Exploring the moral and characters in 'The Happy Prince'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can discuss the moral and the characters' emotions in ‘The Happy Prince’.
Key learning points
- Expressing the thoughts and emotions of a character helps the reader understand the character more.
- Different character traits appear in the story and we use these to draw conclusions to infer a moral from the story.
- A moral is a lesson that can be learnt from a story; readers’ interpretations of a moral may differ.
- The characters’ emotions change throughout the narrative.
- We can look at each character's speech and actions to understand their emotions fully.
Keywords
Character trait - part of your personality, belief system and behaviour
Moral - a lesson that can be learnt from a story or experience
Emotions - strong feelings that result from a person’s circumstances, mood or relationship with others
Common misconception
Pupils may find it difficult to understand the characters' emotions.
Tell pupils that exploring what the characters say and how they act helps to infer what they are feeling.
Teacher tip
Re-read the text again and discuss how the characters' actions and dialogue help to express their emotions. You could further consolidate this understanding by watching, or reading, other versions of 'The Happy Prince.'
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who was the original author of 'The Happy Prince'?
Q2.Who are the main characters in 'The Happy Prince'?
Q3.Order these key moments from 'The Happy Prince' in chronological order.
Q4.True or false? 'The prince is an evil character.'
Q5.Which of the following are character traits?
Q6.Which of the following are emotions?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.True or false? This is the moral of 'The Happy Prince': never give up.
Q2.What happened to the statue when he realised that the bird was dying?
Q3.What does this quote tell the reader about how the prince felt at the beginning of the story? 'His eyes were full of tears.'
Q4.How did the prince show selflessness?
Q5.How did the prince show compassion?
Q6.Order these key moments from 'The Happy Prince' in chronological order.
To help you plan your 4 English lesson on: Exploring the moral and characters in 'The Happy Prince', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 4 English lesson on: Exploring the moral and characters in 'The Happy Prince', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 English lessons from the 'The Happy Prince': narrative writing and reading unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.