Tracking Oliver’s Feelings

Overview

In lesson 5 of 18, students track how Oliver’s feelings change across the opening chapters of Oliver Twist. They infer emotions from his actions and words, then write concise, evidence-based sentences using because and so.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify Oliver’s changing feelings across key events.
• WALT infer emotions from a character’s actions, words and circumstances.
• WALT select evidence from a text to support an inference.
• WALT use because and so to explain links between evidence and feelings.

Success criteria

• I can name an emotion that fits Oliver at a particular moment.
• I can identify an action or word that supports my inference.
• I can explain my thinking using because or so.
• I can describe how Oliver’s feelings change across the opening chapters.

Curriculum links

• Reading — comprehension: text form, structure, style and features; using characterisation, setting and plot to shape meaning.
• Writing — composition: selecting words that clearly express intended meaning, including synonyms for effect.
• Writing — composition: deliberately choosing words and language features for audience and purpose.
• Writing — composition: using language features to communicate ideas clearly to an audience.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and retrieve. Display a sequence of three brief events from the opening chapters: Oliver’s birth and early childhood, asking for more food, and leaving the workhouse. Open with the hook and retrieval slide and ask, “How might one person feel differently at each point?” Students silently choose an emotion for each event, then share one reason with a partner. Emphasise that different answers are possible if they are supported by evidence.

2. 5–12 min · Direct teach: inference. Read or project a short, teacher-selected extract from the opening chapters in which Oliver acts or speaks in a revealing way. Use the inference model slides to model: What happens? What might Oliver feel? Which word or action supports this? Think aloud: “Oliver hesitates and speaks quietly, so I infer that he may feel nervous or unsure.” Clarify that an inference is a reasoned conclusion, not a random guess. Briefly compare synonyms such as sad, miserable and despairing, discussing which most accurately fits the evidence.

3. 12–20 min · Guided feelings chart. Distribute the Oliver feelings chart. Complete the first row together using a further extract or event. Model recording the chapter or event, an emotion, exact evidence or a close paraphrase, and an explanation. Students then work in pairs to complete two more rows from the opening chapters, referring to their text or class notes. Circulate and ask, “What does Oliver do or say that makes you think that?” and “Could a more precise emotion word fit?”

4. 20–29 min · Collaborative evidence sort. In groups of three, students compare their charts and agree on the strongest emotion and evidence for two events. Each group prepares one sentence using because and one using so, following the patterns on the sentence-building slide: “Oliver feels ___ because ___.” “Oliver ___, so he feels ___.” Groups share one sentence; classmates signal whether the evidence supports the inference and suggest a more accurate synonym where appropriate.

5. 29–40 min · Independent writing. Students write three short evidence-based sentences on the worksheet, each about a different point in the opening chapters. Require at least one because sentence and one so sentence. Students should show change, for example: “At first Oliver feels ___ because ___, but later he feels ___ because ___.” Encourage them to use precise emotion vocabulary and to quote a short word or phrase when useful. Students who finish add a fourth sentence explaining which event changes Oliver’s feelings most significantly.

6. 40–45 min · Share and exit check. Open the plenary and exit prompt. Students read one sentence to a partner and underline their evidence. On the bottom of the worksheet, they answer: “What is one feeling Oliver experiences, and what is your best evidence?” Invite two students to share. Collect worksheets to assess inference, evidence and use of causal connectives.

Resources

• the Character Feelings teaching deck
• the Oliver feelings chart
• Class copies of Oliver Twist
• Teacher-selected extracts from the opening chapters
• Board or display screen
• Highlighters or coloured pencils
• Emotion vocabulary displayed on the board: anxious, lonely, hopeful, frightened, ashamed, determined, miserable

Assessment

• Listen during pair and group discussion for students who name emotions without evidence; prompt them to locate a word, action or event.
• Check feelings charts for a plausible inference, relevant textual evidence and an explanation connected with because or so.
• Use the exit response to identify students needing further support with emotion vocabulary, evidence selection or causal sentence construction.

Differentiation

• Provide a word bank with simple-to-precise choices, such as sad → miserable → despairing, and allow students to discuss ideas orally before writing.
• Give support students sentence frames: “Oliver feels ___ because the text says/shows ___.” and “Oliver ___, so ___.”
• For EAL learners, pre-teach key emotions with brief definitions and gestures; pair them with a supportive peer and accept close paraphrases before moving towards short quotations.
• Challenge confident writers to explain a change in feeling across two events and comment on how Dickens’ word choice influences the reader’s sympathy for Oliver.
• Offer dyslexia-friendly copies of the extracts, extra processing time and the option to dictate an initial sentence before writing it independently.