Lesson video

Hello everyone.

My name's Mrs. Riley and I'm here to do some learning with you today.

I'm really excited for today's lesson, because we are going to be learning some new and exciting vocabulary.

Let's get started.

The outcome of today's lesson is to use the words discerning, astute, and innovative effectively in multiple contexts.

Here are keywords for today's learning.

I'm going to say each keyword, and then I'd like you to repeat it back to me.

You ready? A noun.

Adjective.

Synonym.

Word pair.

Okay, let's go through what each of these words means.

So, a noun is a naming word for people, places or things.

An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

A synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word and word pairs are words that often appear together.

So, let's think about some examples.

If I took the word good, good would be an adjective because it describes something.

I could then think of a noun that it could describe, for example a good holiday or a good idea.

They're both nouns, they are things.

I could then think of a synonym, a word that has the same or a similar meaning to good that I could replace it with in that example.

So for example, you could have a good idea or a good holiday or you could have a great idea or a great holiday.

Great and good are synonyms, because they have a similar meaning.

And holiday and idea would be word pairs for good, because they could pair up with the word good.

A good holiday or a good idea.

So, hopefully that gives you a bit more context around what those keywords mean and how we can use them.

They're gonna be coming up in our lesson a lot today.

So, in today's lesson we have three learning cycles.

We are going to be learning rich vocabulary, associated with clever or sly words.

And we are going to be learning three new clever or sly words.

So by the end of today's lesson, you are going to have three new words for you to use, which are all very impressive.

So, let's take a look at our first new clever or slight word.

Have a look at this Mrs. Wordsmith illustration.

What's happening in this picture? This is Oz, the ostrich.

What do you think she's up to here? How would you describe her? Could you pause the video while you think about that now? Okay, well done.

So, in this illustration, Oz the ostrich has got two cupcakes in her hands.

Lucky her.

She looks like she's taken a bite out of each cupcake and she's chewing one.

And as she's chewing, she's kind of looking up as if she's thinking about something quite carefully.

And I can see that in front of her, it says that she is a judge and that there's a banner behind her that says it's the 10th Annual Cupcake Contest.

So in this illustration, Oz is a judge and she is judging which cupcake is the best.

Which one tastes the best or looks the best, looks the most impressive.

Okay, so that's what's happening in this picture.

So, let's find out what this picture, which word this picture is illustrating.

Discerning my turn, your turn.

Discerning.

Well done and you can see in the spelling of this word that discerning, the S sound has got one of those silent Cs that comes after it, like in the word scientist, discerning.

So, when you are writing this word today, be careful to remember that silent C.

Discerning is an adjective.

It means clear-sighted or selective.

Like a judge who is able to decide on the best cupcake.

If you are selective, it means that you would be able to select the most suitable thing or to be able to choose something very carefully.

And again, if you imagine sight as when you look at something, so if you are clear-sighted, it doesn't actually mean physically that you've got good eyesight.

So, it's nothing to do with not needing to have glasses, it's to do with being able to see things very clearly or being able to select things very easily, okay? So, it would be very useful to be discerning if you were a judge, 'cause you would need to be clear-sighted or selective.

These words are synonyms of discerning, selective, having good judgement and clear-sighted.

Here's the word in a sentence.

The most discerning judge always knew which cakes were best.

These words are word pairs of discerning.

So, if you were reading a book and you came across this word, it might be paired up with one of these words, a discerning audience.

If you were part of a discerning audience and you were watching a show that perhaps was really not very good, you would be able to know straight away that it wasn't very good because you would be, that you would have clear sight or be very selective.

You would know straight away that this was not a very good show.

A discerning eye, a discerning consumer.

A consumer is just someone who purchases or buys something or it can be someone who eats or uses something.

So, imagine if you were a discerning consumer, let's imagine that you had bought something but you were not very pleased with the product, perhaps because whilst other people might have not noticed a flaw in it, you would've noticed it, because you are very clear-sighted or discerning.

And a discerning judge, a bit like the judge who is judging these cakes in this cupcake contest.

Okay, could you pause the video now and read these word pairs aloud? The reason I want you to do that is because discerning, I'm sure for most of you, is a new word.

And when we learn new words, we have to actually see them lots and lots of times, before we can commit them to memory.

So, could you pause the video and read these word pairs aloud now.

Off you go.

Okay, well done.

Here are some more word pairs of discerning, a discerning traveller, discerning taste, discerning character, and a discerning critic.

A critic is a person who judges something or gives their opinion on something.

So, if you were a discerning critic, you would probably be very clear-sighted when you gave your opinion on something.

And if you were a discerning traveller, if you imagine if you had, if you ran a hotel and your hotel was a bit of a shambles and there were leaks in the roof and there was mould growing and there was lots of insects everywhere and the food wasn't particularly good, then you would not want a discerning traveller to come and stay there, because they would see all those things immediately.

Okay, so just as before, could you now pause the video and read these word pairs out loud.

Well done.

Let's check your understanding, which of these words is a synonym for discerning? Which word has the same or a similar meaning? Is it A, confident, B, rude, or C, selective? Pause the video while you answer that question now.

Okay, well done for giving that a go.

The correct answer is C.

Selective is a synonym for discerning.

They have a similar meaning.

Okay, it's time for your first task of today.

In this task, you have got a word map with the word discerning in the middle.

Around the edge, you have got either synonyms or word pairs.

I'd like you to first, see if you can identify all of the synonyms and circle them.

And then I'd like you to draw lines to all the word pairs.

Here's a sentence to help you.

The most discerning judge always knew which cakes were best.

Now, the synonyms don't always, can't always be directly replaced in that sentence, but sometimes they can be.

So, that might be a little trick that might help you with this task.

So, could you pause the video now, while you complete this first task? Good luck.

Okay, well done.

Let's see how you got on.

So, the synonyms are selective, clear-sighted and having good judgement.

The word pairs are discerning traveller, discerning taste, discerning character, discerning critic, discerning audience, discerning consumer, discerning judge and discerning eye.

Now, I'd like you to write a sentence, using the word discerning and remember that tricky spelling.

Remember that C that comes after the S.

Here are the word pairs to help you.

So, you could start off by choosing a word pair.

The word pairs will help you to use this word really appropriately.

For example, you might pick the word discerning, that word pair discerning consumer and then you can think about your idea for your sentence around that word pair.

It's really helpful to practise, saying your sentence out loud before you write it down and always, always read your work back to check it makes sense.

Could you pause the video now, while you write your sentence using the word discerning? Off you go.

Okay, well done.

Let's take a look at some examples.

Stax was a discerning traveller, so he only stayed in the best hotels.

In this sentence, I'm using the subordinating conjunction so, so I have written an adverbial complex sentence.

It's got a main clause which comes first.

Stax was a discerning traveller, that's my main clause.

And then my subordinate clause starts with the conjunction so, so he only stayed in the best hotels.

The next sentence is, the jeweller cast a discerning eye over the diamond and she knew at once that it was fake.

This sentence is a compound sentence, and this time I'm using the conjunction and.

This sentence is made up of two main clauses.

The jeweller cast a discerning eye over the diamond is my first main clause.

And my second main clause is, she knew at once that it was fake.

And I have joined those together with that joining word, that conjunction and.

And finally, a panel of discerning critics gave the movie awful reviews, but the cinema still sold out of tickets.

This is another compound sentence, but this time I'm using the coordinating conjunction, but instead of and.

But has to have a comma in front of it, whereas, and doesn't, and we use but when we often have opposing ideas, a good thing and a bad thing or a bad thing and a good thing.

So in this example, the panel of discerning critics gave the movie, awful reviews.

That's my first main clause, but the cinema still sold out of tickets.

That's my second main clause.

They are opposing ideas.

So, perhaps later on in this lesson, when you write a sentence, you could try to write a compound sentence using and or, but.

Remember, if you use but, then remember it has to have a comma in front of it or you could use the subordinating conjunction so, and you could write an adverbial complex sentence.

So, their ideas of how you can take one idea and you can kind of stretch it a little bit to make your sentence even more impressive.

So, the three word pairs we used here were a discerning traveller who only stays in the best hotels, a discerning eye who the jeweller looked with her discerning eye and knew that that diamond was fake.

And a discerning critic who gave the movie awful reviews.

Okay, let's take a look at our second clever or sly word.

What's happening in this picture? This is Grit to the dog.

How would you describe Grit? What's Grit doing? Could you pause the video, while you think about that now? Okay, well done.

In this picture, Grit is standing on a pile of books.

He's actually reading a book at the same time and it looks like he's just had a great idea or maybe he's making an observation or something like that.

He looks quite excited.

In the background, there is some kind of science experiment going on and he is also standing next to a globe.

It seems to me like Grit, this character here loves knowledge.

He's doing experiments, he's reading, he's looking at the globe.

He's wearing an outfit that you might often associate with somebody who is a bit of an adventurer or a traveller or maybe a bit of a detective.

So, let's find out what this word is.

Astute, my turn, your turn.

Astute.

Well done.

Astute is an adjective.

It means shrewd or quick-witted, like someone who understands things quickly and makes smart decisions.

These words are synonyms of astute, sharp, shrewd and quick-witted.

Now sharp, we don't mean that as if you were describing a sharp knife, you wouldn't describe a knife as being astute.

We mean here sharp more in the way that you are very clever or quick-witted.

Here's the as the word in a sentence.

Grit was an astute reader who understood every word he came across.

Wow.

I wish I understood every single word I came across.

Although I suppose the only drawback of that is that then you can't learn any new words if you already knew them all.

These words are word pairs of astute.

So, if you read the word astute in a book, it might be paired up with one of these words.

An astute commentator.

A commentator is a person who comments on events, an astute business person, an astute reader and an astute observation.

An observation is a statement that you might make, after seeing something.

Okay, so could you now pause the video and read these word pairs out loud.

Off you go.

Okay, well done.

Here are some more word pairs.

An astute critic, a person who judges something or gives their opinion on something.

An astute move.

So, imagine if you were playing chess and you made an astute move, an astute politician and an astute lawyer.

So, a politician and a lawyer are both different professions, different jobs that you could do.

A politician is someone who works in politics and politics is how you govern a country.

And a lawyer is somebody who understands and knows the law extremely well.

So, it would be a very good thing to be an astute politician and an astute lawyer.

You probably wouldn't want to employ a lawyer, unless they were astute.

So, could you please pause the video now and read these word pairs out loud.

Off you go.

Okay, well done.

Let's check your understanding.

Which of these words is a synonym for astute? Remember, a synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning.

Is it A, sharp.

B, move or C, critic? Pause the video while you answer that now.

Okay, well done for giving that a go.

The correct answer is A, sharp is a synonym for astute.

Move and critic are both word pairs.

Okay, it's time for another task.

In this task, just as before, you have a word map with astute written in the middle of it, around the edge are either synonyms or word pairs.

First, could you circle the synonyms and then could you draw lines to the word pairs? Here's the word in a sentence to help you.

Grit was an astute reader who understood every word he came across.

Remember, if the word is a synonym, you might be able to remove the word astute in the sentence and replace it with the synonym.

If it's a word pair, you should be able to read astute and then the word pair after it and it should sound correct.

So, could you pause the video now, while you complete this task? Excellent, well done.

Let's go through the answers.

The synonyms are sharp, quick-witted and shrewd.

The word pair are astute critic, astute move, astute politician, astute commentator, astute observation, astute business person, astute lawyer and astute reader.

For your next task, I'd like you to write a sentence using the word astute.

Here are the word pairs to help you.

And remember, in the last group of sentences we looked at, we looked at compound sentences, using the coordinating conjunction and or, but, and we also looked at an adverbial complex sentence, using the word the conjunction so.

Perhaps you might be able to include, one of those conjunctions to extend your sentence that you write.

Also remember to read your sentence back and check it makes sense and check those really important things, like capital letters and punctuation.

Could you pause the video now, while you have a go at writing your very own sentence? Well done.

Let's look at some examples together.

An astute business person always gets the best deal.

The astute critic, correctly predicted which movie would win the award.

In a very astute move, the detective managed to hack into the thief's phone.

I have an apostrophe after thief there, because the phone belongs to the thief.

I've got an apostrophe to show possession.

So, the word pairs I used was an astute business person, an astute critic and an astute move.

Okay, let's take a look at our final word for today.

We started off with discerning, then we learnt astute.

So, I wonder what the third word will be? What's happening in this picture? This is Grit the dog, but what's he up to and how do you think he feels? Could you pause the video, while you closely look at this picture and describe it now? Well done.

In this picture, Grit has created something with his tool.

He has created a wheel and that might not seem very impressive to us, because wheels are everywhere in the world that we live in, but everything got created by someone.

And I'm guessing by the outfit that Grit is wearing and the kind of setting I can see in the background that Grit looks like he is maybe a caveman.

He's from years and years and years ago.

And so every single thing has been created by someone.

And I wonder if Grit has been the very first person to create this round wheel.

And he looks quite shocked at himself, but perhaps also quite pleased with himself that he's come up with something completely brand new.

Let's find out what this word is.

Innovative.

My turn, your turn.

Innovative.

Well done.

Innovative is an adjective, a describing word, meaning creative or inventive, like the genius who carved the first ever wheel, out of stone.

So, to be innovative, you have to be creative and inventive.

It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be the first ever person to have invented something, but if you were an innovative person, you would be a creative or an inventive person.

Okay, let's have a look at the synonyms, imaginative, creative and inventive.

Grit was very pleased with his innovative design.

I wonder if you think you are an innovative person.

Do you like to create or invent or imagine new things? These words are word pairs of innovative, an innovative design, innovative product, innovative technology, and an innovative thinker.

Could you pause the video now and read those word pairs aloud? Well done.

Let's take a look at some more word pairs.

An innovative idea, an innovative solution.

If there is a problem, the solution would be the way to fix that problem.

So, an innovative solution and an innovative approach.

Could you pause the video and read those word pairs aloud.

Well done.

Let's check your understanding of this new word.

Which of these words is a word pair of innovative? Is it A, design, B, inventive, or C, new? Could you pause the video now while you answer the question.

Okay, well done.

The correct answer is A, design is a word pair of innovative.

You could have an innovative design.

You couldn't have an innovative inventive, or an innovative new.

They are both synonyms. Okay, time for another task.

Just as before, could you first circle the synonyms of innovative and then draw lines to the word pairs? Here's a sentence to help you.

Grit was very pleased with his innovative design.

Remember, if the word is a synonym, you may be able to take out innovative and replace it with the synonym.

Could you pause the video now while you complete this task? Excellent, well done.

Let's go through the answers.

The synonyms are inventive, imaginative and creative.

The word pairs are innovative design, innovative product, innovative thinker, innovative technology, innovative solution, innovative approach and an innovative idea.

For your last task today, I would like you to write your own sentence, using the word innovative.

Remember to use the word pairs to help you.

For example, you might pick the word pair and in innovative technology, and then you might think, "What might that innovative technology be? "What makes it creative and inventive and imaginative?" Remember to say your sentence aloud and read it back to check for all those important things, like capital letters, full stops.

So, pause the video now while you write your own sentence, using the word innovative.

Okay, well done.

I hope you feel really proud of your sentences that you've written today.

Let's take a look at some examples.

The old ideas weren't working, so Brick needed a more innovative solution.

Ah, I've got that subordinating conjunction again that I'm using, so.

The old ideas weren't working, that's my main clause.

So, Brick needed a more innovative solution.

Mrs. Wordsmith couldn't believe how many new innovative products there were in the shop.

Imagine going into a shop and seeing lots and lots of new, innovative products that just blew you away.

The first person to use fire was a very innovative thinker.

Okay, let's summarise what we have learned today.

We have learned three new words associated with clever or sly words.

So, different ways of describing someone as clever or sly.

We have learnt that discerning is an adjective, meaning clear-sighted or selective, like a judge who is able to decide on the best cupcake.

We learnt that astute or astute is an adjective, meaning shrewd or quick-witted, like someone who understands things quickly and makes smart decisions.

And finally, we learnt innovative, an adjective meaning creative or inventive, like the genius who carved the first ever wheel outta stone.

So, actually these words today, I would say are far more associated with being clever than being sly.

Often, sly people are quite clever, but these words that we've learned today, discerning, astute, and innovative are all positive words.

I personally would like to be described as discerning, astute or innovative.

All of them have a different nuanced meaning of the word, clever.

Clear-sighted or selective, shrewd or quick-witted, creative or inventive.

I wonder which of these words you would most like to be described as.

I think I would choose innovative, because I would like to come up with lots of different things.

So, well done for all your hard work, these are three really tricky words and you've done really well to not only learn them and read them, but also to use them in your own sentences.

I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.

See you again soon.