Lesson video

Oh, hello.

Welcome to my lesson.

I'm Miss Chu.

And in this lesson, we're going to be generating vocabulary for a weather-themed poem.

I'm so excited that you're here to help me.

Should we get started? Let's go.

Today's lesson outcome is I can generate vocabulary to use in a weather-themed poem based on John Lyons' poems. The key words for today are generating, your turn, tone, descriptive vocabulary, figurative language, figurative language.

Good job.

Generating involves actively seeking, forming, and learning ambitious vocabulary to use in writing.

Tone refers to the emotion expressed by the poet towards the reader, enhancing the mood or atmosphere of the poem.

Descriptive vocabulary is words and phrases used to vividly convey sensory details, emotions, or experiences.

And figurative language is the use of simile and personification to paint vivid pictures for the reader.

In this lesson, we're going to be generating vocabulary and then applying vocabulary.

So let's start generating vocabulary.

A word that is often referred to in poetry is theme.

Your turn.

Theme.

Your turn.

Great.

The theme, which is a noun, is the subject, topic, or main idea of a piece of art or literature.

Themes can be diverse and they encompass a wide range of subjects from love, nature, and family to emotions or personal experiences.

This is how it can be used in a sentence.

Community was the main theme of the poetry collection.

What is the meaning of a theme in poetry? Is it a, the way the poem is performed? Is it the number of verses in a poem? Or is it the main idea or message of the poem? Pause the video and have a think about the answer.

Okay, get ready to point with me in three, two, one.

It is the main idea or message of a poem.

Well done.

The tone is the overall mood, style, or feeling that a poem evokes and makes you feel.

The tone of a poem can be inferred by the reader.

Inferred.

Your turn.

Good job.

Inference is about working something out from evidence and reasoning from the text.

It is not from the literal explanations.

So it won't be something that the poet has explicitly described, but you would have to take a good guess by reading around or getting the general gist of what the poet is writing.

This is how it's used in a sentence.

I can infer, so that means using your detective skills, that John Lyons has positive memories of Trinidad and Tobago from the tone of lots of his poems The tone would be happy and positive.

True or false? The tone of a poem cannot be inferred by the reader.

Can we use our detective skills to work out the tone of a poem? Is it true or is it false? Pause the video and have a think.

The answer is, of course, false.

The overall tone of a poem can be inferred through the poet's use of language.

Or the overall tone of a poem can be inferred through the poet's use of punctuation.

Is it punctuation or is it the language that tells us the tone or the feeling of a poem? Yes, it's mainly through the language.

You're right.

Atmosphere is the main tone or mood of a place, situation, or piece of creative work.

In poetry, atmosphere refers to the overall mood, feeling, or tone evoked by the language and imagery used in a poem.

This is how it's used in a sentence.

The author created an ominous atmosphere through the description of the forest.

Atmosphere and tone are very similar in meaning.

I'm going to read "Dancing in the Rain" by John Lyons now.

"Dancing in the Rain".

And there we are again, we go dancing in warm rain.

When sky set up with clouds, nearly charcoal black, the yard cocks flap their wings and let out a crowing, loud, loud, and the wind vex vex blowing strong, baring hen fowls' feathered bums, and everybody start grabbing clothes off the clothes line.

We know rain coming.

When we hear it getting nearer, rattling (Miss Chu drumming on desk) on galvanise tin roof.

And as it drops down, stinging hard, squealing, we pull off we clothes.

And we are there.

And there we are again.

We love dancing in the rain.

Now I would like you to watch John Lyons read "Dancing in the Rain".

Enjoy.

<v ->"Dancing in the Rain".

</v> And that is really true.

We did dance in the rain as kids.

Around five and six and even younger than that.

Right.

And there we are again, we go dancing in warm rain.

When sky set up with clouds, nearly charcoal black, the yard cocks flap their wings and let out a crowing, loud, loud, and the wind vex vex blowing strong, baring the hen fowls' feathered bums, and everybody start grabbing clothes off the clothes line.

We know rain coming.

Then we hear it getting nearer, rattling on galvanise tin roof, And as it drops down, stinging hard, squealing, we pull off we clothes.

And there we are again.

We love dancing in the rain.

<v ->I would like you to discuss the poem</v> with the person next to you now.

Make sure you have the poem in front of you when you're discussing these questions.

What are the poem's main themes? And what is the tone of the poem? Pause the video and talk to the person next to you.

Okay, I could hear some really good discussions going on.

I heard someone saying the main theme is the rain or the weather.

That's right.

It is about the weather.

And I heard someone saying it has a positive tone.

The people in the poem react really well actually to the rain.

They dance in it.

They squeal when they're taking off their clothes.

They run and they grab the clothes off of the lines.

They don't seem to mind because they enjoy the rain, don't they? The rain is warm and it makes them want to dance.

Now I'm going to read "Carib Nightfall" by John Lyons.

"Carib Nightfall".

In the Caribbean, at the end of day, sun drops suddenly like a fireball behind forested hills and into the sea, steam clouds of red and orange shaped like monsters float up into the sky, and for an instant, hover there.

Kisskadees and sici-yea birds in awe of the sky and the dark rushing in, leave night music to bullfrogs' croaking bass, high octave tunes of mosquito violins and crickets' twitterings.

Now I would like you to watch John Lyons read "Carib Nightfall".

Enjoy his reading.

<v ->The next one is "Carib Nightfall".

</v> Now, there's a story behind this one too.

As always with poets.

They find stories in experiences and things.

When my mother died of nine, I had to go and live with my grandmother in Tobago for a while.

And of course, there's a place called Rockly Vale.

And we had a lot of land there.

And of course, it's the very first night there.

I couldn't sleep properly because of the noise.

There's so much noise happening, honestly.

I came from a rural part of, I came from the city, right? You know, and then I ended up in Tobago with my grandmother in this very rural area.

And this is what happened there.

"Carib Nightfall".

In the Caribbean, at the end of day, sun dropped suddenly like a fireball behind forested hills and into the sea, steam clouds of red and orange shaped like monsters float up into the sky, and for an instant, hover there.

Kisskadee, kiss, kiss, kisskadee, kiss, kiss, kisskadee, and sici-yea birds (John imitating chirps) in awe of the sky and the dark rushing in leave night music to bullfrog (John imitating frogs croaking) croaking bass, high octave tunes of mosquitoes' violins, (John imitating mosquitoes buzzing) and crickets' twittering.

(John imitating crickets twittering) <v ->Please discuss the poem now with your partner.

</v> Make sure you have the poem "Carib Nightfall" in front of you when you are thinking about these questions.

What are the main themes? And what is the tone of the poem? Pause the video and discuss these two questions now.

I could hear people saying that the main themes are nature and weather.

Nod if you agree.

Yes, because the main idea in the poem is about the sunset, the Caribbean sunset, and how quickly it becomes dark.

Then, there are two parts of the poem.

Then he talks about how he can hear the animals in the night making their sounds, their lovely sounds.

So the poem has a positive tone.

and Lyons describes the sunset in a beautiful and vivid way.

So I think he actually appreciates nature's gifts.

Both poems have similar themes, don't they? And they evoke a positive tone.

They are themes about nature and weather, and the tone is generally positive.

He uses descriptive vocabulary such as colour, sounds, and feelings.

When we generate vocabulary, we need to think about which aspects of nature and weather we could describe.

We could describe the natural elements of the world.

So we could describe the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, and the sky.

We could also describe animals, the sea, land, and forests.

So nature.

Or we could describe the weather.

So the rain, wind, snow, and ice.

We wouldn't typically describe that about Caribbean weather and climate.

But where we live, we could describe snow and ice.

Poets like to use poetic devices such as figurative language in their poems. A simile.

Can you say simile? Simile is a type of figurative language that brings images to life.

A simile is the comparison.

So when you compare one thing with another thing of a different kind.

So they are similar in some ways, but not similar in terms of the item or the object.

And you use words like like or as to compare them.

For example, you could describe something as dark as night if you wanted to describe how dark or black in colour it was.

Or in the example that John Lyons gives us, steam clouds of red and orange shaped like monsters gives the reader an image of the clouds rising into the sky and forming big, monstrous shapes.

Remember, the vocabulary that we generate often gives us either a positive or a negative image in our minds.

So that would be a blue and green on the colour scale if we wanted to create a calm, tranquil image.

Or if we wanted to create a strong, intense image, we would be on the orange and yellow side of the colour scale.

Another type of figurative language is personification.

Your turn.

Great.

Personification describes something non-human, so objects, as having human characteristics or behaviour or emotions.

These are two examples of personification.

The snowflakes, you could say drifted down, but it's more impactful and effective to give it a human-like quality by saying they danced gracefully together, which gives us the image of them working together and dancing in harmony as they fall to the ground.

The crickets hummed a tune gives us the image that they're singing.

Does this create a positive or negative image in your mind? Think about those two examples of personification.

The vocabulary in those two sentences makes me think of a positive image.

So then it would be on the bluish, greenish side of our colour scale.

I'm going to generate descriptive vocabulary and figurative language now to describe the sun.

I'm going to think about whether my language and my vocabulary is going to be positive or negative on my colour scale.

I would describe the sun as a fiery orb.

I'm going to compare the sun with that because an orb is a spherical object.

I'm going to say that it was glowing like a hot ball of gas.

And I want to say that the sun is oppressive and suffocating.

So I'm going to use the word oppressive, suffocating heat.

And I'm going to say that it was burning persistently.

So when I look at my vocabulary now, I can imagine the sun being quite intense and quite powerful.

So I'm going to focus my language more on the orange and red part of my colour scale.

Now it's your turn to generate descriptive vocabulary and figurative language to describe the sun.

I would like you to think about vocabulary on the orange and red part of the colour scale.

So we're creating an image in the reader's mind that the sun is intense and powerful and hot.

You may use these scaffolds to help you.

You could say, mm, the sky scorched, mm.

So there we're thinking of an adverb.

Mm, heat.

So there we're thinking of an adjective to describe the heat.

Scolds mm.

Leaving it open for you.

You do not have to use those scaffolds.

You can come up with your own ones entirely.

Pause the video and have a go at generating some vocabulary.

Great.

So I'm gonna show you a few more that I've come up with.

I've said scolds in the distance.

So I've used personification there because I've given the sun a human action of scolding.

I said that it rules the sky.

Again, personification's giving it a sort of authoritative image.

I said that the sun scorched relentlessly.

It means nonstop.

And the heat was choking.

So choking heat.

I'm going to generate descriptive vocabulary and figurative language to describe the stars now, thinking about whether my vocabulary is going to be positive or negative on my colour scale.

So I'm looking at my picture and I want it to be, I think, positive.

So calm and serene and beautiful.

So the first thing I'm gonna do is I'm going to describe the star as diamonds or like diamonds.

I could use a simile there because I think they're beautiful, like jewels.

And then I also want to give the image or the impression that there's a lot of them.

So I'm going to say that they're dotted across the sky.

There's not just one or two sparsely located.

And then because they're so bright, I want to say that they pierced through the intense darkness.

And I want to give them an element of movement.

So I'm going to say that they're sparkling.

Now it's your turn to generate descriptive vocabulary and figurative language to describe the stars.

Make sure you look at the picture to help you to come up with vocabulary that's on the bluish, greenish side of the colour scale.

You may use the scaffolds that are on the screen to help you.

Winking mm.

Blinking mm.

Shining mm.

Or come up with your own ones entirely.

Pause the video and have a go now.

Okay, let's have a look at some extra ones I generated.

I said blinking tiredly.

So I've added an adverb there.

Winking at the moon.

So I'm giving it a human action.

And same with blinking.

Shining brightly.

And I've said, compare them to white specks of dust.

Now I'm going to generate descriptive vocabulary and figurative language to describe the clouds.

And I'm going to think about whether I want my image to the reader to be positive or negative.

Okay, I'm going to describe the clouds as hazy or the sky as hazy.

That's linked to the clouds.

I could describe the clouds as being wispy.

That means that it's very light.

I could say that it filled the sky.

And it was like, again, I could use a simile there, billowing pillows.

So I feel like I'm now generating a positive image for the reader.

So when it's your turn to generate descriptive vocabulary and figurative language, you need to think about generating words that are on the bluish, greenish part of this colour scale.

You may use these scaffolds.

Drifting mm.

Densely mm.

Swirling mm.

Or like a thick mm.

Pause the video and give it a go.

Okay, let's have a look at some of the ones I've come up with.

I've said that the clouds were densely packed, drifting gracefully, like a thick blanket.

I could use a simile there.

And swirling like dancers.

Now let's think about generating descriptive vocabulary and figurative language to describe the rain.

Should I make it positive or negative on the colour scale? Well, I'm going to say that the rain are like sheets.

So sheets of rain.

And I'm going to describe each raindrop as being bulbous.

Bulbous droplets.

That means really big and fat.

And then I'm going to say that they were splattering down.

So that's giving them the action.

And lashing down.

So it's really heavy rain.

Hmm.

So because I've used that vocab vocabulary, I would say that we'd have to generate, because it's your turn now, vocabulary in the sort of yellowish orange-ish part of this colour scale.

Here are some scaffolds to help.

You could say stings, maybe, your skin.

Torrential is a really good way to describe really heavy rain.

Downpour of mm.

And then a blank one.

Or you can come up with your own ones entirely.

Pause the video and have a go now at thinking about figurative language and descriptive vocabulary.

Okay, here are some extra ones I came up with.

I said that the rain stings the skin.

You know when it comes down really hard, it's almost like it's biting the skin.

And then torrential flood or torrential deluge or downpour or downpour of rain.

And the last one is I could describe the rain as being repetitive rhythms. I'm giving it a sound.

Your task now is to generate descriptive vocabulary and figurative language to describe the wind.

Remember to think about whether we're creating a positive or negative image in the reader's mind.

Here are some examples that I've come up with and some scaffolds in order to support you with this task.

So adjectives, verbs, and adverbs, I've included violently tremble.

Maybe that could be the trees or the leaves in the wind.

And figurative language, I've said the trees turning away from the gust.

They don't wanna look at the gust 'cause the gust is so strong in their faces, in their metaphorical faces.

And then in the second part of the table, I've given you some scaffolds.

I said leaves mm.

Moaning mm.

Okay, pause the video and have a go at this task.

Well done on generating your own vocabulary about the wind.

Let's have a look at a few more examples.

I have leaves shaking, a moaning banshee.

A banshee's a female type of ghost or spirit.

Ferocious gale, howling like a wolf, wildly swirly, angrily tousling their leaves.

All of this vocabulary creates a what? Positive or negative image in your mind? Yes, exactly.

A negative image.

So we're thinking of vocabulary on that sort of orangey red part of the colour scale.

Now that we've generated all this vocabulary, we're going to have a go at applying some of it.

Let's apply the descriptive vocabulary that's been generated about the sun.

We've said that it's oppressive, suffocating heat, scolds in the distance, rules the sky, scorched relentlessly, choking heat, glows like a hot ball of gas, burning persistently, and is a fiery orb.

So let's now apply this in a sentence.

As the fiery orb, I'm taking it straight from the vocabulary that I've generated, scorches relentlessly in the choking heat, wispy clouds drift across the fire-streaked sky.

Can you see there I have used the vocabulary that we've generated to come up with my own adverbial complex sentence.

I've started with my subordinate or my adverbial clause.

As the fiery orb scorches relentlessly in the choking heat.

And then the second part of my sentence is my main clause.

Wispy clouds drift across the fire-streaked sky.

And because I've started with my adverbial clause, I need that comma to separate the adverbial clause from the main clause.

Now it's your turn to use that vocabulary to say a sentence about the sun.

You can use the sentence scaffold to help you.

As the fiery orb continues to mm.

Comma.

And then, mm, your main clause.

Pause the video and have a go at saying your sentence about the sun.

Okay, that was some lovely sentences there.

Here's another one.

As the fiery orb continues to rule the sky, its oppressive, suffocating heat chokes everything below it.

Let's apply the descriptive vocabulary that's been generated about the wind.

Wispy, densely packed, drifting gracefully, like a thick blanket, swirling like dancers, fill the sky, billowing pillows, and hazy.

Here is a sentence that I've come up with.

A haze of soft clouds filled the sky like a thick blanket as the gentle wind made them swirl like dancers.

So I've taken the vocabulary straight from my planning and I've said my sentence using figurative language as well.

Now it's your turn to have a go at using the vocabulary and the figurative language to say a sentence about the clouds.

You may use this sentence scaffold.

A blanket of densely packed clouds mm.

Full stop.

Or you can come up with your own one entirely.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, I could hear some really fantastic sentences about the clouds.

Let's have a look at another one that I've come up with.

A blanket of densely packed clouds drifts gracefully as the sky looks like it is filled with billowing pillows.

Your task is you're going to complete a descriptive vocabulary mind map about the stars, similarly to how we created one about the sun and the wind.

Sorry, the sun and the clouds.

Then you're going to write two sentences using descriptive vocabulary from your mind maps.

Pause the video and have a go now.

Fantastic.

You have created a mind map about the stars.

This is what I've come up with on mine.

Diamonds, dotted across the sky, shining brightly, winking at the moon, pierce the darkness, white specks of dust, blinking tiredly, and sparkling.

If you would like, you can pause the video and write a few of my ideas down.

And here are my sentences.

Silver specks dotted the sky like diamonds and they winked down at the sleeping people below.

Stars shining brightly pierce the darkness and a mosaic of sparkles covers the sky.

The themes in John Lyons' poems are typically about the natural world, weather, animals, and family.

The tone in John Lyons' poems are generally positive because they are memories of his childhood.

Poets like to use poetic devices such as figurative language in their poems. Figurative language includes the use of simile and personification, which paint vivid pictures for the reader.

Generating descriptive vocabulary creates sensory-rich writing.

I really hope you enjoyed generating vocabulary for a weather-themed poem in this lesson.

Goodbye.