Lesson video

Hello, I'm Miss Corbett, and welcome to today's lesson: Writing an Information Report or Page with Commands.

So today, you are going to finish your information page by finishing up it off by adding your already amazing instructions about how to feed a cat.

So for this lesson, we need our listening ears, our looking eyes, and our thinking brain.

You will also need your loud and proud voice today to share the writing that you have done with someone else.

As well as that you need something to write with and something to write on.

It would be great if you could get what you have done with your information page so far and you could get the instructions about how to feed a cat that you've already written.

That's quite a lot to remember.

Can you go and get it for me? Pause the video now.

Amazing.

I think we're ready to get started.

And here is the outcome for today's lesson.

I can write an information page, including commands, and these keywords will help us to get there.

First of all, I would just like you to repeat them after me loud and proud.

My turn, then your turn.

Instruction, fact, information, command, list.

Fantastic.

Let's talk about what those keywords mean.

An instruction is a direction or order.

Go over there.

Feed your cat twice a day.

A fact is something that is known to be true or proved.

Information are those facts learned about something or someone? So for example, our facts that we've learned about cats.

A command is similar to an instruction.

It's a type of simple sentence that tells someone to do something and can end with an exclamation mark.

Our commands aren't really showing a strong emotion, so they will end in a full stop.

And a list is a number of connected items. Let's get started with the first part of our lesson: writing instructions on an information page.

An information page can teach people about a particular topic, and here is an example of what you might have so far.

Look at the start of this information page.

Can you identify the title and a subheading? You might want to do this on my example, or you might want to do it on your own example that you have written already so far.

Pause the video now.

Fantastic.

The title is at the top, often in the middle and underlined, How to look after a cat, and our subheadings Chunk up our sections to show the reader what each section is about: sleeping, playing, and feeding.

Information pages contain lots of facts that teach us more about a topic.

Information pages can also contain instructions.

Feed your cat twice a day.

Give your cat a fresh bowl of water.

Put a bed down for your cat.

Instructions can also be called commands because they are commanding someone to do something.

Instructions are really helpful because they can be a really useful way to give information, especially on our topic of looking after cats, because people need to know what to do and when to do it.

So I wonder, can you identify the command telling someone to do something? Cats need food to survive, A.

B, Buy food for your cat.

C, What food does your cat eat? Which of those is the command? And how do you know? Pause the video now.

Well done if you said buy food for your cat.

That is telling someone to buy it.

Cats eat food to survive is just a statement sentence.

It's just a fact.

What food does your cat eat is a question.

Commands often begin with verbs.

Go to the shops and buy biscuits, meat or fish for your cats.

Go is my verb.

Fill the food bowl with the right amount.

Fill is that bossy verb telling someone what to do.

Put the bowl in a quiet and safe place.

So put is that verb.

Feed your cat twice a day.

It's really important to write instructions in the correct order so they're clear and easy to follow.

Here, they're ordered with numbers.

So first, go to the shops.

Next, fill the food bowl.

Third, put the bowl in a quiet place.

Fourth, feed your cat twice a day.

I wonder if you could put these instructions in the correct order.

Leave your cat to get comfortable.

Put the bed in a quiet place.

Buy a bed.

So think, out of those instructions, which do you need to do first, second, and third? Pause the video now.

Let's see.

The first thing you need to do is buy a bed.

The next thing you need to do is put it in a quiet place.

And the final thing, the third thing you need to do is leave your cat to get comfortable.

Well done.

Now as well as numbers, adverbials of time or sequencing language can help us to order those instructions.

So have a look at these instructions again.

Go to the shops and buy biscuits, meat or fish for your cat.

Fill the food with the right amount.

Put the bowl in a quiet and safe space.

Feed your cat twice a day.

If we replace those numbers with sequencing language, it helps us to sequence those instructions in a list.

First, go to the shops.

Next, fill the bowl.

Then put the bowl in a quiet place.

Finally, feed your cat twice a day.

So it's so clear what order those instructions need to go in.

So actually, our adverbials of time will start our sentence with a capital letter and then are separated from the rest of the sentence with a comma, then our verb goes there too.

Now you should have already written your instructions about how to feed a cat.

So hopefully, you've already got them with you.

Adverbials of time, like we've said, are followed by a comma: first, next, then, finally, They're separated with a comma when they are at the front of a sentence.

So it separates the rest of it.

So it all makes sense.

It's really important not to give too much information in each instruction, which your instructions should already have.

Keep them short and clear so they can be easily understood.

So is this true or is this false? Adverbials of time are followed by a full stop? Hmm.

An adverbial of time that we're talking about is a fronted adverbial, it goes at the start of a sentence.

Is that where I put a full stop? Hmm.

Adverbials of time are followed by a full stop.

True or false? I'm going to give you 10 seconds to decide.

10.

Five.

And zero.

Did you get it? Well done if your thumbs are down.

That is false.

Our adverbials of time, when they start a sentence, are followed by a comma.

Have a look at these pages and which of them looks more exciting to read? Hmm.

I want you to point to the one.

Get your pointing finger and decide.

I think the first one because that first one has drawings on it.

Can you see next to playing it has some toys.

And next to feeding for those instructions, it has some food.

So drawings and also fun facts can make the information page more exciting.

The fun facts are at the bottom.

There's a new subheading, Fun facts with an exclamation mark.

These here offer any more facts that you really want somebody to know about cats that you might not have managed to fit in your other sections.

For example, did you know that cats are related to lions? Question mark.

Did you know that cats can see in the dark? Question mark.

Did you know that cats give hugs by rubbing their heads on you? Question mark.

Can you pause and share your favourite did you know fun fact.

It might be one that I've just read or another one that you know.

Pause the video now.

Fantastic.

Keep those in your head.

Why do you think drawings or maybe photographs might be important on an information page? Why might they be important? Pause the video now.

Drawings or photographs help to make the information clearer, make the information easier to remember because you can link what you've listened to or read with a picture and they make the page look more exciting and make you want to read it.

What drawings could you add to your information page? Remember we've got three subheadings: feeding, sleeping, and playing.

What could you draw for each of those? Pause the video now and share your idea.

Fantastic.

Oh, I can't wait to see those drawings to make your information page come to life.

Fun facts like we've talked about can occur at the bottom of your page for any remaining facts you would like to share.

Look at your information page.

Are there any other facts that you would like to include that you haven't already? Have a think.

You can write these as did you know questions under a new subheading.

Fun facts.

Let's say that together.

Fun facts.

Well done.

Did you know cats are related to lions? Did you know that cats are hunters? And you can see we have, did you know, and then a question mark at the end.

So now it is time to, first of all, write your instructions that you already have about how to feed a cat on your information page underneath what you've already written under the subheading Feeding.

So you have those instructions already with those sequencing language and those commands.

You're just going to write them underneath your subheading.

So make sure you've got those ready to go.

Next, you'll add a drawings to each section linked to the topic.

If you don't have space, you could just draw your drawings at the bottom.

And finally, you can add up to three fun facts, you've only got one, that's okay, to your page under the subheading Fun facts! And start each fact with Did you know.

? So first, write the instructions that you already have written about feeding cats.

Next, add a drawing to each section linked to the topic.

And finally, add your fun facts.

I can't wait to see your finished information page.

Pause the video now.

Wow, you are non-fiction writers and you should be very proud of yourselves.

Here is an example of some instructions and some fun facts, instructions for feeding a cat.

First, go to the shops and buy biscuits, meat or fish for your cat.

Next, fill the food bowl with the right amount.

Then, put the bowl in a quiet place.

Finally, feed your cat twice a day.

What I love about those commands are they have their sequencing language starting with a capital letter and separating with a comma.

And they have their bossy command verb go, fill, put, feed, and they all end in a full stop to show that they are sentences.

And next to it, I can see a very happy looking cat eating some food.

Now, let's read some fun facts.

I can see the subheading Fun facts! exclamation mark, underlined.

Then I have the facts that we shared earlier, starting with, Did you know, so capital letter, Did you know that cats are related to lions? Question mark.

Did you know that cats can see in the dark? Question mark.

Did you know that cats can give hugs by rubbing their heads on you? Question mark.

I would like you to pause the video and I want you to double check that your instructions make sense and they have a capital letter and a full stop and your fun facts make sense and they start with a capital letter, Did you know, and end with a question mark.

Pause the video now.

Great job.

We are now ready for our second learning cycle, sharing your information page.

Sharing your information page gives you the chance to teach someone something new.

You have worked so hard to learn all of these facts and share things that if you didn't get to show it to anybody, what would be the point? So here is an example of a finished one.

I'm going to, when you're doing it too, read through my information page to check it makes complete sense.

If I spot a mistake, that's okay.

I can correct it before I share it with someone else.

So I'm going to get my finger and I'm going to start at the top and read it through really carefully.

If I spot a mistake, that's okay.

I can fix it.

We are looking for correct punctuation, making sure our sentences make sense, and making sure our facts and our instructions are really clear.

I'm going to do mine whilst you do yours.

Can you pause the video now? Fantastic.

Now we've read through it ourselves, I think we're ready to share it with someone else.

Some subject-specific vocabulary might be tricky to say.

I wonder if you spotted that when you were reading yours back.

I wonder if you could repeat these words after me.

They're tricky to say because they're not necessarily spelt in the way that we're used to from phonics.

Ready? Healthy.

Pouncing.

Hydrated.

These are some examples of words that we don't use too often so they can be difficult to decode using our phonics knowledge.

So practising these words and reading through our writing, again, can give us confidence when we come to sharing our information pages.

So have a think.

Why is it important to read through your information page first before we share it with someone else? Is it to add more facts, to check it makes sense, or to practise reading subject-specific vocabulary? It might be two of those things.

Pause the video now and decide.

Let's see.

I got to check it makes sense and to practise reading and saying subject-specific vocabulary.

Well done.

How we use our voices when we share our work is very important.

If I had my paper here in front of me covering my face and I was saying, how to look after cats to share, can you follow what I'm saying? No.

So how do you think our voices should sound? What should be the right thing to do? Pause the video now and share.

Our voices should be.

Let's see what you thought of.

Our voices should be loud, our loud and proud voices.

Our voices should be clear.

So we're opening our mouth widely so it's really clear what we are saying.

Our voices should be confident because you have produced some fantastic learning, so you should be confident and proud to share it.

If we speak too quickly, our words will not be clear.

And it's okay that if you're the one listening and you're not sure what your partner's saying to tell them, but we need to tell them in a respectful way.

So for example, if I wasn't sure what you would saying, I would say, Oh, I'm sorry.

Could you repeat that? Or, Ooh, could you speak a bit louder? I wonder whether we could practise that.

Are you ready? Could you repeat that? Could you speak a bit louder? Fantastic.

Really making sure we're being respectful to our friends and it's really important to try and slow down when we're reading aloud to help our partner understand.

So how should our voice sound when we read aloud? Loud, quiet, quick, clear.

Hmm.

I'm going to give you 10 seconds to decide.

10.

Five.

And zero.

Our voices should be loud.

If we're too quiet, people won't be able to hear us, and our voices should be clear.

We don't want to speak quickly because people might not understand what we're saying.

Remember, don't speak too quickly because people won't understand what you're saying.

That's a really helpful tip.

So I am going to practise reading my title and introduction aloud.

I will check I can pronounce subject-specific vocabulary, use a loud confident voice, speak slowly and clearly.

Okay, I'm sitting up straight because that really helps me to speak loudly and clearly and confidently.

How to look after a cat.

Cats are wonderful pets that can live inside or outside your home.

Taking care of a cat is an important responsibility, that's a long word, but it can also be fun.

Now you'll practise reading your title and introduction aloud.

You will check you can pronounce subject-specific vocabulary, use aloud and confident voice and speak slowly and clearly so you can just practise this to yourself before you are ready to share with someone else, just your title and your introduction.

Pause the video now and have a go.

Great job.

I think you're ready to share your whole information page.

So first, you will share your information page with someone else.

And remember your subject-specific vocabulary, your loud and confident voice, your slow and clear voice.

Then, really important, to listen to someone else share their information page with you and tell them what you have learned from their page.

Ah, you have learned so much about cats.

Thank you.

Okay, can you pause the video now and share and then listen.

Off you go.

Wow.

What fantastic speakers.

Did you manage to share your information, saying your subject-specific vocabulary, your loud, clear voice? Well done.

And did you manage to listen to somebody else share theirs? And I bet you learned something from them too.

What amazing non-fiction writers and presenters.

A brilliant lesson today.

We have learned that instructions can be added to an information report to tell someone what to do and how to do it.

We know that instructions can also be called commands as they are commanding someone to do something.

Instructions can start with adverbials of time to help to place them in order.

But limiting the amount of information in an instruction will really help us understand them clearer.

And adding drawings or photos can make the information clearer and easy to remember.

You should be so proud of what you've achieved.

You have managed to create a whole information page with so much learning and writing.

Really well done, and I hope it's given you the confidence to share your writing with others more often.

I hope to see you again soon.

Bye!.