Lesson video

Good morning, everyone, my name is Ms. Madden.

I'm so excited to do today's lesson with you because it's all about reading.

And I love reading, I really, really do.

In fact, one of my favourite things to do in life, is talk with people and young people about their reading, about the books that they enjoy, so that's what today's lesson is all about.

So let's get started.

In today's lesson, we will start off by thinking about what is reading for pleasure? And we're going to have an opportunity for some self-reflections that's you thinking about your own reading experiences, what you like to read? Then, we're going to consider what genre is, what we know about that.

We'll move up into thinking about what is empathy, and then you will have an opportunity to create a 24 hour reading log.

Now, I don't know if you don't know what that means, I'll be teaching you in this lesson.

Let's get started.

In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or some paper to write on ,a pencil or a pen, and of course, your brain for thinking, and in particular, remembering, you're going to be using your memory to think about previous reading experiences, and also what you've read today.

Can you pause the video, and go and get the things you need right now? Well done.

I hope you're in somewhere in a quiet space, ready to concentrate.

So we're going to start off by thinking about reading for pleasure.

So what is reading for pleasure? Have you ever heard someone talk about it, heard that phrase? Sometimes we talk about reading for information, that might be when you're going to write a report, and you are researching and use books and texts to find information, perhaps you're going on holiday somewhere, and you want to find out more about the place that you're going to visit, that might be reading for information or reading to learn.

Sometimes perhaps you read because an adult tells you to, a teacher or a parent or a carer.

When we talk about reading for pleasure, we're talking about reading for meeting's sake, for the pure enjoyment of it.

And that is really important.

So why is reading for pleasure so important? All reading, and beading what we want to, helps us to read more, practise reading, it helps us develop our vocabulary, it feeds our imagination, it makes us feel strong emotions, get excited, feel scared, it helps us to understand how other people live, it can be relaxing.

There are so many reasons why reading for pleasure, and for enjoyment are so important, it's so important.

Why do you think it's important? Can you say out loud? I think that's a great reading too.

So, now's an opportunity to think about what you really enjoy reading.

We're going to do some self reflection.

So you're going to be thinking about your own choices, your own preferences.

Before we think about what you enjoy reading, I'm going to share with you some popular reading choices that might help spark your memory, and help you consider what you like to read.

So, perhaps you enjoy meeting novels, such as Phoenix, which is very, very popular and novel that children read by SF Said.

You might know his Varjak Paw or The Outlaw Varjak Paw, that he wrote, they're also very popular.

There are other novels, such as No Ballet Shoes in Syria by Catherine Bruton.

That's a very popular book, it's very moving.

Perhaps you enjoy reading comics, comics is a kind of reading, the Phoenix is a really popular, great pop comic.

There's also The Simpsons, The Beano, perhaps you have a comic that you really enjoy reading.

This is a comic strip called Calvin and Hobbes.

This is around when I was young and I still love reading it, as does my son.

Perhaps you enjoy reading graphic novels.

So graphic novels are a little like a comic, but they're an extended narrative told through pictures or comic strips, but over a whole narrative.

So the whole novel is told in graphic form.

This is an example of a very popular graphic novel called Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson.

I'm really recommend this text.

Perhaps you enjoy reading annuals, such as this annual Match Annual 2020, about football.

Perhaps you really look forward to getting and reading an annual about your area or hobby of choice.

Perhaps you liked reading non-fiction, such as this book about Coding.

If you enjoy coding in scratch, for example, you might want to read an instruction book like this, that gives you advice and practical on how to make games.

Perhaps says another kind of nonfiction books, such as this animal encyclopaedia that you like to read.

My point here, is that there are all sorts of different texts.

There's no right or wrong kind of reading.

Of these eight texts that I've shown you.

Do you think there's one that you might like to read? If you had to choose which one would you? Could you point to it now, please? I think that's a great choice.

So now hopefully you're ready to think about your personal reading preferences.

Remember, anything goes.

What are texts that you've really enjoyed reading in the past? Perhaps you really like graphic novels, but you also like non-fictional books.

Can you remember any titles that you've really enjoyed? I want you to then pause video, and write them down now.

Well done, what's a list.

If you remember more, remember, you can just pause and let them down.

What's great about thinking about the text that you like to read, is that you can talk to other people about them, and in doing so, you get more enjoyment, talking about what you've liked to read, but also you're having given reading recommendations to others, and often reading recommendations is a great way to find out something new to read.

Okay, now we're going to have to think about genre.

So, what is genre? First of all, let's make sure that we can say it.

"Genre" again, "Genre." Do you know what's it means? Have you had someone talk about it before? If you think you do, please pause the video and say it out loud now.

Fantastic.

Perhaps, you said something like this is.

Genre style or category of art, music or literature.

So today we're thinking about, genres in literature, but you can talk about genres of art, of film, of television or music, is a way of classifying.

So if we thinking about books or texts or literature, what genres are there? Hmm, can you think of any? I'd like you to pause and write down as many as you can think of.

Okay, well done.

Let's have a look at some of my ideas.

Here they are.

Now this is not an exhaustive list.

There are many other genres than those I put here.

These are just some ideas, and different people, sometimes categorise literature in different ways.

I'm just going to talk you through these.

So we have first of all, Biography.

Biography is an account of someone's life, written by another person.

Not to be confused with Autobiography.

Autobiography is written by the person themselves.

Often biographies are very inspiring.

Then we have Historical Fiction.

Historical Fiction is fiction, so it's stories it's made up.

It's something that didn't actually happen, but it's often based in a time period or around an event that did happen in history.

So people who love history find it really fascinating, often enjoy reading Historical Fiction.

Have you read any Historical Fiction? Can you remember what it was called? Tell me now.

Hmm.

Next, we have Science Fiction.

Science Fiction is a genre that involves stories that aren't likely to happen in real life, they're often set in the future, they often involve technology and science.

I wonder, have you read any science fiction? Perhaps you've watched some science fiction on Teddy, a TV programme or a film, because often these categories, these genres can relate to both literature, and TV and film.

Tell me a title, if you think you know one.

I know that Doctor Who is very popular on TV.

Then, we have Mystery.

Mystery is a genre that we have in literature, as well as film and television, that involves a secret or a crime that has to be solved.

And generally this is solved and resolved by the end of the narrative.

I'm a real fan of Mystery.

Next, we have Poetry.

Quite hard to define poetry, there's so many different kinds of poems, but what we could say, is poetry as a form where verses, which don't have to rhyme are written to evoke a feeling.

I really enjoy humorous poetry.

I really love the patchy written by Michael Rosen, have you heard of him? Next we have Traditional Literature.

So Traditional Literature is a genre in which stories are passed down from generation to generation.

Sometimes this literature is written and sometimes it's told already, do you know any Traditional Literature? Can you say it now? Okay, next we have Fantasy.

Fantasy is a little like science fiction, is a story that's made up.

That includes ideas that couldn't in real life, but often these involve magical supernatural elements.

And then last in my list, we have Non-fiction.

What does Non-fiction mean? Okay, you're right.

So Non-fiction is different to Fiction, which is made up.

So Non-fiction is about real things.

There are lots of different kinds of Non-fiction writing.

Often, people enjoy reading information books, perhaps like the ones that we looked at about a hobby, or any interest.

So these genres that I've written here, which do you think you most enjoy reading? Perhaps you enjoy one or two.

Could you mind them done? Please pause.

Fantastic.

So we're having an opportunity to reflect now on our own reading preferences.

And like now we're thinking about genre.

I want to tell you about my reading experiences, about two texts that I read, where I chose to read a new genre.

The first text is Cloud Busting by Malorie Blackman.

Now I had read some other texts by Malorie Blackman, that I really enjoyed, Knots and Crosses and Series I've read and loved.

But this book by Malorie Blackman is actually all written in verse, is written through the form of poetry.

And that wasn't really a genre that I knew, and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I had a go and I really loved it.

And the same went for this book, Rail Head which is a trilogy by Philip Reeve.

Perhaps you've had of Philip Reeve because he wrote the Mortal Engines trilogy, which was recently made into a film.

Now Real Head is science fiction, is set in the future.

And I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy science fiction, I didn't think it was my type of book.

But a friend recommended this book to me.

And so I thought I'd give it a try, and you know what? I loved it.

So often we might have our own preference for genre that we like, but until you try something you don't really know, sometimes it can be good to broaden your horizons, and read a different kind of bit from that you're used to.

I wonder, have you ever tried a book from a different genre to that you're used to? Is there one that perhaps was recommended to you that you really enjoyed? Can you pause and write it down now? Well done.

Okay, now, I wanted to talk about Empathy.

So, what is empathy? Have you heard of this, can you explain it? First pause and try and say it out loud.

Empathy is a noun, it's a thing, it's an abstract idea.

Empathy is our ability to understand and share someone else's feelings.

So this is really important in books and literature, because books actually help us grow empathy.

We don't have a fixed amount of empathy, we grow it.

We get better at empathising, and books can help us see things from another person's point of view.

Some people say that empathy is made up of three elements, of feelings, where we resonate with other people's emotions.

Thinking when we use these and imagination to work out how someone else feels, and acting where we are inspired to help others having experienced what they're they have experienced.

So you can see empathy is really important in life.

It's important to be a good friend, a good family member, and also a global citizen.

And for me, developing empathy is a really important aspect of reading.

So I'm going to tell you about some of my reading experiences that have helped me to develop my empathy.

And then you can think about, and if you're reading experiences that have helped you.

So the first, is an autobiography written by someone called Maya Angelou.

This is a book that I read when I was at secondary school, when I was a teenager.

And I recommend it to read when you were a little older, it's called, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.

For me, this is an incredibly important book, because it showed how the author and poet, Maya Angelou, overcame really significant trauma and racism that she experienced in her life.

And that helped me to understand how challenging that was.

And I think that she's a very inspiring person, having read this autobiography.

The next book that helped me really think about other people's experiences, is El Deafo.

This is a graphic novel.

I highly recommend this to read.

It's a really, really enjoyable read, and this is semi autobiographical.

So it's written by Cece Bell, who has written a story about herself growing up and her experiences of going to school, as a deaf person.

You can see on the cover, she's drawn herself, she's anthropomorphized a rabbit, so rabbits and the main characters, but it's seriously based on her life.

This was so well written.

The illustrations were absolutely fantastic and portraying the experience of not being able to hear in school and what that was like.

So well, I found this really changed my perspective and my outlook on what the experience of being in school is like for other people.

This is a very popular book, Wonder by R.

J.

Palacio.

This again, is about someone's experience of going to school.

And the book is told from different characters perspectives.

And what I found really interesting about this book, is it tells the story from someone who isn't so nice at the start, and it helps you see that, sometimes we have to give people the benefit of the doubt, and that we don't always know why people are acting in a certain way.

It helps to empathise with someone else's feelings and situation.

So these are three books that I have loved, that have helped me to develop my empathy.

I wonder if you've had a book that's changed your perspective or outlook on life, or helped you really understand what life is like for someone else.

Can you pause and write it down now? Fantastic.

Okay, so we had an opportunity to think about our own reading experiences.

Hopefully you've enjoyed reflecting on the books that you love to read.

Some of the different genres, you've read, some of the bits that have helped you empathise.

Now we're going to do a short task, which is called a 24 hour read.

Before we start thinking about what we can beat in 24 hours or what we have read in 24 hours, as we need to think about what can you read? What all the different things that you could read? Could you pause and write them down? Okay, I wonder what you've written.

You included some of these things, Comics, like we looked at before, Graphic Novels, Instruction Manuals.

So for example, if you bought a new appliance, or got a complicated toy, it might come with an instruction manual, you'd have to read that.

You might read reviews, I love reading book reviews, my son loves reading reviews of games.

You might read novels or recipes, if you love to cook, you might need emails or you might need information on websites.

There's so many different things that you could read.

In our 24 hour read, we're going to try and write down everything that we've have read in 24 hours.

So, 24 hours, you're probably not awake for 24 hours.

At least I hope you won't, you're not.

It's probably going to be from the time you wake up, till the time you go to bed.

And you might think about what you read in the morning, at meal times, perhaps you've read the back of a cereal packet or the ingredients, out of your home, perhaps you need some advertising on a bus stop, when you're outside, or before bed.

I want you to be writing down anything that you read at any point in the day.

So there's not a right and a wrong with this, and we want to include everything.

So I'm just going to remind you of all the things that could be, Fiction Non-fiction, Poems, Comics, Graphic Novels, Newspapers, Magazines, Websites, Ebooks those books online, But of course, it's not just literature, in that sense, it could be manuals, texts messages, emails, blogs, lyrics, perhaps to a favourite song, adverts, instructions, new labels, perhaps the receipts, if you've gone in shopping for the parent or carer and you're seeing how much, what you bought cost.

Have you made any of these things today? If you have, press pause and note them down.

Fantastic.

So now is your opportunity to write down your 24 hour reading log.

Of course, the day hasn't finished, so you're just going to write down, what you have read it up to this point, today.

From the moment you woke up, all the way to now, you might include what you've read on the screen in front of you.

The idea behind this task is to show us all the different kinds of reading that are, because in this lesson, we're trying to develop reading for pleasure, and in order to do that, we have to value all the kinds of reading.

So that's what this task is about.

There's no right or wrong, just writing down everything that you have read, just to note form, not sentences.

Can you do that now? Press pause.

Okay, well done.

Was that difficult, or was that easy? Now you've got your sheet of paper with all your ideas.

Later on today, you could come back to it, and add all your extra ideas.

And it would be really great to show that to a parent or a carer or a teacher to say, "Look at all the reading I've done in 24 hours." So in this lesson, we've thought about what is reading for pleasure.

I hope I reminded you of how important that is.

You've had an opportunity to reflect on your own preferences as a reader, and that is so important.

I've shared with you some of my favourite texts, hopefully you might be inspired to read one of them.

We've considered what genre is and looked at some different genres.

We thought about empathy, and how empathy grows when we read.

And lastly, but not least, you have made your own 24 hour reading log, to show yourself, just how much reading you do in a day.

Well done.

Congratulations, you have completed your lesson.

Happy reading.