pause the video and create your mind map now.

Amazing, everyone.

Now you might have noticed that we have bright colours in the image.

We have yellows, greens, and reds.

You also might have noticed it's slightly out of focus.

Now this blurriness could potentially suggest to us something dreamlike because things aren't particularly clear and that's what happens in dreams. Things aren't logical and we can't see things clearly.

Again, you also might have noticed the natural images.

You might have seen the dragonfly, the bees, and the butterfly.

Now for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? The book covers are useful tools for making predictions.

Pause the video and make a selection now.

The correct answer is true.

Now I'd like you to justify that answer.

So are they useful because, A, writers create the book covers to represent the story, or B, illustrators create book covers to introduce the reader to the story? So pause the video and make a selection now.

The correct answer is B, illustrator's create book covers to introduce the reader to the story.

So very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work so far, everyone.

On to our first task of the lesson.

What I'd like to do is think back to the two book covers we looked at and answer the following two questions.

So question one.

Both book covers use bright colours.

What can you infer about the nature of the story from this? It's first one of our keywords.

It means to use the information you have to form an opinion.

Question two.

Both book covers focus on natural images rather than images of people.

So what can you infer about the importance of the garden from this? Pause the video.

Take a few minutes to consider.

Amazing.

It was great to see people looking back at the book covers and their mind maps in order to answer the questions.

Now for question one, the question was, both book covers use bright colours.

What can you infer about the nature of the story from this? And you might have said that the use of bright colours suggests the story be heartwarming and positive to associate bright colours with happiness.

We think of bright colours as being vivid and full of life, and therefore, we associate them with happiness because they represent that energy and that vitality.

For question two, the question was both book covers focus on natural images rather than images of people.

What can you infer about the importance of the garden from this? And you might have said that the focus on natural images, suggests the garden being an essential part of the story.

We might even think the garden will play an important role for the people, since both book covers have chosen to emphasise it over showing the characters themselves.

Fantastic, everyone.

We're now onto our second learning cycle.

We're going to read through the extract together and use that first read through to establish information about the plot and the characters.

Now, before we get to the extract itself, we're gonna read through the introduction to the story to establish some key information about the plot.

So the introduction is, "Mary Lennox lived in India with her wealthy British family.

When a cholera epidemic kills her parents and the servants, Mary's orphaned and she has to move to Yorkshire to live with her widowed uncle Archibald Craven at his huge Yorkshire estate.

Her uncle is rarely at the estate.

So the fastidious housekeeper, Mrs. Medlock looks after her.

But she shuts her in a room and tells her not to explore the house.

One day Mary finds a key that she hopes will unlock the walled garden no one has entered for years." So based on the information in the introduction, I'd like you to answer the following questions.

Question one, where did Mary grow up? Question two, why is Mary living with her uncle? And question three, what do we learn about Mrs. Medlock? So pause the video and answer the questions now.

Amazing, everyone.

Now you might have said, number one, Mary grew up in India.

Number two, Mary's now living with her uncle because her parents have died.

And number three, we learned that Mrs. Medlock tries to contain Mary in the house and she tells her not to explore.

Now we're gonna read an extract from the story.

You'll find the extract in the additional materials.

Now extract is one of our keywords.

It means a short passage taken from a larger text.

Now we're gonna use our first readthrough to establish information about the plot and the characters.

In this extract, Mary has just entered the secret garden for the first time and we're going to consider what we find out about the garden.

So let's start our reading.

"Mary Lennox had heard a great deal about magic in her Ayah's stories, and she'd always said that what happened almost at that moment was magic.

One of the nice little gusts of wind rushed down from the walk.

It was a stronger one than the rest.

It was strong enough to wave the branches of the trees and it was more than strong enough to sway the trailing sprays of untrimmed ivy hanging from the wall.

Mary had stepped close to the robin and suddenly a gust of wind swung aside some loose ivy trails and more suddenly still, she jumped toward it and caught it in her hand.

That she did this because she'd seen something underneath it, a round knob which had been covered by the leaves hanging over it.

It was the knob of a door." So now we've read the opening of the extract, I'd like to answer the following three questions to show that you comprehend and understand what's happening so far.

So question one, what did Mary say the moment she found the garden was? Question two, what has Mary found? And question three, how was it hidden? So pause the video and answer the questions now.

Amazing.

It was great to see people reading back over the extract to really make sure they got the answers right.

So for question one, you might have said that Mary said the moment was magic.

Question two, she's found a door.

And question three, it was hidden because the curtain of ivy was covering it and the wind blew it away so Mary could then see the doorknob.

Let's continue with the story.

"She put her hands under the leaves, began to pull and push them aside.

Thick as the ivy hung, it nearly all was a loose and swinging curtain, though some had crept over wood and iron." Mary's heart began to thump and her hands to shake a little in her delight and excitement, the Robin kept singing and twittering away and tilting his head on one side as if he were as excited as she was.

What was this under her hands, which was square and made of iron, which made her fingers found a hole in? It was the lock of a door, which had been closed 10 years.

She put her hand in her pocket, drew out the key and found it fitted the keyhole.

She put the key in and turned it.

It took two hands to do it, but it did turn." Now what I'd like to do is answer the following questions again just to make sure you've comprehended and understood what's happened in the extract so far.

So question one, what happened to Mary's hands as she uncovered the door? Question two, who witnessed Mary finding the door? Question three, how did that witness seem? And question four, how long had the door been closed? So pause the video and answer the question now.

Amazing.

Now you might have said that for question one, Mary's hands began to shake.

Question two, a Robin witnessed Mary finding the door.

Number three, the Robin was singing and twittering as if it was excited to.

And number four, the door had been closed for 10 years.

Now for the final part of this extract.

"And then she took a long breath and looked behind her up the long walk to see if anyone was coming.

No one was coming, no one ever did, it seemed.

And she took another long breath 'cause she could not help it.

She held back the swinging curtain of ivy and pushed back the door, which opened slowly, slowly.

Then she slipped through it and shut it behind her and stood with her back against it, looking about her and breathing quite fast with excitement and wonder and delight.

She was standing inside the secret garden." Now for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like to do is tell me which two of the following statements are true.

It was A, the garden is visited regularly, B, the garden hadn't been visited in 10 years, C, the wind helped Mary find the door, or D, the sun helped Mary find the door.

So pause the video and make your selections now.

The correct answers are B, the garden hadn't been visited in 10 years and C, the wind helped Mary find the door.

So very well done if you've got those right.

Amazing work so far, everyone.

Now we're onto the second task of the lesson.

So when reading a text for the first time, we want to think about the tone of a text.

Now tone is one of our keywords.

It means the general mood or feeling you get from a text.

Considering the tone is important because once you've established what emotion the text is, you can start to understand how the writer is using language in order to create that emotional feeling.

So to think about the tone, I'd like to answer the following two questions and use quotations from the text as evidence to support your answers.

So question one, how is Mary feeling at the start of the extract? And question two, how does Mary feel at the end of the extract? So pause the video and create your answers now.

Amazing, everyone.

It's great to see people looking back over the extract to choose their quotations to help them with their answers.

So you might have said question one, how is Mary feeling at the start? So we might say, at the beginning of the extract we're told she believed what happened next was magic.

And this suggests an excited, wondrous tone since we think of magic as something extraordinary and exciting.

Question two, how does Mary feel at the end of the extract? Now Burnett tells us that Mary's breathing quite fast with excitement, which adds to the excited, wondrous tone from the start of the extract, says it shows us how excited Mary was and the physical effect it had on her.

Fantastic work, everyone.

Now we're onto our third learning cycle.

We're going to look a little deeper into the language that Burnett is using in order to create an emotional reaction from the reader.

Now, in order to try to understand a text, we want to think about how the writer is using language in order to create an effect on the reader.

So once you've read an extract through once, you should then return to the extract to examine certain words or phrases in more detail to consider why the writer is using them.

Now in order to create an effect on the reader, the writer might use certain techniques such as anaphora and onomatopoeia.

Now anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.

So an example might be, "No one was coming, no one ever did come." Now what I'd like to think about is why do you think repetition and anaphora specifically might be effective in descriptive writing? So pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

They might have said the repetition in general emphasises something to the reader or suggests something that keeps happening.

Because anaphora happens at the beginning of successive clauses, it goes that one step further in emphasising information to the reader.

Now I have a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So true or false? Anaphora is a type of repetition.

Pause the video and make a selection now.

The correct answer is true.

Now I'd like you to justify that answer.

So say A, anaphora is repeated words or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, or B, anaphora is repeated words or phrases at the beginning of successive paragraphs.

So pause the video and make your selection now.

The correct answer is A.

Anaphora is repeated words or phrases at the beginning of successive clauses.

So very well done if you've got that right.

Now, another linguistic device that Burnett uses is onomatopoeia.

And that's the use of a word that phonically imitates, resembles or suggests the sound it describes.

So for example, "Mary's heart began to thump." Now what I'd like you to do is think about why using onomatopoeia might be effective in descriptive writing.

So pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

You might have said that effective descriptive writing is all about making the reader feel part of the scene.

While linguistic devices allow 'em to picture the scene in detail, onomatopoeia allows 'em to hear the scene and that creates a multisensory experience for the reader and it really heightens their feeling of being part of the scene.

Now a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false that using onomatopoeia helps create effective descriptive writing? Pause the video and make a selection now.

The correct answer is true.

Now I'd like you to justify that answer.

So does it help create effective descriptive writing, 'cause A, it helps the reader visualise the scene, or B, it helps the reader hear the scene.

So pause the video and make a selection now.

The correct answer is B, it helps them hear the scene.

So very well done if you got that right.

Well done everyone.

We've reached the final task of the lesson.

What I'd like to do is answer the following questions.

So number one, what effect is using anaphora in, "No one was coming, no one ever did come," have on the reader? And number two, what effect does using the onomatopoeia word to describe Mary's heartbeat have on the reader? So pause the video and answer the questions now.

Fantastic.

It was great to see people repeating the phrases aloud to see what sort of effect they have on you when you hear them.

So question one, what effect does using anaphora in "No one was coming, no one ever did come," have on the reader? You might have said the using anaphora emphasised to the reader how abandoned the garden is and just how alone Mary is in that moment.

The repetition of no one emphasises just how isolated the space is.

Number two, what effect does using the onomatopoeic matter word, thump to describe Mary's heartbeat have on the reader? And you might've said, the use of onomatopoeia allows the reader to hear the sound being made, which can help them feel as if they're part of the scene.

When you use a word that mimics the sound, it describes, then the reader can actually hear the sound in their heads and that helps 'em to feel a part of the scene.

You all did incredibly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Book covers can be useful tools in making predictions about a text.

You should use the first reading of an unseen extract to establish key information about plot, character and setting.

Next, read the text more closely to consider the meaning of specific words and phrases.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone.

Goodbye.