Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mr. Marsh and welcome to this spelling lesson.

Now, in today's spelling lesson, we're going to do an investigation looking at two suffixes, -er and -est.

And we're going to talk about them in terms of adjectives.

About comparative adjectives and superlative adjectives.

Okay, so, that may be something you've heard of before or it may be new learning to you.

Well, that's all great either way.

So, when you're ready to start the lesson, let's begin.

Now, before we begin the lesson, let's just have a look at our agenda for the lesson.

So, the first thing we're going to do is we're going to look at some key vocabulary.

And that vocabulary is going to really help us for the rest of the lesson.

So, really listen hard when we do that bit.

The next part of the lesson is actually we're going to get into an investigation.

And the purpose of our investigation is to try and establish some rules of when we use those suffixes, -er and -est.

And then finally, we're going to set some spelling words that use those suffixes.

Okay, before we really dive and delve into the lesson, I want you to make sure that you have some paper, something to write on, so even an exercise book would be great.

Something to write with, so a pen or a pencil.

And then make sure that brain of yours is ready and we're raring to go.

If you need to get any of those things, pause the video for me now.

Great, off you go.

So, like I said, the first thing we're going to do in this lesson is focus on some key vocabulary.

And the vocabulary is going to help us with our understanding, when we start looking at investigating and finding some rules for the suffixes that we're going to explore today.

So, let's have a quick look at our key vocabulary.

So, I've already out on there, adjective.

And an adjective is a describing word.

And you might be really familiar with that already.

Now, I'm going to do something called my turn, your turn.

So, when I point at myself, I'm going to say the word and then I want you to repeat after me when I do this.

Okay, let's try.

Suffix.

So, a suffix is a group of letters at the end of a word that change its meaning.

Let's say that word one more time together.

Suffix.

So, suffix, to repeat, is a group of letters at the end of a word that change its meaning.

And today's lesson is going to be focusing on two suffixes, -er and -est.

So, we've just mentioned about an adjective being a describing word.

In this lesson, we're going to focus on two different types of adjectives, a comparative adjective.

So, a comparative adjective compares two things.

It compares, let's say, oh, I'm just looking around my desk.

It compares this pen to this pen.

So, I might say, "this pen is bigger than this pen".

Okay.

And I have a superlative adjective.

Let's try that one again, superlative adjective.

I'm going to hunt around again, see what I can find, but a superlative adjective compares three or more things.

So, here I have three pens.

And I might say, "this pen is the biggest in this group of pens".

This pen is the biggest in this group of pens.

So, we have a comparative adjective and a superlative adjective.

Okay, so, now what we're going to do is we're going to investigate and generate some rules for those two suffixes that I mentioned, -er and -est.

And remember, a suffix goes at the end of a word, and changes its meaning.

So, here I have three words, quick, quicker and quickest.

And I have got, at the bottom, a comparative adjective, an adjective and a superlative adjective.

I want you to try and work out which one of the quick, quicker and quickest, is an adjective, which one is a comparative adjective and which one is a superlative adjective.

You might want to put those in a sentence 'cause that might help you.

So, remember, an adjective describes or is a describing word.

A comparative adjective compares two things, it's called comparative, compare.

And a superlative adjective compares three or more things.

Okay, why don't you pause the video and just have a go? You might find it hard, and I understand that as absolutely fine.

But give it a go.

Okay, pause the video for me now.

Okay, how did you get on? Well, quick is an adjective, 'cause it described a noun.

That was a quick run.

But then if I use quicker, and I'm comparing two things, I might say that the girl was quicker than the boy.

So, I'm comparing the girl and the boy.

But then with quickest, I'm comparing more than two things.

I might say, "the girl is quickest in her class".

So, I'm comparing the girl to the rest of the people in her class, that's three or more things that I'm comparing her to.

So, here's my examples again.

Quick is an adjective, the girl was quick.

I'm describing the girl.

Comparative adjective, quicker.

The girl was quicker than her friend.

So, I'm comparing the girl to her friend.

I'm comparing two things, the girl and her friend.

And a superlative adjective, well that compares three or more things.

So, the girl was the quickest in her class.

So, I'm comparing the girl to all the other people in her class.

Okay, so let's explore how we've gone from an adjective, how does the word quick change to become a comparative adjective? And again, how does quick change to become a superlative adjective? Pause the video for me now and have a look at these three words and think, "how have they changed to become different types of adjectives?" Okay, pause that for me now.

Okay, what did you notice? Well, did you notice to become a comparative adjective, the suffix -er was added to the end of quick? And the suffix -est was added to the end of quick to become a superlative adjective.

Now, if you didn't spot that, that's not a problem.

We're going to keep looking at examples.

But this is the first rule that we're going to look at today.

And the first rule being, to change an adjective to a comparative adjective, you just add -er and to change a adjective to a superlative adjective, you just add -est.

Now, this is the most common way to change an adjective, by adding these suffixes and just adding them at the end of the word.

But there are other rules.

And we're going to explore those later in the lesson.

So, let's see if you can help me complete this sentence at the bottom.

Let me read it first and we'll try and finish it off together.

For most adjectives, to change an adjective to a comparative adjective, add the suffix and to change an adjective to a superlative adjective, add the suffix.

Okay, let's read that one more time.

For most adjectives, to change an adjective to a comparative adjective, add the suffix and to change an adjective to the superlative adjective, add the suffix.

Okay, what you think? What are you thinking? What do I need to add to each one? Well, let's see how you got on.

So, for most adjectives, to change an adjective to a comparative adjective, add the -er suffix.

And to change an adjective a superlative adjective, add the -est, okay? So, that's one rule.

Now, it's your turn to see if you can change these adjectives using that rule to a comparative adjective and a superlative adjective for long and tall.

Okay, pause the video.

Write it down, have a go yourself.

Okay, should we see how you've got on? Well, long becomes longer.

And tall becomes taller.

Now, if we're going to change them to superlative adjectives, well, we need to add the -est suffix at the end.

So, long becomes longest.

Tall becomes tallest.

He was tall.

He was taller than his brother.

He was the tallest member of his family.

Okay, now this is looking, we're going to investigate a second rule now.

So, we have nice, nicer, nicest.

Close, closer, closest.

Can you look at these words, study them, pause the video and think, "how have the adjectives changed to become comparative adjectives?" And how have they changed to become superlative adjectives? Okay, pause the video for me now.

Right, what did you notice? Well, did you notice that this adjective ends in -e, nice, and so does close? Now remember the suffix is -er, so we add that to the end of the word.

And the other suffix for superlative adjectives is -est.

We add that to the end of the word.

So, what do we need to do to the adjective before we add the suffixes? What do you think? Well, let's see if we can complete this sentence.

Maybe this will help.

To change most adjectives that end in "e", so remember we've got the adjectives nice and close, and they both end in the letter e, to a comparative adjective, remove the and add the suffix.

To change most adjectives that end in "e" to a superlative adjective, remove the , and add the suffix.

So, remember our suffixes that we're looking at today are -er and -est.

Pause the video for me now and have a think about how we are going to complete our sentence.

Okay, how did you get on? Well, let's do it together.

To change most adjectives that end in 'e' to a comparative adjective, remove the e and add the -er suffix.

'Cause remember, we can't just add the r, because the suffix isn't r, the suffix is -er, that's what changes the meaning to a comparative adjective.

And to change most adjectives that end in e to a superlative adjective, remove the -e and add the -est suffix.

So, the weather today is nice.

The weather today is nicer than it was yesterday.

So, I'm comparing two things.

This is the nicest weather this month.

So, I'm comparing the weather today as the nicest that it's been in many days.

So, I'm comparing to many days.

Okay, your turn.

Now, when we say ripe, we're talking, we talk about fruit.

So, if something's ripe, that means it's ready and all ready to eat, it's ready to pick.

And late.

Can you change these adjectives ending in e, with the rule that we've just learned, to comparative adjectives and superlative adjectives? Pause the video if you think you need to and write down which one.

Okay, so ripe becomes riper.

And late becomes later.

So, we remove the e and then add in the suffix er to make it comparative adjectives.

And then ripe becomes ripest.

Late becomes latest.

So, we remove the e and add in the -est suffix to make them superlative adjectives.

So, today, he was late.

Today, he was later than he was yesterday.

So, I'm comparing two things.

Today's the latest he's been all week.

So, therefore, I'm then comparing more than two things when I say the latest.

Okay.

So, we've looked at two rules so far.

Just adding that suffix.

Or if the adjective ends in 'e', remove the e and add the suffix -er or -est.

Here's our third rule.

Here are my adjectives, happy and funny.

My comparative adjectives, happier, funnier.

And my superlative adjectives, happiest, funniest.

What's happened to the adjectives to make them comparative or superlative adjectives? Study the words, pause the video for me now.

Off you go.

Okay, what did you notice? Well, did you notice firstly that our adjectives both end in y? So, how then have we gone to add our suffixes, -er and -est? What did you notice? Have you spotted it? Well, did you notice that you have to remove the y, add an I and then add our suffix? Or remove the y, add an I and then add the suffix -est to make it a superlative adjective? Let's see if we can complete my sentence again.

To change most adjectives that end in 'y' to a comparative adjective, remove the , add and add the suffix.

To change most adjectives that end in 'y' to a superlative adjective, remove the , add and add the suffix.

Okay.

Pause the video.

Can you fill in the gaps in my sentence? Off you go.

Okay, how did you get on? Let's see if we can complete it together.

To change most adjectives that end in 'y', to a comparative adjective, remove the, yes, y, add the i, good, and add the -er suffix.

So, I'm happy, I'm happier, today, which shows that I'm happier than I was yesterday.

Okay, let's finish the sentence.

To change most adjectives that end in 'y' to a superlative adjective, remove the yes, well done, y again, add the, absolutely, i, yes, we have to add i.

And add the -est suffix.

So, the joke was funny.

The joke was funnier than the last joke.

That was the funniest joke out of all of the jokes.

Your turn this time.

Pause the video, can you change, thinking about the rule we've just learnt, adjectives ending in y? Can you change lucky and crazy into comparative and superlative adjectives? Okay, off you go.

Right, let's see how you got on.

So, lucky became luckier, crazy became crazier.

And lucky became luckiest and crazy became craziest.

He was very lucky.

He was luckier than his brother.

He was the luckiest person in his family.

Okay, this is the fourth and final rule that we're going to look at today.

So, here we have two adjectives, big and hot.

And when they're comparative adjectives, they become bigger and hotter.

And superlative adjectives, biggest and hottest.

Pause the video for me now, see if you notice anything about what happens to these words when they become comparative or superlative adjectives? Okay, off you go.

Great, well, what did you notice? Well, I've given you a bit of a clue.

'Cause remember our suffixes are -er and -est.

Now, I've put certain letters in pink.

How did you notice that our adjectives changed to our comparative adjectives? How bigger has become, sorry, big has become bigger, what's happened? Well, our consonant of g has double, hasn't it? So, instead of b-i-g, we have b-i-g-g-e-r.

So, we've had to double the consonant and then add our suffix.

And it's the same when you make it a superlative adjective.

Double the consonant and then add a suffix, -est.

So, big, bigger, biggest.

Hot, hotter, hottest.

Today was hot.

Today was hotter than it was yesterday.

Today is the hottest day of the year.

Now.

How do we know when we need to double our consonant? Well, let's think about these words.

And I'm going to think in here about how I say it, think about the vowel sounds.

Sure, this is a bit of a recap for you.

Think about phonics, think about in the middle of this word, is it a short vowel sound? Or is it a long vowel sound? As I say it.

Big.

Or hot.

Does it sound like a stretch vowel sound or does it sound like a short click sound? Big and hot.

What did you think? Let's just break it down.

Big.

So, we've got that sound in the middle of big, it's a very short sound, isn't it? And then we've got the sound in the middle of hot.

It's a short vowel sound.

Okay.

Pause the video, say those words to yourself.

See if you agree with Mr. Marsh.

Are those short vowel sounds or long vowel sounds in the middle of those words? Okay, what did you think? Short vowel sound or long vowel sounds? Well, the rule is if you have a short vowel sound before the consonant, at the end of the word, then you need to double the consonant and then add either the suffix -er, or -est.

So, let's think about these words, thin.

Has that got a short vowel sound with a sound in thin? And sad, has it got the short in sad? If it does, how are you going to change these adjectives into a comparative adjective and a superlative adjective? Okay, pause the video, write down your answers, see how you get on.

Okay, thin has got the short sound, isn't it? So, thin becomes thinner.

We have to double the consonant n, and then add our suffix -er.

And sad has got the short sound, hasn't it? So, sad becomes sadder.

Double the consonant, add -er.

And we have thinnest and saddest.

So, today he was sad.

Today, he was sadder than he was yesterday.

And today, he's the saddest he has been in a long time.

So, there we have doubled the consonant and added our suffix.

So, before we move on, let's quickly recap the rules that we've done today.

The most common way to just add the suffix -er or -est to change it into a comparative or a superlative adjective.

But there are other rules and we found those today, so if your adjective ends in y, generally, you remove the y, add an i, and then add the suffixes either -er or -est.

Another rule that we looked at is that if your adjective ends in e, well, you remove the e, and then replace it with a suffix -er or -est, and then the final rule that we explored today is that if you have a short vowel sound before the consonant at the end of the word, then you double the consonants and then add our suffixes.

Okay.

If you haven't already, make sure you've got a pen and paper, 'cause I'm going to show you your spelling words for this week.

And I want you to copy them down carefully because you need to copy them down so that you can practise them effectively throughout the next week or so.

So, if you haven't got a pen or paper, pause the video and go and grab one for me now.

Okay, let's look at our spelling words for this week.

There are 10 spelling words and I've given you them in pairs of comparative and superlative adjectives.

And we will explain what each one means as we go through.

I'm going to do my turn, your turn.

So, simpler.

Simplest.

So, our adjective is simpler and simplest.

It's simple, the work was simple.

If I'm going to compare it to something else, I'd say the work was simpler than the work set yesterday.

Or if I'm going to compare it to more than one other thing, I would say, this is simplest work we've been set all week.

Curlier.

Curliest.

Now, think about curly.

Curly is an adjective, describes something twisted, so you might talk about someone who has curly hair.

I don't, I've got quite straight hair.

But some people have curly hair.

So, curly.

So, I might say, he has curly hair.

Or his hair is curlier than the other boy's hair.

Or he has the curliest hair in his whole class.

Now, the adjective curly ends in y.

So, that follows our rule, that you remove the y, add an i and then add either -er or -est.

Hungrier.

Hungriest.

So, that comes from the adjective hungry, again, ends in y.

So, we remove the y, add an i and then add our suffixes, either -er or -est.

Wetter.

Wettest.

Now, wet has got that short sound in it just before our last consonant in that word.

So, this follows the rule we have to double the consonant and add our suffixes, either -er or -est.

So, today, it is wet.

Today is wetter than it was yesterday.

Today is the wettest day for a whole week.

Sillier.

Silliest.

So, these come from the adjective silly.

Silly ends in a y, so we remove the y, add an i, and add either our -er or -est suffix.

So, he was silly.

He was sillier than the other boy.

He was the silliest boy in his class.

Okay, what I want you to do now, I want you to pause the video and I want you to make sure you've copied down all of these comparative and superlative adjectives really accurately, so that this week you can take them away, over the next week or so, and practise them.

Okay, pause the video and make sure you've copied them down correctly.

Okay, before we wrap up our lesson, I just want us to recap exactly what we've done, so we can appreciate the successful lesson that we've had.

So, firstly, we looked at some of that key vocabulary, we looked at suffixes, what an adjective is and then we really looked at what a comparative and a superlative adjective was.

Then we did our investigation about suffixes -er and -est.

And we've come up with four rules.

And you did some really great work doing that.

And then we set our spelling words, many of those words using the rules that we found today.

So, well done.

You've completed this lesson, which is brilliant! What I want you to do now, I want you to take those spelling words, and I want you to use your spelling practise strategies and do some practises over the next week or so, little and often, 10-15 minutes a day is a really effective and a beneficial way to practise.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed the lesson.

I really, really have myself.

And then I will see you hopefully again.

Goodbye.