Lesson video

Hello and welcome back to the lessons on "Animal Farm".

We are about to begin lesson 13, and lesson 13 explores the Battle of the Cowshed.

So this battle is representing a battle that took place in the Russian Revolution, so we need to think back to those first few lessons that we looked at together where we explored the allegory and how "Animal Farm" and the story of "Animal Farm" represents the characters and the events from the 1917 Russian Revolution.

So get ready to learn lots about the Revolution as well as the battle that takes place on Animal Farm.

Find yourself a quiet space or somewhere to concentrate and grab something to write with and to write on and then let's dive into lesson 13 of "Animal Farm".

Excellent, so if you are all settled, we can get started immediately, but if you need more time to get things to write with and to write on, then pause the video at this stage and press play when you're ready.

We'll begin with our recap before moving on to reminding ourselves of the context of this story.

So that means what's going on at the time that Orwell has written this.

We'll then look at an extract all together before moving onto writing some sentences which will express everything that's in here from what we've learned, but we need to get it on a piece of paper.

And finally, you will have your exit quiz to show off everything you've learned today.

So our recap looks a little bit different to usual.

There's going to be a few more questions, but they're quicker because they are true or false questions.

So first of all, deceit means being flexible with the truth.

Is that true or is it false? Shout out your answer for me nice and loud.

Okay, brilliant, you are correct, that is true.

Deceit means being flexible with the truth.

Deceit and dishonesty are the same thing.

Is that true or false? Deceit and dishonesty are the same thing.

Again, nice and loud, true or false? Okay, let's see if you are correct.

That is false.

Deceit is different to dishonesty, because deceit suggests a lie which is used to control others.

So if you remember, we did discuss how this idea of control keeps coming back up over and over again.

And deceit, it does require you to be dishonest, but it's different because a deceitful lie is a lie that's being told on purpose to control or influence someone else.

So what is an example of deceit in "Animal Farm"? And this recap question is much more similar to the ones you're used to, so you have four options to choose from.

Is an example of deceit in "Animal Farm" Napoleon keeping the puppies secluded? Is it the pigs taking the milk and apples for themselves? Is it Snowball teaching the animals how to read and write? Or is it Squealer explaining why the milk and apples have been taken? Pause the video here, select your answer carefully, and then press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Good luck! Hopefully you all went for option number two.

So let's run through each option by itself so we can understand the correct answer.

Option one is incorrect because Napoleon does not lie about anything here, he just simply keeps the puppies secluded.

Option three is incorrect because again, there is no deceit, there's not dishonesty here.

Snowball is simply educating the animals.

Option four, I think this is the one that might have confused a few of you.

So for option four, Squealer explains why the milk and apples have been taken, and you could argue that he lies when he gives his explanation because he says that if the milk and apples were not taken by the pigs, that Farmer Jones could come back.

But actually, Squealer is using rhetoric, okay? He's using language carefully to get people to see things differently, so he's not using deceit, he's using rhetoric.

Which leaves us with option two, the pigs taking the milk and apples for themselves.

They have lied to the animals about the milk.

They haven't specifically said they didn't take it.

However, they didn't tell the animals that they had taken it.

It was discovered much later, which means it's deceit, because the truth was hidden from the animals.

Let's move on to today's lesson and start to think about the Battle of the Cowshed.

It's a really exciting part of the story.

Before we dive into the extracts, I think we need to have a reminder about the Russian Revolution.

So we're going to read this reminder all together, and then your activity will be to fill in some gaps.

If you know you are someone who forgets things very quickly, I would recommend making notes based on what you can see on the screen.

And making notes doesn't necessarily mean writing every single word down, it means writing down the key bits of information that you think are important.

After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Communists were in power.

However, the supporters of Tsar Nicolas the Second did not give up hope.

The two sides formed the Red Army, which was the Communists, and the White Army, and the White Army were the supporters of the Tsar.

These two armies fought against one another for two years from 1918 to 1920.

So they begin the year after the Revolution, and it doesn't stop until two years later.

We have the Red Army made up of the Communists who are in power versus the White Army.

They are supporters of the Tsar who do not think the Revolution should've happened.

How much do you think you can remember? If you made notes, please feel free to use them.

If you did not make notes, have a go at doing this remembering what I've just told you.

If you really need to, you can rewind the video to help you, but do have a go first, because I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with how much you remember.

So pause the video here, take your time, fill in the gaps, and then press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Good luck! How did everyone do? I'll read out all of the things that you can see on the screen, so as you're listening to me you can tick all of your correct answers which I'm sure you've got, and if you haven't, then you can double check them against what you see on the screen and write in anything that you didn't quite get this time.

From 1918 to 1920, the Communists and the supporters of Tsar Nicolas the Second fought against one another.

The Communists were known as the Red Army, and the Tsar supporters as the White Army.

So if you managed to get all five of those correct, give yourself a high five, a pat on the back, a massive smile, because that's really, really well done.

Really good work.

If you didn't quite get all five of them, think about whether you need to go back and just recap the first part of this lesson.

Alternatively, if you can't remember any of the stuff about the Russian Revolution, you can head back to the first few lessons on "Animal Farm" and just redo those lessons to see if you can remember more.

Now the Battle of the Cowshed.

This is where we turn to our story "Animal Farm".

As the summer ends, the news of the successful revolution spreads to neighbouring farms. Farmer Jones complains to local farmers, and in October, Jones and a group of men arrive at Animal Farm to try and take back control.

So the farm is in a really good place.

They've had a brilliant summer, and the news of this successful revolution is all over the place.

Lots of nearby farms have heard all about it, and Farmer Jones, who originally had Animal Farm, is complaining to his friends.

And his friends, they're local farmers and they're quite worried, they're scared it's going to happen to them.

So in October, Jones and that group of men want to try and take back control, and that's how we end up with the Battle of the Cowshed.

Snowball is excellent in battle and he leads the animals to victory.

So in "Animal Farm", the Battle of the Cowshed represents the battle between the Red and White Army in the Russian Revolution.

Do you think this is true or false? Pause the video, have a think, and then press play when you've made your decision.

So the answer to this is true.

The Battle of the Cowshed does indeed represent the battle between the Red and White Army.

Now if you remember, the Red Army is the Communists, so the Red Army represents the animals in "Animal Farm", and the White Army are the supporters of Tsar Nicolas the Second, the original tyrant, and our original tyrant in "Animal Farm" is Farmer Jones.

So the White Army is represented by Farmer Jones and the neighbouring farmers in "Animal Farm".

So we can see how the Battle of the Cowshed is representing those battles between the Red and the White Army.

So in "Animal Farm", who represents the Red Army? Is it the animals? Is it the farmers? Is it just Snowball and Napoleon, or is it the pigs? So who in "Animal Farm" represents the Red Army? Pause the video and then press play when you've selected your answer.

I am 99.

9% sure everyone got this correct.

The animals represent the Red Army because the animals represent the workers, the Communists, the people who were successful in the Russian Revolution.

So it's the animals who represent the Red Army.

Now we're going to turn to an extract.

We know that the Battle of the Cowshed has taken place and we know that Snowball led the animals to victory, so the animals won the battle and Snowball was a hero in this battle, and we're now going to look at the reaction of the animals to the battle.

The animals had now reassembled in the wildest excitement, each recounting his own exploits in the battle at the top of his voice.

An impromptu celebration of the victory was held immediately.

The flag was run up and "Beasts of England" was sung a number of times, then the sheep who had been killed was given a solemn funeral, a hawthorn bush being planted on her grave.

At the graveside Snowball made a little speech, emphasising the need for all animals to be ready to die for Animal Farm if need be.

So here we can see how the animals are reacting to what has just happened.

What I would like you to do is answer the two questions below using the extract.

Number one, how do the animals react to their success? And number two, how do we know that Snowball approves of violence being used? So how do we know Snowball is okay with violence? He's happy for violence to be used.

If you have the extract in front of you, use that to help you.

If you do not have the extract in front of you, it's a good idea for you to slightly rewind the video so you can have the extract on the screen to have a go at answering these questions.

Pause the video, have a go at answering the questions, and then press play when you'd like some feedback.

So, here are the parts of the extract that would help you to answer the questions.

First of all, we have in the first line, reassembled in the wildest excitement.

And this answers question number one.

The animals are all very excited about the battle, and they're pleased with their success.

To answer question number two, I've highlighted the final part of the extract.

And here we know that Snowball approves of violence being used, that means he's okay with violence being used, because he tells the animals that they need to be ready to die.

He's telling them that they need to be willing, they need to be ready to die for Animal Farm.

That's how much they should care about it, and if violence has to be used, then it has to be used, so Snowball approves of violence.

If you need to pause the video to make sure you have these correct answers written down, feel free to do so, but if you've already got the answers correct and you're happy with what you have written down, then we'll move on together.

So this is the next part of the extract.

The animals decided unanimously to create a military decoration, Animal Hero, First Class, which was conferred there and then on Snowball and Boxer.

It consisted of a brass medal, they were really some old horse-brasses which had been found in the harness-room, to be worn on Sundays and holidays.

There was also Animal Hero, Second Class, which was conferred posthumously on the dead sheep.

So in this extract we find out that the animals unanimously, that means everyone is in agreement, they decided unanimously to give Snowball and Boxer a reward for how brave they were in the Battle of the Cowshed.

So I've highlighted part of the extract, and I want you to use this part of the extract to answer the question, what impression does this give of Snowball? So pause the video, either highlight your extract in the same way or write down the part that I've highlighted, and then have a go at answering the question before pressing play to find out how you've done.

Okay, here is the answer.

Snowball seems like a hero.

The animals want to remember and celebrate their victory.

So this part of the extract tells us that they see Snowball as a hero.

They all agree that they think he should be given a prize, and it's something that, he wears a medal, so it's something that he'll have always.

They want to celebrate and remember this victory forever.

So Snowball seems like a hero in this extract.

Based on all of the information that we've had today, I would like you to complete sentences based on the information that I have given you.

So you can see there are three words separated by a slash.

Using those three words, I would like you to create a sentence that tells us something about what we've just read.

So we've had similar activities to this in previous lessons.

An example for the first one might be something like, "Snowball is presented as a hero, which makes him a leader who is respected by everyone." So you can make up a sentence based on our lesson today, but you must include the three words that you've been provided with.

So pause the video here, write down three sentences using the words that I've given you, and then press play when you're ready to check for some possible answers.

Here is a possible answer for number one.

Snowball is presented as a hero in battle and therefore he is respected as a leader for the animals.

So as long as you have something in your answer about Snowball being shown as a hero and the fact that this means he's an even better leader for the animals, you can give yourself a big tick.

For number two I had, "Violence is treated as something acceptable and necessary for a revolution to happen." And I've written this because of Snowball saying that the animals need to be ready to die.

That makes violence sound like something that is acceptable in a revolution.

It's almost expected in a revolution.

And finally I've written, in the allegory of "Animal Farm", the farmers represent the White Army in the Russian Revolution.

There aren't many other answers you could have written for this, so as close to my example as possible would be wonderful.

If you need to add to any of your answers or change any of them, feel free to pause the video and borrow my answers to improve what you've got written down.

And that's the end of lesson 13.

The Battle of the Cowshed is a really important part of the story because it's the first time that humans try to take the farm back, and they're unsuccessful, and this makes the animals even more confident and even more proud of their leader.

Snowball is a hero, and he's led them to victory.

So well done for all of your brilliant work today, and I look forward to working with you on our next lesson together for "Animal Farm" lesson 14.

See you soon!.