Lesson video

Hello everybody, it is me, Miss McCartney.

How are you today? Excellent.

In today's lesson, we are going to read an example of an explanation with a fantastical character.

And we are going to have a look at the features of an explanation, and that means we are going to use our tool kit that has the really important things that our explanation must have.

So I cannot wait to do some hunting for those features in our example explanation.

In our lesson today, you will need a piece of paper or something to write on, a pencil or something to write with, and your wonderful creative brain.

If you need to pause the video to go and collect anything, do that now.

Brilliant.

Now that we are ready, let's have a little look at what we are going to be learning today.

We are going to start by thinking about why do we need explanations? Why are they important? Then we are going to look at a special explanation toolkit, and that is going to give us all the things we need to write our own explanation.

We are then going to read an example of an explanation and see if we can find those different features from the toolkit in the writing.

Then we will answer a deep thinking question.

Show me a thumb if you are ready to think about why we need explanations.

Brilliant, I can see a sea of thumbs up.

Okay, so I have got a statement on the slide and it says, explanations are for readers to copy and follow.

Hmm, do you agree, or do you disagree with that statement? You have got the sentence stem, I agree or disagree with this statement because.

If you think that an explanation might be something different, you can also use the sentence stem.

I think explanations are important because.

Hmm.

Explanations are for readers to follow and copy.

Do you agree or disagree? Pause your video now.

Brilliant.

Come a bit closer and tell me if you agree or disagree, that explanations are for readers to copy and follow.

Hmm.

Wow, I heard some really interesting answers.

One of our learners said I disagree with this statement because instructions are to copy and follow.

Hmm, I think I agree with you.

Another learner said, I think explanations are important because they explain to help our reader learn more about the world.

I think that is a really eloquent answer, so I am going to give you some shine.

Explanations are really important.

I can't fly, so I can't go up into the sky with my flying unicorn or my fairy, and really understand that I can listen or read an explanation to grow my brain.

Brilliant.

Let's have a look at our toolkit now.

Here is our explanation toolkit and it has four features on it that we really need if we are going to write a great explanation.

The first thing is technical vocab.

Now we are writing about flying.

So technical vocab for us would be any words about flying.

Can you think of any that we have already heard? Whisper them now.

Oh, I can hear flapping, gliding, steering, air, push.

You are right.

All of those words are examples of technical vocabulary and they will help us to be really clear.

We also need to show the cause and effect really clearly.

So when something happens and it makes something else happen, we need to be able to make sure that our reader understands and we can use our subordinating conjunctions, when, if, that, and because to help us to really explain cause and effect.

And the final thing is the use of present tense.

Now, when we were boxing up in lesson six, we used the present tense when we were writing our verbs.

So we can look for that today as well when we are reading an explanation example.

On your screen, there is an example of an explanation paragraph that Miss McCartney has written all about dragons flapping.

We are going to read it together, and then we are going to hunt to see if we can find the features on our toolkit.

Remember when we are reading, we need our magnet eyes on the screen.

We need to be listening really carefully, and we need to be following along with our reading finger.

Get your finger ready.

And I'm going to begin.

When a dragon wants to fly, they first need to flap their wings.

Dragons have very strong chest muscles and this enables them to flap their wings.

As they flap their wings, the wings push down onto the air.

The harder the dragon pushes the wing, the further it will move upwards.

Dragon wings come in all different shapes and sizes.

Some have spiky edges and some have smooth edges.

Next time you want to ride a dragon, look at their wings before you jump on.

Okay.

It is now time to use our sentence stem, in the text I can find evidence of.

And then you need to choose something from the toolkit, when, and explain, when you have heard or you have read it.

I'll give you an example.

In the text I can find evidence of, hmm, the present tense, when I have got the verbs flap and push.

It is now your turn to find as many things as you can on our toolkit.

Pause your video now to speak to your screen.

Brilliant, I would love to hear some of your ideas.

Come a bit closer and whisper what you found from our tool kit.

Excellent.

One of our learners said, in the text I can find evidence of cause and effect when the dragon has strong chest muscles and the effect of that is that they can flap their wings.

Brilliant.

Another learner found a subordinating conjunction.

As they flap their wings, the wings push down the air.

So because they flap, their wings push down on the air.

In that sentence, we have a subordinating conjunction and a really clear explanation using cause and effect.

Another person found some technical vocab.

They found the word muscles, flap, push, further, and upwards.

Well done, you have done such wonderful hunting.

I think now that we've had a little practise, when we read our next section, we will be able to find even more features from our toolkit.

Shall we read the next paragraph? Our next paragraph is about gliding.

Get your reading finger ready and I will begin.

Dragons often need to glide high in the sky to search for their next meal.

Yummy.

Dragons can tilt their wings and even their individual scales.

When dragons tilt their wings, the wings push down on the air, allowing them to fly.

If you look really carefully, you will often see a dragon flying without flapping their wings at all.

They do not fall to the ground because they tilt their wings.

If you notice silence, that means the dragon has stopped flapping its wings and has spotted you.

Okay.

Same sentence stem.

In the text I can find evidence of when.

Hunt for as many things from the toolkit as you can.

Pause your video now.

Oh, I could see so many pointing fingers and so many of our learners using our sentence stem.

You speak really eloquently.

Well done.

I would love to hear some of your ideas now.

Come a bit closer and whisper your favourite sentence to me.

Whoa.

Brilliant.

One of our learners said, in the text I can find evidence of cause and effect.

When Miss McCartney described the wings tilting, that was the cause.

And the effect is that the wing pushes down on the air and allows the dragon to glide.

Fantastic find, well done.

Another learner found the technical vocab of glide, but also some other examples.

Individual scales, well done.

And another learner said flapping was a technical word.

And we saw that in our last paragraph as well.

Brilliant.

We had lots of subordinating conjunctions.

Somebody found the subordinating conjunction, if.

If you notice silence.

Hmm, I'm going to remember that if I ever see a dragon and I realise that it has stopped flapping its wings, and that means it is gliding and has spotted me.

We also have a present tense and one of our learners really, really carefully spotted a present tense verb, push and glide.

Well done.

You have done such a great job at finding features from our toolkit.

Let's look at our final paragraph and make sure that we really understand all the features.

Okay, get your reading finger ready.

And I will begin.

Dragons often need to change direction very quickly.

Dragons are able to steer themselves with their wings.

They can move up and down and from side to side.

Dragons are able to change the shape and angle of their wings.

Their wings then push down on the air and they are able to move in a different direction.

Some dragons use the very tips of their wings to change direction.

Fierce Firebottom dragons have wings like a fighter jet so that they can change direction very quickly.

Ooh, Fierce Firebottom sounds like a very dangerous dragon.

Okay, you're using the same sentence stem.

In the text I can find evidence of when.

So remember, you are looking for technical vocab, good examples of cause and effect, subordinating conjunctions and present tense verbs.

Pause your video now to hunt.

I saw such good hunting.

I actually thought some of you were dragons hunting for your next meal because you were so determined.

Well done.

Come a bit closer and whisper your sentences to me.

Hmm.

Brilliant, I had a really interesting idea.

One of our learners said, in the text I can find evidence of technical vocab when Miss McCartney said Fierce Firebottom.

That is the Dragon's name, so that is technical vocab as well as steer and up and down and side to side.

Fantastic.

Another learner found the present tense verb, push, again, which was really great.

And this time we also had steer.

So fantastic for finding those examples.

We also had really clear cause and effect.

When dragons steer themselves, the effect is they can move up and down or side to side.

Now this time I didn't put any subordinating conjunctions into our example.

And I wondered if I could trick you.

We need to, when we are writing, make sure we've got some subordinating conjunctions to help us with our cause and effect.

You have done such a wonderful job today.

I cannot wait until lesson eight when we begin to write our very own explanations of our fantastical animal flying.

Now I have got a little challenge task for you now.

And my statement is a bird would not be able to fly without the wind blowing.

Hmm.

Think about what we have learned about flapping wings.

Your sentence stem is I agree or disagree with the statement because.

Pause your video and practise speaking your sentence.

Brilliant.

After three, I would like everybody to say their sentence really clearly.

One, two, three, your turn.

Oh, one of our learners said, I agree, they wouldn't be able to fly because they would need the wind to carry them.

But another learner said, I disagree.

It doesn't have to be windy.

Birds fly because they push down on the air.

And I think you're right.

It is the bird with its strong chest muscles pushing down on the air that makes it fly.

Fantastic learning today everybody, I will see you really soon.