Lesson video

Hello everyone.

My name is Ms. Madden and in today's lesson, we are going to do some quick revision on spelling and then focus on grammar.

Let's get started.

In this lesson, we will begin with a spelling warmup.

Then we will revise clauses.

Next, we will develop our knowledge of prepositions and finally, apply our knowledge of prepositions.

In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or some paper, a pencil or pen to write with and of course your thinking brain.

Press pause and get those things now.

Okay, are you ready for your spelling warmup? Choose the correct spelling from each group.

The first word is medical.

I am in need of some medical attention.

Next, tranquil.

It was a tranquil day.

Environment, we must look after the environment.

Obstacle, do you enjoy the obstacle race? Parallel, look at the parallel lines.

Desperate, I was desperate for some lunch, desperate.

So look at each of these and decide which is the correct spelling.

It may help to write the spelling down.

Think about whether there are any rules to help you as you do so.

Okay, are you ready to look at the answers together? Medical, this one is quite tricky.

It's an unusual spelling of the /ol/ sound at the end of the word.

This time it's /al/, al, medical.

You might remember that the -al suffix for the /ol/ sound often goes after a word that makes sense by itself.

In this instance, it was medic, medical.

Next, tranquil.

Here, we have the I-L spelling of the /ol/ sound.

This is the most unusual representation of the /ol/ sound at the end of a word, tranquil.

Environment, this is a tricky word, we just have to learn.

And what's so tricky about it is that cheeky n in the middle of the word because we don't pronounce it.

Environment, sometimes it can be helpful to say the word aloud how it's spelled to help remember how to spell it in the future, environment.

Copy me, environment.

Well done, now we don't say environment.

We say environment but that will help us remember that cheeky n in the middle of the word.

Obstacle, this one's a bit nicer because it's got the L-E spelling at the end.

That's our most common representation of the /ol/ after a consonant at the end of the word, obstacle.

Parallel, this is a tricky spelling as well.

It's got the E-L which is quite common at the end of the word and it's got the double L in the middle.

Sometimes I like to remember that double L like parallel lines, just one R and a double L, like your parallel lines.

So we have four different spellings of the /ol/ sound in these and finally, another tricky word, desperate.

Often people get the E and the A in desperate mixed up.

I like to say it how it sounds to help me, desperate, desperate, not to be confused with separate, which is separate, desperate is E-R in the middle.

Check your spellings and if there are any that you didn't get right, that's absolutely fine.

I chose hard ones especially.

Write them down and you can practise them later on today.

Now, let's revise types of clauses.

Can you fill in the blanks in this sentence? A clause is a group of words which contains a? Verb, well done.

A clause has to contain a verb.

Which of these is a clause? Point to the right answer, down the high street or the sun hid behind the clouds.

Point.

Yes, the sun hid behind the clouds.

There is our verb, the sun hid.

Remember, a clause is a group of words containing a verb.

And you probably remember that we can have main clauses like Mr. Main and main clause makes sense on its own and we can also have a subordinate clause.

A subordinate clause does not make sense on its own.

We think of this as Mr. Subordinate, the helper.

In these sentences, I'd like you to identify whether the clause in bold is a main clause, makes sense on its own or a subordinate clause.

Which one is it, the clause in bold? They read a book until the sun went down, which one is it? After waiting for three hours, they finally head back.

Which one is it? Even though it was broken, he still sat on the chair.

Which one is it? Remember, you are identifying the clause in bold.

Press pause and say it aloud again.

Okay, let's check your answers.

They write a book until the sun went down.

That was a subordinate clause.

It had a subordinating conjunction, until.

Because they read a book, makes sense by itself, that's the main clause.

Number two, they finally head back, that's our main clause.

So this time, the main clause came second because the other part, after waiting for three hours, that was our subordinate clause.

Finally, even though it was broken, was that main or subordinate? It was subordinate.

It doesn't make sense by itself, does it? Even though it was broken, what? What, even though it was broken? He still sat on the chair.

That does make sense, that's the main clause.

This time, I want you to identify the subordinate clause.

I'll read each sentence and then you say the subordinate clause aloud.

After I've read them all, you can press pause and double check.

Once we had finished dinner, we played outside.

Remember, you're finding the subordinate clause.

The one that doesn't make sense by itself.

Next, there was a loud crack of thunder before the lightning struck.

Finally, I run before breakfast because I want to keep fit.

Now, if you didn't have a chance to say them, press pause and identify each subordinate clause.

This can be tricky because there aren't commas in every sentence demarcating the two clauses.

So you'll have to say it aloud to check.

Okay, in our first example, once we had finished dinner was our subordinate clause.

What can help is our subordinating conjunction, once.

Before the lightning struck is our subordinate clause here.

This time, it's at the end of the sentence, which is why it doesn't need a comma.

Finally, because I want to keep fit, that was our subordinate clause and it had our subordinating conjunction, because.

Well done.

Now, we are going to develop our knowledge of prepositions.

What is a preposition? Do you know? Press pause and say it aloud now.

Okay, let's also making sure that we can say the word, say it after me, preposition, preposition.

It's got a bit of a clue in the word as well.

Pre, that prefix pre and position, that gives us a clue as to the meaning, prepositions.

A preposition links a noun, a pronoun or a noun phrase to some other word in the sentence.

So a noun, a pronoun and a noun phrase, they're all words or groups of words that act like a noun and a preposition links and noun, a pronoun and a noun phrase to some other word.

Prepositions often tell us where, the place, when, the time or why, the cause something takes place.

It's quite tricky, we're going to explore this further.

Here we have some examples of prepositions of place.

The images, the illustrations help explain the meaning.

Between, in front of, behind, to the left of, under or below, on, next to or to the right of.

So we could use these prepositions in a sentence to explain where the apple is.

For example, the apple is between the two boxes.

Can you choose one example and say it in a sentence aloud? Press pause and do it now.

Well done.

You can also have prepositions of time.

This illustration looks quite confusing but actually, it's really helpful.

We've got three types of prepositions that we can use with time, in, on and at.

And it can be a bit confusing which one we use when.

Sometimes we can tell just by listening, just by saying it's aloud.

So, we generally talk about in with big amounts.

So for example, in the 1800s, in the 1880s.

We can also talk about in not only for time but with location.

For example, in England or in London or in Chinatown.

Then we have the preposition on and that's for slightly smaller amounts of time or places.

So we might talk about on my birthday or on Friday, on the weekend or places on Oxford street, on the corner.

And then we've got at, which are the small examples of time or place, at 7:00 a.

m.

or at 5:00 p.

m.

or at 734 Oxford Street.

I will meet you at the corner of that street.

So in, on and at.

But the best way to work out which preposition is right is to say it aloud.

Sometimes we need to identify whether a preposition is of place, time or cause.

I'm going to give you three examples.

The bull went into the net, there is my preposition.

It's showing where the ball went into.

It's a preposition of place.

It gets dark in the evening.

It's a preposition of time.

He was late to school because of a puncture.

It's a preposition of cause.

I'm going to now give you some examples and I want you to identify if these are prepositions of place, time or cause.

The man walked around the post.

Press pause and say it aloud.

We played football before break.

Press pause and say which one aloud.

The cat sat under the table.

Press pause.

Due to the bad weather, we will need to stay inside.

Press pause.

The gift was in the box.

Press pause.

Together.

The man walked around the post, that's of place.

We played football before break, that's of time.

The cat sat under the table, that's of place again.

Due to the bad weather, we will need to stay inside.

That's a preposition of cause.

And the gift was in the box, that was a preposition of place.

Did you get it right? Check yourself and don't worry if you didn't, we're here to learn.

Okay, let's test our knowledge further because by practising and applying our knowledge, that's how we embed it in our memory.

So we have to keep practising.

What preposition would I use? What preposition could go before these three phrases? Lunchtime.

Three o'clock.

Bedtime.

Say it aloud now.

Did you get to it right? At lunchtime, at three o'clock, at bedtime.

What preposition would you use now? Friday.

Saturday.

On Friday, on Saturday.

Can you see how saying it aloud, you often can hear what's right? What preposition would I use now? The evening.

January.

In the evening, in January.

Now, I want you to identify the preposition.

She walked through the crowd and sat down at the front.

Can you find any prepositions in this sentence? Press pause, read the sentence aloud and then say which other prepositions or you could write the sentence and circle them.

Did you spot them? She walked through the crowd and sat down at the front.

They were prepositions of place.

In a tank, you can drive over steep mounds, across rocky terrain and along treacherous tracks.

Can you identify the prepositions? Press pause and do it now.

There were lots in this sentence, weren't there? In a tank, you can drive over steep mounds, across rocky terrain and along treacherous tracks.

These were all prepositions of place again.

Now we're going to test in a different way.

Which sentences contain prepositions? I'll read each one and then you need to identify any of the sentences which have a preposition in it.

They charged around the corner.

He shouted loudly.

We walked past the entrance.

The group played happily.

Press pause and see which have a preposition in it.

They charged around the corner.

We walked past the entrance.

Those were prepositions of place.

Congratulations, you've done a lot in today's lesson.

You started with a spelling warmup.

Then we revised clauses.

We've developed our knowledge of prepositions and applied our knowledge of prepositions.

Don't worry if you found this tricky, prepositions can take some time.

You can always rewatch this lesson but also the next lesson gives us an opportunity to practise this further.

Congratulations, you have completed your lesson.