Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms Johnson and I'm going to be teaching you English today.

In today's lesson, we're going to explore the genre of "Hansel and Gretel" by Anthony Browne.

So it'd be looking little bit more in detail about how Hansel and Gretel fits the model of a fairytale.

If you haven't watched the previous lessons then you should stop this video and go back to lesson one.

If you have, then let's get started.

We're going to start today's lesson by thinking about a key question.

And this key question is going to link to fairytales.

And now we're going to analyse the text and it was to answer this question.

Then I want you to develop your own understanding about the text in the question.

And then I want you to reflect on the whole unit so far.

In today's lesson you will need an excess book or paper, just so you can make some notes.

You'll also need a pencil and a pen.

And I also want you to bring your brain today.

Today, it's about making links between other books that you might have read that are similar to Hansel and Gretel.

And so I want you to bring your brain so that you are actively thinking about today's lesson.

Now is also a really good time.

If the room is noisy, or if there's a window open and it's noisy outside, there's a TV on, or if your phone is right near you to sort those distractions out, my phone is here and I'm going to move it right away so that I'm not even looking at it throughout this lesson.

So pause the video here and go and sort out those distractions now and then press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

Let's get started today then.

We're going to start the lesson by introducing a key question.

So what do I mean by key question? The key question is a big idea.

And today we're going to consider genre.

So genre is what makes a book as the style of the book, and Hansel and Gretel is a fairytale, and we've thought about this already in the previous lessons.

But today we're going to specifically think about how Hansel and Gretel fits this model of a fairytale.

And so we've already thought about this mind map here.

Now, mind mapping is an idea from Nikki Gamble.

She uses mind mapping all the time to help us to make links in our reading.

And this mind map that we've used previously is all about fairytales.

and it's a really good way to start to think about what common features we might find in different fairytales.

So, we might find repetition of ideas.

We know this is the case in Hansel and Gretel because of the repetition of the events that happen.

There might be fantasy or make believe sections.

Often the characters learn something as well perhaps not so much in this story, but often the characters learn a new skill or they learn a new moral.

We always set it in enchanted settings, so, magical worlds where there might be witches and imaginary characters.

Usually there's a clear story structure where there's an opening, a buildup, climax, and a resolution.

And we often see this contrast between good and evil throughout the fairytale.

So now we're going to think about analysing the text to see how it fits all of those features.

Is it a fairytale, is it traditional fairytale, how do we know? So if we think, first of all, about good versus evil: Throughout the story, we're presented with lots of different characters.

So which characters are good? or what we would imagine a good character is, and which are evil? And how do you know? Because what does evil actually mean, and what does good actually mean? So think carefully about each of those points before you answer this question.

So start by saying "a good character would ___, an evil character would ___" So in this story, these are the characters that are good or evil.

So pause the video here, and then have a go at answering this question, and then press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done So, looking closely here, we can see that the witch and the stepmother perhaps we know are the evil characters they're presented as evil characters, Anthony Browne draws them so they look like the evil characters in the story that always dressed in black, they have a witch's hat and then motives are evil as well.

What they do in the story, we would consider evil.

They both want to abandon the children the witch wants to eat the children, to that; so when those imaginary ideas.

And then we have the father and the children.

Now we know the father even though you might think he's able to begin with because he agrees with the stepmother.

We know that he's just actually scared at the stepmother.

So he goes along with what she says, but he's really a good character.

He really cares about his children and always talked throughout that he's grieved to lose them which means he's upset.

And Hansel and Gretel we know are good characters as well.

They look after each other and they help each other, but I might argue but that perhaps they're not completely good because, although we feel sorry for them in the story, although we're always on their side, they're not always the kindest, they do kill the witch.

and they do kind of take from the house as well.

They eat the bread, they eat the cake.

So perhaps they're not completely good is what I would argue.

Maybe that's something for you to think about in a little bit more detail.

So now we're going to think about if there is any repetition in Hansel and Gretel, what repetition can you remember? So repetition is the saying when an action or what someone says is repeated.

So what event is repeated in Hansel and Gretel? So pause the video here, use the pictures to help you, and then press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

I'm sure you can remember.

So the repetition in the events is that, the first time they go into the forest, Hansel has an idea and he drops the pebbles and he keeps turning back.

And so the father and the stepmother say: "Why are you turning back?" And he says, because there's a bird or a cat up on his house and he's looking at it.

Then they find their way home because they followed the pebbles home.

The next day he has this same idea so this time he drops the bread and their same pattern happens.

They ask why he's turning around and he lies to them.

However, this time he's less successful at getting home.

There's also repetition because the characters repeat themselves.

We talked in the previous lesson, about how, perhaps the stepmother is the same as the witch and how they say similar things.

Remember, they both say "Get up lazy-bones." And so there's repetition here as well.

And this is really starting to be like a fairy tale because this repetition is how you remember the story.

It also helps you to retell the story of fairytales are stories that are always retold.

Sometimes they're re-told orally and sometimes re-told by writing So Anthony Browne has retold and adapted Hansel and Gretel to make it his own version.

Now we're going to think about fantasy.

So, fairy tales often have elements of magic and fantasy in them.

By fantasy I mean, things that we would not expect in our day to day, they wouldn't necessarily exist in the real world.

Things like witches.

So are there any events or sections in Hansel and Gretel that are based on magic and fantasy? Is there anything that happens that kind of makes you think Hmm "No, that wouldn't happen in real life." So pause the video here and have a go at trying to think about all the fantasy elements in Hansel and Gretel and press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

So there are a few things that happen in Hansel and Gretel that we probably wouldn't see in normal life.

The first one is obviously, there is a witch.

Now, I have never met a witch.

So I would suggest that these are magic and fantasy.

They are make-believe, we only ever really hear of witches in fantasy and fiction writing and magical stories.

The other thing, and this always sticks in my mind.

It's my favourite part of Hansel and Gretel.

Is they come across a house made of cake and bread and sweets.

Now we couldn't have a house made of bread and cake and sweets because it would never last, it would never stand up, it would get eaten by the birds or other people.

And so, make believe that can really happen in real life, but it really adds to the story, doesn't it? It's almost that magical element.

You kind of see why they're so, kind of, tricked by the witch, they're lured, that means she draws him into her house and makes him want to kind of go inside.

And we know as a reader, we think, "Wow there can't ever be a house that looks so tasty and so good, so, this must be a trick." And this is a really clever part of the story, because as a reader you're going, "Don't go into the house" And you know that they're going to, and then the witch is going to trap them.

And this happens a lot in fantasy stories and fairytales, the reader knows and can anticipate, that means: work out what might happen next.

The other thing that I always thought about shows a fantasy ending or a fantasy was the ending.

So they got home by travelling on a duck, "So, there doesn't seem to be a boat either" said Gretel, "But look, there's a white duck.

If I ask her, she'll help us across." Now, this is a plot ending of the story that I just think is really strange because you don't expect it.

They don't expect a duck to come and get them home.

Do you? So they travel on this duck all the way home and then they get back across the river.

Now I don't think a duck could actually carry a character.

Do you? So this to me suggests, this is also a fantasy element of the story as well.

Now we're going to think about the other clear thing in fairytales.

So in fairytales, there is always a clear story structure which follows; an opening, a build up, a climax, and a resolution.

So there is the opening that suggests there's a problem.

The buildup builds the problem.

The climax is where the action happens.

And then finally there's this feeling of relief at the end.

So how does Hansel and Gretel fit that story structure? What is the problem that is resolved at the end? So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

So the problem that is resolved at the end.

, so throughout the story we know the problem, perhaps, is the stepmother, it's also the famine though, they have no food.

And so the children are trying to escape the stepmother and by escaping and killing the witch, they almost escape the stepmother at the same time.

And so the reader gets his lovely, happy ending where the children are reunited with their father.

And we know through the story that it's a positive ending, because if you look closely at the last two pictures, the colours Anthony Browne uses are much brighter, there's a rainbow, and if you really look at the door where the father is hugging his children there's a sky on it which shows that there's hope and the children are happy.

Whereas the other pictures are a bit dark and gloomy and kind of match the feeling and the atmosphere in the story.

We're going to develop our own understanding.

Can you now complete this mind map? And as I said, Nikki Gamble always talks about creating mind maps and developing your idea as a reader.

So can you create your own mind map to show how Hansel and Gretel is like a fairytale? What are the features, If you think about what fairytales are, what are the features that match? So fairytales have repetition in them, fairytales have good versus evil in them, fairytales have a clear story structure.

So, how does Hansel and Gretel match that idea? Can you pause the video here and, have a go at writing and designing your own mind map for Hansel and Gretel that proves it is a fairy tale, press pause here, and then press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

That really helps to develop our own understanding of the text.

And so to finish, I would now like you to use this mind map here, I would like you to now use that to create your own extended answer.

So, in what ways is Hansel and Gretel a fairytale? Can you write a few sentences to explain why you think Hansel and Gretel is a fairytale? If you had to prove this to somebody and persuade them that it was, what would your arguments be to try if you're stuck; to use sentence starters such as "I think ___, because:___" Because that will give you the explanation, the reason that I'm looking for.

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

Well done, you're working so hard today.

Now we're going to take some time to reflect on Hansel and Gretel as a whole, because we have now finished the unit on Hansel and Gretel.

I really hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

I had a lot of fun planning the session and filming the session for you because, I've always enjoyed teaching Hansel and Gretel in school.

And I love looking at Anthony Brown's illustrations.

So I wonder, did you enjoy reading Hansel and Gretel or did you not, perhaps you found it a bit scary.

It can be, it is a bit scary, or make us feel a bit uncomfortable.

So maybe you didn't enjoy it, or maybe you quite enjoyed that aspect about it.

What was your response? So press pause here, and write a sentence to say whether you enjoyed it or not, and perhaps why? And then press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

I've now got one final question for you.

Would you now read any other books by Anthony Browne? So I've shown you one of his books, would you now be tempted to read another of his stories? What do you think? Did you like his drawings? Do you like the illustrations? Because if you did, he has got so many fantastic stories to go and read.

So, press pause here, and write a written response to tell me whether you would read any other books by Anthony Browne, and then press play when you're ready to resume.

Fantastic.

Well done.

Congratulations.

You've completed your lesson today and you've also completed this unit on Hansel and Gretel.

As I said before, I really hope you've enjoyed it and I hope you'll be tempted to pick up one of Anthony Browne's books, another one.

I also hope that you enjoy the rest of your lessons today.