Lesson video

Hi everyone and welcome to today's lesson.

We've got so much to cover today, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how hard you work and how successful we are today.

So, let's get started.

In our lesson today, you will be using your research to help you plan the diet section of a non-chronological report about aye-ayes.

Here are some of the key words we will be using.

Paragraph, specific information, relative complex sentence, text cohesion, diet.

Well done.

Now let's look at some of the definitions of these words.

A paragraph is a section of a piece of writing that is indicated by a new line and an indentation.

Specific information is clear, exact and particular information.

A relative complex sentence is a sentence formed of a main clause and a relative subordinate clause.

Text cohesion refers to how text flows to maintain the interest of the reader and achieve the text's purpose.

An animal's diet is the food that it eats.

In our lesson today, we are going to be planning the diet section of a non-chronological report about aye-ayes.

In the first section of our lesson, we will be learning about the structural and linguistic features of the diet section and then, we will be planning the diet section.

Non-chronological reports often follow the same structure.

They have a title, then they have an introduction, which is the first paragraph that encourages the reader to read on.

Then, they have sections.

The sections contain paragraphs of information related to a particular aspect of the subject.

And finally, they have a conclusion.

The conclusion is the last paragraph that summarises the key information of the text.

So far in our learning, we have already written the introduction.

Now, we are going to be planning section one, which is the diet section.

The purpose is the aim of the text.

The purpose of the diet section is to engage the reader and give the reader specific information about the aye-aye's diet.

In our introduction, our facts were general, but now in section one, our facts are going to be specific.

The information we give our reader in the diet section will be very specific about what the aye-ayes eat.

The paragraph in the diet section gives the reader specific information about the aye-aye's diet.

The paragraph follows a clear structure.

First of all, it has a subheading.

The first sentence of the paragraph is an introductory sentence followed by specific information.

And finally, a linking sentence.

The introductory sentence introduces what the paragraph will be about.

Specific information gives the reader detailed information about an aspect of the topic.

And finally, the linking sentence links on to the next paragraph.

Match each part of the diet section paragraph to its function.

Pause the video while you do that.

Well done if you spotted that the introductory sentence introduces the reader to what the paragraph will be about, that specific information gives the reader some necessary information about the topic, and the linking sentence links on to the next paragraph.

Let's review the purpose of fronted adverbials.

There are different types of fronted adverbial, formal fronted adverbials, viewpoint fronted adverbials, and fronted adverbials of cause.

They all follow the same rule.

They start a sentence and a comma follows them.

We've used this scaffold before when learning about fronted adverbials.

Using fronted adverbials in our writing improves text cohesion and helps our writing flow by linking sentences together.

Match the fronted adverbial type to its definition.

Pause the video while you do that.

Great work, everyone.

Well done if you spotted that a formal fronted adverbial is a sentence starter followed by a comma that is formal in tone.

A fronted adverbial of cause is a sentence starter, followed by a comma that explains cause and effect.

A viewpoint fronted adverbial is a sentence starter followed by a comma that gives the writer's point of view.

Subject-specific vocabulary is words and phrases about the subject of the report.

In our case, the subject of our report is aye-aye's.

These words and phrases are factual and specific.

They help to create a formal tone.

Using subject-specific vocabulary in our writing helps to avoid repetition of the same words and phrases, and makes our writing more credible.

Circle the subject-specific vocabulary about aye-aye's diets.

Pause the video while you do that.

Well done if you spotted omnivore, prey, and grubs are all words that we would associate with aye-aye's diets.

Habitat, rainforest, mammal, nocturnal, and primate are also subject-specific words, but they are not specifically linked to aye-aye's diets.

A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause that starts with a relative pronoun.

Here are some examples of relative clauses.

Let's say them together.

Who did his homework? Which is at the top of the hill.

Who baked a cake? Which covered the hills.

Well done, everyone.

All of these relative clauses begin with a relative pronoun.

Can you spot what they are? Well done, they begin with either who or which.

Who is used when the relative clause is about a person and which is used when the relative clause is not about a person.

In our non-chronological reports, we are going to be using the word which as a relative pronoun because aye-ayes are not people.

So, when we write relative clauses about aye-ayes, they will begin with the relative pronoun, which.

Which of these relative clauses is suitable when writing about an aye-aye? Who feeds at nighttime? Or, which feeds at nighttime? Hmm, well, I know that who is used as a relative pronoun when the subject is a person, and which is used when the subject is not a person.

My relative clauses are about aye-ayes, they are not people, so I think the correct relative clause is, "Which feeds at nighttime." Now it's your turn.

Which of these relative clauses is suitable when writing about an aye-aye? Who eats an omnivorous diet? Or which eats an omnivorous diet? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done, if you spotted that, "Which eats an omnivorous diet," is correct because we use "which" as our relative pronoun when we are writing relative clauses about anything other than a person.

A relative clause follows a noun or a noun phrase to add extra relevant information about it.

Aye-ayes, which consume plants and animals, feed at night.

The subject of my sentence are aye-ayes.

And my which relative clause adds a relevant extra fact about aye-ayes.

Let's read the next one together.

Grubs, which form part of aye-aye's diets, are found inside trees.

What is my sentence about? Hmm.

Oh yes, my sentence is about grubs.

So, my relative clause adds an extra fact about the grubs.

Which form part of aye-ayes' diets, are found inside trees.

There are two facts in my sentence and one of them is given as a relative clause.

In a relative complex sentence, the relative clause can interrupt the main clause after the noun or the noun phrase it links to.

Let's look at an example.

Let's say this sentence together.

Aye-ayes eat food found near their nests.

This is a simple sentence.

It is an example of a main clause.

Now let's see what happens if we interrupt the main clause using a relative clause.

Aye-ayes, which live in the rainforest's trees, eat food found near their nests.

Can you see how my main clause has been interrupted by the relative clause? My relative clause is an extra factor by the aye-ayes, so it goes after the word "aye-ayes" in my sentence.

So, a relative complex sentence follows this structure.

We have our main, interrupted by our subordinate relative clause, this forms a relative complex sentence.

When a relative clause is added to a main clause, it creates a relative complex sentence.

Here's my main clause.

Aye-ayes consume a varied diet.

And here is my relative clause; which are omnivores.

I can use this relative clause to interrupt the main clause and add this extra factor about aye-ayes into that sentence.

Let's read this together.

Aye-ayes, which are omnivores, consume a varied diet.

Full stop.

And you can notice that I have used a pair of commas either side of my relative clause to separate it from the rest of the sentence.

Take the examples of relative clauses, pause the video while you do that.

Excellent work, everyone.

Well done if you spotted that.

"Which are highly adapted animals," and, "Which feed on plants and animals," are both examples of relative clauses.

That's because they begin with the relative pronoun, which.

"As they hunt in the treetops," is an example of a subordinate clause, but it is not a relative clause.

This is the same for, "If their food supply is affected by deforestation." That's also an example of a subordinate clause, but it is not a relative clause because a relative clause starts with a relative pronoun.

Your task is now to read my model diet section and answer the following questions.

What is the subheading? Find and copy two examples of subject-specific vocabulary related to the aye-aye's diet.

Find and copy one formal fronted adverbial.

Find and copy one fronted adverbial of cause.

Find and copy one viewpoint fronted adverbial.

And find and copy one relative complex sentence.

Let's read the model together first.

What do aye-ayes eat? Aye-ayes are omnivores, animals that eat both plants and meat.

As a result of this, their diets are varied and diverse.

These animals, which primarily feed at night, feast on a diet of grubs, nuts, fruit, and nectar.

Grubs, which are found inside the trunks of trees, are a particular delicacy amongst aye-ayes.

However, the majority of these lemurs' dietary staples are vegetarian foods like coconuts and nectar from Traveler's Palm trees.

Intriguingly, aye-ayes possess a range of unusual adaptations to aid them in finding and consuming food.

Okay, everybody, take your time, and pause the video, while you go and complete your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

Great work, everyone.

Let's review our answers.

What is the subheading? What do aye-ayes eat? Now, for finding two examples of subject-specific vocabulary related to the aye-aye's diet, you could have used any of the following words, omnivores, vegetarian, grubs, nuts, fruit, or nectar.

Find and copy one formal fronted adverbial, "However." Find and copy one fronted adverbial of cause.

"As a result of this." And find and copy one viewpoint fronted adverbial.

"Intriguingly." Find and copy one relative complex sentence.

The complex sentence could have been, "These animals, which primarily feed at night, feast on a diet of grubs, nuts, fruit, and nectar." Or you could have used, "Grubs, which are found inside the trunks of trees, are a particular delicacy amongst aye-ayes." Well done, everybody.

Great work.

This now brings us on to the second section of our lesson, which is planning the diet section.

When we plan, we use notes.

Notes are concise and captures subject-specific vocabulary and information.

The purpose of notes is to help the writer to organise information easily for future use.

We use bullet points when note-taking and they look like this.

We do not write in full sentences in our plan.

The only time we would be using capital letters is if we are writing proper nouns, such as the word Madagascar or Africa.

What is in a plan? Pause the video while you decide.

Great job, everybody.

Well done for spotting that we need bullet points for notes and we include subject-specific vocabulary.

We do not use full sentences and we do not use unnecessary information.

Let's review the structure of the diet section.

So, we start with our subheading, an introductory sentence, which introduces what the section will be about, specific information which gives the reader detailed information about an aspect of the topic, and a linking sentence which links on to the next paragraph.

We will use the same structure in our plan, so that when we come to writing, our plans follow an appropriate structure.

Here's my model.

Let's read it through again one more time.

What do aye-ayes eat? Aye-ayes are omnivores, animals that eat both plants and meat.

As a result of this, their diets are varied and diverse.

These animals, which primarily feed at night, feast on a diet of grubs, nuts, fruit, and nectar.

Grubs, which are found inside the trunks of trees, are a particular delicacy amongst aye-ayes.

However, the majority of these lemurs' dietary staples are vegetarian foods like coconuts and nectar from Traveler's Palm trees.

Intriguingly, aye-ayes possess a range of unusual adaptations to aid them in finding and consuming food.

Let's look in more detail at this first sentence.

This is my introductory sentence, which introduces to the reader what this paragraph is going to be about.

Aye-ayes are omnivores, animals that eat both plants and meat.

This introductory sentence is effective because from reading it, the reader understands that in this section of the report, they will be learning about what aye-ayes eat.

Now it's time for your task.

Number one, write the subheading and write it as a question.

Number two, use bullet points to note key words and phrases you will use in your introductory sentence.

And you can use the prompt question to help you.

What is the paragraph about? Pause the video while you do that.

Well done, everybody.

I'm sure we have got such a range of different ideas written on our plans.

Here are some things you might have written.

You might have written your subheading as a question like this one, what do aye-aye's diets consist of? You might have noted down the word omnivores or omnivorous as a word that you want to use in your introductory sentence.

And you might have written down that they have a varied diet that consists of plants and animals.

Let's go back to my model.

Now, we're not going to reread the whole thing again, but instead, we're going to focus on this section.

This is where I've written my specific information about the topic.

Let's read it through, all together.

As a result of this, their diets are varied and diverse.

These animals, which primarily feed at night, feast on a diet of grubs, nuts, fruit, and nectar.

Grubs, which are found inside the trunks of trees, are a particular delicacy amongst aye-ayes.

However, the majority of these lemurs' dietary staples are vegetarian foods like coconuts and nectar from Traveler's Palm trees.

In this section, I have included some specific facts about what exact foods aye-ayes eat and where they find them.

Now it's your turn, so use bullet points to note down any key words and phrases you will use in your specific information sentences.

In this part of the diet section, you want to tell your reader what food aye-ayes eat.

Pause the video while you do that and then we can share some ideas.

Great work, everyone.

So now, we're going to share a few suggestions.

You might have some of these ideas on your plan, you might have lots of different ideas in your plan, and that is fantastic.

You might have mentioned grubs, nuts, nectar and fruit, and that the grubs are found inside trees' trunks.

This is a good way for us to show that we can use an apostrophe for plural possession there, with trees' trunks because the trunks belong to the trees, and that's where the grubs are found.

You might also have mentioned that aye-aye's dietary staples, that means the foods they most commonly eat, are found in the trees near where their nests are.

And you might have also mentioned that these nocturnal lemurs feed at nighttime.

Well done, everyone.

And lastly, we're gonna go back to my model, and this time, just look at my linking sentence.

So remember, the linking sentence gives the reader an indication of what the next section is going to be.

Let's read it through together.

Intriguingly, aye-ayes possess a range of unusual adaptations to aid them in finding and consuming food.

So, this is giving my reader an idea that in the next section, we'll be talking about adaptations, and I have made that link between how the aye-aye's adaptations help them to find and eat food, which is part of their diet.

Now, you are going to use bullet points to note down key words and phrases you will use in your linking sentence.

Have you considered your sentence opener? So, how will you open your linking sentence? And what will you explore in more detail in the next section? And we know that our next section is going to be about aye-ayes' adaptations.

Pause the video while you do that, and then we can share our ideas.

Excellent work, everybody.

Here are a few ideas that you might have on your plan.

I decided to use some viewpoint fronted adverbials, "Notably," or, "Fascinatingly," to show my reader that I think that these points are really interesting.

These primates are highly adapted to locate, which means to find, and consume, which means to eat, these foods.

So my linking sentence is very, very succinct, and to the point, and clearly rounds off the diet section.

Well done, I'm sure you have got such excellent ideas on your plan.

Well done, everyone.

What a fantastic lesson and I hope you feel so proud of what you've achieved today.

Here's a summary of what we have been learning about.

Today, we've been planning the diet section of a non-chronological report about aye-ayes.

The purpose of a section is to engage the reader with specific information about a particular aspect of the subject.

Fronted adverbials, subject-specific vocabulary, and relative complex sentences improve text cohesion.

The structure of a detailed paragraph can include an introductory sentence, specific information sentences, and a linking sentence.

Bullet points are used to organise notes in a plan.

Well done again for all of your excellent learning, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon.