Video: To explore a theme

﻿Hi there. My name is Mr Byrne-Smith. And today we're going to be doing some reading together. Today is the fifth of five lessons on, "there's a boy in the girls bathroom." In today's lesson, we're going to be analysing a theme. The theme of "fitting in." So let's make a start. Here's the agenda for today's lesson. First, we're going to have a quick introduction. Then we're going to do some text analysis to try and get to the bottom of this theme of fitting in. Then we're going to summarise what we've learned today. In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or paper, a pencil and of course your brain that you mustn't forget. If you need to go and get any of these things, pause the video now. Okay, let's introduce today's lesson. Today we're looking at the theme of "fitting in." Now, before we look at this theme and analyse it, we need to consider what it actually means to fit in. I've got an example for you here. It was his first time at the dance club and he was desperate to fit in. It was his first time at the dance club and he was desperate to fit in. Okay, we're going to see another example. She wanted to fit in with her classmates but she didn't want to have to change who she was in order to do it. She wanted to fit in with her classmates but she didn't want to have to change who she was in order to do it. So what do you think it means to fit in? Like to pause the video and have a think. Okay, so fitting in means blending in with the people around you so that you can get along with them. Sometimes especially in a new situation we need to consider the people around you, the people that you're with and you should consider how you might best get along with them. Sometimes you might feel as though you need to change slightly in order to get along with them. Well, this process is called fitting in. Now, sometimes you just fit in naturally without having to make any change whatsoever. Sometimes you feel as though you have to make a few tweaks to the way you act and the way you behave. This is called, fitting in. The question is, is 'fitting in' always a good thing? Is it always good to be fitting in? I've got two examples for you here. She didn't like how they were treating the younger child but she wanted to fit in. So she didn't do anything. Okay. He wanted to get to know his new neighbours. So he tried to fit in by joining in their games. I guess I'd like you to think of these two examples and tell me, are these are good examples of fitting in or bad? Take them one by one. They're not necessarily the same as each other. Pause the video now. Okay. So this first example is proving that fitting in is not always a good thing because it's a bad example of fitting in. She didn't like how they were treating the younger child but she wanted to fit in So she didn't do anything. This is an example of somebody who's so desperate to fit in that they are overlooking a younger child being mistreated. It sounds here as though some people are being unkind to the younger child, because she wants to fit in, she's not doing anything about it. She's not telling them to stop. She's not telling an adult. She's not helping the younger child. This is an example of fitting in actually, being a bad thing. How about our next example? This is a good example of fitting in. He wanted to get to know his new neighbours, so he tried to fit in by joining in their games. Now, when you're in a new situation, you actually have a bit of responsibility to try your hardest to get along with the people around you. This means giving them a chance. It means joining you with their games. It means asking them about themselves. It means seeing if you have things in common, this is part of the process of fitting in. And this type of fitting in is a good thing. The child in this scenario I think has done a really good job, really taking it upon himself to try and get to know his new neighbours. What a good example. Okay. Let's do some text analysis. Today we're going to be delving into this theme of 'fitting in." I'm going to use the text to unpick it. So let's think about Jeff. Think about everything we currently know about Jeff. I'm going to give you a few seconds to think of some examples of things we know about Jeff. And then we're going to discuss a mind map I've created. So you can just think for a few seconds. What do you know about Jeff? Who is he? Where's he come from? What's happened to him. What's he like? Okay. So, we know that Jeff is new. That's the first thing. He's a new child at the school. We know he's from Washington DC. So he's come from elsewhere. We don't know how far they are from Washington DC. The current school he's currently in. But the assumption is that it's quite far because people ask him about it, as though it's a different place and it's significant different place. He's keen to please. We discovered this in the last lesson. He's keen to please cause he's keen to kind of get to know people around him. Rocky start. So things haven't exactly gone to plan. A Rocky start is when things don't go that smoothly. He's over here, of course had that incident in the girl's bathroom, which is meant that he has had a bit of a Rocky start, No friends yet. So he doesn't have any friends. He is new, it's his first day. Currently, he doesn't have any friends. He sort of established a bit of a relationship with Bradley, but it's definitely not a friendship. Not yet. Finally, we know that he's in Mrs. Ebbel's class with Bradley. So we know a fair amount about Jeff. Question is, do you think he's keen to fit in? And I like you to base your answer on this set of information that we have in front of us. Pause the video now? Okay. I think he is key to fit in. I think anybody in this situation would be. He's at a new school. He wants to probably get to know people so that he can make friends with them. So he'd probably be keen to fit in. Part of fitting in is not bringing too much bad attention to yourself. When you just moved to a new place or a new school you want to kind of get to know how things work quietly before you start bringing too much attention to yourself. So we're going to explore how that goes for Jeff in today's lesson. We're going to explore Jeff's quest to fit in. Let's explore how the quest to fit in goes for Jeff. Now, a quest is a mission, so I'm calling it a quest to fit in to make it sound a bit more exciting. His mission, his adventure to fit in. We're going to use this first piece of text. "No, not next to Bradley!" the girl in the front row exclaimed. "At least it's better than in front of Bradley," said the boy next to her. Mrs. Ebbel frowned. She turned to Jeff. "I'm sorry, but there were no other empty desks." "I don't mind where I sit." Jeff mumbled So far, is Jeff making his quest to fit in easier or harder? and why? Based on what we've just read. Pause the video now. Okay. Well, I think actually, Jeff's probably making life a little bit hard for himself here. Everybody in the class is saying, "not next to Bradley, not next to Bradley. Don't sit next to him." No one wants to sit near Bradley. Even Mrs. Ebbel is saying that. Yet Jeff is saying, "I don't mind where I sit." So he doesn't seem to mind sitting next to Bradley. And he's willing to say out loud in front of everybody. How about in this example? When the bell rang for recess He put on his red jacket and walked outside alone. "Hey, Bradley, wait up." Someone called after him. Startled, he turned around. Jeff, the new kid, hurried alongside him. "Hi," said Jeff, Bradley stared at him in amazement. Jeff smiled. "I don't mind sitting next to you," he said. "Really." Bradley didn't know what to say. So, is Jeff making his quest to fit in easier or harder? And why? Now, remember Bradley is unpopular. He simply has no friends. Yet here is Jeff making an effort. So what do you think is Jeff making his quest to fit in easier or harder? And why? Pause the video now. Okay. Once again, Jess making it even harder for himself to fit in. He is saying, "wait up up Bradley" and he's saying, "hi," and he's saying, "I don't mind sitting next to you." Now, ordinarily this would be the perfect kind of approach to fitting in. But Jeff speaking this way towards Bradley, who's a very unpopular child. So by trying to become friends with the unpopular child Jeff is drawing attention to himself. And he's also going against what everybody else does and says. So he's not doing a very good job at fitting in. By treating Bradley this way, Jeff is making it harder to fit in. Let's have a think about why. And if it's a bad thing, because remember the fitting in is not always a good thing. Which of these adverbs best describes how Jeff is treating Bradley. Kindly, unfairly or patiently. I'd like you to have think. Pause the video if you need some extra time. Okay, I think Jeff is treating Bradley kindly and patiently. Well, this is interesting because Jeff's making it harder for himself to fit in because he's being kind and patient to somebody who doesn't often have people being kind and patient to them. How interesting. So these fantastic qualities in Jeff are making it harder for him to fit in. That really goes to show that fitting in is not always a good thing. Let's look at this next piece of text. Jeff Fishkin was hopelessly lost. He clutched his hall pass as he looked down the long empty corridor. The school seemed so big to him. He was supposed to see the new counsellor. She was supposed to help him adjust his new environment. Now he not only didn't know how to get to her office. He had no idea how to get back to Mrs. Ebbel's class either. So we have this phrase which we looked at a few lessons ago, "adjust to his new environment." Let's have a think about what that means. What was it going to consider? Why being sent to the counsellor makes it harder for Jeff to fit in? Now he has to adjust to his new environment because he's in a new school. And he's being sent to the counsellor, the school counsellor in order to do it. Why does being sent to the counsellor make it harder, again, for Jeff fits in? Have a think. Okay. Now if you're sent to the counsellor and you're being sent to the counsellor for a reason. Actually it's not something that all children do, not every child in the school goes to the school counsellor for help with advice. Since Jeff is the new kid, he probably wants to go unnoticed. He wants to quietly fit in without anybody knowing he's there. As I mentioned earlier, when you're trying to fit in, you don't want to bring extra attention to yourself. Yet here he is being sent to the counsellor. So do you think that brings him extra attention? I think so. Therefore it's making it harder for him to fit in. What else in this paragraph suggests Jeff is struggling to fit in? I'd like you to look at the text carefully and see if you can find more evidence that suggests he's finding it tricky to fit in. Pause the video now. Okay. So we have a few examples. He's lost more attention, unnecessary attention. He doesn't know his way around. And now everyone knows that. He's clutching his whole path. That suggest to me that he's nervous and he's finding it hard. He's not feeling relaxed. He's feeling anxious. The school seemed so big. It's alien to him. He's not used to it. So he's obviously finding it a bit of a contrast to what he's used to. Then down near the bottom we have now he not only didn't know how to get to her office. He had no idea how to get back to mrs.Ebbel's class either. Now, if you're fitting in you're unlikely to feel clueless and lost. So I think from this, we can tell that Jeff is struggling to fit in. Next piece of text. And this, this is a good one. He walked to the end of the hall, turned right, counted to the second door on he's left and pushed it open. A girl with red hair and a freckled face was washing her hands at the sink. When she saw Jeff, her a mouth dropped open. "What are you doing in here?" She asked. "Huh?" Jeff uttered. "Get out of here!" She yelled. "This is the girl's bathroom!" Jeff froze. He covered his face with his hands. Then dashed out the door. "There's a boy in the girls bathroom!" The girl screamed after him. Okay. Is there anything that happens in this passage, which might make it harder for Jeff to fit in? Let me think. Anything out of the ordinary happening here? I think it probably won't take you long. Okay. This, "there's a boy in the girl's bathroom." So this is the big one. Here he is. Jeff, new school. He's a new kid he's trying to fit in. He's trying to go unnoticed. He's trying to get a feel of how things work without too much attention. This is his very first day. And what happens? He walks into the wrong bathroom, into the girl's bathroom. Now, what do you reckon? Is this going to make life easier for him in terms of fitting in? Or harder for him in terms of fitting in? Harder. That's an easy one. So why might this event make it harder for Jeff to fit in? This is the key We need to actually explain. So we know that walking into the girl's bathroom makes it harder to fit in but why? I've given you a sentence starts to get you going. Walking into the girl's bathroom makes it harder for Jeff to fit in because... I like to have a think. And don't be afraid to expand this answer over a number of sentences. Pause the video now. Okay. Here's my answer. Walking into the girl's bathroom makes it harder for Jeff to fit in because he's trying to make a good first impression. So he wants people's first opinion of him to be good. Positive. Walking into the girl's bathroom is embarrassing. Since it's not where he's meant to be. Obviously the girl's bathroom is not where he should be. And therefore being in that is embarrassing for him. Now that's true in any situation. If you walk into the wrong class, it's embarrassing. If you knocked on the wrong door, it would be embarrassing. Walking into the the girls bathroom is even more embarrassing because it's kind of considered quite a private area. So to go in there it's not quite the same as walking into a classroom. It's a little bit worse. I think Jeff is worried that the girl would tell her friends and everyone will find out. Now let's think about why that would be a bad thing for Jeff. Well, he's trying to fit in, in order to do that, he needs to go unnoticed. So if everybody finds out he walked into the girl's bathroom, will he go unnoticed? No, I don't think so. Okay. Let's summarise what we've learned about Jeff and his quest to fit in. We're going to do this by deciding how he's done. How has he done? How well has Jeff fitted in and why? I like you to answer on this scale from zero to 10, zero is not very well. 10 is very well. So what's your ranking. How has he done at fitting in? Pause the video and have a think. okay. I'll put him towards the bottom, maybe four or five. I think he's done okay. But a few big things have gone wrong and therefore things are getting a bit hard for him. I think he's trying his best to fit in, but a few things have gone wrong. And then let's not forget that actually he's decided that sometimes it's not necessary to try and fit in. Cause you remember he treated Bradley really kindly. So he must be a really nice person because his desire to be a kind person is greater than his desire to fit in, which I think is such a lovely thing. So I can tell from this that not only is Jeff actually fits in, but actually he's also a really nice person who wants to do the right thing as well as just fitting in. Okay. Last Question, What do you think, do you think fitting in is a good theme for a book aimed at school children? which this is, why? Pause the video now. Okay. I think this is a fantastic theme for a book aimed at school children because children at school often have to learn how to fit in. This is a battle that lots of school children are struggling against. Anxious to fit in, anxious do right thing, anxious to make friends. This happens when you join new schools new clubs, new social groups. To these things, these three things are all things that happen to children. So I think this is a really good theme for school age children. One last reminder, it's hard to fit in, be yourself. And I just think this is really important to remind you, fitting in is really hard. And in some senses, it's important because you have to make an effort to get to know the people around you in order to make friends. If you make friends, you get to spend lots of nice lovely time with people who have similar interests to you. However the most important thing in life is that you are yourself and you embrace the qualities that you have. So you should always remember to be kind and caring and respectful first, that's the priority. If you feel as though you need to fit in by being unkind to somebody or by ignoring somebody or by being mean to somebody, then you need to think again. Because actually most important thing is that you're kind and caring and that you're yourself. Don't feel like that you have to change who you are in order to fit in. If your feelings that you have to really change who you are then maybe you should look for a different group of friends. So you can find some that really embrace and love you for who you are. Okay. Congratulations. Excellent lesson. We've done lots of lots in this lesson. This is our fifth of five. Today we've done our introduction, our text analysis and a summary. That's the end of the lesson. That's the end of the unit. Well done for your hard work, you've completed the lesson.

Lesson summary: To explore a theme

In this lesson, we will analyse the theme of 'fitting in'.

English

Y4 English

Key Stage 2

Year 4

To explore a theme

There's A Boy In The Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar

Reading

THEME

UNIT

To engage with the text

To analyse a character (Bradley)

To analyse a character (Jeff)

To explore Bradley further

To explore a theme

Video

Lesson summary: To explore a theme

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