Lesson video

Hello everyone.

It's Miss Henman.

We are in our fifth and therefore final lesson of this unit, which makes me really sad because I have loved reading about Walter Tull and his life.

In today's lesson, we're going to look a little bit more at his time in the army.

And then we're going to reflect upon his life and this text.

I hope you enjoy it.

Let's go through our agenda for today's lesson.

First, we are going to review some of that subject specific vocabulary we looked at last lesson.

Then we will look at some inference questions.

After that we will reflect on Walter's time in the war.

And finally, we will reflect upon Walter Tull as a person, and this text.

In this lesson, you will need something to write on something to write with and your brain, to help you think.

Can you make sure that your workstation is set up, that you have these things and that it's quiet and no distractions.

Pause the video if you need to do this now, otherwise let's get learning.

Okay, so like I said, we are going to look at some of the subject specific vocabulary from last lesson.

Bayonet, rifle, sniper, trenches.

If you need to reread any of the definitions, you can pause the video now and do that.

Otherwise we will move on.

Okay, so we are continuing to study this extract from the book.

We read it last lesson, and this is my question.

Can you read it out loud, please? Pause the video as you do so.

Okay, now it's my turn.

Find the phrase "snatched sleep." What does it mean to snatch something? And what do you think snatched sleep means? So the first thing you need to do is find the phrase.

Then you need to think about what the verb snatch means.

And finally, you need to think about what snatched sleep means and the context of this, of Walter's life in the trenches is really going to help you.

Pause the video.

And I would like you to say out loud, your answer.

Off you go.

Okay, now it's my turn.

Snatched means to take without permission, let's do the action.

So it's when you grab something and you take it without permission.

Can you snatch sleep? Hmm.

I think it's that the sleep has been taken away from the soldiers.

So why has the sleep been taken away from the soldiers> Reread and have a little look.

Ah, because they have to get up early.

Pause the video and see if you can find any other ways in which the sleep has been taken away from the soldiers.

Okay, so I found you had to get up early.

They were woken by the cold, what else were they woken by? Oh, scuttling rats and the sound of shells or shots.

And I also, I'm just going to read the last sentence in this, "dream of dry socks." I'm going to read the one before, "hope for a bit of warmth and sleep without too many fleas or explosions to disturb us." So there's early rises, cold, rats, gunfire, fleas, and then strange dreams about dry socks.

No wonder Walter feels like someone is snatching his sleep.

Do you think it would have been easy to get to sleep in the trenches? Why or why not? I would like you to answer this question by writing your answer.

So you need to say yes or no, and then you need to explain why you think that.

And you're going to give evidence from the text.

So you are going to quote some words from the text.

I think this task is going to take you about two minutes Can you pause the video and do that now, please? Okay, now it's my turn.

I think it would not be easy to get to sleep in the trenches for a number of reasons.

Personally, what I would find really difficult and would disturb my sleep is the cold, scuttling rats, and the noise from the war.

I think feeling the rats and feeling the cold and hearing those things would disturb my sleep.

And therefore, I think it would be difficult to get to sleep also to stay asleep.

You ready for your next question? Can you read the question out loud, please? Excellent reading.

What is "Morning Hate"? In inverted commas, so it's a direct quote.

And why is it in capitals? So your strategy for this is to find the phrase "Morning Hate" in the text and read around it.

You also might want to use some of your grammar knowledge.

Pause the video, and this time, once you've done that, I'd like you to say your answer out loud.

Off you go.

It's a proper noun, which is why it has a capital M and a capital H.

That means that it's a person or a place.

Now can the Morning Hate actually be a place or a person? No, so it's what they have called this event.

And what have they.

What is this event? It's the name for when they fire a few rounds, so when they fire their guns or their rifles at the enemy trenches.

It doesn't sound like a nice phrase.

Find the phrase "keep my head down." What does it mean to keep your head down and do we use it today? So you're going to have to use some of your background knowledge.

Have you ever heard the phrase to keep your head down? If not, could you act out and have a think about what that would make people around you think, or when you might want to keep your head down in your life today.

And then you need to find it in the text and think about what it means to keep my head down, in Walter Tull's notes from the trenches.

Can you pause the video? And this time I'd like you to write down your answer, but it could be in note form.

So it doesn't need to be full sentences.

Off you go.

Okay, now it's my turn.

I wonder if we came up with the same things.

So I've heard the phrase, keep your head down, or keep my head down in school.

So keep your head down means stay out of trouble.

Why, in the war, did people need to keep their head down? Are they staying out of trouble? Is it so that they don't get in trouble? Well sort of, it's not so they don't get a detention, rather it's so that they don't get.

Yeah, shot by a sniper.

What did they have for their dinner? You can scan the text and look really quickly for the word dinner, and then I'd like you to read around it.

And you should be able to answer this question.

Pause the video and say your answer out loud.

Tinned bully beef, hard biscuits and tea.

I don't know what bully beef is, it's come from a tin.

And then hard biscuits don't sound very delicious.

And then tea, usually people put milk in their tea and I can't imagine there was fresh milk and there wouldn't have been fridges.

So I wonder what the tea was like.

Do you think they enjoyed their dinner? And why do you think that? Pause the video and write down your answer this time.

Okay, now it's my turn.

I wrote probably not because it doesn't sound very nice.

It says "it's not much" that's a direct quote.

But they were pleased to have something for dinner because it says "I'm desperate for it." So I don't think they enjoyed it very much, but they were clearly desperate for food.

And although it wasn't very much, it fed them.

It kept them going.

I don't think they really enjoyed it.

Okay, let's reflect on Walter Tull's experience in the war.

You're going to do this with a task.

I'd like you to write a letter to Walter's brother, Eddie, telling him about your day in the trenches.

I've put on the screen, a new part of the book.

It says "we keep our courage high by singing as we march." So that might be something that you would include in your letter.

That they passed the time by singing.

We've heard about his normal day, his typical day.

The Morning Hate, stretching, repairing the trenches, eating his tinned beef.

But another thing that we hadn't read about so far was the singing.

Then it says there's lots to learn.

It's a whole new world in the front line with its own new words.

You can see on the left hand side, a title that says battle phrasebook.

Underneath, it includes these phrases that we often use during World War One.

They were usually slang phrases or slightly silly phrases that were used amongst the soldiers in the war.

So for example, I'm going to have a look at trench foot, it's the very bottom one.

Can you track it with your eyes, trench foot.

Horrible foot rot that you get from standing in mud and water for weeks and never drying out.

Ugh, that doesn't sound very nice at all.

So when you are constructing your letter to Eddie, remember you are no longer a child in school.

You are Walter Tull, you have been a footballer and you are now serving in the army in World War One.

And Eddie is your beloved brother.

You're going to write him a letter telling him about your time in the war, in the trenches and how you spend your day.

So all letters need to start with dear and then the name and then a comma.

And I've put that on the screen to help you.

And then you might write one or two paragraphs and then you need to remember to sign off.

So I have written example sign off, which is I miss you dearly, and I hope to be home soon.

Love Walter.

And then in the bottom right hand corner, I've put some prompts about things that you might want to tell Eddie in your letter.

So you might want to tell him how you're feeling.

You might want to tell him how you spend your time.

You might want to tell him what you're missing and thinking about.

This task is going to show how much you have learned by reading this book.

It's also going to show you how much you understand Walter's character and what he might be feeling and thinking in a situation like this.

I think this task is going to take you at least 10 minutes, but it might take you longer.

I cannot wait to see some of these letters.

Good luck.

Pause the video and get writing.

Okay, well done.

I am so impressed with your writing.

It shows how much reading can help you understand a person's character and their perspective.

We are now going to reflect upon Walter Tull as a person and this text in particular.

Can you pause the video and read the text on the screen? Before you do that, there's one word I thought you might not know.

Commanders, commanders.

Commanders are the people in charge of Walter in the army.

Okay, pause the video and get reading.

How do you think Walter is feeling and why? So, based on what you've just read, how do you think he's feeling and why? Pause the video and have a think.

You also might look for evidence in the text.

Okay, now it's my turn.

I think he is excited, proud and worried.

So those are the emotions I think he's feeling.

Can you look at the text and think about why I made those inferences, please? Pause the video as you do that.

Okay, so I think he is excited and proud because something amazing has happened that he's describing, a miracle.

One of those things is that he's going on leave.

But the second thing is that he's been trained to be an officer.

Now, remember before we said his title was private.

Officer is higher up than private in the army.

So it's an important job title.

And I think he is feeling excited and proud about the fact that he is going to be trained for a new job.

Why do I think that? Afterwards, it says "Me, a real officer and a gentleman!" So he seems a bit surprised and also thrilled that it was him who was selected.

It says that the commanders have been impressed by him.

I think he'd be feeling proud of himself for that.

But then it says "I have one big worry." What's the big worry? "I've heard that black men cannot be officers in the British Army." He's worried that although he's been promised this new role, that maybe, he's not allowed to have it.

And that used to be the case.

There were no black people or people of colour in the British Army who were officers.

And then that changed.

And one of the reasons it changed is because of Walter Tull.

He was given a special commission and he was the first black man to be an officer in the British Army.

I'm going to read this to you.

While I do, I want you to think about the following question.

Why do you think Michaela Morgan decided to write this book? Walter Tull is a hero of our time, a star player for Tottenham Hotspurs and the first black outfield professional footballer.

Walter Tull went on to become the first black officer in the British Army.

He rose above prejudice on the pitch and his leadership and courage in the trenches won him a recommendation for the military cross.

Walter Tull's scrapbook, tells his remarkable story from his childhood in an orphanage, to his eventual tragic death during the First World War.

Okay, so why do you think Michaela Morgan decided to write this book? Pause the video and have some thinking time.

Okay, this is my thought on this question.

Because Walter Tull had a remarkable life and then I've put in a colon, and I'm going to list all the things that were remarkable about his life.

He was orphaned at a young age.

He had two very different but successful careers.

He was the first black.

He was the first black professional football player and black army officer in the UK, breaking boundaries in both professions.

Because of these incredible achievements, I think Michaela Morgan wanted to acknowledge and celebrate his life.

So that's what I thought.

Walter Tull really did have an incredible life.

He faced barriers in his early life and then later on because of his race.

And he broke down these, these barriers and these boundaries and he paved the way for other black people and other people of colour.

And made the UK become more inclusive and more diverse.

Okay, this is an I wonder question.

I'm not going to answer this question.

This is a question I'm going to leave you thinking about after this unit, because we have nearly finished, and I think it's a complex question that you might come back to over time.

Do you think Walter Tull is a hero? So on the front of the book, it described him as a hero, and on the back.

Do you think Walter Tull is a hero? And is this a question we can find the answer to in a book? So would a book tell us this answer? You can pause the video if want to think about this now.

Otherwise this is an I wonder question for you to come back to.

Congratulations.

You have completed this unit.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about Walter Tull and don't forget the next time you want to learn something, that reading is a great way to research a topic or a person.

Give yourself a pat on the back and give me a wave goodbye.

Bye.