Hello and welcome to the lesson.

Thank you for joining me.

My name's Mrs. Butterworth and I will be your English teacher for today.

Now today's lesson is called "Decoding a text about travel" and we will be looking at an extract written by the journalist Nellie Bly.

And she is such an incredible and impressive woman.

But I won't tell you any more about that now because we can find out in the lesson.

So let's get started.

So in this lesson, you will decode a 19th-century text and form your own opinions in a discussion.

Before we start the lesson, let's look at some keywords that will appear in the lesson and in the reading for today.

These words are deduce, timidly, elixir, visionary, and informed.

Now the word deduce is one of our reading skills, and this means to reach a conclusion or to form an opinion based on available information or evidence.

So in today's lesson, you may be asked to deduce something.

We also have this word timidly, which appears in our reading, and this means to behave with a lack of courage or confidence or to act shy.

So she asked timidly.

Then we have this lovely word, elixir, which is again in our reading, and this means a magical or medicinal potion, and it can be used metaphorically to describe something highly desirable or life-changing.

So sometimes writers will use that word elixir in a metaphorical way.

And we have this word visionary.

And I think we could possibly describe Nellie Bly, who we will be looking at today, as visionary.

And this is a person with original ideas about what the future will or could be like.

And then informed.

So hopefully today, when you are forming your own opinions, they will be informed, and this means to use evidence and available information to create an opinion.

So this is what our lesson looks like today.

We're going to begin by exploring and reading "Around the World in 72 Days," which is our extract.

This can be found in the additional materials.

So if you haven't already, make sure you've got that extract ready to go.

And then we're going to look at how we can form and discuss opinions on a text.

So let's start with our text "Around the World in 72 Days." Okay, so we have this image here of a very smartly-dressed woman.

And I'd like you to discuss, please, what can you deduce? Remember, we've got that word, keyword deduce there.

So what can you infer or deduce about this woman from how she is dressed? So you might consider how old you think she is? Where do you think she could be going? And how long will she be away for? Okay, so pause the video so you've got time to discuss those questions and I look forward to hearing what you come up with.

Off you go.

Thank you, everyone, for your great discussions.

Lots of you already picking up that this is indeed Nellie Bly, who I mentioned at the start of the lesson, who is the writer of our extract for today.

Now Nellie Bly was an investigative journalist, writing in the 19th century, and she wrote some absolutely amazing articles based on experiences that she put herself through.

So she went to prisons.

She went to hospitals.

So they are well worth looking up and having a read.

But the one we are focusing on today was written around 1889.

And this was inspired by the novel "Around the World in 80 Days" written by Jules Verne.

And what Bly did was she circumnavigated the world in just 72 days, which is amazing, I think.

But what I find even more amazing is what she packed.

Because all she took with her was the dress she was wearing, an overcoat, some changes of underwear, and some toiletries.

That is all.

I mean, I think I take more than that just to go to work every day! (laughs) So I find that just as impressive as her around the world in 72 days.

But what her book is an example of is an example of a travelogue.

So you can tell by the word travelogue, it's got that word travel in there.

So a travelogue is usually based on a person's experiences of travelling.

So the different places they go.

The things they see.

The things they experience.

So it's all to do with travel.

So before we begin reading, I want us to consider the historical context.

So when Bly was writing and what the implications were at that time.

So she took her trip in 1889 and her book was published in 1890.

So we're thinking about the 19th century.

And I want you to discuss, so think about what you already know, maybe some other texts that you have studied.

I'd like you to discuss, please, what was life like for women in the 19th century? What rights did women have? And what were the societal expectations of women at this time? So pause the video so you can discuss those questions.

Or you may wish to think quietly to yourself.

Off you go.

Well done and thank you.

It was so nice to hear lots of you drawing on things that you already knew about this time period.

Drawing on other texts that you have read.

So it's really great that you're bringing that prior knowledge to these discussions.

And we know, as lots of you were saying, that life was very different for women in the 19th century and that women had much fewer rights.

So they weren't allowed to vote.

Education was very different for them.

And the societal expectations of women were very limiting.

So arguably, women were expected to take on a more domestic role, to stay at home, to marry, and not to be travelling around the world, or being that independent.

So all of these things are going to be really important when we consider Nellie Bly and what she reports on.

So, question, Nellie Bly was inspired by Jules Verne's novel Around the World in is it 100 days, 90 days, or 80 days? A, B, or C? Well done to everyone that remembered that it's C, "Around the World in 80 Days." And this is significant because Nellie Bly was influenced by this novel and she in fact beat the 80 days and did it in 72, which is just amazing.

Okay, so now it's over to you.

I would like you to read the extract from "Around the World in 72 Days." So again, if you haven't located this extract yet, it can be found in the additional materials.

So make sure you have that to hand.

And then I'd like you to answer the following questions.

Number one, in the first paragraph, how does Nellie Bly hook her reader in? Number two, Bly compares finding that her journey is possible to the elixir of life.

What does this suggest about her feelings towards the journey? Why does Bly describe her idea as wild and visionary? And why did Bly undertake the trip? Find some evidence to support your answer.

So you'll need to use these sentence starters.

Nellie decided to take the trip because.

And then this can be seen when.

Okay, so is everybody ready to go? Fantastic.

I hope you enjoy reading the article.

And we'll feed back the answers in a moment.

Pause the video and off you go.

Okay, excellent reading! It's so interesting, isn't it? What an amazing woman! And I think this article is really interesting in how it addresses lots of kind of societal issues as well as exploring her own adventures.

And as I said, do check out her other articles.

They're really fantastic.

And even the rest of the book.

Some of her descriptions of being on the ship and the people she encounters are just brilliant.

But let's get back to this extract.

So here is how you could have answered the questions.

So here's some examples.

So the first question is, in the first paragraph, how does Nellie Bly hook her reader in? So you may have picked up on the following.

You may have picked up that she immediately uses a rhetorical question.

So she says, "What gave me the idea?" And this instantly creates curiosity and engages the reader because we want to find out more about the origin of her unique and intriguing plan.

So we want to know more and that question really hooks us in.

The second question.

Bly compares finding that her journey is possible to the elixir of life.

What does this suggest about her feelings towards the journey? So you may have thought that it suggests that Bly, you can sense her excitement.

So she has this profound sense of excitement.

It's the elixir of life.

So it indicates that this journey was really life changing for her.

So it was thrilling.

It was exciting.

And also it goes against all the expectations placed on her as a woman.

So again, this is what I mean about it being a really interesting article.

Yes, it is about her travels, but it's also about so much more.

Why does Bly describe her idea as wild and visionary? So some of you may have picked up on the context of the time because it was unconventional and ambitious, especially for a woman at that time.

So when she brings up this idea to her editor, he's almost quite shocked that she would even entertain the idea.

But also the notion of travelling around the world in such a short period pushed the boundaries of what was considered possible.

So like I keep saying, this article is really good at showing two things, the impossibility of this epic journey around the world, but also Nellie Bly's struggles to make it happen as a woman.

And why did Bly undertake this trip? Find some evidence to support your answer.

So hopefully, you used those sentence starters and you may have come up with something like this.

Nellie decided to take the trip because she was eager to challenge herself and prove that she could beat Phileas Fogg's, who was the character in the book, fictional record of travelling around the world in 80 days.

This can be seen when she confidently tells her editor, "I want to go around the world in 80 days or less.

I think I can beat Phileas Fogg's record." So that's just one reason why she decided to undertake the trip.

You may have something different.

You may have something even better.

But that's just an example of how we could have approached the task.

So excellent work so far.

So now we have read the extract and we've had our introduction to the wonderful Nellie Bly.

We are now going to use this article, this extract to consider how we can form and discuss opinions on a text.

So we're going to really explore this text in a bit more detail.

So when you are reading a text, it is important to be able to form your own opinions and perspectives on a text.

So when doing this, your opinions should be informed and carefully considered.

So we want to hear what you are thinking, but you also need to make sure that your opinions are informed and they're carefully considered.

So they're based on evidence.

They're based on available information.

So what can your opinions be informed by? What should you look to to help you make these carefully-considered opinions? Well, you can look to prior knowledge, and we've done some of that already today in this lesson, haven't we? So you consider what do you already know about the subject or the writer? You can also consider contextual information.

And again, we've done some of that already today in the lesson.

So you might want to consider what the date is of the publication.

In this case, it's 1890.

So we're looking at the 19th century.

And again, what do you know about this period? And we've done that already with this Nellie Bly article, haven't we? Considered women in the 19th century, the expectations.

What their roles were.

And we've brought that to the reading of the text.

And then finally, your opinions can be informed by the writer's use of language.

So you might be thinking about what can be inferred by the writer's choices and what message or ideas are the writer conveying? So you can see all of these things are evidence-based.

You are drawing on particular things to make an informed and carefully-considered opinion.

So let's look at a question that asks your opinion.

So we've got a question here.

Let's read it together.

The editor initially thought of sending a man for the journey around the world.

How far do you think societal views on women at the time influenced this decision? So you can see there, the how far do you think, it's asking directly for your opinion.

So now I would like you to discuss this question, using the question prompts which I will show you in a minute to help you make an informed opinion.

So the question prompts are here.

So I want you to think about prior knowledge.

What do you already know about the subject of exploration and travel? What do you know about women explorers? I want you to consider contextual information.

What do you know about the societal expectations of women in the 19th century? And does this extract conform to or challenge these ideas? So think back to the discussion we had in the first part of this lesson.

And then finally, the writer's use of language.

So how is the editor described? And how does Bly respond? So you have lots of question prompts there to help you discuss the main question.

So just to remind you of your discussion task, discuss this question using the question prompts to help you make an informed opinion, okay? So there is lots to think about there and lots to discuss, and I'm looking forward to hear everything that you come up with.

But you will need to pause the video to give yourself plenty of time to discuss or think quietly to yourself or you may wish to jot down some ideas.

Are we all ready? Fantastic.

Pause the video and get discussing.

Wow! Some very lively discussions there.

Thank you so much.

And I'm already hearing some very informed opinions, which is fantastic.

So can you remind me, please, an informed opinion is, is it A, B, or C? So pick one of these to complete that sentence.

An informed opinion is.

Who's feeling confident? Should we look at the answer? Okay, the answer is B.

So an informed opinion is based on knowledge, facts, and reliable information.

So once you have considered your own opinions on a text, you can develop these ideas into an effective discussion.

So one of the ways you can do this is by using something like ABC.

So what this means is that you choose one of the following.

So in a discussion to respond to someone else, you decide whether you agree with a comment, whether you are going to build on the comment, or whether you are going to challenge the comment.

So when you are considering this, these phrases can also help.

I agree because.

I share the same viewpoint because.

Expanding on this, I would add that.

Another aspect to consider would be.

And then to challenge, I see it differently because.

It's worth questioning whether.

So what these phrases and this idea of agree, build on, or challenge can do is I know sometimes in discussions, it can almost feel quite difficult as to what to say.

You might feel put on the spot.

You might only think you can say yes or no.

But by choosing one of these, I'm going to agree, so I'm going to say, I agree because.

Or I'm going to challenge.

I see it differently because.

It kind of invites you to develop your discussions and say a bit more about your own opinions.

Okay, so we've discussed our ABC, agree, build, or challenge and the phrases that you can use.

So what I would like us to do, we have three discussion comments here and they all use agree, build, or challenge and I would like you to label them, please.

So which one is agreeing, which one is building on, and which one is challenging? Let's read them through together first and then you can think about which one's which.

So the first is, "Expanding on this, the editor struggles to see beyond the societal expectations of women." "I share the same viewpoint because the editor reveals his unwavering support when he says, 'I believe you.

' " "It is worth questioning the motivations of the editor and whether he is simply concerned for Bly's safety, rather than making a decision based on sexist ideas." Okay, so which of these agrees, which builds, and which challenges? Label the comments, please.

Okay, so I'm thinking lots of you feel like you've got the right answer, which is great.

Let's just share the answers.

So this first one is build because it says that expanding on this.

So you can see how it's building on the comment that it's responding to.

This one is agreeing.

I share the same viewpoint because.

So we can see how that agrees with the previous comment.

So this final one must be a challenge.

So it is worth questioning the motivations of.

So we can see here how these have been labelled as agree, build, and challenge.

Great.

Let's keep going and keep up the good work.

So the other thing we need to consider is how an effective discussion will use evidence to develop the points being made.

So once you've informed your opinion, you've thought about how you can discuss them.

Now we want to add some evidence to develop this, these discussions even further.

So one way to do that is to use these phrases.

So you can use these phrases, more specifically, more precisely, and in particular.

So what I'm going to do is, I'm going to show you some examples of how these phrases work to add evidence to your discussions.

So we've got more specifically.

More specifically, the editor's reaction of impossible reveals the limitations placed on women at this time.

So you can see how that really develops your discussion and starts to add layers to your opinions.

Then we've got more precisely.

More precisely, using words like timidly and afraid shows Nellie Bly's understanding that the proposal is unconventional for women.

And then finally, in particular.

In particular, the writer's uses of the phrase terrible verdict and angrily shows her continued frustration with the systemic sexism she endures.

So those phrases can be really effective at adding evidence and developing those informed opinions.

So here we are, our second and final practise task.

So you are going to discuss and debate the statement, using evidence from "Around the World in 72 Days." So let's just read the statement together.

How far do you agree? Bly's gender influenced perceptions of her capability to undertake the journey around the world and her decision to complete the journey.

So in a moment, you are going to discuss and debate that statement, using evidence from the extract, exactly like we have practised throughout this lesson.

So you will need to use the ABC phrases to help your discussions.

So here they are.

But then also don't forget those useful phrases to help you add that all-important evidence.

Okay, so, hopefully you've got everything you need to complete this task.

So in a moment, pause the video, and I look forward to hearing these lively debates.

Off you go.

Oh, well done, everyone! How fantastic was that? It's so nice to see so many of you moving beyond yes or no or just identifying things, and using those phrases to really create rich, developed discussions.

And I loved the inclusion of evidence as well because it shows that your opinions are informed and well thought as well.

So well done, everyone, for using all of those things to make some excellent discussions.

So I'm going to just focus on Izzy for a moment here.

So here is part of Izzy's discussion.

So let's look at it together and we'll read together.

Expanding on this, I would add that Bly's motivation and determination was fueled by her need to prove society wrong.

The extract is as much about her journey in challenging societal expectations, as it is her voyage around the world.

Well, that is an excellent opinion and point made by Izzy there, really great, and it shows that she really understands this dual purpose of the extract as well.

So Izzy has been given a What Went Well and an Even Better If.

So let's look at that.

So the What Went Well, is there a good use of build phrases? So expanding on this, I would add that.

So you can see that she's developing a discussion.

But she could make this even better.

And the way that she could do that is to include evidence from the extract.

So using those phrases such as more precisely or more specifically.

So this is a really great start from Izzy, but she could now make it even better by using one of those more precisely or more specifically phrases to add evidence from the extract.

So I would like you now to think about your own discussions and give yourself a What Went Well and an Even Better If.

Pause the video so you've got time to complete this reflection task.

Okay, off you go.

Well done, everyone.

Some excellent discussions and some excellent reflection happening there.

I really hope you enjoyed your introduction to Nellie Bly.

As I keep saying, she is such an incredible and interesting woman, and her investigative journalism is just amazing.

So just don't leave it here.

Make sure you go and find out more about her and read some more of her articles.

She's fab.

Okay, so what do we know? We know that "Around the World in 72 Days" is an example of a travelogue.

That Nellie Bly challenges societal expectations of women in the 19th century.

That opinions should be informed by available information or evidence.

And that effective discussions will take turns, develop ideas, use evidence, and respond to the other speaker.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

I cannot wait to do this all again in another lesson.

So please do join me for another one soon.

I will see you then.

Goodbye!.