Lesson video

Hi there, my name is Mrs. Riley, and I'm really happy to be joining you today to teach you some new and exciting vocabulary that I hope you're going to love using.

The outcome of today's lesson is to use the words dainty, diminutive, and minuscule effectively in multiple contexts.

So let's get started.

So here are the key words we're going to use in today's lesson.

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

Are you ready? Noun, adjective, synonym, word pair.

Well done.

Let's go through the definitions.

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 a similar meaning to another word.

And word pairs are words that often appear together.

So these are the words that are going to be coming up again and again in today's lesson.

We're today going to be learning some different ways to describe tiny or small things.

So the words we're gonna be learning today will be objectives because they are describing words.

And a lot of the word pairs will probably be nouns because they will be people, places, or things that we might describe as something tiny.

So in our lesson outline today, we will be looking at three different learning cycles, and each learning cycle will be teaching a new, small, or thin word.

So let's get started with the first one.

Take a look at this Mrs Wordsmith illustration.

What's happening in this picture? This is Brick.

So how would you describe Brick in this picture? And what is Brick doing? Perhaps you could pause the video while you either have a little think about that or you could describe it out loud.

Off you go.

Okay, well, I can see Brick here is looking very smart.

Brick is wearing some high heel shoes.

He's wearing a little hat and a lovely outfit.

He's sitting on a tiny weeny little chair with a tiny table and drinking from a tiny teacup.

So I can see that this word is one of our tiny words.

Hmm, I wonder which one it's going to be.

Let's take a look.

This word is dainty.

My turn, your turn.

Dainty, dainty.

Well done.

Dainty is an adjective, and it means small, delicate, and pretty.

Now if something is delicate, it means it could easily be broken.

A bit like that teacup looks like it could break very easily.

Like an exquisite tea party, or exquisite means something extremely beautiful and delicate.

So this new word dainty means small, delicate, and pretty; like an exquisite tea party, which I think is what Brick is trying to have here.

These words are synonyms of dainty.

That means they mean the same or nearly the same thing.

Delicate, elegant, and exquisite.

Here's the word in a sentence.

Brick picked up the dainty teacup and took a sip of his tea.

These are word pairs of dainty.

That means if you were to find the word dainty in a book you were reading, it would quite often be paired with one of these words.

So let's see what could be described as dainty.

Ah, a dainty finger.

Perhaps just close your eyes for a second to picture what a dainty finger might look like.

And now perhaps picture the opposite of a dainty finger.

What were you picturing? I was picturing perhaps a big, something like a big giant or a big ogre with a big clumsy finger, whereas that would be the opposite of a dainty finger that perhaps might belong to something, someone like a ballerina.

A dainty flower.

Ooh, that sounds nice.

A dainty teacup.

A bit like Brick is drinking from here.

Dainty lace.

Ooh, that sounds nice.

Imagine lace on a lovely wedding dress.

Imagine it being very dainty, very delicate, could break very easily.

Oh, and finally, a dainty sandwich.

Again, picture what a dainty sandwich would look like.

And now picture the opposite of a dainty sandwich.

Perhaps one of those enormous subway sandwiches you can buy.

That would definitely not be a dainty sandwich.

So I would like you now to say these words out loud, because it's really important when we're learning new vocabulary to not just listen to the word and not just look at the word, but to actually say it out loud.

So can you now pause the video and read each word pair out loud like this? Dainty finger.

Dainty flower.

Off you go.

Excellent, well done.

A check for understanding, which of these words is a synonym for dainty? Remember, synonym is a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning.

Is it A, robust; B, bulky; or C, elegant? Pause the video while you think about the answer.

Okay, well done for giving that a go.

The correct answer is C, elegant is a synonym for dainty.

Robust and bulky are actually quite opposite to the word dainty.

So now it's time for you to do a task.

For today's task, I would like you to look at this word map.

I'd like you to first circle the synonyms. So all the words around dainty will either be a synonym or a word pair.

So could you circle the synonyms and then draw a line from the word dainty to the word pair, if you think it's a word pair.

Now here's a sentence to help you.

Brick picked up the dainty teacup and took a sip of his tea.

Now here's a little tip to help you.

If the word is a synonym, you should be able to take out the word dainty in this sentence and replace it with the synonym.

So if you are unsure or is it a synonym or a word pair, you might be able to use that trick to help you.

So could you please pause the video now while you complete this task? Well done.

Let's go through the answers.

So the synonyms for dainty are delicate, elegant, and exquisite.

Well done if you manage to spot those.

The rest of the words are word pairs, and I'm going to read them to you now.

A dainty finger, a dainty flower, a dainty teacup, dainty lace, and a dainty sandwich.

I'd now like you to have a go at writing a sentence using the word dainty.

Here are the word pairs to help you.

If you are unsure how to start your sentence, it can be quite tricky thinking of a sentence.

Pick one of the word pairs and that can really help you.

For example, you might pick the word pair lace.

Dainty lace.

And then you can think about a sentence around that.

You could build your sentence around the word pair.

Try to make your sentence really ambitious.

Think of all the things that you've learned in your English and grammar lessons, and try and make sure that you think of those when you are writing your sentence.

And remember all of those really important things as well, like capital letters, punctuation.

And remember also, the last thing is to read your sentence back and check.

Because I quite often find when I write a sentence, I think it's done and it's brilliant.

And actually when I then go look and check it, I realise that I might have missed out a word or missed out a comma or something like that.

So it's really important to always check our work.

So could you pause the video now while you have a go at writing a sentence using the word dainty.

Okay, well done.

Here are some examples of some sentences.

In the middle of the forest, a single dainty flower stood swaying gently swaying in the gentle breeze.

Ooh, that's a nice image, isn't it? In the middle of the forest, comma, a single dainty flower stood swaying in a gentle breeze.

It was good that it is gentle breeze.

Because if it was a big gust of wind, it might blow the petals off because that flower has been described as dainty.

Here's another sentence.

Oz delicately picked up the tiny bead with her dainty finger and placed it onto the piece of string to make her necklace.

Ooh, you'd have to have dainty fingers if you were picking up a tiny little bead.

And finally, at the elegant tea party, they served dainty sandwiches which were the perfect bite-sized treat.

So I hope you enjoyed using that word in a sentence.

And now we are going to take a look at our second small or thin word.

So the first word was dainty.

Let's see what our second word is.

Here is our Mrs Wordsmith illustration.

What's happening in this picture? This is Yin, the little tiny tiger twin.

Just one of them today though.

So how would you describe them? How do you think Yin looks in this picture? And how do you think Yin feels? Where do you think Yin is? What's the setting of this picture? Could you pause the video while you think about that now? Okay, well done.

Well, I think in this picture, Yin looks, firstly, very small.

She's peeking her way through the big door and there's a big empty corridor, which looks a bit daunting for Yin.

I wonder if it's Yin's first day, maybe at school or first day in a new job or something like that.

And I wonder if Yin is feeling a little bit hesitant or a little bit reluctant to go into that room because she's not opening the door and barging in.

She's looks like she's sort of slowly opening it and peering around the door.

So let's find out what this word is.

Diminutive.

My turn, your turn.

Diminutive, diminutive.

Well done.

Oh, this is quite a tricky word, isn't it? It's quite a tricky word to say.

Diminutive is an adjective and it means unusually small.

Like someone so tiny, you almost don't notice them.

So imagine you were in a room and someone walked in and they were so tiny that you almost didn't notice them.

That would be someone who you might describe as being diminutive.

These words are synonyms of diminutive.

That means they mean more or less the same thing.

Miniature, tiny, and petite.

Now petite means we often use petite to mean attractively small.

If you were going to choose some petite clothes, they would usually be quite small clothes.

And you might recognise that this word petite comes from the French word, which means small.

So that's a little hint to help you remember what petite means.

Here's the word in a sentence.

A diminutive figure appeared in the doorway looking nervous.

These words are word pairs of diminutive.

Diminutive frame.

Now that doesn't mean necessarily a frame, like a photo frame.

A frame can be, you describe the frame of a person.

Almost like the sort of outline of that person.

So imagine a diminutive frame, someone with a diminutive frame.

Diminutive features.

Features are different aspects of something.

For example, features of your face would be your eyes or your nose.

So imagine diminutive features, tiny or miniature features.

A diminutive size, diminutive stature.

A stature is just a person's natural height.

So again, all of these things are kind of linking to describe the appearance of someone.

And a diminutive figure.

Okay, so just as before, it's really important that we practise saying this word out loud with the word pairs, especially as this is quite a tricky word to say.

So could you pause the video now and read these word pairs out loud? Off you go.

Excellent, well done.

Here's a check for understanding.

Which of these words is a synonym for diminutive? Is it A, frame; B, tiny; or C, stature? Remember that question is asking which of these words is a synonym? Which word has a similar meaning? Pause the video while you answer that question now.

Okay, so well done if you've got the answer B, tiny is a synonym for diminutive.

Here's another task, task B.

Just as before you have the word diminutive in the middle of this word map, around the edge are synonyms and word pairs.

First, I'd like you to circle the synonyms; and second, I'd like you to draw lines to the word pairs.

Here's a sentence to help you.

A diminutive figure appeared in the doorway looking nervous.

Now remember, if the word is a synonym, we should be able to take out the word diminutive in that sentence and replace it with the synonym.

That will be a useful tip to help you complete this task.

So pause the video now while you have a go.

Okay, let's go through the answers.

The synonyms are tiny, petite, and miniature.

The word pairs are a diminutive frame, diminutive features, diminutive figure, diminutive size, and diminutive stature.

I would now like you to write a sentence using the word diminutive.

Here are the word pairs to help you.

Pick a word pair, for instance, diminutive stature.

And then you could build your sentence around it.

And just as before, remember to try and be ambitious with your sentence and read it back to check your work for any mistakes.

So pause the video now while you have a go at writing a sentence using this very impressive word diminutive.

Off you go.

Okay, let's have a look at some sentences that I've written here.

Despite his diminutive stature, the young gymnast displayed remarkable strength and agility.

So if someone is agile, it means that they might be very flexible, very nimble, that it's like the opposite of a someone who would be very blundering and clumsy would be someone who's agile.

So despite his diminutive stature, so even though this gymnast has got a tiny or miniature stature, which is their height, the young gymnast displayed remarkable strength and agility.

So just because you are small, it doesn't mean that you are not strong.

The children were amazed by the diminutive size of the model train as it's chugged along its miniature tracks.

That's nice.

Let's picture that for a second.

So there's some children and they're looking at a model train, and they're amazed by the diminutive size of it as it chugs along its minute to track.

So imagine how small that train would be.

Okay, let's look at our final small or thin word.

The first word was, can you remember? Well done, dainty.

And the second word was? Well done, diminutive.

So let's have a look at the third word.

Ooh, what is happening in this picture? We've got Brick, the hippo; and Bogart, the fly.

So what do you think is happening here? How would you describe Bogart? How would you describe Brick? Pause the video while you think about that now.

Okay, well done.

Well, I can see that Bogart, the fly here is sitting on Brick's nose.

And I feel like he's being a bit irritating to Brick, because Brick's facial expression shows me that perhaps he's finding Bogart a little bit irritating.

And when we compare the sizes of these two characters, Bogart is very small, isn't he? In comparison to Brick.

So I wonder what this word is.

Ah, minuscule.

My turn, your turn.

Minuscule, minuscule.

Well done.

Now this word, let's just take a quick look at the spelling of this word.

So it's min-e-skool.

Now I found when I was writing this lesson, when I was typing it, I kept having to stop 'cause I kept wanting to write minuscule with an I instead of a U.

So let's just try and remember that now.

Min-e-skool.

Min-e-skool It might help you to remember it if you say it like that.

Okay, so minuscule means it's an adjective, firstly, as the other two words have been.

And it means tiny or microscopic like an insect so small, you can barely see it.

So hopefully, you know, a microscope is something you have to look at.

Scientists might use a microscope to look at something really tiny.

So that's why the word minuscule means tiny or microscopic, something that you would almost need a microscope to look at because it's so small.

These words are synonyms of minuscule.

Tiny, diminutive, oh, that was our second word we learned, insignificant.

Now if something is significant, it means it's very important.

So if something is insignificant and it's a prefix that comes before the word significant, it means it's not important, insignificant.

If you felt insignificant in a role or in your job or in your classroom, it wouldn't be a very nice feeling because it would be like you felt unimportant or that people wouldn't really have noticed you.

We would want to feel significant, some important.

Here's the word in a sentence.

The minuscule insect may have been small, but it was extremely irritating.

This is an example of a compound sentence, and I'm using the conjunction but in this sentence.

And when we use the conjunction but, we quite often have two opposite ideas.

So the insects, the minuscule insects may have been small, but it was extremely irritating.

Even though it was small, it was still extremely irritating.

And I've got a comma before the conjunction but.

So when we write a compound sentence using the conjunction but, we have to have a comma before it.

Okay, these are word pairs of minuscule.

So if you found the word minuscule in a book you were reading or if you heard someone saying the word minuscule, it might be paired with one of these words.

Minuscule handwriting.

Imagine sometimes as a teacher, I've had to look at some mark work, and the writing has been so minuscule that I've almost needed to get a magnifying glass to have a look at it.

A minuscule insect.

Imagine how small that would be.

A minuscule detail.

So imagine if you tidied your bedroom and you were so pleased because you thought that you had done an absolutely amazing job.

And then your parent or carer came in and said, "Hmm, well it's very tidy, but I did find this one little speck of dust on the floor." That would be a minuscule detail in comparison to the rest of the room.

Remember the word insignificant? That would be an insignificant detail, wouldn't it? It wasn't very important if the rest of the room was really tidy.

A minuscule amount.

Perhaps you might be annoyed if you've got a minuscule amount of food.

And a minuscule particle.

Now a particle is a minute portion of matter.

Everything's made up of particles, but they are absolutely tiny or minuscule.

So could you pause the video now and say these word pairs out loud just as you've done with the other two words? Off you go.

Okay, well done.

So here's a check for understanding.

Which of these words is a word pair of minuscule? Now I'm not asking you this time for a synonym, I'm asking you for a word pair.

Is it A, particle; B, tiny; or C, insignificant? Pause the video while you have a think about that question.

Okay, so well done if you got the answer A, particle is a word pair of minuscule.

A minuscule particle.

Okay, let's have a go at another task.

You have another word map.

This time minuscule is written in this middle, and you have all the different words around it that could be synonyms or word pairs.

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

The minuscule insect wouldn't stop bothering Brick.

Remember, if the words synonym, you should be able to take out the word minuscule and replace it with the synonym.

Could you pause the video now and complete this task? Well done.

Let's go through the answers.

The synonyms are insignificant, tiny, and diminutive.

The word pairs are a minuscule insect, minuscule detail, minuscule amount, minuscule particle, and minuscule handwriting.

Here are the word pairs to help you to write your own sentence using the word minuscule.

For example, you might pick the word pair handwriting, minuscule handwriting, and you might write a sentence about a teacher trying to mark some minuscule handwriting.

So the word pairs are always really helpful to make sure that we are writing a sentence.

That's where we're using this word really appropriately and we're gonna make sure that we're using it accurately.

So could you pause the video now while you have a go at writing your own sentence using this new word minuscule? And remember that spelling min-e-skool, because that will help you.

Okay, off you go.

Excellent, well done.

Let's have a look at some example sentences.

Bogart's minuscule handwriting was so tiny that Bearnice needed a magnifying glass to read the message in her birthday card.

Ah, so Bogart was very kind to give Bearnice a birthday card that his little handwriting was so minuscule that she needed a magnifying glass to read it.

A bit like when I was trying to mark that work with such minuscule handwriting.

The children gathered around to observe the minuscule insect crawling along the leaf.

The artist spent hours perfecting every minuscule detail in the painting.

Okay, so there's some examples of how you could use this word, and I hope that you enjoy using this word as with all the other words we have learned today, because they are all very impressive.

So if your final task today, I have got three sentences.

I'm going to read each one to you now.

And for your task, you need to choose which word dainty, diminutive, or minuscule fits in each sentence.

Now if you are unsure, for example, if the first sentence you were unsure which word it could be, or if you thought, "Oh, well it could be dainty or it could be minuscule," then my suggestion would be to leave it out and go to the next one.

And then if the next one might be a bit more obvious, and then that means you've got less options when you go back to the initial one.

So don't worry if you don't know in straight away which word goes in which sentence, maybe go through all of them first and then see which one fits best.

Because sometimes actually, two of those words might work in each sentence.

But I want you to really think about which one fits the best in each sentence, okay? So let me read the sentence to you with the gap where you are going to put the word in.

With only a, mm, amount of money left in his piggy bank, Armie decided that now wasn't the time to buy a new car.

Poor Armie.

Okay, second sentence.

The wedding cake was covered in, mm, lace icing that made it almost too pretty to cut into.

Oh, so imagine such a beautiful cake that you didn't almost want to cut into it.

So how might that lace icing be described? And finally, Bogart's, mm, frame made him the perfect candidate to break into the hidden passage that led to the treasure.

So how would we describe his, mm, frame making him so perfect to sneak into that hidden passage? So could you please pause the video now while you try to complete this task? Okay, well done for giving that a go.

Let's go through the answers.

With only a minuscule amount of money left in his piggy bank, Armie decided now wasn't the time to buy a new car.

Now let's just check the other options.

With only a dainty amount of money.

Well, that definitely doesn't work.

With only a diminutive amount of money.

Now it's tricky, isn't it? Because diminutive was actually a synonym of minuscule.

So we know that they have a similar meaning, but I think minuscule is more, think about we said, didn't we? It was something that was microscopic or tiny.

Whereas diminutive is almost more someone who isn't noticed.

Can you remember that in the definition? So minuscule amount was one of the word pairs amount.

So minuscule amount works the best here.

For the next sentence, dainty is the correct answer.

The wedding cake was covered in dainty lace icing that made it almost too pretty to cut into.

Remember dainty meant delicate and exquisite.

And remember, if it's delicate, it could be easily broken.

So that is a really good way of describing this lace icing.

And finally, Bogart's diminutive frame made him the perfect candidate to break into the hidden passage that led to the treasure.

So well done if you've got those answers correct.

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

We have learned three new pieces of vocabulary associated with small or thin words.

The first word we learned was dainty.

An adjective meaning small, delicate, and pretty; like an exquisite tea party.

The second word we learned was diminutive.

An adjective, meaning unusually small; like someone so tiny, you almost don't notice them.

And the third word was minuscule, which means tiny or microscopic; like an insect so small, you can barely see it.

I really hope that you enjoyed looking at these brilliant illustrations today and learning these three new words.

And I think that anyone would be very impressed if in your next piece of writing or the next time you want to describe something really small, you used one of these words instead.

Perhaps you might just use diminutive or minuscule or as something was very delicate, pretty and small, you might describe it as dainty.

So well done for working so hard in today's lesson.