Lesson video

Hi everybody, it's Ms. Gardner and welcome to our third lesson on our unit on the non-chronological report about the portia Spider.

Thank you so much for coming back for the third lesson and I'm really excited to be doing today's learning with you.

So let's get started.

Welcome to lesson three of our unit, portia spider, a non-chronological report.

Your learning outcome today is, "I can write the introduction of a non-chronological report about portia spiders." I'm really excited today 'cause we get to do some writing.

So let's look at our keywords.

As always, we'll do my turn, your turn.

Introduction.

General facts.

Expanded noun phrases.

Synonym.

Let's have a look at what these mean.

The introduction is the opening paragraph of a nonfiction text of encourages the reader to read on.

General facts are the most basic or necessary facts.

An expanded noun phrase is a group of words with no verb that adds detail to an noun.

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

There are two sections to our lesson today.

First we'll be doing, we'll be preparing to write and then our second section is where we'll be writing the introduction.

So let's start by preparing to write.

A non-chronological report can be structured into four sections.

An introduction.

Section one about a specific theme.

Section two about a different specific theme.

And then finally our conclusion.

And in this lesson we are writing just the introduction.

When we write, we always try to do these things.

Plan and say each sentence before we write it so we can hear how it sounds.

Use punctuation where we know the rules.

Showcase or show off each sentence type that we know.

Write letters neatly on the line in joined handwriting.

Use the spelling strategies that we know to spell words accurately.

And then finally, when we think we are finished, we check and improve our writing.

First, let's plan what we are going to write.

There are some general facts that the reader needs to know about the porter spider because they might not know anything about the portia spider at all.

So these need to be included in our introduction.

So these could be that it's a type of spider, that it lives in overgrown rainforests all over the world, that it is minuscule, that it eats other spiders, or that it has advanced hunting strategies.

We're not gonna go into too much detail about any of these facts 'cause they will come later on in the report.

So let's just check our understanding of these general facts.

Which two of these are true about the portia spider? A, it is a minuscule spider.

B, portia spiders are found only in Australia.

C, portia spiders hunt and eat other spiders.

D, the portia spider has a short life expectancy.

Pause the video here.

Correct, it is A, it's a minuscule spider and C, portia spiders hunt and eat other spiders.

We know it's not B because they live in rainforests all over the world and we don't know anything actually about the portia spider's life expectancy.

So what is the purpose of the introduction? Why do we need to have one? The purpose is to give the reader the most basic information about the portia spider or about any subject they're writing about, to tell the reader what they're going to read about and to inspire the reader to read on.

And the first sentence of the introduction must be a general statement, a general fact about the portia spider.

So let's check our understanding here.

True or false? This sentence would open an introduction.

The portia spider attacks its prey from behind by dangling on a thread before pouncing.

Is that true or false? Pause the video here.

Correct, that is false.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer here? A, specific and detailed facts about the subject come later in the report or B, the introduction opens with a specific and detailed fact.

Pause the video.

Correct, that is A.

It can't be B because the introduction doesn't open with a specific fact.

It opens with a really general basic fact about the subject.

So the introduction includes the following features, a general fact about the subject to open the report, an expanded noun phrase, an outline of the report, and a command to the reader to continue reading.

An expanded noun phrase or an ENP, you might know it as, provides extra information about the noun.

We could use one to describe the portia spider in further detail.

The small, poisonous arachnid.

The lethal, aggressive predator.

The minuscule, intelligent creature.

And we've used synonyms in these ENPs so that we don't have to refer to the noun as the spider every time.

In the first one, we've used the synonym of arachnid.

In the second ENP, we've changed it from spider to predator.

And then in the final ENP, we've used creature.

It just adds a bit more variety to our writing so that we're not repeating ourself and using the same noun again and again.

So let's check for understanding here with a talk task.

I want you to say the first sentence out loud and include an expanded noun phrase.

So I've left two blanks here, which I want you to fill in with two adjectives to describe the portia spider.

The portia spider is a, "Blank, comma, blank, creature that lives in rainforests around the world." Pause the video here and think about two adjectives you can use to describe the portia spider in this sentence.

Okay, I'm sure you've come up with so many amazing adjectives.

These are the ones I've used.

"The portia spider is a minuscule, comma, lethal creature that lives in rainforests all around the world." Minuscule means tiny and lethal means dangerous, it can kill, and we know that it can kill other spiders.

So the introduction must inform the reader what the rest of the report will be about.

In our non-chronological report, we will be writing about the spider's appearance, diet, and hunting strategies.

So which of the three of these will the report have sections about? A, the appearance, B, habitat, C, it's diet or D, the hunting strategies of the portia spider? Pause the video here.

Correct, it is A, C and D.

We are not going into detail about where the spider lives, where its habitats.

At the end of your introduction, you'll write a command.

This encourages the reader to continue reading.

A command starts with an imperative verb, which you might remember as learning before as a bossy verb.

So let's see what this looks like as an example.

You could start your command with, "Read on to find out more about this fascinating species." Read is the imperative verb.

Or, "Continue reading to learn more about these unique creatures." Continue is the imperative verb.

Or, "Find out more about this interesting arachnid in the rest of this report." And find is your imperative verb there.

This motivates the reader to continue reading your non-chronological report.

Your first practise task in today's lesson is a talk task.

I want you to either say to your partner or to an adult or just to the screen, if you are working alone, I want you to say the first two sentences of your introduction.

Make sure you include the following.

A general fact about the portia spider to open your report.

An expanded noun phrase, so two adjectives to describe the noun.

And an outline of the report, so telling the reader the what the report is about.

We know it's about this porter spider's appearance, diet, and hunting strategies.

Pause the video now and say your first two sentences of the introduction.

Okay, just have your sentences in your head and think about, does your first sentence include a general fact and does the second sentence inform the reader of the outline of the report? Here's an example of what your opening sentences might look like.

The portia spider is a minuscule lethal spider that lives in rainforests around the world.

This report will inform you about the species' diet, appearance, and hunting skills.

So I've included a general fact, a fact that it lives in rainforests around the world and I've told the reader what the report will be about.

Well done everybody.

It is now time to start writing our introduction.

This is your success criteria for today's lesson.

This means these are the four things we want you to include in your writing to make it successful today.

The first point in your success criteria is, "I have written a general fact about the portia spider." The second point is, "I have used a synonym for spider in an ENP," an expanded now phrase.

"I have outlined what the report is about," so I have told the reader what they're going to learn, and," I've written a command to encourage the reader to continue reading." I'm going to now show you how I have written my introduction and how I've used the success criteria to help me.

Okay, I've just got my book ready so I can start to write my introduction.

You'll see I've stuck in the success criteria at the top of my page.

I'm going to keep referring to my success criteria as I write my introduction as it's really useful for me to be able to remember what to include and to check that I have included everything I need to make my introduction a successful piece of writing.

So I know that I need to include a general fact about the portia spider.

I need to use a synonym for spider in an ENP.

I need to outline what the report is about and I need to write a command to encourage the reader to continue reading.

As I write these in my introduction, I'm going to tick them off on the success criteria.

Now, the first thing I need to do, because I know when I write a non-chronological report, I need to have subheadings is write my subheading for the introduction.

So I'm gonna start that next to the margin and it needs to have a capital letter.

I'm trying really hard to write as neatly as I can joined up and on the line.

Then, because it's the subheading, I'm going to underline it with a ruler.

Introduction.

Okay, so my first sentence is going to include a general fact about the portia spider.

I need to remember that the reader might not have any idea what a portia spider is.

So I'll start with an indent and then because it's the first word in a sentence, of course I'm gonna have a capital letter.

"The portia spider is," and I want to use, actually, my ENP now, "is an," what adjectives could I use to describe this portia spider? I know it's a really unique creature.

I know it's really intelligent because of its advanced hunting skills, and I know it's also really tiny.

I'm going to choose "intelligent" and "unique." I know that I need to separate those two adjectives with a comma.

"The portia spider is an intelligent," comma, "unique," and I know I need to use a synonym for spider in my ENP.

So I'm gonna use the word creature.

"Creature that lives in rainforests all over the world." How do I finish a sentence? Everybody tell me.

That's right, with a full stop.

"That lives in rainforests all over the world." That is the general fact that I'd learned at the beginning of this lesson.

So I can give that section of my success criteria a tick, and the synonym for spider in an ENP.

Great.

Okay, now looking back at my success criteria, what do I need to do next? I need to outline what the report is going to be about.

I know we're talking about the portia spider's diet, appearance, and hunting strategies.

So this report, oh dear.

I've just read back what I've just written and I've remembered I need to change that first letter because every sentence at the start, every sentence starts with a capital letter.

Don't worry if you make that mistake, you don't need to worry about rubbing it out.

You can just do a really neat little cross and write above it.

"This report will," it's in the future tense, "will inform you about the spider's, the spider's diet." There's a piece of punctuation I need to include here.

"The spider's diet." I wonder if anyone knows what I'm talking about.

I'll give you a clue.

The spider possesses the diet.

It belongs to the spider.

That's right.

Well done.

We need an apostrophe for possession in between the R and the S, "The spider's diet, appearance, and hunting strategies." Now I've done a list here.

I've written a list.

"This report will inform you about the spider's diet, appearance, and hunting strategies." I know there's a common rule I need to use here because it's separating nouns in a list and the comma needs to come in between diet and appearance to separate them.

Do I need to have a a comma as well as the word and? Have a think.

No, you're right.

You don't need a comma and the word and.

Okay, great.

I can now give my third point on my success criteria a tick 'cause I've outlined what the report is about.

Finally, I need to write a command to encourage the reader to continue reading.

And I remember from earlier in the lesson that a command starts with an? That's right, an imperative verb.

I'm going to use the imperative verb, "read." Once again, starting my sentence with a capital letter.

"Read on to find out more about this." Hmm, I want to use an adjective now to describe the portia spider.

I think I'm gonna use fascinating.

"Read on to find out more about this fascinating," I could use spider, but I've already used it.

I could use creature, but I've used that.

So I'm going to use insect.

"Read on to find out more about this fascinating insect." And what do I need to finish my sentence with? That's right, a full stop.

Then I can go and give my final tick on my success criteria.

It is time for task B where you are going to be writing your introduction.

Make sure you use your success criteria to help you structure your paragraph just like I was doing.

Make sure you tick each element of your success criteria once you have included it in your writing.

Pause the video now and I'm really excited to hear and see what you've all written in your Azure introduction.

Off you go.

I am sure you've all done brilliantly in this.

This is one example of an introduction that I think was really fantastic and which ticked off every element of the success criteria.

So it started with a subheading introduction.

The first element of my success criteria is to write a general fact about the porter spider.

And then the second is to use a synonym for a spider in an ENP.

So let's read our first sentence.

"The portia spider is a minuscule, poisonous creature that lives in rainforests all over the world." We can tick off the first element of our success criteria 'cause we included the general fact and we can tick off the second because we use the synonym creature for spider in an ENP.

Now I need to outline what the report is about.

So let's keep reading.

"This report will inform you about the species' diet, appearance, and hunting strategies." Great, I can tick off the third element of my success criteria.

Finally, I need to write a command to encourage the reader to continue reading.

So that's our final sentence.

"Read on to find out more about this fascinating arachnid," and I started that command with my imperative verb "read," so I can tick that off in my success criteria too.

If you need to go back now and check if there's anything you need to edit or add in or tick off on your success criteria, now's your time to do that.

Here is a summary of all the learning we have done today in our lesson where we've written the introduction of a non-chronological report about the portia spider.

The purpose of the introduction is to give a general fact about the subject, inform the reader of the outline of the text, and encourage the reader to continue reading.

Synonyms are used to refer to the noun in different ways.

A command motivates the reader to carry on reading the report.

The introduction gives brief general information about the subject and a subheading introduces a section of the text.

Well done for an excellent lesson today.

You have all worked really hard and I'm looking forward to seeing you soon.