Lesson video

We're going to start today's lesson by doing a recap of what we know already about how the characters have responded to Greenling in the text.

And then we're going to look at a key question and this will focus more on how other characters in the story react to Greenling's arrival.

And then we're going to respond to the text and this is where I want you to really think about everything else that you've learnt in the lesson and apply it at the end.

In the lesson today, you're going to need an exercise book or paper, a pencil, or a pen, it doesn't matter which one and your brain.

I really want you to be thinking throughout this lesson.

You need to be actively analysing pictures that I show you and thinking about the big questions that I ask.

Now is also a really good time if there are any distractions in the room, for instance, if your phone is nearby, if you have one, or if the window's open to pause the video and go and sort those out.

So pause the video now and then press play when you're ready to get going.

Well done, let's get started then.

So we're going to start by thinking about what we already know about the characters in "Greenling" by Levi Pinfold.

And how have they reacted to the strange being that has just arrived in Barleycorn land? And we looked previously at both the farmer and his wife, Mr. Barleycorn and Mrs. Barleycorn.

And we've talked already in the previous lesson about how each of these characters reacted to Greenling.

So I want to see what you can remember and I've put a picture here to help you.

So if you can't remember, look closely at the picture.

How did each of the characters respond? What did they say? What did they do? How did they feel? And can you think about why they might have felt like this? So pause the video here and just make some notes now about how each of the characters initially react to Greenling and press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done, so as I've said here, we know that each of the characters had a different reaction.

So we know that the Mr. Barleycorn, he was really intrigued, he took his sweats at Greenling and carried him home, he was really welcoming, he gave him his home.

He, as you can see here, he's bathing him, he's always taken on like a father role and caring for him like a son, is really excited by his arrival and the transformation of this home as well.

So he's more excited by the fact that Greenling has appeared and how he is taking over their home he's really excited by all the produce that Greenling create.

So, the melons and all the sunflowers and all the food that he's created as well, he's really interested by it.

And he almost thought that Greenling was a gift sent to him.

So he's really excited by GreenLing's arrival, in contrast which means opposite to, his wife is really anxious, which means scared or nervous or fearful, she's really wary of Greenling, she's not sure who he is.

She thinks he's from the wild and so he should go back to the wild and that is where he belongs.

And so she's very very reluctant to allow him to come into her home.

She views him as this outsider and she's frustrated by the produce.

And by that, I mean, all the food that's growing inside the home.

Her overtakes her house and her whole home being disrupted, she moans as she can't watch the TV anymore and she even thinks she is still going to the shops to get food even though their house is full of food.

And so she is definitely much more reluctant to accept Greenling into her house.

Well done, I wonder how much you can remember from those two sections, from the section that we've read anyway.

So today we're going to start thinking about how perhaps their reactions to Greenling change and how everybody else in the town also responds.

So we're going to think wider, we're going to move on from just Mr and Mrs. Barleycorn and we're going to think about how Greenling changes the town of Barleycorn as a whole and to do this, we're going to look at three steps.

We're going to look at their initial reaction, so that was how they first respond.

We're going to look at perhaps when they change their mind and then we're going to look at the final impression they have at the end.

And so we're going to work through these three sections, to help us answer this key question today.

How does Greenling change the town of Barleycorn? So let's look at their initial reactions and we haven't done this yet, so this is a new part of the story.

So as you can see here, these are the townspeople now, we're not just looking at Mr and Mrs. Barleycorn.

And if you were to look at this picture and you can see that lots is happening, it's very different.

The picture of the station that I showed you previously, because there are loads and loads of trees and plants growing everywhere.

Now, if I look closely at the characters as well, I can see that they're all pointing and they are all climbing at the lighters oil cross, they're not on the train.

And underneath this picture in the book, Levi Pinfold writes this, "a swarm of passengers" which means lots, "bound for work" which means headed for work, "are stopped in their tracks by vines." Now the tracks of the train tracks so what he's saying here is, that the vines, which are like trees or the roots of the trees or the branches of the trees, they have stopped the train, so the train cannot move, the people cannot get to work, because of these vines and all the people are really cross about it.

So can you put into a sentence how the people have reacted and why they are feeling so frustrated? So press pause here and then press play, when you're ready to resume.

Well done, so we can see, that they are really frustrated by this and not sure what has happened to their town but something has come into it and taking control.

So what is happening now in this picture? you've got lots of characters here, you've got Mr. Barleycorn and Mrs. Barleycorn and you can see Greenling.

Now, I want you to focus on what they're doing and the reaction of everybody else.

So you can see all the townspeople, how they're reacting and I wonder why.

So pause the video here and just write down a few ideas as to what you can see happening in the picture.

Remember to say how the characters look, so how are they feeling? And we do that by looking at their body language.

So press pause and then press play, when you're ready to resume.

Well done, now I love this picture, I think it really shows, it gives it kind of, creates the atmosphere that it's intending to.

And you can see the townspeople, they look really cross.

Now we know from the previous section of the book that they are angered by the fact that the Greenling has taken over their whole town.

And I know they look angry, because they have their arms in the air, the facial expressions are like almost, they've got like frowns.

So they look cross and they gathered together and they're pointing at Greenling.

So I know it's Greenling that has angered them.

Now, Mr.Barleycorn has been the protective fatherly figure that we know he is, he's got his arms around Greenling and he's really trying to take care of him.

But Mrs. Barleycorn here, that I find most interesting, because she is standing with her husband and Greenling which perhaps shows me, she's having a change in her mind.

And so, if we look closely here, I'm going to read the text to you now, this is the text that goes alongside this picture.

And you can start to think about what the people are feeling.

"This cuckoo must go!" Says a voice in the crowd.

"He's pushing us out of our world, these people all need to be moving along, the vegetable must be hurled." Which means throne.

That's a bit much, Mrs. Barleycorn thinks, a boy is just strange, not bad.

A baby's baby, when all said and done there's no need for them to get mad, thoughts boiling over.

She bellows aloud, "Well, I think your head's gone wrong.

We should welcome this Greenling into our house, we've been living in his all along." So I want you to pause the video here and look at the language and match that to their facial expressions.

And tell me how the people are feeling and why? So press pause and then press play, when you're ready to resume.

Fantastic, I love the way that Levi Pinfold writes this story, I think it's so like concisely done which means quite efficiently done, yet there's so much meaning to the language that he chooses and I love looking at his language 'cause I think it gives us lots of clues.

So when there people say he's pushing us out about world, it makes him sound like they feel like, he is threatening them, he is taking power and charge over them, even though he's just a baby.

And they also called him the vegetable, which isn't the nicest word thing to call him, they're not giving him a name, that's just calling him the vegetable.

And they say he must be hurled, to hurl something means you really throw it.

You often hurl a bull, so then he looks a bit like a bull, doesn't he look a Madden? So they're saying that they're highly throwing him away.

And so they're removing any human qualities from him, they're just seeing him as this being outside of that is coming and overtaking their land.

Now what i find most interesting as I said, about this picture is Mrs. Barleycorn's reaction.

So, let's reread what she says, that's a bit much, Mrs. Barleycorn thinks, the boys is just strange, not bad.

A baby's a baby, when all said and done, there's no need for them to get mad, thoughts boiling over, she bellows it out.

"Well, I think your head's gone wrong, We should welcome this Greenling into our house, We've been living in his all along." And I want you to think, how has she changed her opinion? So what does she think about Greenling? Initially, we thought about that in beginning of the lesson and what does she feel about him now? And perhaps why? Why has she changed her mind? So pause the video and then press play, when you're ready to resume.

Well done, as I said, finding a body language is almost defending, creaming here.

She's almost been protective and she's ready to fight off the rest of the town.

She's saying that he is just a baby and so she needs to take care of him and so you shouldn't be throwing him away.

They need to look after him, he's just a baby.

And he's a bit strange, but he's not bad, he hasn't got bad intentions, he's kind.

As she always makes it common, that perhaps they'd be in his land, living in where he lives rather than the Greenling invading their land.

Perhaps, the people have invaded Greenling's land.

And we're going to think about that more in the next lesson.

So, what do you notice here? We're now looking at perhaps how the townspeople, if we get back to the previous picture, they're very different in this picture compared to the last one, what is happening to the people? How do you think they might have changed? And what might they be enjoying? And consequently, how might they have changed their opinion of Greenling? So pause the video here and then press play, when you're ready to resume.

Really well done, so I love this picture, I think there's so much to it and I really recommend you taking a closer look at this book, if you can.

The pictures are in the details, in this picture book are fantastic and there's so many more pages I haven't used.

And I think Levi Pinfold really captures the feeling of this book through the illustrations that he uses.

As in here you can see the body language of the people has changed, their arms are open.

they're relaxed, they're smiling and they look like they're rolling the melons, they're playing games, they're all also enjoying all the different fruits and vegetables.

So they're no longer worried about getting to work, they're almost paused and they're just enjoying all the food that Greenling has offered.

So I think they are probably now rejoicing which means really happy, that Greenling has decided to arrive in their town.

And I think that means their opinion has changed, just like Mrs. Barleycorn's opinion changed as well.

So now we're looking again at the final impressions.

So throughout the story, Greenling keeps providing more and more food for the people of the town and he leaves them enough for the winter, but then he disappears.

And I'll read you the text that comes and onside this picture, as autumn arrives the Barleycorns find that Greenling has disappeared.

So, looking at the rest of the term, how do you think they feel at the end? What do you notice? What perhaps has happened to the people of the town of Barleycorn? So press pause and then press play, when you're ready to resume.

Well done, so looking at them all, as I said, they are all really happy that they've got enough food stored for the winter.

When we looked at the very opening pages of this book, the land was very barren which meant it didn't have much crop, didn't have any plants and didn't have any trees.

And so by looking at this, we can see they've developed and they've got lots and lots of produce now, fruits and vegetables, and that's because of Greenling.

And I think they're all disappointed inside, that Greenling has disappeared.

And how about Mr. and Mrs. Barleycorn at the end? How might they be feeling when Greenling has disappeared? And look at their body language and perhaps how that's changed.

The picture showed you at the very beginning of the lesson when they were bathing Greenling, so pause the video and then press play, when you're ready to resume.

Well done, I really like this picture, this is one of the last pictures in the book, and I think it kind of gives you that resolution, doesn't it? They're united together, they've enjoyed the experience of having Greenling as blended them closer.

And I think they're almost left wondering who he was and why he came but their lives have definitely changed for the better.

And they are definitely happier and now using the land for food.

So now we're going to return to our key question and I'd like you to write an extended answer for this.

And my question, the question that we looked at was this, how does Greenling change the town of Barleycorn and why does their opinion change? And I want you to write a full sentence, thinking about everything we've talked about in this lesson today and you can use the sentence data, I think, because by saying because you'll be giving me a reason why you've come to this opinion.

So press pause here and then press play once you've done that.

Well done, so now we're going to just respond to the texts and think further ahead, maybe about the bigger picture in the text.

So I would like to know, why do you think Greenling arrived in Barleycorn land? And what did he teach them? Now, I'm not going to tell you what I think because it's not my interpretation of the book, it's yours.

It's your opinion of the book.

Levi Pinfold has his idea, the reader has a different idea.

And every reader that reads this book might see something different.

And that is why I love reading so much.

So this is the part of the lesson where you really have to use your brain.

You can't be wrong, whatever you think, you can't be wrong.

So, why do you think Greenling arrived in Barleycorn land and what did he teach them? Again, I'd like you to write a written answer and I'd like to use, I think, because.

So press pause and then press play, once you've done that.

Well done and congratulations, you've now completed your lesson today.

I hope you enjoyed that lesson as much as I did.

Like I said, I really loved looking at the pictures in this book and In the next lesson, we're going to start thinking about some of the bigger ideas.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your lessons today and I'll see you again soon.