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Summary for Lesson 1
In today’s lesson we began our first book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, thinking about the background and history of the novel. We began by thinking about what the class liked and disliked in the book, considering the movie adaptation and what they felt about its portrayal of the setting and characters. We then spoke about the history of the early 1900s and historical themes in the novel such as the British Empire, class and poverty and medicine. Finally we discussed the role of positive thinking in the book and how it changes the characters lives. Really great work today everyone, very well done for all your brilliant ideas and for the ways in which you connected up the historical context to the world of the novel. Keep up the fab work and see you next time 🙂
Empire video link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zpjv3j6#znwnf82
Homework
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H Beth this is my homework for the week – Sorry i couldn’t make it to the lesson!
Early Life and Hardship
Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in England 24 November 1849. Her family faced financial hardship after her father’s death. This experience of loss and struggle is mirrored in “The Secret Garden,” where Mary becomes an orphan and faces a bleak future in her uncle’s gloomy manor.Emigration to the U.S.
At 15, Burnett’s family moved to Tennessee, facing the challenges of adapting to a new environment to live in. This transition mirrors Mary’s move from India to England in the book.Personal Losses
Burnett endured significant personal losses, including the deaths of her eldest son – Lionel – from tuberculosis and her husband Hodgson from a stroke. These tragedies influenced her writing, bringing themes of grief and healing into “The Secret Garden,” where the garden symbolises renewal for Mary, her uncle, and her cousin.Love of Gardening
Burnett loved gardening and believed in its healing power. This belief is central to the book “The Secret Garden,” where the garden transforms Mary Lennox’s live.Emotional Transformation
Burnett’s characters often undergo emotional growth. In “The Secret Garden,” Mary and Colin both find strength and happiness through their connection to the garden, reflecting Burnett’s views on mental and emotional healing.Financial Independence
Burnett achieved financial independence through her writing, challenging traditional roles of a woman. This independence is reflected in Mary’s development into a strong and persistent character. -
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Hi Beth,
Sorry for the late homework. I didnt finish it on time so the endings a bit rushed.
Thank you
Emily
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Frances’ life tells us about the book, like she wrote this book to show her love of gardening. She had wrote it to show how positive emotion can change things, she was inspired by her rough childhood. Back then when Frances was a child medicine wasn’t really that developed as it is now so there was a lot of diseases, which might’ve inspired on how Mary’s parents and servants died, and there were more people like Colin around then.
Burnett traveled around lots of places, which inspired her, and saw lots of different flowers, plants and landscapes.
Roses were one of Frances’ favourite flowers, that might show why Colin’s mother loved them and asked Ben Weatherstaff to look after the roses. She sometimes had to leave her son when travelling and that showcases when Mr. Craven left Colin for sometime. She lived mostly on England so that must show why the story was mostly set in Yorkshire.
Frances’ life tells us about this story by her love of plants, her tragic background. It also shows how back the. Thee wasn’t that much medicine so there were illnesses spreading around everywhere at all times! -
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This is the homework
Fch
Frances hodgson Burnett was born in Manchester, her father died when she was four years old and her mother died when she was 21. She moved to America after her father’s death. She started writing stories for magazines at 19 to help her impoverished family. When she was 31 she married Swan Burnett. The had two sons. In the 1880s she began to go back and forth from England to America frequently . In 1890 she bought a house in England. While she was writing the secret garden her eldest son died in Paris of overconsumption and this brought back her depression. Since she was young she had always suffered from depression. Before her son’s death she took him to many different doctors and also to Germany to visit spas. Her son’s death caused her writing to be almost psychotic and was almost like a way to compensate for her son’s death. In the book the secret garden I believe that the message of colin healing from an almost incurable illness was her way of compensating for her son’s death. She was reimagining her son in a story where he survived and that is how her sons death affected her writing
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Summary for Lesson 2
In today’s class we continued our work on The Secret Garden, considering multiple different elements, techniques and themes used in the book. We began with some work on metaphor and its role in the novel- considering the symbolic importance of the garden and how this differs from the manor house and the characters associated with it. We spoke about how characterisation and symbolism interact in the story, considering the changes characters undergo, and then discussed the idea of the notion of place and time, using this to inspire a creative task. Finally we took a critical eye to some themes in the novel such as disability, with the class analysing an article on the subject and thinking deeply about the author’s key ideas. Wonderful work today everyone, very in depth ideas and analyses throughout. Keep up the great work and see you next week 🙂
Metaphor video: https://www.mometrix.com/academy/metaphor/
Homework
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Dickon Sowerby
Dickon has many traits such as his ability to calm and charm animals. Throughout the book I feel that Dickon is one with the Yorkshire moorland. He is described as someone that ,” has eyes like the moorland sky.” Or that he smells like heather and grass. When we first see Dickson he is under a tree while playing music to animals with his wooden pipe. He is seen as someone who is heavily Connected to the wilderness.
To Mary he is seen as strangely exotic with his Yorkshire accent with his difference to Mary not in race such as the the Indians at the start of the novel but in class. Mary talks about dickens tattered clothes and his rough hair many times and also about his rough diet.Mary describes dickon as beautiful and a Yorkshire angel.
At the start of when Mary tells Colin about dickon, Colin says that he hates people but he wants to be friends with things. But Mary says that Dickson is friends with anything. Colin also apologizes for threatening to send Dickon away. When mary says that Dickson is coming to see Colin he almost cries. When Colin wants to go outside dr craven says no but when it is said that Dickson would push Colin’s wheelchair dr craven relaxes further cementing dickens position as a trustworthy nice person
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Dear Beth,
Here is my homework! I hope you like it and see you next week!
Dickon is kind, helpful and caring. He knows how to heal people or animals like he did to Jemima/Hector. He lives in the wild, so he must know many survival skills. Also, he is seen as an excellent doctor by Mary because, without him, Jemima/Hector, the dog would not have survived her/his injury. Dickon is seen by Colin as a very enjoyable friend. Colin also thinks that Dickon has a very imaginative and playful personality. His animals see him as a very useful and friendly character who knows how to make you feel better after you get hurt.
Thanks a lot,
Chenxi
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Dickon is a character straight out of a fairy tale, as he has the ability to tame every animal that had crossed paths with him. Not only tame them but gain their trust as well like the foxes would show him their cubs and so does the others.
One of the skills he has is that he can wake up extra early, which isn’t always easy, and he can basically talk to animals.
Dickon is like a big brother figure to Mary and she enjoys her time when being with him as he is very interesting.
She describes him as a snake charmer when we first saw him, and he influenced Mary a bit as he showed her what the children around here usually do every day. Dickon to Colin is like a person from those fictional books that he had read as he can charm and tame all sorts of animals. Colin is very interested in Dickon even when he was still in bed! He was motivated by Mary’s stories about Dickon that he was really eager to meet him in person.
Dickon is a very interesting and talented character that can tame all sorts of animals. Mary thinks of Dickon as a brother figure who loves nature. Colin is very mesmerised by Dickon as he just loves his personality and his ability to tame animals. -
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Summary for Lesson 3
In today’s class we finished our work on The Secret Garden, discussing the lessons and morals we could discern from the story. We began with a discussion on the themes of magic and health, before analysing a passage from the book that deals with the beauty of nature and the meaning of life. We spoke about the ending of the book and whether magic was necessary for it- and the class came up with some excellent alternative ideas. We discussed four central themes, thought about the role of class and upbringing in the novel and touched on the way in which connection with nature is so important in this book. The class then shared some great thoughts on the idea of the “fallen world of adults” and discussed in pairs what they had learned from this story. Lovely work everyone- well done for all your thoughtfulness and dedication today. I will see you next week for our next book and until then have a lovely week! 🙂
Homework
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Great work here Ren, well done! I love the way in which you have thought about the central faultline the novel explores- that of a life lived in shadows & misery vs. a life lived embracing all it has to offer. You have thought about which characters and settings fit into each half of this very well & I like how your choice of text leaves the reader intrigued without giving too much away. Lovely inclusion of ideas around the theme of sickness in this story and a bold poster that utilises colour really well. Could you think about elements such as the other kinds of writing that may appear on the poster, i.e., details of who is starring etc. Overall lovely work well done 🙂
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Summary for Lesson 4
In today’s class we discussed The Boy at the Back of the Class, the second book we are studying this course. We discussed what we liked and didn’t like about the story before learning about what it means to be a refugee. We looked at the definition of refugee and thought about the history of people having to leave the place they are from due to violence or war. We then linked this to the book, touching on themes of prejudice and stereotyping, before finally thinking about the importance of standing up to racism and xenophobia, learning about the experience of Syrian children. Very good work today everyone, we looked at some very difficult topics which you were fantastic with. Keep up the great work and see you next week 🙂
Video explaining the war in Syria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5H5w3_QTG0&t=96s
Homework
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Summary for Lesson 5
In today’s lesson we continued our work on The Boy at the Back of the Class, thinking about character and the themes behind the story. We began by thinking about the Syrian war and what learning about the situation in the Middle East tells us about the story and the characters. The class wrote some incredible letters to their MPs on refugee rights and then thought about characters from the story and how they relate to them. We looked at Mrs Khan and got inside her head, trying to think about her hopes and worries regarding Ahmet, and finally we discussed some of the more complex underlying themes of the story. Really great work today class, I was very impressed by the sophistication of your letters and the depth of your understanding of Ahmet’s struggles. Very well done and see you next week 🙂
Homework
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Dear Beth,
Here is my homework for his lesson. I hope you like it. See you next week! Bye!
Kind Regards,
Chenxi
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Beautiful work Chenxi, well done! I am so impressed by the way you have laid this newspaper out and how you have utilised lots of different features of a newspaper such as images and captions. Your news story is excellently written, including things such as quotations from the onlookers which add loads of fab details to the piece and really bring this all to life. Your tone is super sophisticated and you’ve retold this story well, helping the reader vividly picture the scene outside the palace. To make this even better, could you think about what might happen next and have the newspaper say i.e., It remains to be seen whether the Queen can help Ahmet, but it appears that a meeting between them has been scheduled for next week. Overall wonderful writing very well done 🙂
Grammar:
*It started off pretty normally
*At one o’ clock this afternoon,
*I went to Buckingham Palace and the (missing a word here) and heard the noise of guards marching.
*as were the tourists outside the gates
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BREAKING NEWS!
Nine year olds violates the palace guards changing routine using the excuse of trying to help a refugee!Yesterday, two children came into the crowds and disturbed the guards changing routine by charging straight in with a letter on one hand! They risked their lives just help some disgusting refugee called Ahmet!It’s a total waste of energy and confidence, they were planning to meet the queen and have tea with her to discuss as well.
They asked a taxi driver to drive them other to the palace, we had an interview with that man named Stan. He had said that he was graceful for those kids and happy that he helped them get to their master plan. One of the cold stream guards that the children talked to said, “They were very cute and courageous, they had the courage to even walk up to us and give us the letter!” The queen was absent that day so the letter delivery wasn’t that good but it will be sent to her straight after the return.-
Some lovely work here Emily, well done! You have thought about how a really horrible newspaper might report this incident, showing how prejudiced people can be towards refugees. You have used the language of a news report very well, picking some fab vocab and using headlines, a breaking news stamp and an authentic reporter’s voice really well. I really liked that you included a witness quotation and a sense of what may happen next- great work! The one thing to think about now is why the news report goes from being very prejudiced to reporting that the kids were cute and courageous- it might be better to cut the prejudiced bit or make it clear that it is because the newspaper is horrible and very dismissive of the children in the story. Overall fab work well done 🙂
Spelling:
*with a letter in one hand
*grateful for those kids
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Very impressive work Emily, well done! Your use of newspaper format is so stunning here, it jumps off the page and looks beautifully bold- great choice of the picture & newspaper name and I thought the headline was excellent, utilising alliteration gorgeously. Your tone throughout is very professional and informative and I really enjoyed the quotations you came up with from both the Queen & Truss which sounded very realistic and official. Fantastic idea to have a second story below mimicking a real front page story and I really enjoyed the idea of special schools being built to help refugees- fab idea! To make this even better, could you explain the incident outside the Palace in the article too, giving context to what happens? Overall super work well done 🙂
Grammar:
*a boy who did not give his name
*his own voluntary teacher
*making sure it happens as soon as possible
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Amazing story of refugee child
A refugee child named Ahmet has been seen outside of bucking ham palace with a reported letter that he wanted to give to the queen. Him and three of his friends were reported to have been shouting at police and waving the letter at them. At first the police tried not to respond but eventually as the children’s acts became more desperate the police noticed. When the police asked the children, the said that they were on a mission to the queen. Police were very concerned as this presented an obvious security issue as well as the fact that these children were not in school. They were eventually taken to a police station and their parents were called. The police have contacted their parents but we are yet to know of the outcome of this incident.
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Wonderful work Ren, well done! I love the idea that the newspaper focuses on the security risk the children pose and the fact they are not in school- entirely missing the reason they are protesting and not understanding the full picture at all. I thought the way you showed the police’s perspective was very effective and really liked that you suggested the paper does not yet know what is happening, adding to the sense of chaos and confusion. Lovely use of a journalistic tone of voice and a really good use of newspaper structure too. To make this even better, could you link the headline to the tone of your article a little more, your headline suggests that the paper is more enthusiastic about what has happened than it is. Maybe something like ‘Nuisance kids disrupt police’ would fit the way you’ve written the article more? Overall fab ideas well done 🙂
Grammar:
*Buckingham Palace
*children’s acts became more desperate, the police noticed
*an obvious security issue, as well as the fact
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Summary for Lesson 6
In today’s class we completed our work on The Boy at the Back of the Class and finished our summer course. Today we worked on creatively interpreting the novel, transforming it into a play and considering the ways in which the novel can be adapted for stage. The class discussed symbolism, thinking about how it functions, and finally thought about social issues they cared about, using this to plan their own stories exploring a social issue of their choice. Incredible and thoughtful work today everyone, very well done for all your hard work today and over the summer course. It has been wonderful working with you all, see you in the next course! 🙂
Symbolism vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69A6xyXGC-M
Homework
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Dear Beth,
Here is my homework for lesson 6. I enjoyed this course so much, and I will be seeing you in the next one. Thank you for the brilliant teaching. I am so lucky to have such s super teacher! Have a great time and see you soon!
Kind Regards,
Chenxi
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Chenxi, thank you so much for the lovely message! It is so kind of you, I am very glad you enjoyed it and very much look forward to seeing you in our next course 🙂
Really fantastic comic strip creation here- well done! Your illustrations jump off the page and are so bold and striking, making the reader pay close attention to all the fantastic details you have sprinkled through it. I loved your captions and use of onomatopoeia to represent the beginning of the war very powerfully. Also this shows a great selection of moments from the journey that were important to Ahmet- excellent choices. You have shown the devastation of war so well and have used thought and speech bubbles beautifully to tell the story. To make this even better, could you show how they got out of trouble when they were caught in the UK? Overall incredible work, you should be very proud of it! 🙂
Spelling:
*entry
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Beautiful work Emily, well done! Your illustrations are so vivid and really show the horrors of their escape and the moments of difficulty in their journey. I love the way you have depicted things using symbolism, such as the symbols of the flags representing all the different countries they traveled to, or using the onomatopoeias in the first line to represent the outbreak and chaos of war. Your comic shows so powerfully how hostile the world can be to refugees, and how Ahmet in his new environment feels so much relief at just being physically safe which you have depicted with a thought bubble fantastically. Great title too! To make this even better, could you show a little of the part where they actually make it to the UK and how that happens? Overall really wonderful drawing and comic creation- very impressive, well done 🙂
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Hi,
thanks for the lovely course m. I enjoyed it very much. Here is my comic strip, I did a bit too many boxes!)
Emily Pang!
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Emily, you are very welcome, I am so happy to hear you enjoyed it so much & look forward to seeing you soon in the next course !
Gorgeous drawing here, well done! You have told this story in such an emotive way, using some really powerful and heart-wrenching techniques to make the reader feel connected to the story. I love your illustrations which are so unique and eye-catching, particularly the way you have drawn Ahmet’s eyes as if he has had to see a lot of difficult things, and the bold lines on the page that are so striking. You reflect on the important moments of the journey beautifully, and I love your use of speech bubbles to show what Ahmet is saying and thinking. You have done some really exceptional drawings & I like that you continue his story all the way to when he gets to the UK. To make this even better, could you think about adding one more box to conclude the story i.e., showing how he feels by the end of the book? Overall wonderful work- I loved reading this! 🙂
*Where I met my friends
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