Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Rivers, and I'm looking forward to learning with you today.

I'm glad you chose this lesson.

We're going to have a good time working together.

So let's get started.

Welcome to today's lesson.

The lesson is from the unit, Stories: How do different people find deeper meanings? This lesson is called Stories and Deeper Meanings.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to retell and explain stories with a hidden meaning, like the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." You might already know some stories.

Maybe you know lots of stories.

Today's learning is about stories with a hidden message.

These are stories that teach you a lesson or help you to understand something.

Some of today's learning will be new for everyone, so we'll need to work really hard, but I'm here to help, and we can all learn together.

The key words we'll be using today are fable, that means a story that teaches a lesson, and deeper meaning.

That's a hidden message that includes a teaching.

Some of these words might be new to you, so let's practise saying them together.

I'll say the word, and then you say it back to me.

Fable.

Deeper meaning.

Don't forget to listen out for those key words as we go through the lesson.

See how many you can spot.

In the first part of the lesson, we'll be learning about stories and why people like to tell them.

Why do people tell stories? Have you ever asked a big question? Big questions are questions that might puzzle you or questions that are hard to answer.

Here are some examples of some big questions that you might ask.

Where did our world come from? That's a really big question, isn't it? What will make us truly happy? How should we treat other people? I wonder if you've ever thought about any of those questions.

I wonder if you have some ideas for big questions you would like to ask.

Pause the video for a few minutes and think about some big questions that you would like to ask.

Maybe talk to somebody near you and see if you can think of some good ideas.

Did you come up with some good questions? I'm sure you did.

Do you like stories? I love stories.

I love reading stories, and I love listening to them.

Stories are a lot of fun, aren't they? But stories can also help people to think about how they live their lives and what's the best way to live.

And some stories can help us to answer big questions, a bit like the ones we were talking about earlier.

Some stories can help people to think about how they treat others.

Do you recognise the stories in these pictures? Pause the video for a moment and have a think and see if you know these stories.

So the picture on the left is from the story of the hungry stranger.

You can see in the picture that there's a man and his wife are sharing food with a stranger who is hungry and who needs it.

And on the right is a picture from the parable of the Good Samaritan.

And in the picture, you can see that the Samaritan is helping the injured man.

He's put him on the donkey and he is showing care to him.

I wonder if you recognise these stories.

We've seen these pictures already.

Some religious stories have a deeper meaning that gives a message all about life and how to live it.

The story on the left, the story of the hungry stranger, reminds Muslims that they should share and be kind to others, even if they don't have very much themselves.

The people in the picture had to be kind to the stranger, even though they didn't have much food to share.

The story on the right, The Good Samaritan, reminds Christians to be kind and caring to everybody, whether they're friends with them or not.

This is a really important story for Christians.

I wonder if you have any stories that are important to your family.

Maybe you have some special stories that you like to tell at home.

Here's Aisha, she has heard the story of the hungry stranger at school, and she liked it.

She remembers the story, and she especially liked the part where the people were eating their meal in the dark and the man and his wife were pretending that they had some food when their plates were really empty.

Izzy liked the parable of the Good Samaritan.

She especially liked the part of the story where the Samaritan was kind to the man who was hurt.

So let's see what we've learned so far.

So this is a true or false question, so get your thumbs ready to show me true or false.

Stories are told just for fun.

Is that true or false? Have a think.

That's right.

It's false.

Lots of stories have a deeper meaning that contains a message about life or something to learn.

Well done if you've got the right answer.

You might know all about fairy stories and traditional tales.

A fable is also a type of story.

It's a short story that teaches a lesson.

You have to listen carefully to a fable to see what the story is really about.

Some fables are very, very old.

Aesop's fables were written a very long time ago, over 2,000 years ago in ancient Greece.

Lots of Aesop's fables are very well known, and they are still told today.

Aisha and Izzy know some of Aesop's Fables.

Aisha knows the story of the hare and the tortoise and the fable of "The Ant and the Grasshopper." Izzy knows some fables about animals too.

She knows "The Lion and the Mouse" and "Town Mouse and Country Mouse." I wonder if you know any of these fables, or maybe you know some different ones.

Pause the video and think about fables that you might know or talk to somebody near you and see if you can remember any.

So let's see if you've been listening carefully so far.

Here's a question for you.

What is a fable? Is it A, a short story from ancient Greece? Is it B, a short story about animals? Or is it C, a short story that teaches a lesson? Pause the video while you think about your answer.

That's right.

The answer is C.

A fable is a short story that teaches a lesson.

I hope you got that one right.

Some fables and stories teach lessons about life.

Sometimes it's easier to learn a difficult lesson by listening to a story because the story is fun to listen to, and maybe it helps you to remember the lesson and the hidden message.

Aesop wrote a fable called "The Ant and the Grasshopper," and this fable teaches a difficult lesson.

So I'm going to tell you the story, so get comfortable so that you can enjoy the words and the pictures.

"The Ant and the Grasshopper." One hot summer's day, Grasshopper sat on a blade of grass, enjoying the sunshine.

"What a lovely day," he said.

"The sun's shining, and I've got plenty of grass to eat." The grasshopper spent the whole morning eating grass.

Then he settled down to sing a song.

An ant walked past.

Ant was very busy carrying food to his nest.

He did not have time to sing and make music.

"What are you doing?" said the grasshopper.

"Why are you working so hard on a lovely sunny day like today?" "I'm storing food," said the ant.

I need to get ready for the winter.

"Winter won't come for ages," said the grasshopper.

"It's summer now.

Why worry about the winter? Come and sing and make music with me while the sun is shining." "I can't," said the ant.

"I must store up food for the winter." "Please yourself," said the grasshopper.

"I'm going to enjoy the summer, eat grass, sleep, make some music.

What a fine life.

I'm not going to waste my time working like that silly ant." Winter came, the grasshopper was so cold, too cold to sing and make music, and he was hungry.

He spent all day looking for something to eat.

Suddenly, he remembered the ant.

He went to knock on the door of the ant's nest.

"Hello, Ant," he shivered.

"Remember me? I'm cold and hungry," said the grasshopper.

The ant remembered how the grasshopper had teased him for working hard in the summer.

"It's warm in our nest, and we have plenty of food," said the ant.

"Will you give me some of your food?" asked the grasshopper.

I wonder what you think the ant is going to say.

Shall we finish the story and find out? "I'm sorry," said the ant.

"If you had stored some food instead of singing songs and making fun of me, then you would have enough to eat now." So the end of the story, in Aesop's fable, the ant tells the grasshopper to go away and says that he won't help.

The ant says that the grasshopper should have worked harder in the summer when there was time to store some food for the winter.

The ant thinks that the grasshopper shouldn't have been making music and singing.

He should have been working.

The message of the fable of "The Ant and the Grasshopper" is to plan carefully for the future and finish your work before you play.

The ant worked hard and planned carefully, didn't he? But the grasshopper didn't want to work.

He just wanted to sing and play and make music.

What do you think about the deeper meaning of the story? I wonder if you can think of another ending to the story.

Do you think maybe the ant could have done something different? Pause the video and think about a different ending.

Maybe talk to somebody near you and see what ideas you can come up with.

So now's another chance to show what you've learned and remembered from today's lesson.

Can you complete this sentence? The message of the fable of "The Ant and the Grasshopper" is.

Is it A, to share your toys, B, to finish your work before you play, or C, to plan for the future? Think carefully and see if you can pick two answers to this one.

Pause the video while you think.

That's right.

There were two answers.

The message of the fable of "The Ant and the Grasshopper" is to finish your work before you play and to plan for the future.

Well done if you spotted both of those answers.

Aisha and Izzy are talking all about the deeper meaning of the fable of "The Ant and the Grasshopper," and they have some different ideas.

Aisha thinks the ant was right to say no to the grasshopper when he asked for food.

The grasshopper should have worked harder.

Izzy has a different idea.

She says the ant should have been kind and helped the grasshopper even though he was lazy.

So now it's your turn to do some work.

I'd like you to think about what Aisha and Izzy have said.

Do you agree with Aisha, or do you agree with Izzy? Decide who you agree with, and then explain your ideas and explain what you think.

So pause the video while you do some writing, and I'll look forward to finding out what you've written later.

I think you've worked really hard and done some good thinking.

Here are some ideas of the sort of thing you might have said.

You might have said something like this.

I agree with Aisha because the ant did all the hard work in the summer, even though it was sunny and he might have wanted to play instead.

Well, maybe you agreed with Izzy.

You might have said, I agree with Izzy because the grasshopper is hungry, and he needs help.

The ant should forgive him for his mistake.

I wonder what ideas you thought of.

Maybe you had some different things to say.

Well done for working hard and for doing some good thinking.

In the second part of the lesson, we're going to hear another fable.

This fable is called the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." And we're going to be thinking about what is the meaning of the story.

The story of "The Boy who Cried Wolf" is another one of Aesop's well-known fables.

It's a story with a hidden message, and the hidden message gives the deeper meaning of the story.

So you have to listen really carefully to it to see if you can work out what the story is about.

When people tell the fable of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" or if they say somebody is crying wolf, they want the listener to understand the deeper meaning of the story and to understand what it's about.

So I'm going to tell you the story, so you need to get comfortable, ready to listen, and enjoy the words and the pictures.

The story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." There was once a boy who helped the shepherd to look after some sheep.

He took some of the sheep up to the hills where they could feed on the grass.

His job was to keep the sheep safe and watch out for wolves.

The boy had to watch the sheep all day long.

It was very, very boring.

One day, the boy got so bored that he decided to play a trick.

"Wolf, wolf!" he shouted.

"There's a wolf coming!" He rang his bell and called out for help.

"Help, help! There's a wolf!" When they got there, there was no wolf.

The boy laughed at them and said he had been playing a trick.

"You should not tell lies," said the villagers, and they went back to the village.

So here's a quick check to see if you were listening carefully.

This is true or false.

So get your thumbs ready to show me true or false.

The boy shouted for help because there was a wolf attacking the sheep.

Is that true or false? Have a think for a minute.

That's right.

It's false.

The boy was playing a trick.

He was shouting for help, but there was no wolf.

The next day, the boy was bored again.

He decided to play his trick again.

He shouted, "Wolf, wolf!" and rang his bell.

The villagers rushed up the hill again to help save the sheep.

The boy laughed at them.

"There's no wolf," he said.

This time, the villagers were very angry with the boy.

"You must not tell lies," they shouted.

"You have wasted our time," and then they went angrily back down to the village.

Later that day, a big, scary wolf came into the field.

The boy saw the wolf with its fierce eyes and sharp teeth.

He was frightened.

He shouted, "Wolf, wolf!" But this time, no one came.

He kept shouting and ringing his bell.

"Help, help!" he shouted, "Wolf, wolf!" No one came to help.

The shepherd and the other villagers heard the boy shouting.

They thought he was playing his trick again.

So they did not run to help this time.

The boy kept shouting, but nobody came.

And the wolf ate some of the sheep.

At the end of the day, the boy told the shepherd what had happened.

"Nobody came when I called for help," wailed the boy.

The shepherd was upset.

"The trouble is," said the shepherd, "no one believes a liar even when they are telling the truth." So here's a quick check to see if you were listening carefully to the story.

Why did no one help the boy when he shouted wolf the third time? Was it A, they did not care about the boy, or B, they did not believe the boy, or C, they did not hear the boy? Pause the video while you have a think about your answer.

That's right, it's answer B.

They did not believe the boy.

They heard him, but they thought he was telling lies again, so they didn't come to help.

Well done if you got that right.

So did you spot the deeper meaning of the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"? The hidden message of this fable is that no one believes a liar.

That means that if you tell lies, people will stop believing you even when you are telling the truth.

Just like the boy in the story, even when he was telling the truth, no one believed him because they thought he was still lying.

So here's another question about the story.

What is the deeper meaning of the fable of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"? Is it A, if you tell lies, no one will help you; or B, if you tell lies, people will stop believing you; or C, if you tell lies, the wolf will catch you? Pause the video while you think about your answer.

That's right.

It's B.

If you tell lies, people will stop believing you.

Well done if you've got the right answer there.

Aisha and Izzy are talking about why some stories have deeper meanings.

Aisha says, I think some stories teach messages that can help people to make sensible choices.

Izzy says, I think stories are just for fun.

They're only for us to enjoy, not to learn from.

What do you think? Do you agree with Aisha or Izzy? Pause the video and think about this for a few minutes.

And if there's someone near to you, you can talk about it with them.

So I wonder if you agree with Aisha or Izzy.

Izzy thinks that stories are just for fun, and she's right, isn't she, that stories are fun and they are really good to listen to, but some stories do have deeper meanings.

They're not all just about having fun.

And Aisha is right, isn't she, that some stories have deeper meanings, and they teach messages, and they're stories that people can learn from.

So some stories are fun, but some stories you need to listen to really carefully to hear the deeper meanings.

I wonder what you thought about.

So now it's time for you to do some thinking and writing.

Can you see the pictures from the story? Can you see the boy looking after the sheep and shouting for help? See if you can put these pictures from the story in the right order.

They're all mixed up at the moment.

And then when you've put the pictures in the right order, your next task is to complete the speech bubble for the shepherd.

Can you see it? The speech bubble is going to show the deeper meaning of the story.

So think about what the shepherd said to the boy at the very end of the story because that's where the hidden meaning of the story is found.

So pause the video while you do your work, and then I'll look forward to seeing what you've written when you've done that.

So how did you get on? Did you manage to put the pictures in order and complete the speech bubble? Let's have a look at the pictures first.

So the first picture is the picture of the boy looking after the sheep right at the beginning of the story when he's feeling really bored watching the sheep, and it's a very long day.

And then the second picture was when he decided to play his trick.

He's shouting, "Wolf, wolf," and ringing his bell, even though there's no wolf coming.

And here's the end of the story where the boy is feeling sorry and sad because the wolf has attacked the sheep, and the shepherd is feeling upset with him.

Did you get those pictures in the right order? Then I wonder what you put in the speech bubble.

So the shepherd is telling the boy that he should not tell lies.

Maybe you wrote something a bit like this.

I did not believe you were telling the truth because you told lies about the wolf before.

If you tell lies, people will stop believing you.

Did you see that I'd put the hidden meaning of the story into the speech bubble? The hidden meaning is if you tell lies, people will stop believing you.

Did you manage to get the hidden meaning into your speech bubble? Maybe you found some different things to write.

Well done for working so hard and doing lots of good thinking.

So we've learned lots of things today about stories and their deeper meanings.

We've learned that people often learn difficult lessons through hearing stories.

We've learned that some stories may have deeper meanings.

and some stories help people to ask and answer big questions about life.

We've learned that Aesop's fables have hidden meanings and hidden messages to teach lessons all about life.

And an example of a fable with a deeper meaning is the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." And another example is "The Ant and the Grasshopper" that we learned about at the beginning of the lesson.

So well done for working so hard today.

I've enjoyed working with you, and I hope to see you again soon.