To read a text and make inferences (Part 1)

Key Stage 2

English

The Giant's Necklace by Michael Morpurgo

﻿Hello, it's me, Ms. Henman. Today we are going to be continuing with reading our text, "The Giant's Necklace". I hope you are ready, let's get ready to go. Let's go through our agenda for today. First, we are going to recap what we already know from our previous lesson. Then we are going to read the text and answer some questions. And finally, we are going to respond to the text by considering a character's perspective. For this lesson, you will need an exercise book or paper, a pencil or a pen, and you will need your brain. So to help your brain, you need to be in a quiet space, and make sure there aren't any distractions. You can pause the video now, whilst you either setup your workspace or go and get those items. Otherwise, let's get going. Okay, I would like you to pause the video, and have a go at answering these questions independently. Thinking back to our previous lesson. Off you go. Well done! There was one word that was really tricky to read, there. That word begins with "p". Protagonist. Excellent. If you've forgotten what a protagonist is, it's the main character. So if you couldn't answer that question, you can pause the video again, now, and see if you can do it. Otherwise, let's look at the answers. Who is the author of "The Giant's Necklace"? Michael Morpurgo. Who is the protagonist? A girl called Cherry. And where is the book set? You might've had a few different answers, for this. You could've said "In England", you could've said "By the sea", you could've said "In Cornwall". So I wrote, "By the sea, in Cornwall". Give yourself a pat on the back if you remembered those things. Don't worry if you didn't, because now you do. So we're going to begin by reading the beginning of the book, and that's going to help us set the scene. Our focus here is going to be on creating meaning, and comprehending the text. And we will do this by looking at the meaning of the language, retrieving information from the text as we read, and thinking about and answering questions which require inferences to be made. So we're going to be doing lots of things as we read the beginning of this text. So this is your reading warmup. I would like you to pause the video, and have a go at reading this independently. If you come across any words you're not sure of, that's fine. I would like you to note them down as you read. Off you go. Excellent, now it's my turn. You can follow with your eyes, or with your fingers. The necklace stretched from one end of the kitchen table to the other, and around the sugar bowl at the far end and back again, stopping only a few inches short of the toaster. The discovery on the beach of a length of abandoned fishing line draped with seaweed had first suggested the idea to Cherry; and every day of the holiday since then had been spent in one single-minded pursuit, the creation of a necklace of glistening pink cowrie shells. She had sworn to herself and to everyone else that the necklace would not be complete until it reached the toaster; and when Cherry vowed she would do something, she invariably did it. So we're just going to check our vocabulary, that we understand all the words in this paragraph. You've noted down some words, and I think I may have guessed what they were. So the first one: diminutive. My turn, your turn. Diminutive. Diminutive. Excellent. I hear the word "min" in that word. If I break it up, di-min-utive. I can hear that word, "min", which makes me think of miniature, or a minute. Something small. And that's exactly what diminutive means, it means extremely small. Their particular targets were her size, which was diminutive compared with theirs. So, in comparison to her brothers, Cherry was very small. Scornful, my turn your turn. Scornful. Excellent. Let's read the sentence, but just cover up that word. I'm going to say "mmm" instead of that word. Her dark flashing eyes that could wither with one "mmm" look. Might have an idea what that word means? By covering up that word, and reading around it? It means, disgust, anger, contemptuous. So, let's re-read the sentence with one of those words. Her dark flashing eyes that could wither with one disgusted look. With one angry look. And wither means when something dries up, like a tree might wither in the heat. So her brothers might wither and shrink with one of her scornful looks, disgusted looks, angry looks. Now we've got our third and final word, interminable. Inter-min-able. Your turn? Hmm, can you hear a word within a word, there? I can maybe see the word terminate, or terminal? For example, an airport terminal? Although the teasing was interminable, it was rarely hurtful. Interminable means endless. So terminate means to end. Interminable means endless. Let's reread the sentence with a synonym. Although the teasing was endless, it was rarely hurtful. Excellent, let's move on. Okay, quick retrieval question for you. Pause the video whilst you look for the answer. How old is Cherry? Off you go. Did you find it, in the text? It's a retrieval question, which means it's in there. Eleven years before. Since she was born eleven years before. So Cherry is eleven years old. Another retrieval question, here. But also with a focus on language. Find and copy a word which shows the brothers were always mocking Cherry. You might not be 100% sure on what the word "mocking" means. It sort of means being unkind, in a friendly way. Can you pause the video, and look really hard for that word? Off you go. All right, did you find it? You may not have. Teasing. So teasing and mocking have similar meanings. Teasing can be really serious, or it can be in a playful manner. Although the teasing was interminable, it was rarely hurtful. Do you think it's really serious teasing, or do you think it's playful? Say it to the computer screen now. Interesting, wonder why you think that? My next question is, why is Cherry's reaction to her brothers' teasing a 'huge delight' to them? Huge delight is in inverted commas, which means it's a direct quote from the text. So your strategy, to help you with this question, is to find the phrase 'huge delight' in the text, and then read that sentence. You also might want to read the sentence before, and the sentence afterwards, to help you comprehend the whole paragraph. I'd like you to pause the video, and have a go now. So the first thing you have to do is find the phrase. To their huge delight Cherry reacted passionately to any slight or insult whether intended or not. So their delight was her reaction, and that it was a big reaction, it was a passionate reaction. So what are they hoping to achieve? They're hoping to achieve a reaction from her. And my answer was: Because they wanted a reaction from her. And when they got a reaction, they were delighted. They were happy. Okay, please, can you read the question from the screen? Now, it's my turn. Cherry and her brothers do not have an amicable relationship. Do you agree or disagree? Amicable means friendly and loving. It comes from the Latin word to love. So Cherry and her brothers do not have a friendly and loving relationship. Do you agree, or do you disagree? Show me with your thumbs. Hmm, okay. So you've got an idea. This is a sentence scaffold that might help you. I agree that they do not have an amicable relationship because it says... And then you can find some evidence in the text to back up your opinion. And then you can explain that. Which makes me think that... So, this evidence makes me think that... hmm? Or, do you disagree? I disagree that they do not have an amicable relationship, because it says... hmm? Which makes me think that... hmm? Okay, you need to pause the video. You're going to have to look for evidence in the text, and I would like you to write a full sentence, and you can use the sentence scaffold on the screen. And I would definitely like you to quote a piece of evidence from the text, and to use the word "because". Off you go. Excellent. Now, it's my turn. So I disagree that they do not have an amicable relationship. So I think they do have an amicable relationship. Because it says in the text, "for her brothers adored her; and she knew it." This makes me think that their teasing wasn't intended to upset her, and it wasn't from a place of hatred. Rather, it was from a place of love and it was the dynamic within their family. I have put some other conjunctions here. However, on the other hand, in addition, another point to consider. Do you think you could make another point to build on your sentence that you've written down, or do you think you could make an opposing point by using the phrase "however" or "on the other hand"? I would like you to pause the video now, and have a go. Okay, now it's my turn. Another point to consider is that in the text it says, "she", Cherry, "referred to them as 'the four mistakes'". This makes me think that she also mocked and teased them in a loving way. This joke of hers is referred to as family joke, which makes me think there was a lot of amicable and friendly teasing within this family. You could have written, "However, perhaps some of it was not amicable. "For example, it says in the text, "she gave her brothers 'scornful looks'". Okay, let's move on. We are now going to read the text, and we're going to focus on the mother and daughter. Our focus is to be reading for meaning and comprehending, again. And we're going to be doing that by, once again, looking at the meaning of language, retrieving information, and making inferences. This time, I'm going to read it to you first. You may follow it with your finger or with your eyes. Cherry was poring over her necklace, still in her dressing gown. Breakfast had just been cleared away and she was along with her mother. She fingered the shells lightly, turning them gently until the entire necklace lay flat wit the rounded pink of the shells all uppermost. Then she bent down and breathed on each one of them in turn, polishing them carefully with a napkin. This passage really makes me think that she adores and loves these shells. She's treating them like something very precious. That she cares for them, that they're worth a lot to her. "There's still the sea in them," she said to no one in particular. "You can still smell it, "and I washed them and washed them, you know." So she's sort of in this daydreaming state where she's talking to herself about the shells. That's how obsessed she is. She's in this state of obsession, fixated upon them. Okay, here I would like you to pause the video and read this extract out loud. Off you go. Fantastic reading. So this is a bit of a conversation between her mother and Cherry herself. I would like you to summarise what her mother is saying to her. Can you pause the video and write down the main purpose of this conversation? Off you go. Hmm, I wonder what you wrote? So I think she is trying to persuade and comfort her to stop working on the necklace. So I think Cherry's mother is trying to persuade Cherry to stop making the necklace, but is also comforting her, saying it's lovely as it is, you don't need to be doing more. This is my evidence: She put her arm around her, to me that's quite a loving and comforting gesture. "Why don't you call it a day, dear?" So she's asking her questions, giving her a way to opt out. So to choose to no longer continue. Can you find another question that she asks her? Did you find it? Keep looking! Excellent. "It's long enough already, surely?" She's also said, "you must be tired of it by now". So she's narrating what's happening to her daughter. Come on, you must be exhausted. And, "We all think it's a fine necklace". So she's trying to convince her this isn't just her own opinion as her mother, but also what the rest of the family thinks. So now the conversation continues, and I would like you to read it out loud to yourself. You might try and challenge yourself by using a voice for her mother, and a different voice for Cherry. Remembering her mother is almost pleading and trying to persuade her to do something, and Cherry doesn't want to, she's not interested. So that might inform the tone of your voice. Off you go. Excellent, now it's my turn. I'm going to go challenge myself and try and do the same with the tone of my voice. "But they'll take hours to collect, dear," her mother said weakly, recognising and at the same time respecting her daughter's persistence. "Only a few hours," said Cherry, bending over, her brows furrowing critically as she inspected a flaw in one of her shells, "that's all it'll take. "D'you know, there are five thousand, "three hundred and twenty-five shells "in my necklace already? "I counted them, so I know." "Isn't that enough?" Her mother said desperately. "Nope," said Cherry. "I said I'd reach the toaster, "and I'm going to reach the toaster." Can you read the question on your screen, please? Okay, I would like you to find the adverb "weakly", and then think about why the author has used it. Pause the video whilst you do that. Okay, so "her mother said weakly". So the adverb "weakly" is describing the verb "said". Do you think the author used this word because Cherry's mother is unwell, or because her mother knows she won't persuade her daughter? Which one do you think? I think it's she's feeling weak, the way she's saying it is in a weak manner because she knows that her words won't persuade her. Her words are weak in comparison to her daughter's persistence. Can you find another adverb in the text that tells us how Cherry's mother is feeling? You're going to have to pause the video and search really hard. Off you go. Did you find it? I did! "Desperately." So, "Isn't that enough?" her mother said desperately. Again, that adverb does a similar thing. Tells us, as a reader, how her mother is feeling about this conversation. And how her mother knows that, really, she's not going to persuade Cherry. Okay please, can you read this out loud? Off you go. Fantastic reading. Let's summarise what is happening. Hmm... is persuading... hmm... to... hmm? So who is persuading who, here? We've just read a paragraph where Cherry's mother was trying to persuade Cherry to stop collecting shells. What's happening in this paragraph? Who's persuading who? Correct, Cherry is persuading her mother to let her do something. You pause the video, and use my sentence scaffold to write a sentence summarising what this extract is about. Off you go. Fantastic, now it's my turn. Cherry is persuading her mother to let her go down to the beach and to be there by herself so that she can continue collecting her cowrie shells. Can you read the question, please? Okay, now let's read the words. Mysterious, independent, obsessive, headstrong, selfless, funny. I'd like you to pause the video and write down the adjectives that you think are appropriate adjectives to describe Cherry's personality. Off you go. Okay, now I'm going to tell you what I got. I didn't think she's very mysterious. She's quite honest with what she wants, she's not trying to hide secrets. So I didn't think she was mysterious, I didn't think that's an appropriate adjective. I did think she was headstrong. So a synonym for headstrong might be determined, and I do think that she has a strong head about her, that she is determined. I also thought that independent is an appropriate adjective. One piece of evidence to that is that she wants to go to the beach by herself, and that she's happy to do that. I don't think she is selfless. Selfless is when you might sacrifice something of yourself for other people. It's the opposite of selfish. And I don't think she is selfless, because is she were selfless, when her other is trying to persuade her to stop collecting more shells, she would have agreed to do that. I do think she is obsessive. She's obsessed with collecting these shells and finishing the necklace, and she will do anything to do that. And I haven't seen evidence that she's funny, yet. So I don't think that's an appropriate adjective for us to describe Cherry. Perhaps she is these things, perhaps she is also mysterious, selfless, and funny. But I don't think we have read any text that gives us evidence to suggest those adjectives are correct. Okay, we have nearly finished. Why do you think Cherry is so keen to finish making her necklace? I'd like you to pause the video, and answer the question. Off you go. Fantastic. So I think Cherry is so keen to finish making her necklace, this is just my thoughts, we haven't read very much, yet, is because she is determined and is obsessive and she's created this promise, sort of, to herself and therefore she really wants to fulfil that promise to herself. That's my thought. Congratulations! You have completed our second lesson in this guided reading unit. And I look forward to teaching you next time. Have a lovely day, bye!

To read a text and make inferences (Part 1)

To read a text and make inferences (Part 1)

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UnitEnglish / The Giant's Necklace by Michael Morpurgo

English