Exploring themes in 'Mulan'
I can explore the themes within ‘Mulan’ to infer a moral from the story.
Exploring themes in 'Mulan'
I can explore the themes within ‘Mulan’ to infer a moral from the story.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story.
- Identifying the themes within ‘Mulan’ helps us understand the deeper meaning behind the story.
- A moral is a lesson that can be learnt from a story or experience.
- Key themes such as gender roles and the character traits Mulan shows to become a trailblazer help us infer a moral.
- Readers may have different interpretations of a text, its meaning or the moral drawn from it.
Keywords
Theme - a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story
Moral - a lesson that can be learnt from a story or experience
Gender roles - ways in which girls and boys might be expected to behave differently
Trailblazer - a person who is the first to do something; an innovator
Common misconception
Children may find it hard to infer or justify an appropriate moral for the tale.
Ask the children to consider what they think is 'right vs wrong' in the story. Use prompt questions such as, "Do you think that girls should be allowed to do the same things as boys?" or "Do you think that lying is always the wrong thing?"
To help you plan your year 3 english lesson on: Exploring themes in 'Mulan', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 3 english lesson on: Exploring themes in 'Mulan', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 english lessons from the 'Mulan': reading unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need a copy of the 2014 Oxford University Press edition of ‘Mulan' written by Michaela Morgan for this lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
the ability to do something that frightens one; bravery
the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions
having a firm goal and remaining committed to it