Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Johnson and I'm going to be teaching you English today.

In today's lesson, we're going to be looking at the features of a non-chronological report.

So when you're ready, let's get started.

We're going to start today's lesson by looking at what a non-chronological report is.

Then we're going to look at the purpose, audience, language and layout in more detail.

And what those words mean, don't worry if you don't know what any of them mean, that's perfectly fine, we're going to do that today.

Then we're going to look at the features, so we're going to identify features of a non-chronological report.

Features are what make a text, so what things would I include if I was going to write a non-chronological reports.

And then we're going to review everything that we've done today.

In today's lesson, you're going to need an exercise book or paper, a pen or a pencil and your brain.

Make sure you've got it, checked now.

Ah, fantastic your brain is there, really important that we're using it throughout today's lesson.

I don't want to do all the work.

Imagine you're in class, I want you to be participating and taking part as much as possible.

So, if there are any distractions near you now is a good time to pause a video and remove those distractions and then when you're ready, let's get started.

So we going to start today by introducing you to the text type.

What is a non- chronological report? What do you know about a non-chronological report already? Pause the video and just have a think about what you know about non-chronological reports.

If you don't know anything, that's fine.

Pause a video and press play when you're ready.

Well done, so I'm going to tell you now.

So don't worry if you didn't know anything, if you already knew what that meant, because you've done it in school before, fantastic.

So non-chronological report is a type of nonfiction text.

It provides factual information about a subject, person or event.

Now a fiction text is imaginary or made up and it doesn't provide factual information.

So, nonfiction texts is the opposite of that.

It's providing information based on facts and it can be about a subject, so it could be about volcanoes.

It could be about a person to somebody who's famous for something such as Mariani, or it could be an event, so something that has happened recently.

You might have seen nonfiction books in your book corners in school, such as this one here, on the human body.

So this is a nonfiction text on the human body.

Non-chronological reports are not written in time order.

If we think about the word chronology or chronological, which you might have seen in history lessons before, it means in time order.

So a non-chronological report remember is the opposite of that.

It's not written in any order of time, is information and that's really important to remember.

So let's see, if you can tell the difference in, which text here is a nonfiction information text and how do you know? I want you to point, ready? To the one that you think is in three, two, one go, fantastic.

So the texts that it is, is Tigers, the National Geographic book on tigers.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea, is a fictional text.

It's a story that is made up, not based on facts, where the tiger's book, the one that I've highlighted has facts about tigers in it.

Now, we're going to think a little bit about the purpose, audience, language and layout.

This is actually really important to do before you do any type of writing in English.

You must know what the text type is that you're writing about.

So what do I mean by these four things? The purpose of the text, is the reason the text is written.

So why has somebody written it? So somebody might write a story to entertain someone, somebody write, might write a newspaper report to report on an event to inform you about the event.

So I might write an non-chronological report to inform you about a subject.

Then we have the audience.

The audience is who I choose reading the text.

Is it children, is the adults, is it people interested in a certain topic, who is reading the text? The language is a vocabulary that is chosen.

Now, depending on the text type, authors choose different language.

So if you were writing a diary entry, you might choose really informal language words such as awesome or cool, as you're writing.

But if you were writing a letter to your her teacher, you write really formal words.

Then finally we have layout.

The layout is how a text is organised or structured.

Is it in paragraphs? Is it in sections? And this is really important because the layout often helps the reader to understand what it is that they're reading.

So now we going to think about these four things, in relation to a non-chronological reports.

So the purpose, remember that is why it's been written of a non-chronological report.

Is to inform and provide information.

So you're informing people, you're telling people about a certain subject or person or event.

The audience is just anyone interested in the subject.

So if you're going to read an non-chronological report on tigers, it's probably because you're interested in tigers.

The language is formal, so I've got the top hat here to help remind that, to help you remember that a formal top hat that you'd only wear to formal events.

So formal language, subject specific, which is words that only appear in a non-chronological report say about tigers.

And then we have the layout, which is an opening, main and closing paragraphs and you've got also subheadings and titles to help you.

So now we know these are the four big umbrella terms that we need to remember today.

We going to look more closely at non-chronological reports and we going to identify its features.

Why do we do this, do you think? We do this because before we can do any writing on a non-chronological report, before you can ever write a non-chronological report, you need to know what it looks like.

So we going to look at an example to help us and we going to analyse, which means we going to look closely.

We going to start by looking at the opening paragraph to a non-chronological report.

So I'm going to start by reading the opening paragraph to you.

And then we're going to look at the features in this opening paragraph.

So we're going to look at a non-chronological report on polar bears.

Now, the purpose of an opening paragraph is to hook the reader in, often you also tell them the key facts about the animal or the event or the person you're writing about.

And then you allow the reader to know what's coming next in the rest of the report.

So let's read this opening together.

Polar bears, polar bears are one of the largest animals in the world.

Did you know they usually measure up to three metres in length and weigh up to 80 kilogrammes.

This creature lives in cold, treacherous locations, such as Russia, Greenland, Norway and Canada.

Polar bears are the Kings of the frozen world and their bodies have adapted to help them survive such freezing conditions.

Read on to find out more interesting information about this remarkable creature's appearance and diet.

Okay, so we're going to have a go at finding some of the features first of all.

I'm going to ask you to pause the video in a minute and see if you can point to the feature that I am asking you to look for.

The first feature, I want you to look for is the title, a nice, easy one for you.

So where is the title? Can you find it? The second one I'd like you to look for, is the question.

How do you search for question, is quite easy as well, you just need to look for the question mark.

So, pause the video now and press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done, did you find them? Let's have a look, so these are the features of the opening.

So you can see that in pink, I have got the title, which is, Polar bears.

I then have the question.

Did you know, they usually measure up to three metres in length and weigh to 80 kilogrammes? This helps to hook the reader in and it interests the reader, it's an engaging fact.

So the fact that I pick it, I want to make really interesting for the reader.

Ready to find the next few features? This time, still in the opening paragraph, I'd like to find some formal vocabulary.

Now, formal vocabulary are words that you would not see or hear when we were talking.

So if I was talking to you, I'm unlikely to use a formal word.

Formal word is one you might see in a diary, in a letter to her teacher, but you wouldn't see it in a diary entry because that's when you're talking, writing as if you're talking.

Then I'd like you to find the read on section that tells you what this report will be about.

So, can you pause the video and point to those two things, off you go.

Fantastic, well done, should we have a look I can check? So in pink, you'll see my formal vocabulary.

I've got words such as cold and treacherous.

Those adjectives are really formal, a nice formal, ambitious word describing something.

I've got us some words here that you might not understand.

So I have a word such as adapted, which means change.

So adapted, say it, adapted is a different way of saying changed.

So their bodies have changed to help them survive such freezing conditions.

And survived just means to be able to live.

So both those words are quite formal.

And then I've also talked about appearance and diet as formal words.

I could just say, how the creature looks and what they eat, but that wouldn't be very formal.

So appearance and diet are concise ways of saying what they eat and what they look like.

So, when I'm thinking of these formal words, sometimes I might not quite understand what they mean and that's okay, throughout this series of lessons, we going to learn more and more of these formal words to help you.

And finally, I hope you're also able to find the read on to find out more, section.

So read on to find out more interesting information about this remarkable creature's appearance and diet.

Why do you think they put that at the end? Well, that goes at the end of an opening because it helps signpost the reader to what is coming next in the report and in the main paragraph.

So if I wanted to find out information about the polar bears habitat, so where they live in detail, should I read this report, do you think? What do you think? Yes or no, thumbs up, thumbs down.

Should I read this report to find out about the polar bears habitat? Ready, show me one, two, three.

Fantastic, so thumbs down because it's not going to tell me about it.

What it's going to tell me about are polar bears appearance, so what they look like and their diet.

So this is an important sentence and without it, somebody might end up reading a load of information they don't need to read.

We're now going to identify the features of the main paragraph.

Now often a non-chronological report will have more than one main paragraph, so we're looking at the main first section.

Oh, we're looking at appearance, to the section on appearance.

I'm going to read it to you first and then we'll have a go, identifying the features.

Polar bears are considered the largest species of bear in the world, but they can vary in size.

These remarkable beasts have many special adaptations to help them survive in treacherous, cold Arctic conditions.

Polar bears are covered in thick, camouflaged fur to keep their bodies warm.

Also polar bears are strong swimmers because they have a layer of blubber underneath their skin that helps them to float.

This is particularly useful when they are hunting on ice and in water.

In addition to this polar bears have large, flat feet with long, sharp claws.

As a result, they can grip on the ice and easily catch their prey.

Well done, so the features we're going to be looking at in the main paragraph, are the subheading, compound sentences, complex sentences, expanded noun phrases and formal conjunctions.

Now I'll explain what each of these is before you search for it.

I think though, you're probably going to be quite good at finding the subheading.

The subheading tells the reader what this section is going to be about.

It is like the title.

So can you pause the video and point to it, ready, go.

Fantastic, well done.

So here is the subheading and this tells me this section is about the polar bears appearance.

So in this section, I won't expect to find out information about too much detail, about what's the animal eats.

I'm really interested in what their body looks like, their appearance.

Now I'd like you to find compound and complex sentences.

So compound sentences are sentences with two main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

Complex sentences are sentences with a main and subordinate clause joined by subordinating conjunctions, such as when, because.

These are included in non-chronological reports because they held a detail to the report.

They expand ideas and they join ideas together.

So, I would like you to pause the video and skim and scan to see if you can find any compound sentences or any complex sentences and press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done, let's look together.

So let's look for compound sentences together.

Compound sentences are sentences that have two main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

Don't worry if you're finding this really hard because we will be going over this in future lessons.

So I'm going to read you a compound sentence.

Polar bears are considered the largest species of bear in the world, but they can vary in size.

So the coordinator conjunction is but and I remember that before but, I have a comma.

It shows a contrasting idea, so an opposite idea.

So although I'm saying they're the largest species, I'm also adding that there is a condition, they can vary in size.

So perhaps not all of them are as large.

The second compound sentence I could find was right at the end and I'll read it you now.

As a result, they can grip on the ice and easily catch their prey.

So this is a really good way of using a compound sentence because I'm expanding my idea and giving two points.

I also asked you to find complex sentences.

Complex sentences have a main clause and a subordinate clause joined by subordinating conjunction.

And I found two.

The first one I found, you'll see the purple, is this one.

Also polar bears are strong swimmers because they have a layer of blubber underneath their skin that helps them to float.

And this is really nice because I'm explaining why they're strong swimmers.

The second complex sentence I found was this one.

This is particularly useful when they're hunting on ice and in water.

The when is my subordinating conjunction.

Fantastic, well done.

Now, we're going to look for expanded noun phrases and formal conjunctions.

An expanded noun phrases is two adjectives in a list separated by a comma, they're describing a noun.

And we use them to add specific detail to our writing.

A formal conjunction, I've got the top hat here to help you, is a joining word that is formal.

So and or but word that often is at the start of a sentence that is a more formal way of saying and or but.

So let's have a go.

Now, pause the video and see if you can skim and scan for either of those features and then press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done, let's check together.

And again, if you're not sure what this mean, or you're not sure don't worry, stick with this unit and by the end of it, you will definitely know.

And your writing will be fantastic.

So I found two, three expanded noun phrases in this writing.

So I found the thick, camouflaged fur, I've got two adjectives that check, are both thick and camouflaged.

Camouflage means that they can't be seen, so if there's, in snow that they would be white, you can't see them in the snow.

So thick and camouflaged, fantastic.

And I've got a comma to separate the two adjectives.

Then I had large, flat feet.

So large and flat are my two adjectives there, large, flat feet.

And large and I've got my comma to separate with the flat.

And then finally I had long, sharp claws.

So two adjectives again, long and sharp.

and I've got my comma to separate them.

These are really useful words because these really helped, add detail to my writing.

So I've ticked off expanded noun phases, this report definitely has them.

Then I asked you to find formal conjunctions, put your top hat on, this is a formal conjunction.

So it's a joining word, a conjunction is like glue, it joins things together.

That links to previous sentences and they're formal.

So the two formal ones I found, where also I could have used and, and as a result, now know that both of these have a comma after them.

Well done, now we're going to look at the last section of our non-chronological report.

You've done so well so far, I'm giving you lots of new terminology, so just keep up and keep going.

This is the closing paragraph, I'm going to read it to you first.

To conclude, polar bears are fascinating creatures with many interesting features.

This species, that's another way to say polar bear, is superbly adapted, remember that means they are changed or they suit, to suit the environments in which they live.

However, their survival is under threat because of the changing climate, changing weather and melting ice caps.

It is hope that they can be protected and exist for many years to come.

Shall we look at the features now together? So two of the features that I thought were important in the closing paragraph, are referring to our noun in different ways.

Why do I do this? I do this because if I kept saying polar bears, polar bear, polar bears, polar bears, polar bears, polar bears.

You'd switch off and get really bored, just like you to switch this video off.

So in reading that's the same, so I'm repeating something and repeating something, you probably just switch it off and get bored as well.

And then we have a closing sentence.

Now this is important, it's like the final message to the reader that you want to make a statement on polar bears.

So can you find both those things? Can you find a way that the animal is referred to differently, so different way of saying polar bear? So, instead a good way to try this is to replace the word with polar bears and can you find me the closing sentence.

Pause the video for the last time, have a go, identifying these features.

Well done, so I found two different ways of referring to a polar bear.

I found fascinating creatures and species, and both of these would have worked with polar bears, okay? It's a different way of saying it.

I did have to say polar bears, first of all, otherwise my reader wouldn't be sure what I was talking about.

So sometimes, I do need to keep polar bears in there for clarity, but I don't want to repeat it too much.

So having these other ways of referring to nouns is really effective and helps my writing a lot.

And then finally I have my closing sentence sentence.

It is hope that they can be protected and exist for many years to come.

And that's my closing sentence that finishes the report.

Well done, we're now going to review and think a little bit about what we've learned so far today.

So I've got a task for you, we've learned today about formal language and remember we've got that top hat there to remind us of our formal language.

So which vocabulary, we know it's formal, would you see on a non-chronological report? So, I've got some words down here and I want you to look at them and tell me which ones you think would appear and would be appropriate to use in a non-chronological report.

And which ones do you think I shouldn't use.

Let's read the words together.

Awesome, say it, awesome.

The awesome TV show.

Fascinating, say it, fascinating.

That means interesting.

Deadly, say it, deadly.

Smelly, say it, smelly.

Weird, say it, weird.

Discovered, say it, discovered.

And that means to find something out.

So pause the video now and can you point the words that you think are going to be wise that you could use in a non-chronological report.

Well done, let's see what you got.

So the three words I found were these, I found fascinating, deadly and discovered.

I thought these were really formal words.

So fascinating is another way of saying kind of awesome or interesting.

Discovered I could have just had found, but discovered is in much more formal way of writing that and deadly is a nice way to describe something too.

So today we have looked at what a non-chronological report is, we looked at how it differs to a fiction text.

Then we looked more closely at the purpose, audience, language and layout of a non-chronological report.

We then identified the features from an example report to help us with our own writing going forward.

And then we reviewed everything we've learned about the language of a non-chronological report.

So congratulations, you have completed your lessons today.

You worked really hard today, it's quite a intense lesson with lots of information.

So I've been so impressed that you've completed the lesson and you've worked really hard, well done.