Lesson video

Hi everybody, it's Ms. Gardner.

Thank you so much for coming to join me on today's lesson.

I'm really excited for the learning today, and I hope you are too.

So let's get going.

In today's lesson, we're going to be generating vocabulary to use in our explanation text.

So your learning outcome is, "I can generate ambitious subject-specific vocabulary "to include in an explanation text." Let's have a look at the keywords.

We'll do my turn, your turn.

So I'll say the word and then you can say it back at the screen or to a partner, to a teacher, whoever you're with.

Noun.

Adjective.

Synonym.

Verb.

Adverb.

These might feel quite familiar, but let's have a look, just in case.

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

"An adjective describes a noun.

"A synonym is a word that has the same "or similar meaning to another word.

"A verb is a doing or a being word.

And, "An adverb describes a verb," adds more detail to the verb.

So there are two sections of our learning today; in the first we'll be looking at expanded noun phrases, and in the second we'll be focusing on verbs and adverbs.

So let's start by looking at expanded noun phrases.

"An expanded noun phrase, or an ENP, "is a group of words with no verb "that provides extra information about a noun.

"It contains, often, two listed adjectives "to add detail to the noun." So it could look like this.

An adjective with a comma separating the two adjectives before the noun.

Let's have a think what that might look like in our explanation text about honeybees.

Two adjectives to describe the bee could be; striped and busy: striped, busy creature.

Or the hard-working, that means it works really hard, the hard-working social insect.

It's social because it works with other bees.

So those are two really precise adjectives you could use to describe the honeybee.

"In an explanation text, the language is formal.

"This means we want to use precise "as possible, factual adjectives instead "of giving the subject a character, "like you would in a story." So, awesome, friendly creature.

Does that feel like an EMP that you should find in an explanation text? Or, a striped, social creature You wouldn't use awesome and friendly to describe honeybees in an explanation text because that is not factual, and that is not very precise, and it's not really explaining or helping the reader understand how they make honey.

Awesome and friendly, that doesn't help describe the process of how bees make honey.

However, striped and social creature is much more precise.

They're striped, that describes the appearance, and social explains how they work together with the other bees.

So that would be much more appropriate for an explanation text.

Now thinking about describing the honey: yummy, scrumptious honey, yummy and scrumptious.

Those kind of tell the reader what the opinion of the writer is, whether they like honey.

And that's not what an explanation text is about.

It's facts, in our explanation text we're explaining how honey is made.

It doesn't matter if the writer likes honey or not.

So thick, sugary honey is much more precise and factual.

So yeah, you can see we wouldn't use yummy and scrumptious describe honey in an explanation text, but thick and sugary are more appropriate.

So let's just check for understanding.

"True or false? "This is an appropriate ENP for an explanation text: "funny, friendly bee." Pause the video now.

That's correct, it is false.

You wouldn't use funny, friendly bee in an explanation text.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? "A: adjective choices in an explanation text "are factual and precise." Or "B: adjective choices "in an explanation text are descriptive." Pause the video now.

A is correct: "Adjective choices in our explanation text "are going to be factual and precise." So in an EMP, you also want to use synonyms. A synonym is a word that has the same or similar meaning to another word.

"It's really important that we use synonyms "in an explanation text so that we are not repeating "the same noun again and again.

"It's much more interesting for the reader "to see the noun referred to in different ways!" Let's have a look at what this means.

So when describing the honey: thick, sugary honey.

Honey is our noun.

We could though change the noun and use a synonym and call it, and refer to it as liquid.

And you can see the in the EMP below: golden, sweet liquid.

Having both in your explanation text is important.

I'm not saying one's better than the other, but it's really good to have a variety of nouns and use synonyms just to keep the reader engaged.

Thinking about now describing the insects, the bees, you could describe the bees as a hard-working, social insect.

But you could also refer to the insect in another way and refer, call them a creature: a diligent, resourceful creature.

Again, using a synonym so we're not repeating the noun again and again.

So let's just check our understanding of synonyms. "Which of the following are synonyms for bee? "A: mammal, B: creature, "C: human, or D: insect." Which of the following are synonyms? There's more than one.

Pause the video now.

Okay, so it is, "B: creature, and D: insect." Cannot be, "A: mammal," bees are not a type of mammal and they are not, and it cannot be "C: human," 'cause bees are not a human.

But creature and insect would be an excellent synonym choice for the bee.

It's time for "Task A".

We're gonna be looking at expanded noun phrases in "Task A".

So you need to fill in the blanks with an adjective or noun from the word bank.

I'm gonna read the five sentences to you, and when I say blank, that means the a word needs to go there.

And you can choose from the word bank at the bottom.

Your options are "liquid, colourful, "complex, creatures, hardworking." So "A: honey-making is a long blank process.

"B: the blank resourceful bee searches for nectar.

"C: the golden sticky blank is sealed in its cell.

"D: the bee is attracted to fresh blank flowers.

And "E: the striped, social blank work together "to produce honey." Pause the video now and have a go at completing "Task A".

Well done everybody.

Let's go through the answers.

"A: honey-making is a long, complex process." Complex means complicated.

"B: the hardworking, resourceful bee searches for nectar." They're hardworking because they're doing loads of hard work to produce that honey.

"C: the golden, sticky liquid is sealed in its cell." We're using the the noun liquid instead of honey, just as a synonym.

"D: the bee is attracted to fresh, colourful flowers." And, "E: the striped, social creatures work together "to produce honey." If you need to go and edit any of these out, don't worry at all, now's a great time to pause the video and do that.

But well done everyone for working so hard on "Task A".

It is now time for the second section of today's lesson where we will be looking at verbs and adverbs.

"Verb choices in an explanation text need to be "as precise as possible "so the reader really understands each step of the process.

"Writers need to consider which verb is the most accurate "for describing each action." Because the actions that happen in the honey-making process are really specific.

So we need to make sure the verbs reflect that.

So, for example, in step two of the honey-making process, we know the nectar travels from the honeybee's tongue into the honey stomach.

So you could just say, "The nectar goes to the honey stomach." Goes is the verb there.

But I don't think that's precise enough, that's not just, that is not giving a clear enough image to the reader of how the nectar goes from the tongue to the stomach.

So instead of goes you could use progresses, that's a bit more factual and precise.

You could say it transfers.

So it's moving from the mouth, it's being transferred from the mouth into the stomach.

Or you could say travels.

All of these are just a bit more accurate than just, and precise than just goes.

So let's just check for understanding here.

Which verb is the most precise in this sentence? "The bee blank the cell with a wax lid." So think back to the honey-making process and what happens at the very end.

What do the bees do to make sure the honey doesn't spill out of the cell? Which verb is the most precise? "A: throws, "B: seals, Or "C: puts." Pause the video now.

That's correct, it is seals.

Okay.

Throws is definitely not right because bees can't throw honey.

And puts, I guess it does put, but seals is a lot more precise and gives the reader an image of how they would put that wax lid on.

So an adverb.

"An adverb describes a verb.

"It adds further detail to explain "how the verb is happening.

"Writers need to consider which adverb is the most accurate "for describing each action." So let's look at step four.

"The bee places the nectar inside the honeycomb cells." That's what happens, the bee places it inside the nectar.

That's accurate, that's fine, but let's use an adverb to be even more descriptive and add even more detail.

"The bee carefully places the nectar inside the honeycomb cells." "The bee exactly places the nectar," so that it doesn't spill anywhere and they don't lose any.

"The bee precisely places the nectar." So it's in exactly the right part of the honeycomb.

Now looking about how it flaps its wings.

You could just say, "The bee flaps its wings "to evaporate the water from the nectar." But as a reader, that doesn't give me an image of how they flap their wings.

Do they flap their wings really slowly or do they flap their wings really quickly? The reader needs to know that.

So you can use an adverb to add extra detail.

The bee quickly flaps its wings.

"The bee rapidly and speedily" you could even use two adverbs.

"The bee rapidly and speedily flaps its wings "to evaporate the water from the nectar." The reader has a much clearer image now of how the bee is performing the action.

So let's check for understanding.

True or false? "The word six-legged describes the verb in more detail "in this sentence.

"The six-legged bee flaps its wings." Is that true or false? Pause the video now.

It is false.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? "A: six-legged is a factual adjective "that describes the noun bee." Or "B: six-legged describes bee." Pause the video now.

It is "B: six-legged is a factual adjective "that's describing the bee." It's telling the reader the fact that the bee has six legs.

It's not a verb describing how it flaps its wings.

Sorry, it's not an adverb describing how the bird flaps, the be flaps its wings.

It's time for "Task B".

In "Task B" you need to match the verb to the most appropriate adverb when explaining the honey-making process.

So I need you to really think back to every step of the honey-making process, and think about what is happening when I say these verbs.

So you've got four verb choices.

The first is flaps.

Flaps: that's the moment that the bees flap their wings to evaporate the water from the nectar.

Regurgitates: that is the moment that the worker bee regurgitates the nectar into the process of bee's mouth.

Stores: that is the final step of the process when the honey is stored in the honeycomb.

And places: that is the moment that the processor bee places the nectar into a honeycomb cell.

So now let's think about which adverb choices would be the most appropriate.

You have got; "silently, rapidly, precisely, and safely." So pause the video now and match the verb to the most appropriate adverb choice.

Off you go.

Well done everybody.

Let's go through the answers.

These are the ones I thought were the most appropriate, but if you thought slightly differently, that's okay.

I'm sure that some of the adverbs could actually work for more than one of the verbs.

So flaps rapidly, they have to flap the wings really, really quickly to generate enough heat to evaporate the water.

Rapidly, means quickly.

Regurgitates silently.

This is a very quiet, silent process, they can't make any noise to make sure that the nectar carefully goes into the other bee's mouth.

Stores safely.

We know that if the wax lid is sealed correctly, the honey can be stored safely for years and it will never expire.

And places precisely.

This is the moment the bee places the nectar into the tiny little hexagon honeycomb cells.

They have to be really precise so that it doesn't spill.

Well done everybody.

If you need to go back and edit some of your answers, that's completely okay.

Now's a good time to pause the video and do that.

It's now time for "Task C".

Just like "Task A", this is going to be filling in the missing blanks with the words from your word bank.

So you can see in the word bank, you have got six verbs and adverbs to choose from.

They are; "silently, travels, "speedily, covers, searching, and placed." I'm gonna read the sentences to you.

And when I say blank, that means there's a missing word for you to fill in.

"A: the bee flies from flower to flower "determinedly blank for nectar." "B: the nectar slowly blank into the honey stomach." "C: the bee blank regurgitates the nectar.

"D: the nectar is precisely blank inside the cell.

"E: the bee blank flaps its wings.

"And "F: the bee completely blank the cell with a wax lid." So pause the video now and have a go completing "Task C".

Well done everybody, welcome back.

Let's go through the answers.

"A: the bee flies from flower to flower determinedly "searching for nectar.

Determinedly, is never gonna give up.

"B: the nectar slowly travels into the honey stomach." "C: the bee silently regurgitates the nectar." Doesn't wanna make any sound so that it can regurgitate it carefully.

"D: the nectar is precisely placed inside the cell.

"E: the bee speedily flaps its wings," so it can evaporate the water." And "F: the bee completely covers the cell with a wax lid." Well done everybody for working so hard on "Task C".

You've all done brilliantly.

Here's a summary of today's learning.

"An expanded noun phrase provides extra detail about a noun.

"Verb choices in an explanation text need to be "as precise as possible.

"An adverb adds extra detail to a verb.

"Language is formal in an explanation text "with precise, factual adjectives.

And "Synonyms are words "that have the same or similar meaning to another word "and they're useful to avoid repetition." Well done for today's lesson, everybody.

Hopefully all this vocabulary will be really useful when it comes to writing the explanation text.