Lesson video

Hi, my name is Ms. Madden.

I love reading.

And I'm really excited because in today's lesson, we get to talk all about reading and do something that I love, which is recommend books.

Not only are we going to recommend books, but we're going to think about some of our favourite characters in books that we read.

So let's get started.

In today's lesson, we will begin by discussing what reading for pleasure means.

Then we will have a little discussion about what empathy is? Then I will share some recommended reads with you.

You can have to think about any books that you would recommend.

Then we will explore some character traits, and finally describe a favourite character.

In today's lesson, you will need an exercise book or some paper.

A pencil or pen to write with, and of course your brain and your memory to think about books and characters that you've loved.

So press pause and get those things ready now.

Fantastic, I hope you're in a nice quiet place away from any distractions ready to learn.

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

What is reading for pleasure? If you've done one of the previous reading for pleasure lessons maybe you'll remember, perhaps this isn't something that you've had of before.

Press pause and see if you can explain it out loud.

Well done.

When we talk about reading for pleasure, we just mean the reading that we do that is really enjoyable for us.

The reading that makes us happy that we want to do.

Is not what you're told to read is not when you're researching something reading for information, it's reading because we have chosen to do this reading and the reading that makes us happy.

That could be reading non-fiction.

It could be reading fiction.

It could be reading blogs.

It could be reading anything that you choose, that's what we mean when we talk about reading for pleasure.

I want to spend a little moment thinking about empathy now.

Have you had of the word empathy? Do you know what it means? Can you press pause and try and explain it in words if you can? Okay, let's see what you said.

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

Empathy is a really important skill in life to make us a good friend, to make us a good family member and to make us a good global citizen.

Now, empathy isn't, we don't have a set amount of empathy, we can actually grow our empathy.

And did you know, that books help us to grow our empathy.

They help us see things from another person's point of view.

Sometimes we can think of empathy as made up of three elements.

The first is feelings, where we resonate with another person's emotions.

The second, is thinking where we use reason and our imagination to work out how someone else is feeling.

And the third, and this is a really important one is acting where we are inspired to help others having experienced how they are feeling.

So if you see someone else who's fallen over in the street, if you have empathy you might realise that that's an unpleasant experience.

So you might act and go over to them and say, are you okay, can I help you? That's like an example of how empathy is important.

So I want to tell you about one text, which helped me develop my empathy.

Now this book is called "El Deafo," and it's a graphic novel that was written by Cece Bell.

I loved this book, perhaps you've read it or heard about it.

I love this book because it showed me the experience that the main character, the main protagonist Cece had when she was at school.

And it was quite daunting for her going to school because Cece was deaf, she had hearing impairment, which meant that she couldn't hear everything that was going on.

And it meant that school was quite a scary and challenging place to be.

Now this graphic novel, portrayed that so effectively and showed with really brilliant illustrations, what that experience was like for her.

That really helped me to empathise with her situation and to understand what school must have been like for her better.

I wonder if you'd like to read this book? Can you think of a book that helped you develop your empathy that helped you think about what life is like for someone else? Can you say it out loud? Fantastic.

Okay, now is a really exciting part of the lesson when I get to share with you some recommended reads.

My first reading recommendation is "Who Let the Gods Out" by Maz Evans.

Have you heard of the classical gods, gods like Zeus or Hera they're naughty, emotional and unpredictable much like humans, but with superpowers? This story, a contemporary story, that means it's happening now contemporary is about a boy named Elliot whose life gets intertwined with these gods.

It's a funny, witty and inspired story.

I'm recommending this book to you because lots of children, I meet and talk with love the Harry Potter books.

And sometimes when they finish reading the Harry Potter books, they don't know what to read next.

And this is the story that those children really enjoy reading after Harry Potter.

My next recommendation is another adventure story, and this is called "Knights and Bikes" and it's by Gabrielle Kent.

Now, this time in this adventures story, the heroes or heroines and they are Demelza and Nessa.

Now Demelza lives on the island of Penfurzy, where many centuries ago the Penfurzy knights built a castle and heed some cursed treasure.

But then the knights and the castle disappeared mysteriously.

So that's the setting, the context for the story and Demelza and Nessa get involved with this mystery.

The story is set in the past and it's very reminiscent of the 1980s, which is when I was young, which is one of the reasons I really enjoy it.

And it also reminds me of a film called "The Goonies," which you might have watched or enjoyed.

I'll tell you more about these two characters later, because I think they're pretty brilliant.

My final reading recommendation is a different kind of book.

And this book is called "The Bad Beginning," from "A Series of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket.

Now this is also an adventure story of sorts.

It follows the fate of the Baudelaire orphans who were sent to live with the evil Count Olaf, you can see him there on the cover after their parents disappear.

I particularly like this story because of the narrator who speaks directly to the reader a lot, in fact, at the beginning of the story, he says, if you are interested in happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.

I think that was a pretty funny way to start a story.

It's also true, this book has quite dark humour, and so if you do want a happy ending you probably shouldn't read it.

But it's a funny story.

And again, it's a series that is very, very popular.

And often when someone reads the first pick, they want to read the next and the next and the next.

You might have had of it because it's also been turned into a film and television series.

"Knights and Bikes," I forgot to say has also been turned into a computer game and soon to be a television series too.

So of the books I recommended to you, which do you think you would most like to read? Can you pause and point to it now? Great choice.

Now we're going to spend a bit of time thinking about character traits.

So character traits are aspects of a person or characters personality.

And it can be really useful to think about character traits, when we're trying to describe a key character from a book.

I'm going to start by teaching you two new words that's our character traits.

Here's a picture to explain one of the words what's happening in this picture have a think? Yes, someone here is doing something very say, or perhaps very brave.

The word is audacious, audacious.

Audacious is an adjective and it means bold and daring, like someone brave enough to dive into a pool full of sharks.

So here's that word explained in a few different ways audacious.

And there's our definition, which I read to you.

So here's some synonyms remember a synonym means the same or a similar meaning.

So synonyms or audacious means are driven or purposeful.

Then we have our word pairs, those are words that commonly go together with the word.

We might talk about an audacious stunt, perhaps on a BMX bike.

An audacious plan to solve a mystery.

Or an audacious attempt to do something extraordinary.

So that's how fast character trait audacious.

Here's our next character trait.

Here's a picture, what can you see happening? The word is devious, devious.

And devious is another adjective and it means cheating or sly, like someone busy making evil plans.

Synonyms for devious are cunning and sly.

Word pairs for devious words that often go together might be a devious villain, a devious plot, a devious criminal.

Can you show me a devious expression? Very good.

So those are two new words that are character traits.

Can you think of any other character traits? I'd like you to pause the video and write down as many as you can think of.

Fantastic, let's see if we had any that were the same.

A character could be brave or independent, gentle or determined, never wanting to give up.

Perhaps they are cautious or defiant, they don't listen to the rules.

Perhaps a character might be calm or observant.

If you were solving a mystery, it would be really important to be observant, noticing all the details.

Of course, there is so many more character traits and I wonder a character that you really like who you might choose to describe what character trait would you use to describe them? Can you pause and have a think of a character and what character trait you would describe them with? Fantastic.

So now is our opportunity to describe a favourite character.

Before you do this, I'm going to show you two examples of a character description.

Here's my first example.

This is actually a description of two main characters.

You can pause the video and read the text first, and then I will read it to you, press pause.

Okay, I like the characters Demelza and Nessa from "Knights and Bikes." Both girls are fiercely determined and brave because they don't give up easily and take actions that other people wouldn't.

For example, they come up with an audacious plan to do lots of daring stunts to achieve their goal.

I would like to be friends with them.

Okay, I hope you liked my character description.

I hope it encouraged you to read the book.

These are some aspects of my description, I wanted to point out to you.

You can see I've used the conjunction because, and that helps extend my sentence.

Both girls are fiercely determined and brave, they are my character traits because they don't give up easily.

And you can also see, I have, for example, I started my sentence that way.

And that can be good to give evidence for one of your character traits.

For example, they come up with an audacious plan.

Audacious plan did you spoke to my Mrs. Wordsmith word? And then finally I've written, I would like in green and that's because it's good to give your own personal opinion.

And any reason why you particularly like these characters.

So I'm going to show you one more character description.

This time, it's of a character we love to hate, and it's this one here Count Olaf.

You can pause and read it first, then I will read it to you, press pause.

Well done.

Count Olaf is the mysterious and sly central villain from "A Series of Unfortunate Events." He is very devious as he continually plots and schemes to steal the Baudelaire fortune.

His unkempt outward appearance matches his unpleasant inner personality.

So yes, he's not a very nice character.

Here you can see I've used inverted comas around the title of the book.

And that just shows you that it's the title that we're saying there.

Then you can see I've used my character trait devious and I've extended my sentence using the conjunction as.

And that shows why he's devious.

He is very devious as he continually plots and schemes to steal the Baudelaire fortune.

And then finally you can see I've mentioned appearance.

You don't have to describe what a character looks like unless you think is particularly significant or important.

In this instance, I do think is important because his appearance is as unpleasant as his personality.

Now it's your opportunity to describe your favourite character.

It could be a character you admire.

A character you love to hate, like Count Olaf.

A character who taught you something.

Or a character who makes you laugh.

Remember when you write your character description, write your ideas in full sentences.

I like the character because.

So press pause and write your character description.

Well done.

In today's lesson, we have discussed reading for pleasure.

We thought about what empathy is.

I've shared some recommended reads or fiction story books.

We've explored character traits and described a favourite character.

Congratulations.

You have completed your lesson.

Happy reading.