Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson and I'm delighted that you have decided to join me for another lesson about "The Twisted Tree." You're going to need a copy of the novel for today's lesson and you need the 2019 edition and it is published by Hot Key Books.

In today's lesson, we are going to be looking at the relationship between Martha and Stig, how it starts and how it develops, and what we can learn about the relationship from what Rachel Burge writes.

I think you're gonna find this lesson really fascinating 'cause Martha and Stig are two really, really interesting characters.

So when you've got your book and you're ready, we'll get started.

So at the end of today's lesson, you will understand the plot and you will be able to track, that means follow, Martha and Stig's relationship.

Let's start by looking at the keywords.

You can see there are five keywords.

The first one is subside, and if something subsides, it becomes less intense or severe.

A sacrifice is when you slaughter something as an offering.

And a constellation, that's a group of stars that form a pattern.

Reincarnate, that means to be reborn in another body.

And something that is frenzied is wildly excited or uncontrollable.

So those five keywords are gonna be really useful for unlocking the learning today.

So if you would like a little bit more time to familiarise yourself with them, please feel free to pause the video and rejoin the lesson when you're ready.

So here is the lesson outline.

We are going to start by reading pages 172 to 192, and then we are gonna move on and plot Martha and Stig's relationship.

Let's go.

So look at this fascinating picture here.

Who is being depicted? Who is this a picture of and how do they link to "The Twisted Tree"? Pause the video while you have that discussion, or if you're working by yourself, pause the video and just make a few notes.

Off you go.

Welcome back.

I really love this picture.

Did you notice all the creepy little images like spider and snakes in the corner? Now, you might have said that the image depicts the Norns.

And the Norns are the three women spinners from Norse mythology and they weave and they decide the fate of humans.

And it's usually thought that these three women represent the past, present, and the future.

And another of their responsibilities is to water the world tree, Yggdrasil.

Remember, that's the tree that sits at the very heart of the universe.

And this is how the Norns link to "The Twisted Tree," because in the novel, Mormor's letter tells Martha that the Norns will reveal a special fate.

And the Norns try to communicate with Martha, warning her about the watering of the tree and the draugr.

And Karina, Martha's great-grandmother, tells her not to fear the Norns and that they will help, which is really interesting 'cause they do look frightening and they are surrounded by frightening images.

But actually, in the novel, Martha learns that they will help her.

Now I would like you to recall what you know about the draugr.

And have a discussion, what have we learnt about the draugr? How has the draugr been described so far? Please pause the video while you have that discussion.

Or again, if you're working by yourself, just pause the video and make a few notes.

Welcome back.

I am really impressed with your recall about the draugr.

Let me share with you some of the things that the Oak pupils said.

Jun said that the draugr can be considered the villain because it creates conflict with Martha and it really drives the tension in the plot.

Really good point, Jun.

And Lucas said that the draugr is from Norse mythology and it is a corpse that has come back to life.

So it has a very powerful supernatural presence.

Really good point, Lucas.

Well done.

And Sofia said that the draugr is motivated to kill the living and is presented as evil and malevolent.

Personally, I think the draugr is one of the most terrifying villains that I have ever encountered in any book I have ever read.

I wonder if you agree.

Let's move on.

Now we are going to have a check for understanding.

Is it true or false to say that the Norns could be considered the villain in "The Twisted Tree"? Have a think, make your choice.

It's false, the Norns are not the villain, but justify your answer.

Is that answer false because of A, Stig could be considered the villain because he makes Martha uncomfortable, or B, with its malevolent and evil presence, the draugr could be considered the villain? Have a think, make your choice.

Did you say B? That's the right answer.

Well done.

Let's move on.

Now it's time to read from "The Twisted Tree," and you need your copy and you need to turn to page 172 and you are going to read to the end of page 192.

And then you are going to answer the following questions: one, how are the Norns described? And what I want you to do there is to pick three words from the start of Chapter 19 and explain your choices.

And then question two, what happens to Stig and Gandalf? And then question three, how is the draugr described? I would like you to pick three words from the start of Chapter 21 and explain your choices.

And then still on Chapter 21, now question four, what does Martha decide to do at the end of Chapter 21? And what does this tell us about Martha's feelings towards Stig? You're going to need to pause the video while you do that.

So get your book, turn to page 172, and off you go.

Happy reading! Welcome back and well done for such fantastic focus.

Great chapters, aren't they? I'm going to share with you some suggestions about how you could have answered those questions.

So let's go.

So question one was how are the Norns described, and it said to pick three words from the start of Chapter 19 and to explain your choices.

And here are some examples.

The harsh voice, there's the word harsh, commands respect and suggests a presence of authority.

That's on page 172.

And the word wizened shows how ancient the Norns are.

Wizened means all wrinkled, deeply wrinkled.

That's on page 173.

And the description of the Norn's hand as gnarled.

Now, that links the Norns to the tree, which has also been described as gnarled, and it shows that the Norns and the tree are intertwined.

That was on page 173.

Let's look at the other questions.

So for question two, what happens to Stig and Gandalf? They are murdered by the draugr.

And question three, how is the draugr described? Pick three words from the start of Chapter 21 and explain your choices.

Here are some examples.

The word emaciated, and that links to the skeletal experience of the draugr.

Emaciated means incredibly thin.

That's on page 186.

And the draugr has a putrid smell of decay that emphasises the connection to death and decomposition.

Often we describe smells as putrid if they are something that is rotting.

That was on pages 186 and 188.

And the draugr's face has rotted away, which I think you'll agree is a truly grotesque image.

That's on page 188.

And here's question four, what does Martha decide to do at the end of Chapter 21, and what does this tell us about Martha's feelings towards Stig? You could have said that Martha demands that the Norns help her and that they tell her that to save Stig, she must go to see Hel, Queen of the Underworld, and they explain that many do not survive the journey.

And Martha decides to go, and that, you might say, shows that she has a strong connection to Stig and that she cares deeply for him.

Well done for that.

Let's move on.

So we've read pages 172 to 192 and you've shown really, really good understanding of what happens in that part of the novel, and now we are going to move on and look at Martha and Stig's relationship in a little bit more detail.

So one of the most fascinating things about this book is the way that the author shows the change in the relationship between Martha and Stig.

It changes and develops throughout the novel.

And I would like you to revisit pages 37 to 51 of the novel, so we're going back to the beginning, and I would like you to discuss, how did Martha initially feel about Stig? How does she feel about him at first? Now you need to pause the video while you do that, while you have that discussion.

And if you're working by yourself, just pause the video and make a few notes.

So find page 37 and off you go with that discussion.

So welcome back and good focus, and it was really good to see you diving into that book and really focusing on just those pages and discussing what you understand about Martha and her feelings.

Now I'd like to share with you some ideas about what the Oak pupils said.

So Aisha thought that Martha was initially wary and distrusting of Stig.

If you're wary of something, you have doubts about them, you're not sure about them.

But she does also seem, even then, to have moments of sympathy and kind of intriguing with him.

And Izzy thought that Martha was irritated by the way Stig seems to be so at home in the cabin.

She really quite resents the way he seems to have made it his home and just thinks he can come in and use the house.

And she feels great anger at times.

And at one point, well done, Alex, he picked up this point, she clenches her fist in fury.

So quite a complex response to him, and you've picked that out really, really well in the discussion.

Now I want to look at how you can develop your ideas and how you can include evidence from the text when you're talking about the relationship between Martha and Stig.

There are three phrases here: more specifically, more precisely, and in particular.

And they all help you focus on particular ideas or particular parts of the text.

And they're really useful, really useful grammatic structures for explaining your ideas.

And I'm gonna just model to you how that would work.

So Martha and Stig's trust grows as they begin to share personal experiences and face challenges together.

There's a really good topic sentence about Martha and Stig and their trust growing.

And then you would say, more specifically, Martha describes how her fear disappears.

That's on page 69.

And Stig also helps Martha to explore her grief and how it feels like being punched in the stomach.

Good reference from page 88.

So you can see how we move from the topic sentence and then we use more specifically to focusing on evidence from the text.

So what I would like you to do in your discussion is return to this question of how does Stig and Martha's relationship develop and to use more specifically and more precisely and in particular to include evidence from the text.

So you will need to pause the video while you have that discussion, or if you're working by yourself, just pause the video and make a few notes.

Off you go.

Well done and welcome back.

I'd like to share with you some of the things that you may have said in your discussion.

You may have considered this, that Martha and Stig become mutually dependent on each other as they work together to unravel the mysteries.

More precisely, Martha describes holding onto Stig for support.

That's on page 134.

And later on Martha describes how she has to be strong.

That's on page 157.

And they're really, really good quotations to support the idea of this mutual dependency.

Now, you might have said different things, and that's fine.

I'm just showing you this example because I think it's really helpful for you to compare your ideas with somebody else's.

Let's move on.

Now, what we are going to do now is have a check for understanding.

We have two comments here from Andeep and from Sam, and we are going to look at which pupil uses evidence to develop their comment.

So A is Andeep, and he says, "There is an underlying romantic tension that builds between Martha and Stig, which adds depth to their interactions.

More specifically, Martha describes feeling 'butterflies.

'" And Sam says, "Stig becomes a source of emotional support for Martha, helping her cope with her newfound abilities and the dangers they encounter." Which pupil is using evidence? Have a think, make your choice.

It's Andeep, that's right.

Here's the evidence, butterflies.

He focuses in using more specifically, that phrase, more specifically, and then focuses in on evidence from the text, which is the butterflies in her stomach, that fluttering feeling when you're excited.

Brilliant, let's move on.

Now, I would like you to look at Chapter 20 from page 179.

And in this chapter, Martha reveals her worries about Stig and they argue.

And I'd like you to have a discussion about the argument.

What do they argue about and what does this reveal about how they feel about each other and about Martha's own feelings about herself? And in your discussion, remember to use these phrases to help your discussion and to add evidence: more specifically, more precisely, and in particular.

Please pause the video while you have the discussion or pause the video and make some notes.

Now what I would like you to do is to plot Martha and Stig's relationship using this timeline.

It starts at the beginning of Chapter 3 and it ends at Chapter 21, the end of Chapter 21.

And you need to include evidence from the novel, so you need to have short quotations there.

And you have a wealth of knowledge from your discussions, because you've talked about the relationship at the beginning, you've talked about Martha's initial feelings of anger, you know that there is an element of romance in the relationship, and you know how their relationship has developed.

So use the findings from your discussion to plot the relationship.

You're going to need to pause the video while you do that.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Welcome back.

I'd like to share with you just part of Jacob's timeline.

So he wrote this.

"Both characters show a growing protectiveness towards each other, willing to take risks to ensure the other's safety." This is how their relationship develops.

What could he do to make this even better? What do you think? You're right, he could add some specific evidence from the novel.

So he improves his answer.

"Both characters show a growing protectiveness towards each other, willing to take risks to ensure the other's safety.

In particular, where Stig faces the draugr and tells Martha to 'Go!'" That's on page 184.

So that's a much better answer because it uses evidence, and Jacob has also used the phrase in particular, which signals to the reader that he is now zooming in on something.

So what I want you to do is to go back and check your own timeline and make sure that it includes evidence.

Pause the video while you do that and then please rejoin me for the end of the lesson.

So before we say goodbye, I would like to summarise what you have been learning today.

You have been learning that Martha's dream tells her that she can only save Mormor from torment if she goes to the tree.

And that Martha kisses Stig, but he pulls away and she feels humiliated, and the draugr appears and injures Stig and Gandalf.

And Martha calls on her ancestors to help her against the draugr.

And then Martha visits Hel.

So fantastic learning today.

Thank you for your hard work and your focus and your brilliant discussions.

I wish you a brilliant rest of the day and I look forward to seeing you in another lesson on "The Twisted Tree." Bye for now!.