To analyse a character (Jeff)

Key Stage 2

English

There's A Boy In The Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar

﻿Hi there. My name is Mr Byrne-Smith. In today's lesson, we're going to be doing some reading together. This is lesson three of five on "There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom." Please go and watch lessons one and two if you haven't done that yet. In today's lesson we're going to be analysing a character again. This time we'll be analysing Jeff. So, let's make a star. Here's the agenda for today's lesson. First we're going to do some pre-vocabulary. Then we'll read the text. After that we'll do some text analysis. Finally, we'll summarise what we've learned so far. In this lesson, you will need and exercise book or paper, a pencil, and of course, your brain. If you need to go and get any of these things, pause the video now. Okay, let's do some pre-vocabulary. We're going to look at some words, which will help us understand what we read today. The first word we're going to look at is "adjust." Adjust. I'm going to put it in a sentence. What I'd like you do to is listen to the sentence carefully, and then see if you can define this, which means, "Explain what it means." Now, "adjust" is a verb. Let's hear the sentence. "She adjusted slightly in order to get comfortable." Okay, so I'd like you to think about what it might mean. We're going to hear another sentence in a second, but for now, pause the video. Okay, you might be on to this. You might be on the right tracks. Let's hear another sentence. "If we adjust our attitude a bit, we'll all get on fine." "If we adjust our attitude a bit, we'll all get on fine." Now, if you want to tweak your definition slightly, now is a good time to do it. And you can pause the video. If not, let's think about what this word means. Now, when you adjust, you change slightly in order to fit in better. In order to fit in more comfortably. So you might adjust physically in your chair. That's a small change that you make in order to improve your situation slightly. You might adjust your attitude. A small change in order to improve it. There are other things you could adjust too. Some of which we'll see today. Next word. "Tremble." "Tremble" is also a verb. Once again, I've put it into a sentence. I'd like you to use this sentences to see if you could come up with a definition. "His hand trembled as he reached out. "His hand trembled as he reached out." Okay, pause the video and have a think. Okay, let's have another sentence. See if it improves our definition. "Her voice trembled slightly with fear. "Her voice trembled slightly with fear." Okay, so. What do you think it means? The word "trembled" means to shake or wobble slightly. And your body can tremble, things can tremble, a leaf might tremble in the wind. Also, your voice can tremble. "Her voice trembled slightly with fear." Mine did, just there. People's voices often tremble if they're sad, about to cry, or if they're scared of something. When you've lost confidence in yourself. Okay. Time for us to read the text. Chapter six, so we've had to skip ahead here to chapter six, but it's a really good one. It's a really good one. So don't worry too much. "Jeff Fishkin was hopelessly lost. "He clutched his hall pass "as he looked down the long empty corridor. "The school seemed so big to him. "He was supposed to see the new counsellor. "She was supposed to help him "'adjust to his new environment.' "Now he not only didn't know how to get to her office, "he had no idea how to get back "to Mrs. Ebbel's class either. "The floor was slippery. "It started raining during recess "and the kids had tracked water and mud inside with them. "A teacher carrying a stack of papers stepped out of a door "and Jeff hurried up to her. "'Can you tell me where the counselor's office is, please?' "he asked. "His voice trembled. "The teacher first checked to make sure he had a hall pass. "Then she said: 'The counselor's office, let's see. "Go down this hall to the end, turn right, "and it's the third door on your left.' "'Thank you very much' said Jeff. "He started to go. "'No, wait,' said the teacher. "'That's not right, she's in the new office "in the other wing. "Turn around and go back the way you just came, "then turn left at the end of the hall "and it's the second door on your right.' "'Thank you,' Jeff said again. "He walked to the end of the hall, turned right, "counted to the second door on his left, "and pushed it open. "A girl with red hair "and a freckled face was washing her hands at the sink. "When she saw Jeff, her mouth dropped open. "'What are you doing in here?' She asked. "'Huh?' Jeff uttered. "'Get out of here!' She yelled. "'This is the girls' bathroom!' "Jeff froze. "He covered his face with his hands, "then dashed out the door. "'There's a boy in the girls' bathroom!' "the girl screamed after him. "He raced down the hall. "Suddenly his feet slipped out from under him. "He waved his arms wildly as he tried to keep his balance, "then flopped down on the floor. "'Oh no, no, no, oh, no, no, no' he groaned. "'What have I done? "'Oh, why didn't I just read the sign on the door? "'This is the worst day of my whole life!' "Suddenly he realised "he was no longer holding the hall pass. "He stood up and frantically looked around. "'Don't tell me I dropped it in the girls' bathroom.' "He heard someone coming "and hurried off in the opposite direction. "He rounded the corner, "then spotted what looked like some kind of storage room. "It was cluttered with boxes. "He ducked inside and closed the door behind him. "'Hello,' said a voice. "He spun around. "A woman stepped done off a yellow ladder. "'You must be Jeff,' she said. "'I'm Carla Davis.' "She smiled and held out her hand. "'I'm so glad you've come. "'I was afraid you might get lost.'" Okay, that's the end of the chapter. What a good chapter. That's the chapter the book's named after. "There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom." Okay, let's do some text analysis. We're going to think about this text of ours. We're going to analyse it slightly. And we're mostly going to consider Jeff as a character. We're going to think about him as a character. What he's like. And think about some of the decisions he's made in that chapter. So, let's just remind ourselves of this part of the chapter. This is the first chunk of text. "Jeff Fishkin was hopelessly lost. "He clutched his hall pass "as he looked down the long empty corridor. "The school seemed so big to him. "He was supposed to see the new counsellor. "She was supposed to help him "'adjust to his new environment.' "Now he not only didn't know how to get to her office, "he had no idea how to get back "to Mrs. Ebbel's class either." So we're going to focus on why Jeff was going to see the school counsellor in the first place. So let's have a think about it. We have text here, from which we can extract evidence. Which is what we're going to be trying to do this whole lesson long. We're going to be trying to use the text to explain all our decisions. Louis Sachar leaves behind clues in his text. Some of them are very obvious, some of them less so. These clues explain to us what his characters are like. And what they do in certain situations. I'd like you to have a careful look at this text. And answer, "Why was Jeff going to see the school counsellor?" Pause the video now. Okay. Jeff was going to see the school counsellor because she was meant to help him adjust to his new environment. This is explained quite clearly in the text. "He was supposed to see the new counsellor. "She was supposed to help him "'adjust to his new environment.'" Okay, we're going to look at that phrase. And it contains the word "adjust." Which is the word we looked at earlier in the lesson, so we're in a really good position to get to the bottom of this. Now, we're going to think about why Jeff needs to adjust to his new environment. Is it because he's in a new school? Is it because something has changed at home? Or is it because he's met Bradley? Has meeting Bradley brought this on? Have a think of those three options. Pause the video. Okay. It's because he's in a new school. That's the new environment that's mentioned. Now, something might've changed at home, which might've created a new environment for him, but actually we don't know that. We haven't been given any clues or evidence to suggest that. So our best bet is "new school." Obviously "meeting Bradley" is quite significant and it definitely would've changed his environment. But he's unlikely to go to the counsellor about it after having just met him one time. Next piece of text. "A teacher carrying a stack of paper stepped out of a door "and Jeff hurried up to her. "'Can you tell me where the counselor's office is, please?' "he asked. "His voice trembled." How did Jeff feel when he asked the teacher for directions and how do you know? Pause the video now. Okay. We have one big piece of evidence. This. "His voice trembled." This tells me that he's probably feeling nervous, or anxious, or even stronger than that. Perhaps he's feeling scared. He's feeling scared, nervous, and anxious because he's in a situation where he doesn't know what to do. We've all been in a situation like that, where you feel as though you're a bit lost and you don't know what to do. And it is nerve wrecking, it makes you nervous, it makes you anxious. As we've discussed earlier, when your voice trembles, it suggest that you're nervous, anxious, sad, maybe scared. So I think that explains perfectly here how Jeff was feeling. Question is, "Why would Jeff be feeling like this?" Why is he feeling nervous? Pause the video now. Okay, so he's in a new school, he's in a completely new environment, and he's lost. When you get to a new school, you try and fit in. You try and get used to your surroundings. And you don't really don't want too much of the wrong type of attention. Getting lost, possibly, could be considered the wrong type of attention, certainly on your first day. Next piece of text. "He walked to the end of the hall, turned right, "counted to the second door on his left, "and pushed it open. "A girl with red hair "and a freckled face was washing her hands at the sink. "When she saw Jeff, her mouth dropped open." Her mouth dropped open. What does this tell us about her? How's she feeling? Is she feeling fear, happiness, or shock? Have a careful think, pause the video now. Okay. This is telling us that she's feeling shock. Your mouth dropping open, is a sign of shock. It can be a sign of fear as well. However, she's unlikely to be scared of the situation, she's more likely to be completely shocked because a boy's just walked into the girls' bathroom. It's not an indication of happiness. Your mouth does other things when you're happy, but it doesn't really drop open. It breaks into a big smile. So Jeff's made this mistake. We're going to think about how he feels about this mistake that he's made. And actually, there is lots and lots of evidence in the text explaining how he feels. I'd like you to find evidence in this piece of text to prove your answer. I'm going to read it out loud first. "Jeff froze. "He covered his face with his hands, "then dashed out the door. "'There's a boy in the girls' bathroom!' "the girl screamed after him. "He raced down the hall. "Suddenly his feet slipped out from under him. "He waved his arms wildly as he tried to keep his balance, "then flopped down on the floor." How did he feel about his mistake? Where's the proof? Pause the video now. Okay. In terms of how he felt, I think you could say he felt embarrassed. He felt horrified, he felt flustered. He probably mostly just felt a bit silly. And when you feel silly and a bit flustered, you start to behave in peculiar ways. You find it hard to stay calm, you find it hard to stay where you are, you find it hard to relax. And Jeff's found it hard too, because look what he's done. Jeff rose, first he just froze, and bear in shock. Then he covered his face with his hands. That to me looks like a sign of? Embarrassment. Then he dashed out the door. So he didn't just walk calmly out of the door. He dashed out of there, he wanted to get out of there as quick as he could. Raced down the hall. Arms waved wildly. Now of course, he's falling, but the fact that he's running so much and he's waving about so wildly, suggest to me that he's quite flustered and he's not really thinking straight. And then he flopped done on the floor as though it's a final sign of how he's feeling. Just completely exasperated. He doesn't know what to do. Next piece of text. "Suddenly he realised he was no longer "holding the hall pass. "He stood up and frantically looked around. "'Don't tell me I dropped it in the girls' bathroom.'" Why does Jeff say this? "Don't tell me I dropped it in the girls' bathroom." Why does he say that? Pause the video and have a think. Okay. Now for this answer, what I'd like you to do, is I'd like you to really expand on your answer. By writing it down. I'm looking for more than just a few words here, I'm looking for at least a sentence. Explaining why Jeff says this. I'm going to give you a chance again to pause the video. Pause the video now. Okay. Now I've had a go answering this. "Jeff says this because he has realised "that he will have to go back to the bathroom "to get the pass, "or he will get in trouble for not having it." He doesn't like either of these options. He's kind of realised he's got two options. He can leave it where it is, in which case he'll get in trouble for not having it. Or he can go back and get it. Why is that a bad option? Going back to get it in the girls' bathroom. The thing that caused all of these problems in the first place. Doesn't sound so good to me. Okay, we've got three phrases here. They're true or false phrases. In your opinion, so you need to help me answer these. The fist is, "Jeff is brave and confident. "Even on his first day of school." Next is, "Jeff is anxious and keen to do the right thing." Third is, "Since he is new, "Jeff wants to make a good first impression." I'd like you to consider these three phrases carefully. Have a think about whether they're true, or false. And why, how do you know that to be the case? Pause the video now. Okay, so Jeff is brave and confident, even on his first day of school. Well, no, he's not. Certainly not so far. Actually, that's quite natural, not many people are on their first day of school. If somebody was brave and confident on their first day of school, you might even think it was over-confidence. Because it's really natural and normal to have some nerves on your first day of school. Jeff is anxious and keen to do the right thing. Yeah, we've definitely seen that he's anxious, we've seen that in the way his voice trembled when he asked the teacher, for example. And he's keen to do the right thing. We saw that when he was making that difficult decision about what to do with the hall pass. Whether to go back for it or not. He was at least conscious of the fact that he was going to get in trouble if he didn't go and get it. And also, most of us are keen to do the right thing most of the time. Especially on our first day of school. Since he's new, Jeff wants to make a good first impression. Yes, I would say that's definitely true. And that's probably why he's so worried about things going wrong. It's probably why he's feeling so upset about the embarrassing situation in the bathroom. I'm not surprised. Okay, let's summarise what we've learned so far today. So what do you think? How would you describe Jeff's first day of school so far? I want you to use one of these four adjectives and then explain your choice. Using this sentence, "Jeff's day has been mm, because..." We've got lots of evidence to back up any decision we make. These are our four options, "chaotic", "embarrassing", "stressful", "strange." Okay, pause the video now. Okay. Now all four of those work, so whichever you chose will have worked to some extend. The key there is the justification. As always, explaining our choices. So, what next? What do you think the girl in the bathroom will do? What do you think the girl in the bathroom will do next? She's just have this boy walked in. This brand new kid at school walk into the bathroom while she's washing her hands. What is she going to do next? Pause the video. Okay. Congratulations, that's the end of the lesson. We've done a lot today. We've done some pre-vocabulary, we've read the text, done some text analysis, and we've summarised what we've learnt. Well done for your hard work. You've completed the lesson.

To analyse a character (Jeff)

To analyse a character (Jeff)

No lesson available

Lesson appears in

UnitEnglish / There's A Boy In The Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar

English