Analysing and emulating Baum's use of unknown characters in 'The Wizard of Oz'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can analyse how Baum introduces the reader to unknown characters in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and emulate those ideas to create my own unknown character.
Key learning points
- Dorothy meets three companions on her way to Oz: the Scarecrow, the Tin-Man and the Lion.
- Baum uses language to show the reader that Dorothy is not frightened by meeting any of these characters.
- When creating your own unknown character, you need to consider how your language will make the reader perceive them.
Keywords
Infer - to form an opinion or guess that something is true because of the information that you have
Connotations - a feeling or idea that is suggested by a word in addition to its basic meaning
Character - a person in a novel, play, or film
Perceive - to attain awareness or understanding of
Create - to cause something to exist, or to make something new or imaginative
Common misconception
That meeting someone unknown in a strange place will always be scary.
Instead of feeling scared, you might also feel excited or intrigued and you can use language to have this effect on the reader.
Teacher tip
You could ask the students to draw a picture of their created character as well to help them visualise their character for the final writing task.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a character?
Q2.Someone unknown is .
Q3.The organ associated with love is .
Q4.To make something new or imaginative is to .
Q5.Onomatopoeia is .
Q6.We generally associate light and light imagery with .
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.In L. Frank Baum's 'The Wizard of Oz', we can infer that the Scarecrow wants because he says his head is full of straw.
Q2.Match the character from L. Frank Baum's 'The Wizard of Oz' with their request for Oz.
courage
a heart
to return to Kansas
Q3.Which of the following suggests a negative reaction?
Q4.A feeling or idea that is suggested by a word in addition to its basic meaning is called a...
Q5.To attain awareness or understanding of is to ...
Q6.To form an opinion or guess that something is true because of the information that you have is to ...
To help you plan your 7 English lesson on: Analysing and emulating Baum's use of unknown characters in 'The Wizard of Oz', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 English lesson on: Analysing and emulating Baum's use of unknown characters in 'The Wizard of Oz', 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 3 English lessons from the Step into the unknown: fiction reading and creative writing unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.