Lesson video

In this lesson, we are going to be exploring one of the main themes of the Firework-Maker's Daughter by Philip Pullman.

If you haven't watched the previous lessons, lesson one, two and three, you should pause this video and go straight back to lesson one before you continue.

If you have then let's get started.

We're going to tart today's lesson by activating our prior knowledge.

Prior knowledge means something that we already have.

So it's knowledge that we already have.

Whenever we think of something in reading, we often bring our prior knowledge to it.

So whenever we read a book often, it will be bringing your own experience and your prior knowledge of the text or the setting to your reading.

And so we're going to think about that before we continue today.

Then we'll be doing a strategy check.

This helps us to answer the different questions that we will come across today.

Then we're going to do some analysing of the text.

We've done this quite a lot.

So just some analysing of the text and then we're going to do some summarising and reflecting.

So by reflecting, I mean, what do you think about something? So bring in your own personal response to something.

in this lesson today, you're going to need a pen or a paper, a pen and paper, exercise book if you have it, a pencil is fine as well, but I also want you to bring your brain.

I want you to be thinking as you listen to this lesson, so you're not just listening.

You need to be thinking as well.

And now is a good time if there are noises around you, such as the TV is on or you've got a phone that might distract you nearby, now is a really good time to move them.

I've moved my phone right to the back of the classroom.

So I can't see it and I don't get distracted by it.

So now it's a really good time for you to do that.

So if you need to do that, I would pause the video now and quickly go and do that.

And when you're ready, then we can get started.

So we're going to focus on a key question today and this is the key theme that we're looking at.

So a theme is something that goes through a book, it's the overall idea of a book, and themes, generally, the reader might interpret what a theme is themselves but sometimes the author makes sure it's very clear for us to understand.

And so one of the key themes is that Lila is a very strong female.

So I've got a key question that we're going to think about as we look through the text today.

And that question is how does Leila project the stereotypical characteristics of a female? Now I've underlined stereotypical, 'cause that's a really tricky word.

It means what is the expected view of Lila as a girl? Okay, so what does society expect for Lila as a girl? It's kind of like, what is the majority view? Things are changing, it's not necessarily like that anymore.

We're going to think about female characters in literature.

And we're going to look at some of the old female characters in literature, so what were they like in the past? The characteristic is your personality trait.

Okay, or if you have a characteristic of something, it's how you behave in a similar way to something.

So we're going to be thinking about Lila's different character traits today and how perhaps rejected by that, I mean, they disagree with the expected stereotypical view from a female in a book and in society as well.

So this is our key question.

How does Lila reject the stereotypical characteristics of a female? And I want you to almost lock that in your brain today and we're going to think about it whenever we look at something else today, all of it is going to be helping us to answer this key question.

So we're going to start now by activating our prior knowledge.

Our prior knowledge is what we already know about something.

So I want you to think of female characters in books that you already know.

So perhaps think of three female characters that you already know.

And then step two, I want you to tell me, what were they like? I want you to think about, how they act? what did they do and were they important in the story? Were are they the main character in the story or not? And I'd like you to pause the video and I want you just to think about this one.

You can jot it down on a piece of paper if you'd like to, I always find it very helpful to jot things down, or you can just think about it.

So step one, think of a female character that you know in a book you've already read or a film and step two, what were they like? How did they act? And were are they important, were they a main character? So pause the video now and press play when you're ready to resume.

Okay, I'm going to be so interested to hear what characters you thought of.

So I've done this activity in myself and I'm going to show you now the female characters that I could think of.

So the first one I thought of was Cinderella.

So Cinderella is from a fairytale and she plays quite a traditional role.

She's at home.

She's doing all the cleaning, all the cooking and then she becomes this princess.

Now I think that's quite a traditional role because we always think of princes and princesses.

The princess is there to look beautiful and is usually presented as quite fragile character.

Then I also thought of a character like Matilda.

Now Matilda is slightly different because she's quite rebellious.

So she doesn't let people tell her what to do.

She's quite rebellious, she's quite stubborn as well.

And she's got lots of ideas and she reminded me of Hermione from Harry Potter as well, because I think Hermione also kind of rejects the image of this stereotypical female because she's also very strong-willed.

She doesn't let Harry and Ron tell her what to do.

She's also really intelligent.

She can do most the experiments really well.

So she also, to me, kind of rejected this image.

She's also extremely brave, too often goes on the same adventures as Harry and Ron.

And so these were some of the females that I thought of.

And now also then I thought about Lila in The Firework-Maker's Daughter and that's who I really want to explore and think about a little bit more today.

Before we continue, we're going to do a quick strategy check.

So a strategy check is something we just need to do every time, whenever we look at a reading lesson and a strategy check helps us to kind of know how to answer certain questions.

So in my strategy check, I might think about how I'm going to answer certain questions, inference and retrieval questions.

It's really important that when I do these, that I underline the keywords in the question.

This is important because it helps me find in the text where the information is that I need.

And once I found that information, I have to skim and scan for it.

Okay, so in order to find it, I have to skim and scan, skimming and scanning means I don't read the whole text in lots of details.

Why, because this will take me so long to do.

If every time I had to answer a question, I had to go through the whole text and skim and read it word for word, it would take me a very long time to find an answer.

So skimming and scanning is when you're searching for key word and your eyes go really fast over the page.

I often find it really helpful to take my finger to track as I do this.

And then once you find the key information you should underline or highlight it, so you don't lose it.

Then I pause and I always look above and below and read those two parts, in order to make sure the information I have is absolutely correct, and that I've understood the context of that information.

Context means the meaning of it in the page that I found it or in the section of the text that it's in.

And then finally I search for hidden clues.

Hidden clues can sometimes be and emotion.

So if the question asks you, how does someone enjoy something? If you're searching for a hidden clue, you might be looking for their body language or something they do that shows that they're enjoying something.

So they're laughing for instance.

And that's what I mean by searching for those hidden clues.

And if I use these throughout today, it's going to really help me to answer all the questions.

Now we're going to analyse the text.

If you remember, we're thinking about this key question.

How does Leila reject the stereotypical characteristics of a female? We're going to look at some extracts now from the text.

And we're going to look for those clues to see how she is rejecting.

That mean she's not fitting that stereotypical image of a female.

So my first question is this one, and this is the section of the text that it comes from.

So I'm going to read the section of the text, and then I'll read the question to you.

So do you really want to be a firework maker Lila? Of course I do, it's the only thing I want.

I was afraid so he said, he is Lalchand, her father.

It's my own fault, what was I thinking of? I should have sent you to my sister Jembavati, to bring you up as a dancer, this is no place for a girl.

Now of what really struck me about this extract when I read it, was how Lalchand said this is no place for a girl.

It's quite a strong statement to make but it's also a view that was held or sometimes still is held by society.

So I want you to think, why does he think being a firework maker is no place for a girl? What is it about being a firework maker that means Lila cannot be one? What does he think that is? So why does Lalchand say this is no place for a girl? Now I can't answer this question without thinking about it in a little bit more detail.

So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to start annotating and thinking about girls and firework makers, in order to understand the view that Lalchand has.

So what I'd like you to do here to develop your answer, is I'd like you to pause the video.

When you do that, what I want you to do is to write down stereotypical characteristics of girls that perhaps you hear people talking about.

So you might hear people saying, don't run like a girl and those types of phrases.

So what, when you think of girls, do you think about? And what is it about firework makers? So what would you need to be if you were a firework maker? Would you need to be brave? Would you need to be determined? And what is that job like? Is it dangerous or is it not? And so I want you to think about and generate ideas for both of these.

So just pause video now and have a go at doing that.

Okay, let's see what I came up with to see if you had any similar ideas, and don't worry if you have different ones, that's fantastic.

You're never going to match exactly what I have, and I'm sure you've probably got some better ideas than me, that's often the case.

So let's see what I came up with.

So I thought that girls traditionally, were always expected to stay at home, stay at home.

Look after the family, look after the home.

They were meant to be weak, they're usually expected or seen as weak or slightly more fragile than males.

Okay, so not as physically strong.

And perhaps not as mentally strong, they weren't sent to war.

During the war, they were the ones who stayed at home.

They definitely had an important role in the war but they weren't the ones who were sent to fight.

They should avoid dangerous tasks.

It's often seen that if there are the dangerous task, a male should do it, and they were not considered or they are not considered strong or brave.

Now, when I think of what a firework maker needs to be, from my reading of The Firework-Maker's Daughter, is I think they need to be brave.

They would need to be adventurous because it is a dangerous activity.

And as Lalchand has shown us many a time, they would also need to be inventive, so experimental and willing to take risks.

Now, if we look back at this question, we can start to bring together those ideas.

So I don't want you to forget what we've just looked at.

Why now we need to do is try and answer the question.

So using that information, why does Lalchand say, this is no place for a girl? So pause the video here.

You can either write down your answer or you can just say it aloud, and when you're ready, press play.

So I answered my question like this.

Now, we don't always have to write our reading answers in full sentences, but it does help.

Okay, so because I said, why does Lalchand say this is no place for a girl? And I said, because firework making is dangerous and he thinks girls should not take part in dangerous activities.

So you might have something similar to me.

You probably won't have the exact same answer as me, and that's okay.

The key to this though, is that you've understood what was expected of girls, what Lalchand was expecting of a girl.

Okay, and why he thinks firework making is not appropriate for Lila to be doing, Now we're going to move on to our second question.

Our second question is this, I'm going to read the extract of the text for you, and then we'll have a go at answering the question.

So this is no place for a girl.

Now I've come to think of it and just look at you.

Your hair's a mess, your fingers are burned and stained with chemicals, your eyebrows scorched.

How am I going to find a husband for you when you look like that? Now, again, I was really interested by this question that Philip Pullman has put in, and I was really interested by, how am I going to find a husband for you when you look like that? This tells us that Lalchand wants Lila to have a husband.

That's his most important thing, is that he find Lila a husband.

It was thought that if you could find your daughter a husband then that husband can take care of your daughter.

Okay, so this view, that Lalchand has, was a view that was kind of very common.

Yeah, a very common view.

And now let's have a think then about this question.

Why does Lalchand want to find her a husband? I've kind of given you a big clue already, but I want you to try and formulate your own answer.

Before we do that, again, It might be useful to think about this when we develop our answer.

So what is it that Lalchand wants Lila to be? So I would like you to pause your video and just look back at the notes you've already made.

Okay, now we've looked at our notes, we can go back to our question.

So why does Lalchand want to find her a husband? So pause the video and you can either say this out loud, or you can write it down and then have a go at answering this question and press play when you're ready to resume.

Okay, again, you might not have the same answer as me and that's absolutely fine.

But as long as you have something similar to me, then you've got it correct.

So I said that he wants her to find a husband for her because that was expected by society.

Lila would then be looked after by her husband.

It was the thing that he thought he needed to do.

Now it's really interesting in this book, 'cause I wonder if he still has that view at the end of the story, but you'll have to read on to find out if that's the case, but I've given you a big clue there.

And then I'm going to do my next question now.

Now we're going to think about Lila, what does Lila want? So this is the extract from the text.

How am I going to find a husband for you when you look like that? Lila was horrified.

So horrified is a really strong emotion.

It means it's probably the worst thing that she's heard.

It's a really strong feeling.

And I want you to think about, why was Lila horrified? So pause the video and just think for a minute.

Why was Lila horrified? Okay, I would think before answering this question, what I would do is I would think about, what does Lila want? So what do you know about Lila? We already have looked at her quite a lot in detail.

So what do you already know about Lila and why would she be horrified about the thought of having a husband? And I said she was horrified because she wants to become a firework maker and had no interest in finding a husband.

We know from the piece of text that we've already looked at, that it's the only thing she wants is to be a firework maker.

She has absolutely no interest in finding a husband at all.

And now we're going to look at our last question for the day and it's this one.

This is the extract from the text and then I'll read the questions to you afterwards.

So each of them had quite the wrong idea about things and they were both alarmed to find it out.

Alarmed means really shocked.

It wasn't what they thought was the case.

So Lila said no more about being a firework maker and Lalchand said no more about husbands but they both thought about them all the same.

So who do you think has the wrong idea? Does Lalchand have the wrong idea for expecting Lila to just find a husband? Or does Leila have the wrong idea for wanting to be a firework maker? Who do you think? And I also want you to think about this, because Philip Pullman has written this book.

And so he has author intent, that means he's written it to make a point sometimes or to make you think in more detail about something.

So who do you think Philip Pullman thinks has the wrong idea? Do you think he's on the side of Lila or do you think he's on the side of Lalchand? And I want you to kind of think about both of these.

So pause the video and think to yourself who has the wrong idea and who would you think Philip Pullman thinks has the wrong idea? So pause the video and press play when you're ready to resume.

Okay, so I wonder who you thought had the wrong idea.

I'm sure lots of you will say Lalchand has the wrong idea because we all really engage with Lila as a character, she's following her dream.

She wants to do something for herself and she's determined and it's really hard not to like a character that's so determined.

And as you lead on through the story, you will find that Philip Pullman also thinks Lalchand perhaps has the wrong idea because by the end of the story, Lalchand learns a lesson, as does Leila.

And I want you to kind of maybe, if you're interested to find out, you should read on and find out more in this book, it's definitely worth the read.

So we're going to finish now by summarising our ideas.

So overall, how does Lila reject the stereotypical characteristics of a female? This was the question that we looked at at the beginning of the lesson.

We've now thought about this question and now we're going to have a go at answering it in full.

So to do this, I want you to think about girls.

What's the stereotypical view of girls and I've given you some ideas.

They stay at home, they're weak or fragile.

They should avoid dangerous tasks and they're not considered strong or brave.

This is the stereotypical view that's existed in literature over time.

It's slightly starting to change now, which is fantastic.

But then I want you to think about Lila, so how does Lila reject or fit some of these ideas? So think about her characteristics.

So that's her personality traits.

Is she brave, is she determined? Is she willing to do dangerous tasks? And pause the video and see how many different ways you think Lila either fits his image or rejects this image and press play when you're ready to resume.

Okay, so here are my ideas.

So I've said she's brave, adventurous, determined, stubborn, nobody tells her what to do.

She already told us that nothing will stop her becoming a firework maker.

She's resilient, when she burns her fingers, she carries on.

So she's not afraid to get hurt.

So this shows that she's strong as a character as well.

Now you haven't really seen Lila in her full form and throughout the book, she becomes even more brave and adventurous because she goes on a journey to Mount Merapi.

And you'll have to read on to kind of find out a little bit more about her.

We're going to finish now and I'd like you to write a sentence.

We've got two more tasks to do.

I'd like you to write a sentence to say how Lila rejects the stereotypical characteristics of a female, and you use because, so give me a reason why.

So pause the video.

You can say out loud, or you can write the sentence and resume once you're finished.

And finally, we're going to finish by reflecting.

It's really important that we take a minute at the end of every lesson to think about our own view on something, to reflect backwards.

So I want you to think, make a prediction.

I've kind of given you a little hint on this already, but as you haven't maybe read the rest of the book, some of you might, if that's you have then that's brilliant.

But do you think Lila will disobey, that means not do as she's told, disobey her father and become a firework maker.

So yes, because or no because, what do you think will happen in the rest of the story? Do you think she's going to find a husband or do you think she's going to be a firework maker in the end? Pause the video and then press play when you're ready, Congratulations, you've completed your lesson for today before you finish for today, I would like you just to think about three things that you've learnt today.

It might be three things you've learnt about Lila as a character, or it might be three things you've learnt about the theme in The Firework Maker's Daughter.

But I would just say you to have a think about those three things.

And then I really hope you enjoy the rest of your lessons today and well done for completing this one.