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 write the second section of our non-chronological report on the Portia spider.

If you haven't completed the previous lessons, you should stop this lesson and go back and watch them.

But if you have, then lets get started, I'm going to start stays lesson by looking at the vocabulary that we might use when we plan our report today, then we're going to remind ourselves of the layouts and why we're writing our reports, the purpose, the audience, the language.

And then we're going to have a go at planning a report.

We're going to look at just the second section and the closing section of our report today.

We've previously done the opening and the first section.

So if you haven't completed those, then you should stop this video and go back and complete those lessons.

But if you have, then we can carry on.

In the lesson today, you will need an exercise book or paper, a pencil or a pen, it doesn't matter which one, and your brain.

This is your report that I want you to be planning today.

So you can magpie as many of my ideas as you want.

So that means you can copy, today, as many of my ideas as you like to use in your own report.

But I do want you to make a few authorial decisions as well about what you want to use in your report today.

We're going to start by looking at vocabulary.

It's important we look at this to begin with in the lesson because it helps us then to plan our reports.

We always want to be using the most effective vocabulary that we can whenever we write a report.

So these are some words that we have come across previously.

I was wondering if you can remember any? So I would like you to pause the video and have a go to see if you can remember any, and then press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

So these are words that we might use in our writing today.

So I'm going to now say them out loud, and then I get to tell you the meaning of them.

How many words could you remember, shout it out? Oh, well done, so impressive.

Don't worry if you couldn't remember any, that's fine, just listen carefully now.

So the first word is agile.

Say it, agile, and agile means to move really easy and quickly.

The second word is minuscule, say it, minuscule, and that means really, really, really tiny.

Often we use that to describe the spider.

The next one is camouflage, say it, camouflage, well done, that means to blend them with surroundings.

The next word is tangled, say it, tangled.

Now if you've completed the Mrs. Wordsmith lessons, you'll definitely know this word and remember this word, and I've got a nice picture to show you what this means.

It means to be caught up.

So when we're talking about the diet and hunting section today, this word is a really good word to use because the prey gets tangled in the web.

The next word is abseil, abseil.

And someone might abseil off a wall, the spider abseils down its web, it means to go down.

Piercing, say it, piercing, sharp.

Venomous, say it, venomous, that means poisonous.

Pluck, say it, pluck and pluck is when you're almost like plucking the strings of a guitar or plucking the strings of an instrument.

Adaptation, say it, adaptation.

And that's how an animal has changed to suit its environment Well done.

So I would like you now to pause the video and copy down at least three of the words that you think you could use today, and then press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

So now I want you to make a promise to yourself that you will use those words in your plan today.

Before we move on, we're going to also warm up by writing an expanded noun phrase.

Describe the Portia spider as a predator, a predator is a, is when you're attacking an animal, so the predator hunts for the prey, okay, it's the animal search of prey.

So that's what they eat.

I would like you now to describe what it's like.

So you could say it's a hunter, but can you describe, is it a good hunter? Is it an intelligent hunter? And I would like an expanded noun phrase.

An expanded noun phrase is two adjectives separated by a comment describing the noun, and you can use this prompt here to help you.

So pause the video now and have a go at writing an expanded noun phrase and then press play when you're ready to resume.

Fantastic.

Let's have a go, and let's see how we got on.

So this was mine.

I said the Portia spider could be an intelligent, skilled hunter.

They're skilled because we know they can abseil and we know they pluck the strings of their prey.

They're intelligent because they're really clever.

They have learned to imitate struggling prey in order to lure the other pray towards them.

So I said they're an intelligent, skilled hunter.

And I remembered my comma between the two adjectives.

If you like my one, you can pause the video now and then copy it down and press play when you're ready to resume.

Excellent work, well done.

Now, we're going to think about the layout of our work today.

Before we do that, we need to reflect on what the purpose, audience, language, and layout are for a non-chronological report.

So who are writing for, why are we writing it, what's the language going to be, and what do you think my layout would look like for this section? So can you pause the video now, have a go at answering what you think each of these terms means, and then press play when you're ready to resume Well done.

So the purpose is to inform and provide information.

And for this one, I'm informing and providing information about the subsection diet and hunting.

So I'm talking about what diet, that means what they eat, so what the Portia spiders eat, and how they catch their prey.

That's the two things I'm focusing on today.

The audience is anyone interested in this subject.

So you might still be interested in Portia spiders, but you might not necessarily be interested in actually how they capture their prey, and what they eat.

The next section is the language.

The language is the same as our first section.

It needs to be formal and it needs to be subject-specific.

So words such as predator, words such as prey, would be really good words to be using today.

And in the layout, we're going to make sure we're in a section, we're doing the main and closing paragraphs today.

So we're focusing on diet and hunting and we're focusing on the closing.

We've previously written the sections in grey, the opening and the appearance section.

The diet and hunting section is going to be very similar to the layout of our other subsection, which was appearance.

So they're going to be very similar.

So you, if you've done one already, you're going to be quite good at doing this one.

So we're going to start by looking at the second subsection, which is diet and hunting, which means, like I said before, what the Portia spider eats and how they catch their prey.

So when we look at this subsection, we know we need to inform the reader, and we're going to be informing them with detailed facts about the Portia spider's diet and hunting strategies.

So when we look at all the facts that we can choose from, this is something that we did a few, a few lessons ago.

So what I'd like you to do now is to look at all the facts we know about the Portia spider.

If you don't have this, just use my one.

Can you work out what we would put in a section about diet and hunting, and pause the video, and just jot down the facts that you can find, and press play when you're ready to resume.

Excellent, well done.

So the facts I think we could put in our section on diet and hunting are these ones.

I think we can say that they are a spider eating spider because this tells us what the species eats.

I think it's also important to say it eats prey three times its own size, because that's a really interesting fact for the reader.

That is something that is much larger than the spider itself.

It might also be useful to say that it can jump 50 times it's own body length.

This is important because we know it jumps when it tries to capture its prey.

And then the other really interesting fact that we have is that it abseils and plucks the strings of the preys webs to capture them.

So it either abseils down onto the prey, or it plucks the strings of the preys web, and this makes the prey think they've caught something in their web, something is tangled in their web, and it's not.

So this, their prey, the Portia spider's prey then comes along the web and the Portia spider captures them.

So these are their two kind of main hunting strategies, as well as the fact they can jump a really far distance.

So what I'd do now if I was you and you haven't got these facts, I would pause the video and write them down so that you're ready to use them in your plan.

Well done.

And we're going to start this section by thinking about what does this Portia spider eat? So what does it eat? Shout it out.

Fantastic.

Pause the video now, and write down what it eats, and perhaps tell me about the size of what it eats as well, and press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done, so what does the Portia spider eat? It is a spider eating spider, so it eats other spiders.

The spiders it eats are often three times its own size, and we know they also need large amounts of food though, because they're such an intelligent creature, to keep their brain working really well, they need lots of food.

So, pause the video now and write down these ideas if you haven't already.

Fantastic.

Now we're going to carry on and we're going to think a little bit in more detail about one way it catches its prey, and we're going to explain how this works.

So when you're writing this down, you can just do bullet points on a piece of paper.

As long as you have the facts, we can then organise them when we come to write this.

So don't worry if you haven't got a table, that doesn't matter, you can just write one way it catches its prey and then tell me what that is.

You can draw an arrow and show me how it does that.

So it doesn't matter how you set out your work today, as long as you get the facts down.

So can you think of one way it catches its prey, and can you give me a bit more detail on this, so how does that work? So pause the video here and have a go.

Excellent work.

So now I'm going to show you mine.

If you want to add to yours, definitely copy some of my work.

I don't mind you using my ideas today.

So we know the Portia spider jumps 50 times its own length.

Now, how this is effective and how it enables them to catch their prey, is it helps them to surprise their unsuspecting prey.

So their prey's not aware that this spider is anywhere near them because they can jump from such distance.

It almost helps them to move through the trees really easily.

So if you like my idea and you want to use it, pause the video here, copy it down and press play when you're ready to resume.

Excellent.

Well done.

Okay, there are other ways though that it can catch their prey.

You might already have one of these.

If you have something, try a different one now, think of a different way they might catch their prey and then press play on the video when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

So the next way that they catch their prey is they abseil onto unsuspecting prey.

That means they go down the web and then they pounce and they catch them.

So this means it surprises it's prey and ensures they catch the prey so they go behind their fangs because their Portia spider comes down from the height above.

And so when it captures its prey, the prey is inside its fangs.

And so this assures them that they can use their fangs to pierce through the prey's skin and inject the venom.

So the abseiling down is really effective.

It's a very unusual way of capturing prey.

So pause the video now.

If you like my idea, add it to yours and press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

Okay, now we're going to think of the final way they catch their prey.

Is there another one? I'm going to give you a hint, it's to do with plucking.

So they pluck something.

So pause the video now and write down your ideas and press play when you're ready to resume.

Well done.

So the other way it catches its prey is it plucks the strings of web to imitate struggling prey, so of its own prey, their own prey is in their own web, and what it does is the Portia spider plucks the strings of this web.

And so the web then vibrates and the other prey, their prey comes out of the web to try and see what is making their own web vibrate, and then surprise, it's the Portia spider and it tangles it in its own web.

So this draws the other prey in, and it kills it using its two venomous fangs.

So it catches it.

So it's really clever.

These hunting strategies are very unique.

I find them really interesting, I don't know about you.

So if you like this idea, pause the video now and copy it down so you've got it for your own plan.

Well done.

So we have now planned the first, the second section of our report, the diet and hunting strategies.

We've got plenty that we can use to write.

Now we're going to think about the closing section.

In the closing, we're going to summarise the reports.

We're going to add genuine information about everything we've learned, and we're going to consider the future of the animal.

So what happens in the future for this animal? And don't worry, if you don't know these facts, you can just use mine to help you.

So I'm going to show you now an idea, and you can pause the video in a minute and copy it down.

So this is harder, so I'm going to help you with this rather than get you to think of it yourself.

I want you to summarise the report.

So in this report you have learned about and tell me everything you've learned.

Now be careful, this is the closing for the whole report.

So we're also summarising the first subsection on appearance.

So we've talked about appearance, diet and hunting.

So when you say in this report you have learnt about, you need to reference the appearance, the diet and the hunting, all those things.

Then I want you to add some general information.

So the Portia spider is a remarkable creature and has adapted to suit its environment.

That's general information, general facts.

It's kind of summarising what I know about it already.

And then we consider the future.

Now this sounds a bit tricky, but it's not.

So Portia spiders live in jungles and rainforests, but unfortunately deforestation means that their habitat, that means where they live, is at risk because people are cutting down the trees where they live.

And so their own, like where they actually live in, and their habitat is being destroyed slowly.

And so if that happens, then eventually the species might become extinct, which means they die out, they no longer exist.

So there's hopes that they can be protected and that this doesn't happen, and that this remarkable species is protected, so that it exists for much longer, because it would be a real shame if we lost this species altogether.

And so when I consider the future, I'll write a general comment about it.

So I said to habitat is at risk, hopefully they can be protected.

Remember, in a plan, I'm only writing in note form, so I haven't written necessarily full sentences sometimes, and I haven't added lots of detail.

We'll do that when we actually come to write the report.

So in a minute, or actually now, you can pause the video and copy down the facts you want to use in your report.

If you have other ideas, please put them in as well.

But try and stick to my structure because that's an effective closing.

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

Well done, you've worked so hard today.

We have thought about vocabulary, we've looked at some words, did you use your three words in your plan? So pause the video now and go back and check you used those three words you learnt at the beginning of the lesson.

Well done.

It's really important we make sure we're doing purposeful work throughout the lesson.

Anything I do with you is because I want you to use it in your writing, that expanded noun phrase we wrote the start of the lesson, that should be somewhere in your plan.

Then we looked at the layout and why, what the purpose of those sections are that we've planned today.

And then hen we planned both our second section on diet and hunting, and we wrote our closing of the whole report.

And now we're going to be moving on soon to finish the writing of these reports.

But for today, you have completed the lesson.

So congratulations, you've worked really hard.

You've now planned another whole section of a non-chronological report.

You're getting really good at this.

And you have also planned the closing, so well done, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your lessons today.