Lesson video

Hi everyone, and welcome to today's lesson.

Today we are going to be using all of the research we've done so far in this unit to plan and write the introduction of our essay.

In today's lesson, you will be using your research and knowledge of this time period and history to plan and write the introduction of your essay.

Here are some key words we're going to use, purpose, introduction, general information.

Well done, the purpose is the aim of the text.

An introduction is the first paragraph of a nonfiction text that encourages the reader to read on.

General information is the most basic and necessary information.

Today we're going to be planning and writing the introduction of an essay about early Islamic civilization.

We're going to begin with planning the introduction, and then we'll move on to writing the introduction.

Essays often follow the same structure and layout, they begin with a title, which is written as a question or a statement.

They then have an introduction, the introduction is the first paragraph that states the argument and introduces the reasons to be explored.

Then the sections contain paragraphs of information related to the particular reasons that support the argument.

And finally, our conclusion is the last paragraph that summarises the information from the text, and restates the argument.

Today we're going to be planning and writing the introduction.

The purpose is the aim of the text.

The purpose of the introduction is to do all of these things, engage the reader and make them want to read on.

We also want to give them some general information about the topic.

We can use this visual to help us.

In the introduction, we want to keep our information general.

True or false, information in the introduction should be general? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done, the introduction should include general information.

Now, pause the video while you decide how to justify your answer.

Well done, the writer should only include general facts in the introduction, specific arguments will be laid out later in the essay.

The introduction is the first paragraph of a nonfiction text that encourages the reader to read on.

The introduction follows a clear structure.

We begin with an introductory sentence, general information, and a linking sentence.

The introductory sentence introduces what the essay is about.

General information gives the reader some necessary information about the topic.

And the linking sentence indicates the topics that will be explored.

Match each section of an introduction to its function.

Pause the video while you do that.

Great work everyone.

The introductory sentence indicates what the essay is about.

General information gives the reader some necessary information about the topic, and the linking sentence indicates the topics that will be explored.

The purpose of a plan is to prepare ourselves for writing.

If we give careful thought to the planning process, our writing outcomes will be more successful.

We can build on our ideas from our plan during the writing process.

When we plan, we use notes.

Notes are concise and they capture 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.

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

Well done, we have bullet points for notes and subject-specific vocabulary.

Before we plan the introduction, we must clearly understand what the essay title is asking us to do.

This is an essay title, and this is what we will be writing or using to write our essay throughout this unit.

Let's read it together, "Explain what the Abbasid dynasty in early Islamic civilization was, and why historians refer to it as a Golden Age." So this does not end with a question mark, that means it's not a question, it is a command, it's a statement that we need to respond to.

Explain, the command here is to explain something.

We need to explain what the Abbasid dynasty was.

This essay's title is broken into two parts.

Firstly, we need to explain the Abbasid dynasty.

And secondly, we need to give detail about what the Golden Age was.

So firstly, we need to explain the Abbasid dynasty, and secondly we need to explain what the Golden Age was.

We have to do two things with this essay title.

What two things is this essay title asking us to do? Pause the video while you decide.

Great work everyone.

Firstly, it's asking us to explain what the Abbasid dynasty was.

Secondly, it's asking us to explain the reasons why historians refer to this time as a Golden Age.

True or false, this essay is asking us to explain one thing, what the Abbasid dynasty was? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done, this is false.

Now, choose how to justify your answer.

Well done, the essay is asking for two things to be explained.

One, what the Abbasid dynasty was, and two, why it was described as a Golden Age.

Now, we've seen the essay title, let's review the structure of the introduction.

So we've got our introductory sentence, which introduces what the essay's about.

Our general information gives the reader some necessary information about the topic, and our linking sentence indicates the topics that will be explored.

We're going to use the same structure in our plan.

Now, it's time for your task.

Read the essay title again on the screen, and write bullet points for key words and phrases that you will use in your introductory sentence.

Use the question prompt on the screen to help you.

We might in our introductory sentence, explain when and where early Islamic civilization occurred.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

Great job everyone.

So from the 7th to the 13th century CE or 570 to 1258 CE, those are two ways we could express the time period of early Islamic civilization.

We could also say that Islam originated with Prophet Muhammad in Mecca Arabia.

So here I might explain when it occurred, and where it occurred.

Now, write bullet points for key words and phrases you would use in your general information sentences.

Use this question prompt on the screen to help you.

So what was happening in the Islamic Empire at the time? Pause the video while you complete your task.

Well done everyone.

Islamic Empire grew to rule almost 1/3 of the world's population, and it had had several leaders.

During the Umayyad rule, the Islamic Empire grew to its greatest size.

The Umayyads were overthrown by the Abbasids who then led the Islamic Empire into a Golden Age.

And finally, write bullet points for key words and phrases you will use in your linking sentence.

So how will you open your sentence, what sentence starter would you use? And which arguments will you explore in specific detail? Pause the video while you complete your task.

Great work everyone, I've gone with a couple of different potential starters for my sentence, so I might write, "This essay will explore, or investigate, or examine the key events of early Islamic civilization, and why the Abbasid rule was referred to as a Golden Age.

Brilliant work everyone.

That now brings us on to the end of the first part of our lesson.

Now, we're going to move on to writing our introduction.

When we write like historians, we always try to do these things.

We use academic subject-specific language, we use formal language choices, we write in the appropriate tense.

We use neutral language, we use fronted adverbials to establish coherence, and we check and improve our writing when we think we finished.

This is the success criteria that we will use to write today, let's read it together.

I have written an introductory sentence that explains what the essay is about.

I have included some general information about early Islamic civilization, and I have written a linking sentence that indicates which arguments will be explored in relation to this topic.

I have written a model, we are going to see how well it has met the success criteria.

Let's re-read our essay title together, "Explain what the Abbasid dynasty in early Islamic civilization was, and why historians refer to it as a Golden Age." I've got my success criteria down the side of my screen, and here is my model.

Let's read through the whole thing together, and then we can assess whether I've met my success criteria.

"Early Islamic civilization refers to the time period from 570 CE to 1258 CE.

Originating in Mecca, Arabia with the Prophet Muhammad, the religion of Islam grew, and with it, the Islamic Empire spread.

Under the reign of the Umayyad dynasty, the Islamic Empire ruled over almost 1/3 of the global population.

However, the Umayyads were overthrown by another dynasty called the Abbasids, who led the empire into a Golden Age.

This essay will explore key events in early Islamic civilization, and why Abbasid rule is regarded as a Golden Age." Now, let's assess whether I've met my success criteria.

Does my first sentence, my introductory sentence, clearly state what the essay is about? Let's read it.

"Early Islamic civilization refers to the time period from 570 CE to 1258 CE." It does, so I can tick off this part of my success criteria.

Now, have I included some general information about early Islamic civilization? Yes, I have, these are my general information sentences.

Let's read them together, "Originating in Mecca, Arabia with the prophet Mohammed, the religion of Islam grew and with it, the Islamic Empire spread.

Under the reign of the Umayyad dynasty, the Islamic Empire ruled over almost 1/3 of the global population.

However, the Umayyads were overthrown by another dynasty called the Abbasids, who led the empire into a Golden Age." I have included some general information about early Islamic civilization, so I can tick this off as well.

And finally, my linking sentence.

Does it sum up what the key sections of this essay will be about? So what are we going to be learning about? This essay will explore key events in early Islamic civilization, and why Abbasid rule is regarded as a Golden Age.

Yes, it does, so I can tick off this part of my success criteria.

Now, it's your turn.

Using your plan and your success criteria, write the introduction of your essay about early Islamic civilization.

Pause the video While you do that.

Well done everybody.

Take a moment now to read your introduction back, and check that it meets your success criteria.

Well done, here is an example of an introductory paragraph or an introduction.

Obviously this example is not going to be the exact same as your example that you have just written, but we can read through this example and if you see any words or phrases that you would like to magpie and use in your own writing, you can edit those in as well.

Let's begin by reading through this together.

"Explain what the Abbasid dynasty in early Islamic civilization was, and why historians refer to it as a Golden Age.

From the 7th to the 13th centuries CE, the Islamic Empire controlled vast stretches of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Early Islamic civilization began after the prophet Muhammad received his first revelation from God in 610 CE.

Muhammad began to preach that there is only one God, which sparked the birth of a new religion called Islam.

During the rule of the Umayyads, the Islamic Empire grew to its greatest size, but in 750 CE, they were overthrown by another family, the Abbasids.

Deeply influenced by the Koran's teaching on the importance of education, charity, and good government, the Abbasids moved early Islamic civilization into what historians call the Islamic Golden Age.

A Golden Age is defined as a period of great prosperity and achievement." If you would like to magpie any of the words or phrases from this model, you can do so now.

When you have finished, make sure to reread your writing, and check that you have met all of your success criteria.

When you've done those things, you are ready.

Great work, everyone.

That now brings us on to the end of our lesson, where today we have been planning and writing the introduction of an essay about early Islamic civilization.

Information in the introduction of an essay should be kept general.

When planning we should write a note form using bullet points.

When writing, we can build on the ideas in our plan.

We should use our plan and success criteria to guide us when writing.

I hope you're feeling really successful after you've written your introduction of your essay today, everybody.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing us apply our knowledge and research about this time period into the following sections of our essay.

Well done everyone.