Lesson video

Hi, everyone, and welcome to today's lesson.

Today we're going to be planning and writing the second section of our essay.

Today we're going to be using our research to plan and write the second section of an essay about early Islamic civilization.

Here are some key words we're going to use.

Cohesive devices.

Adverbial complex sentence.

Non-finite complex sentence.

Parenthesis.

Brackets.

Cohesive devices are linguistic structures that can enhance text flow.

An adverbial complex sentence includes a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause.

A non-finite complex sentence includes a main clause and a non-finite subordinate clause.

Parenthesis is extra information that can be added or removed from a sentence and it still makes sense.

Brackets are punctuation marks that can be used to add additional information to a sentence.

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

We're going to be beginning with planning section two, then we're going to move on to writing it.

Essays often follow the same structure and layout.

They begin with a title.

This can be framed as an essay question or a statement.

Then we have the introduction.

This is the first paragraph that states the argument and introduces the reasons to be explored.

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

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

So far in our unit, we have written our introduction and our section one, which was all about the Abbasid Dynasty in early Islamic civilization.

Today we're going to be planning and writing section two.

This is all going to be about the Islamic Golden Age.

This is the focus of our lesson today.

The purpose is the aim of the text and the purpose of section two is to do all of these.

To engage the reader and to give the reader specific information about the Islamic Golden Age.

In the sections of our essays, we want to make sure our writing is specific and detailed.

The paragraph in this section gives the reader specific information about the Islamic Golden Age.

The paragraph follows a clear structure.

We have an introductory sentence, explanatory sentences, and a linking sentence.

The introductory sentence introduces what this paragraph will be about.

Explanatory sentences give the reader specific information which explains the point in further detail and the linking sentence links on to the next section.

Match each part of the section paragraph to its function.

Pause the video while you complete the task.

Well done.

An introductory sentence introduces the reader to what this paragraph will be about.

Explanatory sentences give the reader specific information, which explains the point in further detail and the linking sentence links on to the next section.

Let's review what we've learned about the golden age of early Islamic civilization.

In 750 CE, the Umayyad Caliphate was overthrown by the Abbasids.

This period of Abbasid rule became known as the Islamic Golden Age.

New dynasties often built new capital cities to signal a fresh start.

So Caliph Al-Mansur ordered the construction of a new capital city.

The new capital city was built on the banks of the river Tigris on the site of a small village called Baghdad.

We can see the location of Baghdad here in the country of Iraq.

In 762 CE, the construction of Baghdad began.

It was completed four years later in 766 CE.

It had been built by thousands of architects, labourers, and engineers from all around the world.

The city of Baghdad had four key pillars.

Defence, community, religion, and government.

Defence referred to the fact that it was difficult to penetrate and it kept in its inhabitants safe from external threat.

For example, the city of Baghdad had high walls and a moat surrounding it.

Community meant that this was a welcoming city.

Scholars and academics from all around the world were welcomed to Baghdad to share in their learning.

Religion, the city of Baghdad was built in a circular shape to represent heaven and earth.

Also, the Great Mosque was a central feature of the city.

And finally, government.

This was central to the city because the Abbasids believed that good governance was a key factor in effective leadership.

Baghdad was designed in a circle to reflect the astronomy of the sky and to symbolise the heavens.

In the centre of the city was the Great Mosque and it was surrounded by walls and a moat.

Here is how this city was representative of its four pillars.

Baghdad had a population of one million.

This made it the largest city in the world at the time.

Baghdad quickly established itself as a centre for learning and trade.

The city's location meant it had a good connections to the east and west.

As a result, it became a centre for merchants who wanted to benefit from this.

The city's population grew and this led to the development of a number of schools.

The most significant school in Baghdad was the House of Wisdom.

It acted as a library, a translation centre, and a school.

It brought together scholars from many countries.

Language ideas and cultures were shared.

This led to Baghdad becoming a hugely significant city by 900 CE.

True or false, Baghdad was designed in a square shape.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done, this is false.

Now, choose how to justify your answer.

Pause the video while you decide.

Well done.

Baghdad was designed in a circle shape to reflect the astronomy of the sky and to symbolise heaven.

Baghdad was also a hub of new inventions.

Ismail al-Jazari became one of the greatest inventors in the Islamic world.

He wrote a book in 1206 CE, which is titled in English as the book of knowledge of mechanical devices.

In this book, al-Jazari described and drew 50 inventions including designs for clocks, water pumps, and self-operating machines.

Baghdad became a great centre for astrology.

Astrology is the study of the movements of the planets, the sun, the moon, and stars with the belief that these can have an influence on people's lives.

Islamic astrologers made huge breakthroughs in our understanding of the movement of planets.

The world's first modern style observatory, the Shammasiyah, was built in Baghdad in 828 CE.

In the observatory, measurements were made of the movements of the sun, moon, and planets and detailed maps of the stars were drawn.

In 830 CE, a group of Baghdad astrologers worked out the circumference of the earth.

True or false, Baghdad became an important centre of astrology.

Pause the video while you decide.

Great work, this is true.

Now decide how to justify your answer.

Well done.

Islamic astrologers in Baghdad made huge breakthroughs in our understanding of the planets.

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.

Now it's time for your task.

Use your knowledge of the golden age of early Islamic civilization to record notes and subject-specific vocabulary in your plan.

The first part of your plan is all about Baghdad's four pillars and design.

Then note down on your plan why Baghdad became a centre for learning.

This could be a great opportunity to conduct some additional research if you would like to deepen your understanding of Baghdad's structure and design.

When we come to writing, the first section is going to be all about paragraph one, and the second section will form paragraph two.

So although this forms one section of our essay, this section is split into two paragraphs.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

Great work, everyone.

Here are some ideas that I jotted down in my plan.

They might be similar to some of the ideas you've got in your plan.

If you spot an idea in my plan that you would like to use, you can magpie it and add it to your plan now as we read through.

Let's read these together.

The Abbasid Caliphate built new cities, built a new city to symbolise a new era.

Baghdad was built by River Tigress, a popular trade route.

Defence, government, religion, and community were the four pillars which summarise the intent and design of Baghdad.

The city's construction was completed in 766 CE.

A population of one million, the largest city in the world at the time.

You'll notice here that I've not written in full sentences, but I've used bullet points.

Here's the notes I've recorded for my second paragraph, why Baghdad became a centre for learning.

It was situated on popular trade route and featured multiple schools including the House of Wisdom.

This encouraged multicultural scholarly community.

There was a focus on translation to Arabic, which ensured key texts and knowledge shared with the Islamic academic community.

And finally, the invention and study of astrology encouraged, the Shammasiyah Observatory was the first modern style observatory ever built.

Pause the video now while you add any further ideas to your plan before we move on.

Great work, everyone.

Great work, everyone.

Now that we have planned section two, we're going to move on to writing it.

When writing about the section of our essay, we need to consider text cohesion.

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

We can use a range of cohesive devices to improve our text cohesion.

Fronted adverbials, subject-specific vocabulary, relative complex sentences, adverbial complex sentences, non-finite complex sentences, parenthesis demarcated using brackets.

Well done.

We've used fronted adverbials, subject-specific vocabulary, and relative complex sentences in previous sections of our essay.

Match the cohesive devices to their definitions.

Great work, everyone.

A fronted adverbial is a sentence starter followed by a comma.

Subject-specific vocabulary is words and phrases associated with a topic, and a relative complex sentence is a sentence formed of a main clause and a relative subordinate clause.

Now that we have recapped these cohesive devices, we are now going to focus on the others.

These are gonna gonna be the focus of our lesson today.

Adverbial complex sentences are sentences that include a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause.

Let's read this sentence together.

Because of the construction of a series of schools in Baghdad, the city became a centre for learning in the region and the wider world.

The adverbial subordinate clause begins with a subordinating conjunction.

This forms an adverbial complex sentence.

Other subordinating conjunctions that are appropriate for an essay include although, because, after, before.

Well done.

Non-finite complex sentences are sentences that include a main clause and a non-finite subordinate clause.

Let's read this one together.

Featuring the House of Wisdom and many other schools, Baghdad and enticed academics from around the world to live and study in the city.

Here we have got a non-finite subordinate clause, which begins with a progressive tense verb.

We know this because it ends with the -ing suffix.

This forms a non-finite complex sentence.

Match the complex sentence types to their definitions.

Pause the video while you do that.

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

An adverbial complex sentence is a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause.

And a non-finite complex sentence is a sentence formed of a main clause and a non-finite subordinate clause.

Parenthesis is additional information.

It can be removed from a sentence and the sentence will still make sense.

Brackets can be used for parenthesis in nonfiction texts.

Let's read this sentence together.

The House of Wisdom was the most significant school in Baghdad.

We could add extra information about the House of Wisdom.

For example, that it featured a library and a translation centre.

Let's read the whole thing together.

The House of Wisdom featuring a library and translation centre was the most significant school in Baghdad.

This is great news that we've included this parenthesis, but it all runs together as one big sentence and it's a bit confusing for the reader to know where the parenthesis begins and ends.

This is why we need to demarcate parenthesis using brackets.

Which of these sentences uses for parenthesis correctly? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you spotted that the correct sentence was B.

Known as the city of peace was parenthesis or additional information about Baghdad, so it needed to be demarcated using brackets.

Now, we're gonna move on to writing our section two.

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

We plan and say each sentence before we write it.

We use punctuation where we know the rules.

We showcase each sentence type we know.

We write letters neatly on the line in joined handwriting.

We use spelling strategies to spell words accurately.

We check and improve our writing when we think we have finished.

This is the success criteria we're going to use today.

Let's read it together.

I have used parenthesis within brackets to share facts.

I have used relevant subject-specific vocabulary.

I have used all three types of complex sentence.

I have used fronted adverbials to enhance text cohesion.

Let's take a moment to review the planning format we use for section two.

So remember, our section two is split into two paragraphs.

Paragraph one will be all about Baghdad's four pillars and design, and paragraph two will be all about why Baghdad became a centre for learning.

Take a moment to reread your first paragraph section.

Well done.

Now, take a moment to reread your second paragraph section to refresh your memory.

Great work.

Now, using your success criteria and your plan to guide you, draught your first paragraph, Pause the video while you complete your task.

Well done, everyone.

Take a moment to think.

Did you use your success criteria to help you and did you use your plan? Here's an example of a first paragraph.

Let's read it through together.

The four pillars of defence, community, religion and government were crucial in the design of the city of Baghdad.

The Abbasid Caliphate built a new city to symbolise a new era, choosing the banks of the River Tigris, to benefit from its popular trade route.

Significantly, the concept of defence was honoured by making the city difficult to penetrate with thick walls.

With community and religion in mind, the city was designed in a circular shape so that it was both welcoming to all and symbolic of the heavens and earth.

Additionally, the main government buildings were positioned in the centre of the city in order to signify the importance of proper governance.

The city's construction was completed in 766 CE with a population of one million.

It was the largest city in the world at that time.

Take a moment to reread your first paragraph and check which success criteria you have met.

Now that we've planned and written paragraph one, we're going to move on to paragraph two.

Using your success criteria and plan to guide you, draught the second paragraph of your second section.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

Great work, everyone.

Did you use your success criteria to help you and did you use your plan? Here's an example of a second paragraph for the second section.

Baghdad became a leading centre for learning during the Islamic Golden Age because the Abbasids encouraged scholarship.

In addition to this, the city's location, which was on popular trade routes, promoted the exchange of knowledge.

The translation movement also played a significant role by translating important texts into Arabic.

Furthermore, institutions such as the House of Wisdom, a school, library, and translation centre provided a place for scholars to research and teach various subjects.

This combination of factors made Baghdad a hub for intellectual activity and innovation during that time.

Throughout the section two, I have met the following success criteria.

I've used parenthesis within brackets to share facts.

I've also used relevant subject-specific vocabulary.

I've used all three types of complex sentence, and I've used fronted adverbials to enhance text cohesion.

Take a moment to reread all of your section two and check that you have met all of your success criteria.

Well done, everyone.

Great work, everyone.

Today we've been planning and writing the second section of an essay about early Islamic civilization.

Information in the sections of an essay should be specific and detailed.

When writing an essay, we should draw upon research to ensure that facts are accurate and information is credible.

Using a range of cohesive devices maintains the reader's interest and enables our writing to flow.

When writing, we should use plans and success criteria to guide us.

Great work today, everyone, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon.