Lesson video

Welcome back.

This is our last but one lesson on animal farm, and it gets really fascinated in these last two lessons.

The pigs start to really take advantage of the fact that they can do anything and they can break all the rules.

So in this lesson, we get to see just how powerful propaganda is.

When propaganda is used carefully and skillfully, it means that people turn a blind eye to the leaders completely breaking the rules.

And that's what we're going to see in this lesson.

The pigs do something so shocking and amazingly they get away with it.

So let's see what they get up to in this lesson.

Find yourself a quiet space or somewhere you can concentrate as well as pen or pencil and paper and then we can dive straight in.

Here is your second opportunity to get yourself settled and ready to learn.

If you're already ready to learn then we'll get started straight away.

We'll begin this lesson with a recap before moving on to read the extracts together.

And then there will be some comprehension.

So that's some questions to make sure you fully understand everything we've read together.

And then we'll move on to look at the seventh commandment.

And that's going to be a really key part of animal farm before you go on to complete your exit quiz.

So the recap for today.

Who comes up with the seven commandments? Do all of the animals vote together? is it Old Major? Is it Farmer Jones or is it Snowball and Napoleon? You might need to think quite hard about this reach all the way back in your mind palace to the beginning, ish of our lessons, press pause choose the correct answer and press play to see if you're right.

Option number four it was Snowball and Napoleon.

Old Major came up with lots of ideas for the animals and for the rebellion but it was snowball and Napoleon who created animalism and then the seven commandments were the rules for the other animals to follow which showed off what animalism really was.

Another reminder before we move on with the lesson is about propaganda.

Propaganda means ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and they're spread in order to help a cause or to help a political leader or to help a government.

A couple of examples of propaganda that we have right together is when Squealer tells the animals that Napoleon did take part in the battle of the cow shed after all.

And when Squealer tells the animals that they have found documents proving Snowball with working with the nearby farmers.

So there statements that are false, not even exaggerated but false that Squealer is spreading around the farm in order to help them see Napoleon as their true leader and someone that they should listen to.

Now, let's move on to reading part of the extract together.

More, they never lost even for an instant, their sense of honour and privilege in being members of animal farm.

This extract then is talking about how the animals feel about living on the farm.

They never lost, even for an instant, their sense of honour and privilege in being members of animal farm.

They were still the only farm in the whole County in all England owned and operated by animals.

Not one of them, not even the youngest, not even the newcomers who had been brought from farms 10 or 20 miles away ever ceased to Marvel at that.

And when they heard the gun booming and saw the green flag fluttering at the masthead, their hearts swelled with imperishable pride and the talk turned always towards the old heroic days, the expulsion of Jones, the writing of the seven commandments, the great battles in which the human invaders had been defeated.

So in this extract, we see that the animals are really proud of living on the farm.

And they're not talking about Napoleon's executions or what happened to boxer or the fact that the dogs growled at them every time they have a different opinion.

What they're talking about is the flag that shows their animal farm.

And the old days, when they got rid of Jones and they had the seven commandments and all of those great battles they're remembering all of the positive stuff that Napoleon and Squealer want them to remember, Here we have a true or false question.

So you can either pause the video and write your answer down or you can just shout it at the screen nice and loud.

propaganda was successful in making the animals feel proud of the farm.

Is that true or false? Nice and loud.

Shout it out.

Okay.

That is indeed true.

Propaganda was successful in making the animals feel proud of the farm.

And we know that from the quotation they were still the only farm in the whole County in all England owned and operated by animals.

So we know that the propaganda that Squealer is using is successful.

It's making the animals feel proud.

Let's move onto the next extract.

One day in early summer, Squealer ordered the sheep to follow him, and let them out to a piece of waste ground at the other end of the farm which had been overgrown with birch saplings.

The sheep spent the whole day there browsing at the leaves under Squealer's supervision.

In the evening he returned to the farmhouse himself, but as it was warm weather, told the sheep to stay where they were.

It ended by their remaining there for a whole week, during which time the other animals saw nothing of them.

Squealer was with them for the greater part of every day.

He was, he said, teaching them to sing a new song for which privacy was needed.

In this extract then, we see that Squealer has taken the sheep away from everyone else.

That's very similar to what Napoleon did with the puppets earlier in the story.

And Squealer has said that he's teaching the sheep a new song.

So true or false again, shouting out at the screen for me Squealer is spending lots of time with the sheep to make them work harder.

True or false, nice and loud.

Excellent.

That is false.

Squealer is spending so much time with the sheep to teach them a new song.

So it's not to make them work harder, it's to teach them a new song.

Here is the next extract then.

It was just after the sheep had returned on a pleasant evening when the animals had finished work and were making their way back to the farm buildings, that the terrified name of a horse sounded from the yard Startled, the animals stopped in their tracks.

It was Clover's voice.

She neighed again, and all the animals broke into a gallop and rushed into the yard.

Then they saw what Clover had seen.

It was a pig walking on his hind legs.

Yes, it was Squealer.

And a moment later, out from the door of the farmhouse came a long file of pigs, all walking on the hind legs.

And finally, there was a tremendous baying of dogs and a shrill crowing from the black Cockerel, and out came Napoleon himself, majestically upright, casting haughty glances from side to side, and with his dogs gambolling around him.

He carried a whip in his trotter.

This is what the animals are shocked about.

All of a sudden, all of the pigs are walking on their hind legs.

They are upright and walking on two legs And the animals start to protest.

They've been used to a lot of broken rules with living in the farmhouse and sleeping in the beds and trading with humans.

And there's always been an answer from Squealer.

Squealer has always been able to explain it and the animals see this and they see that Napoleon, the Squealer, the other pigs are walking on two legs.

They're walking like humans and they don't like it.

But as they're protesting and they're starting to kick up a fast and say, this isn't right, this is what happens.

But just at that moment, as though at a signal, all the sheep burst out into a tremendous bleating of Four legs good, two legs better, four legs good two legs better, four legs good, two legs better.

It went on for five minutes without stopping.

Benjamin felt a nose nuzzling at his shoulder.

He looked around, it was Clover.

Her old eyes looked dimmer than ever.

Without saying anything, She tugged gently at his mane and led him round to the end of the big barn.

Where the seven commandments were written For a minute or two, they stood gazing at the tatted wall with its white lettering.

"My sight is fading."She said finally "But it appears to me that that wall looks different.

Are the seven commandments the same as they used to be Benjamin?" There was nothing there now, except a single commandment.

It ran.

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.

Here then we can see what Napoleon and the pigs have done.

They've got rid of the seven commandments.

They've just destroyed the rules.

instead of worrying about changing them, they think let's just get rid of them.

There's no rules anymore.

Except for this one.

For this one single commandment.

And it used to say, all animals are equal.

It used to be commandment number seven all animals are equal, the message the Old Major gave.

But now it says all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.

So this idea that some animals are more equal than others can something be more equal than something else? If the definition of equal is being the same, that doesn't make any sense.

What I'd like you to do, is answer these questions in full sentences.

Why was Squealer spending so much time with the sheep? What did the pigs do Which shocked the other animals? What or who interrupts the animals protesting? And what has the seventh commandment been changed to? Pause the video onto all four questions in full sentences.

Try your best to do it from what you remember.

But if you want to rewind and have a look at some of the extracts, then please do so.

And then when you have four answers that you're happy with press play and we'll have a look at the answers together.

Good luck.

Here are some examples of what you might have included in your answers.

Number one, Squealer is spending so much time with the sheep to teach them a new song.

You may have added something on here because we actually discover in the later extract that Squealer is teaching them to change what they usually say.

We used to the sheep interrupting by saying four legs good, two legs bad.

But now we discover that when the animals are walking when the pigs, sorry, are walking on two legs the sheep are now saying four legs good, two legs better.

So we now know why Squealer was spending so much time with them.

It was to teach them a new phrase rather than a new song.

So you may have added that into your answer, which would be brilliant.

What did the pigs do which shocked the other animals? The pigs start walking on two legs.

Again, you might have added information and said that the pigs are becoming like humans.

That would be brilliant.

If you could add that in.

Number three, the sheep stopped the animals protesting by repeating four legs good, two legs better And by the sheep changing what they say, that's going to make the animals question their memories again.

Do they remember that? The thing that the sheep said? Do they remember that being four legs good, two legs bad? Or have the sheep always said four legs good, two legs better? We know as readers, what the truth is all wells using dramatic irony, The animals they're not sure.

And finally, what has the seventh commandment changed to? It has been changed to some animals are more equal than others, which it doesn't make sense.

Here is the propaganda that Squealer is using.

We've gone from the sheep, same four legs good, two legs bad, two full legs good, two legs better.

He's taught the sheep to say that two legs are better so that when the pigs appear walking on two legs the animals will think it's always been acceptable.

The pigs walking on two legs, isn't some happy accident that they've just suddenly started doing.

The fact that squealer has been training the sheep to change what they say for a week suggests that the pigs have been practising this.

That they've been working hard at trying to walk on two legs.

And also that part of them knew the animals wouldn't be happy with it.

And that's why they've trained the sheep to say this to stop the animals, questioning it.

And so they can walk on two legs and it's just acceptable for everyone.

I'd like you to complete this lesson by finishing the sentences As you can see on the screen when the animals see the new commandment, the only commandment now, how will they feel? I want you to think about how they would feel.

I think we can all agree would it be a positive feeling? I don't think there'll be very happy or excited.

Maybe they'll be confused.

Maybe they'll be angry but it's going to be a fairly negative emotion.

I would like you to fill in the gap in both sentences.

And then you'll notice that the first one has because and the second one has but.

When the animals see the commandment they will feel angry, sad, confused, because finish that off.

Second one, when the animals see the commandment they will feel sad, angry, confused but finish that one off.

Pause the video, have a go at these two sentences and then press play when you're ready for some answers.

And here are some ideas about what you could have included.

When the animal see the commandment, they will feel confused because they have always been told that they are all equal.

And now they're being told something different.

When the animals see the commandment they will feel confused, but will not say anything because they are not a 100% sure of their memories due to Squealer's propaganda and their poor literacy.

Let's not forget that they can't all read and write.

So they won't be a 100% sure of what the first commandments were.

And so they won't feel comfortable to speak up and protest because they can't prove what it was originally.

If your answers include the same ideas as mine, that's brilliant.

If your answers are completely different then I would recommend reading my answers and just adding some of these ideas to your own.

If you extended your answers and you included things like quotations or references to the rest of the text, that's absolutely brilliant.

But as long as you have some kind of sentences you should be really proud of yourself and think that you've done some really good work today.

That's the end of our lesson 23.

So we're left with our final lesson on animal farm.

The pigs have started walking on two legs.

All of the commandments are gone to be left with just one.

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

So join me for our last lesson on animal farm to find out how the story ends.

Well done for everything you've done today.

And I look forward to seeing you for our final lesson together.

See you soon.