Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

My name is Miss Voyle and I'm really excited to be teaching you your reading lesson today where we will be exploring vocabulary from the story "Leaf." For this lesson, you need to be listening and looking carefully.

You need your thinking brain.

And there will also be some tasks where you need somebody to talk to.

I hope you are feeling excited to learn lots of new and interesting vocabulary.

Let's get started.

The learning outcome for today's lesson is, "I can understand and use the vocabulary used in the story." Here are the key words for today's lesson.

Let's practise saying them.

My turn, your turn.

Vocabulary, description, verb, adjective.

Well done.

Don't worry if you can't remember the exact definition of these words because we will be discussing them and their meaning throughout.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

In the first part, we will be retelling the story of "Leaf." And in the second part, we will be exploring vocabulary from within the story.

So, let's begin with retelling the story.

It's time to remind ourselves of the key events by reading the whole story of "Leaf." Pause the video and read the book now.

I am now going to retell the story of "Leaf" using these illustrations and some sequencing language.

Listen carefully.

"In the distance, a sad and lonely polar bear drifted across the sea on a slab of ice towards a forest full of animals.

The animals in the forest was scared of the polar bear and didn't welcome him kindly.

One day, the polar bear left the cave on the hill, covered himself in leaves and jumped off the hill trying to fly.

Unfortunately, he landed in a lake and returned to his cave soaking wet.

Later on, the animals in the forest had a meeting to discuss what they should do about this strange creature who they have now named "Leaf." While the crows wanted to talk to Leaf and help, the other animals did not because they found him too terrifying.

They couldn't agree, so they decided to do nothing.

A few days later, Leaf attempted to fly again.

This time, he jumped off a cliff and he landed in the ocean.

When the sea washed a very sad and lonely Leaf up onto the shore, the crows decided it was time to talk to him, and they got all of the other animals to listen to his story.

In the end, the animals discovered that the ice had melted where Leaf lived and he just wanted to get back home.

They felt so silly for not talking to him sooner.

The crows flew Leaf home and the rest of the animals promised to share his story with everyone to try and protect all polar bears." Let's check your understanding.

Order these events from the story.

A, the animals had a meeting to discuss Leaf and what to do, but nobody could agree.

B, Leaf jumped off a cliff flying into the sea and washed up on shore feeling lonely and sad.

C, Leaf ran through the forest, covered in beautiful leaves and jumped off a hill into a lake.

D, the clever crows decided to speak to Leaf and got all of the animals to listen to his story.

The crows flew leaf home! Order these from one to four to show the order in which they happen in the story.

Pause the video and answer now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

First, Leaf ran through the forest covered in beautiful leaves and jumped off a hill into a lake.

Then, the animals had a meeting to discuss Leaf and what to do, but nobody could agree.

Third, Leaf jumped off a cliff flying into the sea and washed up on shore feeling lonely and sad.

And last, the clever crows decided to speak to Leaf and got all of the animals to listen to his story.

The crows flew Leaf home! Well done.

It's time for a task.

Use these illustrations to retell the story of "Leaf" with a partner.

Make sure you use the sequencing language provided.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Did you use sequencing language when retelling the story? Let's take a look at what you might have said.

"In the distance, a sad and lonely polar bear drifted across the sea towards a forest full of animals who didn't welcome him very kindly.

One day, he covered himself in leaves and jumped off a hill trying to fly, but he landed in a lake.

Later on, the animals in the forest had a meeting to discuss what they should do about this strange polar bear who they had now named Leaf.

While the crows wanted to talk to him, the other animals were terrified of him and did not want to.

They couldn't agree, so they did nothing.

A few days later, Leaf tried to fly again.

This time he jumped off a cliff and landed in the ocean.

When he was washed up onto the shore, the crows decided it was time to listen to him and got the other animals to listen to his story too.

In the end, they discovered that the ice had melted where Leaf lived and he just wanted to get back home.

They felt silly for not talking to him sooner.

The crows flew Leaf home, and the rest of the animals promised to share his story with everyone to try and protect all polar bears." Well done for retelling the story with your partner.

It's now time for the second part of our lesson where we will be exploring vocabulary in the story, "Leaf." Vocabulary refers to the words we know and use to communicate with others.

An author uses specific vocabulary to help create an impression and tell a story in a precise way.

In a story, there will be vocabulary that we know and understand.

There will also be vocabulary that we are unfamiliar with.

Listening to and reading books is a way to learn new vocabulary.

Let's check your understanding.

What is vocabulary in a story? A, the pictures, B, the words used, or C, the title.

Pause the video and answer now.

The answer is B.

Vocabulary is the words that are used to tell a story.

Well done.

Considering the word class that a piece of vocabulary belongs to can help us understand its meaning.

A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.

Here are some examples of nouns from the story, "Leaf." Creature, shore, habit, forest, Leaf.

You might notice that Leaf has a capital letter here because it's the name of a character, which means it's a proper noun.

An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

Here are some examples of adjectives from the story.

Beautiful, giant, strange, wild, brave.

A verb is a doing or being word.

Here are some examples of verbs from the story.

Wished, flee, stomping, discussed, burst.

Let's check your understanding.

Match the word class to the correct definition.

Our word classes are noun, adjective, and verb.

The definitions are a word that describes a noun, a doing or being word, and a person, place, thing, or idea.

Pause the video and answer now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

<v ->A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.

</v> An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

And a verb is a doing or being word.

Well done.

It's now time for a task.

Match the vocabulary from the text to the correct word class.

The word classes are noun, adjective, and verb.

And you should now be feeling super confident about the definition of these word classes.

Let's take a look at the examples given.

First, shook, decided, jumped, flew, spat.

Then, cave, forest, habit, leaves, situation.

And last, strange, dark, overgrown, dangerous.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

The nouns are cave, forest, habit, leaves, situation.

The adjectives are strange, dark, overgrown, dangerous.

And the verbs are shook, decided, jumped, flew, spat.

Well done for matching the word class to the examples given.

The author uses precise verbs to describe Leaf's movements, particularly when he tries to use leaves as wings to fly.

Let's take a look at an extract from the text.

"With a giant roar, Leaf leaped off the edge of the hill and flew, for a moment at least, before tumbling down into the lake.

Soaking wet, the beast stomped back to hide once again in the dark cave." These precise verbs, leaked, tumbling, stomped, described the way that the polar bear moved and helped the reader build an image in their mind.

Let's say the word "tumbled." My turn.

Your turn.

Tumbled.

Well done.

Tumbled means to fall suddenly, often with a rolling movement.

"Leaf leaped off the edge of the hill and flew, for a moment at least, before tumbling down into the lake." This helps us to build an image of how Leaf fell off the cliff in a sudden and rolling movement.

Let's check your understanding.

Tick two sentences which use the verb "tumbled" appropriately.

A, the polar bear tumble down the side of the cliff.

B, the ball tumbled down the hill, rolling and bouncing.

And C, the ballerina gracefully tumbled across the stage.

Pause the video and answer now.

The answers are A and B.

Well done.

A, the polar bear tumbled down the side of the cliff.

B, the ball tumbled down the hill, rolling and bouncing.

If a ballerina was moving gracefully, we would not describe that as a tumbling movement.

It's now time for a task.

Which three of the following verbs describe Leaf's movement in a precise and descriptive way.

Stomping, drifted, collected, looked, burst, told.

Think carefully about each of these verbs and which of them help you to really imagine Leaf's movements with your different senses.

Pause the video and circle three now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

Hopefully you circled stomping, which means treading heavily or noisily.

And drifted, which means carried slowly by water.

And last, burst, which means to move suddenly.

These three verbs are very precise and descriptive, and help us imagine Leaf's movements.

The other verbs would be considered as simple verbs.

Well done.

Authors use adjectives as a powerful tool to describe a character and help build understanding.

Descriptions of a character may change throughout a story.

This can demonstrate changes in the character's circumstances or different impressions of them by other characters.

Adjectives may describe a character's emotions and feelings.

For example, a character might be described as sad, happy, lonely, scared, excited.

Adjectives may also describe a character's appearance and personality.

For example, a character could be described as strange, beautiful, brave, dangerous.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false.

Leaf's emotions and personality are described in the same way throughout the story.

Pause the video and answer now.

That is false.

Well done.

A variety of adjectives are used to show changes in Leaf's feelings and different interpretations of his character.

It's time for your final task.

When the animals meet in the forest to discuss Leaf, it becomes clear that they have very different impressions of him.

Take a careful look at these pages from the story and what each of the characters is saying in the speech bubbles.

Which adjectives show a positive and empathetic impression of Leaf? And which adjectives show a negative or afraid impression of Leaf? Pause the video and answer now.

Let's take a look at the answers.

The adjectives that show a positive or empathetic impression of Leaf come from the crows.

They are beautiful, sad, lost.

And the adjectives that show a negative or afraid impression of Leaf come from the bird and the wolf, who describe him as dangerous and destructive.

Destructive is used to describe someone who causes great damage.

These impressions are discussed before the characters have spoken to Leaf and heard his story.

It is an example of how someone can be easily misunderstood.

Well done.

We've come to the end of our lesson, so let's go over a summary together.

"Leaf" tells the story of a polar bear named Leaf who ends up lost and far away from home.

Precise and descriptive vocabulary is used throughout the story to describe characters.

Powerful verbs and adjectives are used to help the reader build an image in their mind.

And descriptions of a character may change throughout the story, which can represent a change in circumstances or different impressions.

Well done for all of your hard work and learning in this vocabulary lesson about "Leaf.".