Hello everyone!
Welcome back.
It is your English reading coach, Minhee Teacher.
Today, we are diving into Mercy Watson to the Rescue, Part Five.
Put on your movie director hats, because today we are looking at
a very exciting, very funny scene through three different camera
angles!
Let's start by looking at our movie scenes from a bird's-eye
view.
In Scene One, the camera zooms in on the bedroom.
The bed is about to crash all the way through the floor.
But wait!
The brave firefighters arrive just in time and pull Mr.
and Mrs.
Watson to safety.
In Scene Two, we pan outside to the front yard.
The Watsons are hugging Mercy, crying tears of joy, and calling
her a hero.
In Scene Three, the camera turns to the grumpy neighbor,
Eugenia.
She is pointing her finger and complaining that Mercy was on her
lawn.
Three different angles, and one big, chaotic event!
Now, let's do a close reading and look at the characters'
feelings.
Let's look closely at the Watsons' faces.
They are so grateful to be safe.
They look at Mercy and call her a porcine wonder.
That is a very fancy name!
Porcine means pig-like, and wonder means something amazing.
So to them, she is not just a regular pig.
She is an amazing, heroic pig.
But now, let's turn our camera to Mercy's face.
Is she thinking about her heroic rescue?
No, not at all!
Her eyes are probably looking around for those delicious sugar
cookies she wanted.
She has no idea why everyone is hugging her, but she is happy to
get the attention and the cuddles!
This brings us to a cool storytelling secret called comic irony.
Let's explain this simply.
Comic irony is when we, the audience, know a secret that the
characters in the story do not know.
The Watsons think Mercy ran out to get help.
But we know the truth.
Mercy only ran out because her tummy was rumbling for cookies!
It is like accidentally leaning against a wall and hitting a
light switch.
You did not mean to turn on the lights, but hey, now the whole
room is bright and everyone is happy!
Mercy did not plan to save anyone, but her hungry adventure
saved the day anyway.
Both things are true: she wanted cookies, and she saved her
family.
Let's learn five useful words from our movie set today.
Our first word is alert.
To alert means to warn someone or give them a heads-up about
danger.
You can think of a loud alarm clock alerting you to wake up in
the morning.
The Watsons think Mercy went to alert the neighbors.
Our second word is hero.
A hero is someone who helps or saves others.
Think of a superhero with a cape, or in this case, a pig with a
very round belly!
The Watsons call Mercy their hero.
Our third word is property.
Property is the land or things that belong to someone.
Grumpy Eugenia is angry because Mercy stepped onto her property,
which means her private yard.
She wants Mercy off her property!
Our fourth word is prefer.
To prefer means to like one thing more than another.
If you like chocolate ice cream more than vanilla, you prefer
chocolate.
The Watsons prefer to call Mercy a porcine wonder instead of
just a plain old pig.
And our fifth word is porcine.
This is a grand, fancy word that means related to pigs.
It sounds much more elegant than saying piggy, doesn't it?
Now, let's practice our director's voice with some shadowing.
I will say a sentence, and I want you to repeat it after me with
lots of feeling.
Ready?
The firefighters rescue the Watsons.
Mercy becomes a hero.
Eugenia is still upset.
A hero can help by accident.
Different characters see Mercy differently.
Fantastic job!
Your pronunciation and rhythm sound wonderful.
To wrap up our lesson today, let's think about one big question.
Do you think someone can be a true hero by accident?
Or do you have to plan to help someone to be a real hero?
Think about it, and tell me what you think next time.
Thank you for reading with me today.
See you in our next class!