Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

My name's Mrs. Riley and I will be completing the rest of this unit with you, taking over from Miss Chu.

In our lesson today, we will be generating vocabulary for the opening of Macbeth.

I hope you're ready.

It is a little bit spooky, but don't worry, I'm here with you and we're going to face it together.

Let's get started.

The outcome of our lesson today is, to generate vocabulary that precisely describes a setting using most of the senses.

These are the keywords for our lesson today.

Get ready to repeat them after me.

Are you ready? Adjective.

Noun.

Setting.

Senses.

Thank you for joining in.

An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

A noun is a naming word for people, places, or things.

A setting is where the narrative takes place.

So in today's lesson, we'll be thinking about the setting of the opening scene of Macbeth.

Where does it take place? senses are the physical abilities of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste.

So when we are generating vocabulary today, we're not just going to be thinking about things that we can see in a setting, but we're going to try to use all of our senses.

So in our lesson today, we have three learning cycles.

In the first one, we will look at the atmosphere of the opening scene, and in the second two cycles, we'll start generating vocabulary based on those different senses.

But let's get started thinking about the atmosphere of the opening scene.

Now, we've already looked at this opening scene, but I'm going to just read it to you one more time to remind ourselves what is happening in this scene.

So this is Act 1, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's "Macbeth." First, we've got the stage directions, which are, "The curtain rises on a wild heath under a dark, ragged sky.

Thunder, and lightning.

Three hideous old women, huddled together screaming with malignant laughter." So that's kind of setting the scene.

And then we can see we've got the first, second, and third witch speaking at different times.

The first witch says: "When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning or in rain?" "When the hurley-burly's done, when the battle's lost and won." "Where the place?" "Upon the heath." "There to meet with Macbeth." They stare at one another and nod, and they all say together: If you want, you can join in with me.

"Fair is foul and foul is fair, hover through the fog and filthy air." There's thunder and lightning, and the witches vanish.

Did you like my witch voices? I hope you appreciated them.

Okay, I'm sure you can do much better witch voices than me.

So we're now going to watch the opening scene.

And again, as I warned you earlier, it is a little bit creepy.

Okay, are you ready? (dramatic music) <v ->When shall we three meet again?</v> In thunder, lightning, (lightning cracks) or in rain? <v ->When the hurly-burly is done,</v> when the battle's lost and won.

<v ->Where the place?</v> <v ->Upon the heath.

</v> <v ->There to meet with Macbeth! (cackles)</v> <v All>Fair is foul, and foul is fair:</v> Hover through the fog and filthy air.

(all cackling) <v ->What did you think? It's a bit frightening, isn't it?</v> But we've got to remember, it's not real, so we don't need to worry.

Okay.

So let's just do a quick check for understanding.

Which of the following are true of the opening scene? A: It's a bright morning.

B: Three women huddle together, screaming and laughing.

C: They meet in a dilapidated building.

That means it's all run down and everything's kind of broken and dishevelled.

And D: They plan to meet again with Macbeth.

I'd like you to pause the video while you decide which of these are true of the opening scene.

Well done.

The correct answers are: it is not true that it is a bright morning because we know there is a dark, rugged sky with thunder and lightning.

That was in the stage directions.

It is true that three women huddled together screaming and laughing.

It is not true that they meet in a dilapidated building.

They meet on a wild heath, and it's true that they plan to meet again with Macbeth.

We are going to rewrite the opening scene of Macbeth as a piece of narrative writing.

We want to create a spooky, eerie, and ominous atmosphere.

We can do this by thinking very carefully about the vocabulary we choose.

So when we write our opening scene as a piece of narrative writing, we want whoever's reading it to feel really scared.

So using our senses as a starting point, remember, senses are things like our sight and our smell, it will be helpful to imagine the scene ourselves.

So we've got smell, sight, touch, things you might touch and what we might hear.

And we want our readers to feel uneasy and tense.

We want them to feel scared and worried about what will happen next.

So that's what we're trying to achieve in this piece of writing.

So first of all, let's just think about what a heath is.

Hands up if you've ever been to a heath.

Hmm, I'm not seeing many hands.

Me neither.

I've never been to a heath before.

So a heath is open land with low growing vegetation such as shrubs or heather.

In this picture, can you see the kind of, it almost is like a sort of purpley, lilac-y, purpley colour, that's called heather.

And it's just a type of shrub.

And we can also see there's some yellow shrubs.

But we can see here that there's not many trees.

There's not many lovely, delicate, dainty flowers.

And that is because heaths are often found by the coast and they experience harsh weather conditions like wild storms and strong winds.

Imagine you stood right on the coast, it would probably be very windy.

There might be some salty sea, sort of sea spray splashing on you.

So it's not going to be a very good place for little delicate flowers to grow.

So heather is quite a resilient shrub, and that's why heather is often found on a heath.

So you might be saying to me, "Well, I've never been to a heath before", a bit like me.

But as Jun points out, "We're going to have to use our imaginations.

We know we want to create a spooky atmosphere, not a welcoming one described with warm sunshine and pretty flowers." So we can use our skills to help us to imagine what this heath is going to be like where these witches meet.

So let's check what we've just learned.

Do you agree with Laura or Jacob? Laura says, "I can't describe a wild heath like Shakespeare could.

I've never been near the coast, let alone on a heath at night." And Jacob says, "I haven't either, but we're writers and we have tools.

I think we can imagine the setting from Shakespeare's description and use powerful vocabulary to describe it." So when you pause the video, I don't want you just to say who you agree with, I want you to say why.

So you might say, I agree with Laura because, and then give an answer.

Can you pause the video while you answer this question now? Okay, well done.

Here is a possible answer: "I agree with Jacob.

We have to use our imagination to create powerful images for our reader.

All writers have to do this." Okay, so it's time for our first task.

In this task, I would like you to change these positive descriptions of a heath into negative descriptions.

Remember, we must create an eerie setting.

So I've had a go at describing a heath, but I've forgotten that really important thing about the atmosphere we're trying to create.

So my sentences, listen carefully as I read them: "Wispy tufts of golden grass swayed gently in the breeze.

Number two: A chorus of chirping songbirds sang sweetly.

Number three: The heady scent of salty sea danced across the heath.

And number four: Cooling drops of dew were slowly refreshing the plants below.

So I have described a heath, but we want to describe a spooky heath at nighttime where there's thunder and lightning.

So you've got to take these sentences and turn them into more negative descriptions.

And here's an example: If I had "Graceful deer grazed serenely." Graze is when they eat the grass, I could change that to "Emaciated creatures skulked in the shadows, looking for the smallest morsel of food." So I've taken this idea of animals eating and I've turned it into a really negative description to create that eerie, spooky atmosphere.

So can you pause the video now while you change these four sentences into more negative descriptions? Good luck.

Okay, well done.

Here are some examples of what you might have written.

So we could change "Wispy tufts of golden grass swayed gently in the breeze" to: "Dried, withered grasses rustled ominously in the chilling wind." We can change this idea of sweet singing birds to: "Cacophonous crows shrieked discordantly as they searched for prey below." We could change this idea of the salty sea dancing across the heath to: "Putrid sea air choked the heath, suffocating everything that lived there." And we can change "Cooling drops of dew were refreshing the plants below" to: "Shrouds of mist drenched and flooded the shrubs that we're just trying to survive." So this is a really important skill that we are going to be thinking about a lot in this unit, is how we can create this very negative, spooky atmosphere.

Okay, it's time for our second learning cycle where we're gonna start generating vocabulary based on sight and sound.

We are gonna complete a senses map to describe the setting of the opening scene.

So we'll be thinking about what can be seen in the setting, what can be heard in this setting, what can be felt in this setting, and what can be smelt in this setting and in this learning cycle we'll be focusing on what we can see and hear.

Okay, so could you match each phrase to the correct sense? Can we most often see, hear, smell, or touch these things? So the options are: damp, sticky mist, withered shrubs.

If they're withered, it means they're kind of dying and drooping, howling wind, and putrid, that means really stinky, odours.

If something is putrid, it might almost be rotting or decaying.

So think carefully, which sense matches each phrase.

Pause the video now.

Well done.

Okay, first of all, we've got damp, sticky mist.

Now if something is damp, it almost feels wet and something might feel sticky as well.

So this is going to be something that we would feel or touch.

Withered shrubs is something that we might see.

Howling wind is something that we would hear, and putrid odours is something that we could smell.

So let's learn some rich vocabulary to describe the things we might see or hear on a heath.

So this first word is "ominous".

My turn, your turn.

Ominous.

I like to say it like this to help me remember it.

Om-in-ous! Your turn.

Well done.

So, ominous, as you might have guessed from the way I said it, means scary, threatening or menacing like a huge, dark tornado spinning towards you.

And the next word is "eerie".

My turn, your turn.

Eerie.

Eerie means weird, ghostly or creepy like a dark, spooky room full of skeletons and cobwebs.

So here are some word pairs we could make with these two new words.

An ominous silence.

So is your heath going to be loud and wild with thunder and howling wind? Or is it going to be, is there going to be an ominous, a kind of scary silence? You might have an ominous shadow lurking beneath the trees.

There might be ominous clouds, which might be threatening because then it looks like there's going to be a storm and then we've got eerie.

So there might be an eerie atmosphere, eerie darkness or eerie stillness.

Okay, let's learn some more.

Remember this is to describe what we might see or hear on a heath.

Withered.

My turn, your turn: Withered.

Withered means old and drooping, like a dying, shrivelled tree that doesn't grow leaves anymore.

So withered might be a good way to describe those shrubs or the heather, or if there were a few trees on the heath.

And barren, my turn your turn.

Barren.

Barren is empty or bare like a lonely desert where nothing can grow.

And we know that a heath hasn't got much there.

There's not many animals or trees or lots of different exotic flowers growing.

It is quite empty and bare on a heath.

So we could make the following word pairs with these words: Withered plants, withered shrubs, withered limbs, maybe withered limbs of the tree, barren earth, barren wasteland, and barren landscape.

So let's check what we've just learned.

Choose the words that best match the phrases and clauses to create descriptions of the heath.

So we've got on one side, on the left column, we've got our new words that we've just learned: withered, eerie, barren and ominous.

And then you've got a phrase or a clause in the right column and you've got to match up.

So for example: Withered sound of howling wind.

That doesn't sound right.

Withered remnants of once vibrant heather, Hm, that does sound right.

So we're matching those up.

Pause the video now.

Well done.

So we've got: Withered remnants of once vibrant heather, it was once bright, but now it's withered, eerie sound of howling wind.

Barren wasteland stretched endlessly, and ominous clouds casting shadows over the desolate landscape.

So we've got four incredible new words to put in our vocabulary toolkit for this piece of writing.

Okay, let's apply some of this vocabulary into descriptive linguistic structures.

We can list two adjectives with a comma to describe a noun in a structure called the expanded noun phrase.

My turn, your turn.

Expanded noun phrase.

Well done.

So adjective, comma, adjective, noun.

Let's put an example in: Murky, stagnant puddles.

Murky and stagnant are my adjectives, noun is the thing.

It's the naming word for the thing, which is the puddles.

Then we can stretch an expanded noun phrase with the words "that" or "with".

So we could say adjective, adjective, noun that, for example, murky, stagnant puddles that were full of jet black mud.

Or we could use "with".

Skeletal dying trees with gnarled and reaching branches.

The adjectives can come in a pair, as a list or one adjective can work by itself to describe the noun.

For example: howling winds that tore through the air.

There's just one adjective, "howling".

Dense sky with black clouds filling it.

Just one adjective, dense.

Okay, true or false? This sentence includes an expanded noun phrase: "I saw the heath in the distance." True or false? Pause the video now.

Well done.

This is false.

And justify your answer.

We've either got: An expanded noun phrase makes use of adjectives.

They often come before the noun in a pair, listed with a comma, or an expanded noun phrase makes use of adjectives.

Which is a better answer? Pause the video now.

Yes, well done.

It's A.

That gives more detail about what an expanded noun phrase is.

Okay, so it's time for your next task, the second task in this lesson.

You are going to generate your own ambitious vocabulary for what can be seen and heard on the heath to create an eerie atmosphere.

So remember, I don't want pleasant, positive images that make me feel happy and relaxed, like tweeting little birds and like a lovely gentle breeze.

I want descriptions of things that are going to make me on the edge of my seat thinking, oh my goodness, this is a bit scary.

So before you start, you might want to take a moment and imagine you are standing on a heath.

Remember it's exposed.

So it's gonna be maybe quite windy.

You are gonna, maybe if it's by the coast, hear the sea, it's nighttime.

Look up to the sky.

What can you see in the sky? What's happening up there? Look down to the ground.

What can you see there? What can you hear? If you closed your eyes, what could you hear on that heath? It's really important that we imagine ourselves there before we start generating our ideas.

So once you've got your ideas, then think about, is that something you could see or hear? And write it in each section.

We are just writing notes.

So you might just do an expanded noun phrase.

So you might say you could see an illuminous, eerie moon, or you might use that structure with or that.

So you might say, withered branches that tangled together.

So note form, not full sentences.

And thinking about those linguistic features that we just learnt.

Pause the video while you complete this task.

Okay, well done.

Let's look at some possible examples of what you might have written.

Barren, desolate expanse with no one in it, with no one on it.

Diseased, emaciated trees that cast eerie shadows.

Overcast sky with ominously black clouds.

They're all things I might see upon the heath.

Things I could hear: Piercing, wild shrieks.

Eerie echoes that reverberated around the desolate landscape.

Menacing insects with loud, persistent buzzing.

So well done.

If you want to steal any of those ideas to add onto your plan, you could pause the video and do that now.

Okay, well done.

We're on our final learning cycle now: Generating vocabulary based on touch or feel and smell.

So we're going back to our senses map but this time we're looking at what can be felt in the setting and what can be smelt.

Let's learn some rich vocabulary to describe the things we might touch or smell on a heath.

Rugged, my turn, your turn.

Rugged.

Rugged means rough, uneven, or craggy; like a stretch of coast full of big, jagged rocks.

Putrid.

My turn, your turn.

Putrid: means rotten and decayed; like an old, mouldy sandwich.

So these are word pairs that we could use with these words: Rugged coastline, rugged terrain.

That's like the ground, the earth.

Rugged rocks, putrid smell.

A putrid carcass; like an an animal that's died, and now there's a putrid carcass.

Putrid breath; maybe we might use that later when we describe the witches.

So we've got two extra, amazing pieces of vocabulary to put in our vocabulary toolkits for this piece of writing.

Which of the following would you describe as putrid or rugged? A: the smell of a rotten carcass.

B: terrain stretched end endlessly.

C: cliffs beaten by the incessant wind and D: stench hangs in the air.

So we are going to put one of these words at the start of each phrase.

So for example: putrid smell of a rotting carcass, or rugged smell of a rotten carcass.

You've got to decide which one it fits best.

Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

So we've got the putrid smell of a rotting carcass, rugged terrain stretched endlessly rugged cliffs beaten by the incessant wind.

Incessant just means over and over again.

And putrid stench hangs in the air.

Let's apply some vocabulary links to touch and smell to our descriptive linguistic structures.

So we're again thinking about that expanded noun phrase, adjective, adjective, noun.

And then we can either use "that" or "with" to expand it even more.

Prickly, tangled branches that scratched with thorns.

That might be something I could touch.

Putrid, decaying earth with a nauseating stench.

Remember, the adjectives can come in a pair, as a list or one adjective can work by itself to describe the noun.

For example: cloying air that suffocated every living thing.

Thick air with an acidic, salt-filled spray.

True or false? This sentence includes one adjective in the noun phrase: "The salty air scratched at the eyes of each thing that dared to live there." Pause the video now.

Well done.

This is true.

Is it true because there are no adjectives in the noun phrase because there is no comma, or is it true because the one adjective used is salty? Pause the video now.

Well done.

It's true because the one adjective used is "salty".

The word salty describes the noun, which is air.

Okay, it's time for our final task in today's lesson.

You are now going to generate your own ambitious vocabulary for what can be felt and smelt on the heath to create an eerie atmosphere.

So think again, put yourself back on that heath, standing there; it's nighttime, it's spooky, no one's around.

What can you feel? What could you feel under your feet, if you were wearing, if you had no shoes and socks on, what could you feel under your feet? What could you feel maybe on your face? Could you feel the wind or some fog? And what can you smell? And then think about the linguistic features we've just learnt; so expanded noun phrases, lots of adjectives.

And then you could stretch those with "that" or "with".

So good luck with this final task.

Pause the video now.

Well done.

Here are some examples of what you might have written: And again, as I read these, if there's anything you want to add onto your plan, then feel free.

Rugged, weathered terrain.

So there's an expanded noun phrase, adjective, adjective, noun.

A biting chill that swept across the haunted heath.

Damp air with suffocating mist.

So they're all things I might touch.

Now I'm thinking about what I would smell.

Oh, sorry, there's one more.

Ancient, gnarled bark.

The bark of a tree.

Okay, now focusing on what we can smell.

A nauseating, that means it makes you feel sick, stagnant stench.

A suffocating, musty scent that permeated the air.

Pungent, cloying smells and odours.

So these are all things we might smell, and I've really tried to use the most ambitious vocabulary that I could possibly use in this plan.

This so well done for filling in your own table of what can be felt and smelt.

And now we've got a full table of all four senses that we've been looking at today, full of rich, ambitious vocabulary that we can use in our openings.

So let's summarise what we've learned today.

We've learned that an opening requires a setting to be described.

As writers, we need to think about the atmosphere we want to create and how we want our readers to feel.

If we use vocabulary that paints negative images for our reader, we can create an ominous, eerie atmosphere for them.

We can use our own senses as a starting point for generating ambitious vocabulary.

Adjectives describe nouns and they are a useful tool for painting pictures with words.

Thank you so much for all your hard work today.

You should feel extremely proud of yourselves because you have generated some incredibly ambitious vocabulary and all of the vocabulary we've generated today will be really useful when it comes to our opening.

So thank you for all your hard work and hopefully I'll see you for learning another time.