Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to lesson eight of animal farm.

so far in our lessons, we have discovered that Old Major has encouraged the animals to start a rebellion on the farm.

He's explained to them in his speech about how important it is for animals to make the most of the things that they can do.

They don't need humans to look after them.

They can run the farm themselves.

So in this lesson we're going to look at the moments before the rebellion.

We're going to find out how the pigs take charge on the farm.

How do they become more important than the other animals? And why do they get to set the rules? So when you're ready please make sure you've got a quiet space around you or somewhere for you to concentrate and make sure you've got pen and paper or that you've printed off any of the downloadable resources that you'd like to use today.

And then we can get started with lesson eight, the pigs take charge.

Here is another opportunity for you to make sure you've got your pen and paper or any other resources that you need.

And then we will be ready to start looking at the pigs taking charge on animal farm.

As always, we will start off our lesson with a recap of previous knowledge that we have covered together.

And then we'll move on to some more new vocabulary and look at an extract in some detail before sharing what we know in a written format, just so we can get all of the ideas that we've got in here down onto paper and as always the quiz at the end to show off how much you've learnt in the lesson.

So for our recap exercise today I would like you to think about the question on the screen what message does Old Major share with the animals in his speech.

There are four options.

Old Major tells the animals about history.

Old Major draws the animals attention to the tyranny of man.

Old Major encourages the animals to start a rebellion and Old Major says animals are supposed to be miserable.

So I would like you to select the option you think is correct.

What message does Old Major share with the animals in his speech? I would Pause the video here and take your time to read through the answers.

And then when you're ready to find out what the correct answer is, press Play.

So there were two correct answers here.

Some of you may have been deciding between the two and only gone for one.

If that's the case, please give yourself two ticks.

If you knew that two of them were actually correct.

So number two, Old Major draws the animal's attention to the tyranny of man and number three Old Major encourages the animals to start a rebellion.

That's what we discovered last lesson.

Old Major does tell them that he had a dream but that's not the main message of his speech.

He also tells the animals that they have miserable lives.

He doesn't tell them that they're supposed to be miserable.

In fact, he does the opposite and says that they should not be miserable and that they have the ability and the things on the farm to lead very happy lives.

So option two and option three are the two correct answers.

If you've got those rights massive, well done.

So new vocabulary alert.

What word will we look at today? Hierarchy.

So I'll say that a few more times and it's a difficult one to spell.

So if you wanted to write the word down a couple of times to get used to the spelling you can Pause the video and do that now.

Hierarchy and repeat that after me hierarchy.

Okay.

That wasn't very loud.

So try that again.

Hierarchy.

Okay.

Much better.

Now hierarchy it's a system of organising people into different levels of importance and/or responsibility.

We usually find hierarchies in a company or in society in general.

So it's when we put people into different levels of importance and/or responsibility.

A good example of this, maybe in a school, at the top of a hierarchy in a school would be the head teacher.

They have the most responsibility.

And at the bottom of the hierarchy in a school you might argue as the year sevens because they are the newest intake.

And we could say they have the least responsibility.

So that's how a hierarchy works, least to most at the top.

A head teacher is at the top of the hierarchy in schools, as I've just explained.

Hierarchies in society can cause problems. Now, this is when we begin to think about hierarchies in terms of people being important.

Some people think that if you are at the bottom of a hierarchy, it means are the least important.

And in society that can cause a lot of problems depending on who you think is at the bottom of the hierarchy.

She quickly rose to the top of the hierarchy.

So people can move up and down in a hierarchy especially in jobs and things like that when they get more or less responsibility.

So which of the following is the correct definition of hierarchy.

Option one, a system of government with complete control, option two the order of importance in a school, option three a system of organising people based on their importance, and option four a system of organising people based on their responsibility.

Pause the video here and select the option or options that you think are correct.

And then press play, when you'd like to find out the answer.

Again, we have two correct answers.

There's a theme in today's lesson.

So option three and option four are both the correct definition of hierarchy.

It is a system of organising people based on either and they're important and responsibility.

Option one, if you chose option one this suggests that it's only a system of government, okay.

Hierarchy is not just in government and it also is not really related to control.

So a system of government with complete control would be totalitarianism.

And then option two, we do have hierarchy in school but hierarchy can be applied to much more than just school settings.

So correct answers are three and four.

So our extract today is going to be looking at when the pigs take charge on the farm.

Three nights after his speech Old Major died in his sleep.

So Old Major is no longer with us after the first few bits of animal farm.

However, his message of starting a rebellion and of getting rid of the tyranny of man is well and truly alive on the stage.

So I will read this first extract to you before we have a look at the activity.

The work of teaching and organising the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognised as being the cleverest of the animals.

Pre-eminent among the pigs were two young boars named Snowball and Napoleon, who Mr Jones was breeding up for sale.

Napoleon was a large rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar the only Berkshire here on the farm, not much of a talker but with a reputation for getting his own way.

Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker and speech and more inventive but was not considered to have the same depth of character.

So in this extract, we meet Snowball and Napoleon.

And as we already know these are the two pigs that take control on the farm.

And in this extract, we find out that the pigs are generally recognised as being the cleverest of all the animals.

So already we are getting some kind of idea as to why teaching and organising all of the animals fell naturally upon the pigs.

It suggests that the pigs didn't go looking for this power but actually it made sense for them to take this power at the time.

So I would like you to have a go at this true or false question.

The pigs were considered to be the cleverest of all the animals.

Is that true or false? Either write your answer down or shout that at the screen for me now.

Okay.

Let's see how many of you got this correct? Were are the pigs considered to be the cleverest of all the animals? Yes, they were true.

The extract tells us that exactly.

It tells us that they were the cleverest of all the animals.

Let's move on to the next extract.

All the other male pigs on the farm were porkers.

The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice.

He was a brilliant talker and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, which was somehow very persuasive.

The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.

So here we've met a third pig called Squealer.

And Squealer says, we're told that Squealer has a shrill voice.

So a shrill voice is high pitched, almost piercing.

It also tells us that he was a brilliant talker.

He was very persuasive.

So we've got an idea of what kind of pig Napoleon is, what kind of pig Snowball is, and finally Squealer and how Squealer persuasive is.

So another true or false for you, Squealer wasn't very good at talking to people.

True or false? write it down or shouted at the screen.

Okay.

Let's see.

Squealer was very good at talking to people.

So that is false.

And in fact, in the extract, we just read it tells us that Squealer was a brilliant talker.

So he was excellent at talking to people.

Okay.

So this quotation is really, really important in helping us to understand what Squealer is good at.

So the other set of Squealer that he could turn black into white.

Who are the others that are being spoken about? The others in this sense is talking about the other animals on the farm.

So they all know what Squealer is like.

Everyone is very aware of what kind of pig he is and what he's capable of doing.

And this metaphor of him turning black into white it's a metaphor because he can't literally do that.

Okay.

He can't actually turn the colour black into the colour white but what he can do is persuade people of the impossible.

It's impossible to turn black into white but actually Squealer can do it.

So if we tie that idea up with the idea that he's a brilliant talker and he's very persuasive.

This metaphor suggests that Squealer is capable of convincing anyone of anything.

He has this special ability of using rhetoric.

So using language very, very well to persuade people to believe anything at all.

So let's see how much we remember of what we've just spoken about.

What skill does Squealer have? Squealer is magic, Squealer can persuade or convince people of anything, Squealer can make anyone like him, or Squealer can paint very well.

I think you should Pause the video here and then choose the correct answer.

There's just one, correct answer this time.

Choose the correct answer and press Play when you are ready.

How did you do? I'm hoping you all managed to get option two correct.

Squealer can persuade or convince people of anything and the metaphor of him being able to turn black into white emphasises the fact that he can persuade anyone to do anything.

This is going to be very important moving forward.

So let's move on to the next extract.

These three.

And by these three we mean Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer.

These three had elaborated Old Major's teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave the name of Animalism.

Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover.

These two had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves, but having once accepted the pigs as their teachers they absorbed everything that they were told and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments.

They were unfailing in their attendance at the secret meetings in the barn, and led the singing of "Beast of England" with which the meetings always ended.

There's loads of really useful stuff in this extract.

So we'll talk about it.

And as I'm talking, if you can add annotations to yours that would be great, if not make some notes so that you are ready to do the next activities.

So the pigs had decided to give all of Old Major's teachings and thoughts a name and they gave it the name of Animalism.

Once they've given it a name, they needed to get followers and their most faithful followers.

So the people who believed in them the most were two horses, Boxer and Clover.

What's important for us to note is that Boxer and Clover had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves.

So what that meant was that what they were told they would simply believe no questions asked.

And because Boxer and Clover were so simple and straightforward, they then passed on the very simple message to the rest of the animals.

And so we can already see how this idea of Animalism which has come from Old Major, but then has trickled down to the pigs themselves is starting to be spread across the farm.

So Squealer, Napoleon, and Snowball believed in Old Major's teachings.

Is that true or false? Did Squealer, Napoleon, and Snowball believe in Old Major's teachings? Did they agree with what Old Major said? So either write down true or false or shout it at the screen for me.

Nice and loud.

Excellent.

So indeed that is true.

Squealer, Napoleon and Snowball did believe in Old Majors.

So I've taken a couple of quotations out of that last extract that I think need to talk about in more detail.

So if you have the extract in front of you find the quotation that's on the screen and highlight it or underline it.

If you don't have the extract in front of you I'd recommend Pausing the video here and copying out this quotation with plenty of space around it for you to annotate.

So the quotation I've chosen these three had elaborated Old Major's teachings into a complete system of thought to which they gave the name of Animalism.

And the question I have for you is what are the pigs trying to achieve by giving the thoughts of Old Major a name? Now all of the animals were in the barn and they all heard what Old Major had to say.

They all understood that Old Major thought it was best for the animals to have a rebellion and to lead a life on the farm led by animals instead of men.

So why do you think the pigs wanted to give all of those thoughts a name? You can Pause the video here.

If you want to talk about it with someone around you or if you just want time to think but if you need more support, don't worry about pausing and we'll go straight into the answer together.

So by giving something a name, you give it power.

If someone came to visit the farm and they said to the pigs, "Oh, what was the Old Major talking about?" "What does he believe in?" And they had to stand there and give them the whole list of, well, he thinks that the land is good enough for us to live on and that we get treated really badly and that men should be got rid of et cetera.

It's not a very short and snappy way to interest someone.

However, if you collect all of those ideas and you give it one name Animalism, it's powerful.

It makes people want to join into something.

It sounds like a movement.

They're part of Animalism, it's something that exists.

It's not just an idea anymore.

It's something real that has a name.

If we name something, we make it real.

So by giving it the name Animalism they gave Old Major's teachings power, a lot of power.

So make sure that you've annotated your extract or your written quotation, you've underlined or highlighted Animalism, and recognised that the pigs have named Old Major's teachings because the name gives it power.

The next part of the extract that I wanted to talk about is from their most faithful disciples down to simple arguments.

So again, if you have the print-out, please find this chunk of writing.

If you don't have the print-out then take some time to Pause the video and write down this quotation in preparation for annotating.

So the known disciples that we use in the first line is really important.

Disciples means followers.

However, a disciple is most commonly associated with Jesus's followers.

We don't very often use the word disciples unless we are talking about Jesus and religion.

So what does this suggest about the pigs? If the pigs don't just have followers if the pigs have disciples, what is that suggesting about the pigs and how they are seen by other animals? If you'd like time to think about that, press Pause.

I think we need to note the fact that disciples has been used because it suggests that the pigs are as important as Jesus or God.

And the Animalism is almost like a religion.

And that's a very important thing for us to spot because actually thinking that you're just as important as Jesus or God.

Well, very, very, very big headed, arrogant.

Yeah.

It shows that the pigs think very highly over themselves and they think that they have all the answers and that everyone should follow them.

They are labelling themselves as just as important as Jesus or God.

So that's a really important thing to spot.

The next thing that I've highlighted is that Boxer and Clover had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves.

And I've already spoken about this but I'll just reiterate so you can add it now.

This is important because it helps us to understand why Boxer and Clover just go along with what the pig say.

They aren't very intelligent and they struggle to think for themselves.

So when the pigs, who are regarded as the most intelligent tell them something, they automatically believe it.

And then finally, the last sentence that I've highlighted is that they absorbed everything they were told and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments.

So how useful are the horses to the pigs? Well, they're very useful because what this means is that the pigs have someone to go and spread their message.

The pigs don't have to worry about that.

They don't have to spend time making sure everyone knows because the horses are going around the farm speaking to all of the animals and sharing the message of Animalism.

So the horses are very important for the pigs.

Now, if you have got lots of annotations and highlighting on your extracts, we can move on to the next activity.

If your extract is still lacking a little bit there and you'd like to add more rewind the video and Pause it wherever you need to to catch up and fill in those gaps.

Here, we're going to have a look at the question.

How do we know the pigs are in charge on the farm? And I've written some bullet points down with gaps for you to fill in.

So I'll leave this on the screen for you.

And if you Pause the video take your time to fill in the gaps with everything that you've learned in the lesson so far.

And then when you're ready to find out the answers, press Play.

Good luck.

Okay.

Let's see how everyone did.

First of all, we know the pigs are in charge because they are the cleverest of all the animals on the farm.

We spoke about this right at the beginning of the lesson but I'm pretty sure you'll all remember it.

Number two, Squealer's special skill is the ability to persuade people that anything is true.

You might not have the exact words that I've put there but as long as you've put something about how he can persuade people and how good he is at talking, then that's absolutely brilliant.

Number three, the pigs give Old Majors teaching a name: Animalism.

They do this because giving something a name gives it power.

So the first two gaps need to be Major and Animalism.

The final gap.

You might have written something slightly different but you do need to have written something that explains that Animalism means having power that naming something makes it real and gives it power.

And then finally the cart-horses were not very intelligent.

And so they accepted everything they were told by the pigs.

And that's the final thing that we spoke about and annotated.

That Boxer and Clover they weren't very intelligent.

So they just believed everything they were told with no questions asked.

And that's going to be something that comes up again and again, as we read through the story.

That's the end of our lesson today we've discovered how the pigs came in charge of the farm.

It was a combination I think of them being very intelligent along with other animals being less intelligent, and Squealer's a special skill of course which we are definitely going to explore in a lot more detail.

So get ready for our lesson nine together.

If your parent or carer would like to share any of your work today on social media the handle is on the screen now.

And if not, absolutely no problem but it is a nice thing to share with teachers or other people that are doing the work at school.

So I look forward to working with you for lesson for nine and well done for today.

You've done some great work.

See you soon.