Lesson video

Hello everyone.

My name's Ms Butt.

And today I'm going to be teaching you some new vocabulary for you to use in your reports on Charles Darwin.

Now, Charles Darwin was a fascinating scientist.

And today I'm going to be teaching you some words to describe him.

So that, instead of always in your report saying Charles Darwin, this and Charles Darwin that you can instead say this, mmh scientist or this mmh naturalist.

And so hopefully this will just make your report sound a little bit more impressive.

I hope you enjoy the lesson.

Here's what we're going to do today.

First, I'm going to introduce the new vocabulary one word at a time.

We'll be looking at some missing words with pictures to help illustrate what the words mean.

Then we're going to identify word pairs and synonyms, and that's going to help us to have a deeper understanding of what these words mean and different contexts in which we can use them.

Finally, we're going to apply these words and sentences, and we'll have a go at practising some sentences that would be useful when you come to write all about Charles Darwin.

At the very end of the lesson, I'm going to ask you to write a sentence or two, so you will need a piece of paper or notepad and a pencil or a pen, something to write with.

Perhaps you could pause the video now to get the things that you need and to make sure that you're ready and focused to start your learning.

Okay, let's get started.

Here's some key vocabulary we'll be using in today's lesson.

I'm going to say each word and then I'd like you to repeat it back to me just so I know we're all engaged.

Synonym, word pair, adjective, noun.

Now let's go through what those words mean.

A synonym is a word that means exactly or nearly the same as another word.

Like the words merry and happy.

Word pairs are words that often pair together.

So for example, if we took the adjective bright it's word pairs might be a sun, a moon or a light because they'll often be paired up with that word bright.

An adjective is a describing word.

And often they describe nouns, which are people, places or things.

Okay, so let's start thinking about Charles Darwin and about scientists in general.

What character traits do you think you would need to be a successful scientist? Can you pause the video and think about that now? Okay, well I'm sure you've probably thought of lots of character traits you would need to be a successful scientist, but one of them is that you'd have to work extremely hard.

So that's why today we're going be learning some trying hard words.

Have a look at this illustration.

What is this picture telling us? What story is it telling us? How would we describe this character? Can you pause the video and either have a think about it or describe it out loud.

I can see that this character has got there eyes fixed on that burger.

I have a feeling that perhaps they've made some kind of deal with themselves that they can only eat that burger, once they have completed their running challenge on their running machine.

Lets find out what this word is.

Determined, determined.

Determined is an adjective, meaning driven or single-minded, working extra hard to get what you want.

Determined comes from the old French determiner, meaning to settle or decide.

Does this help us to understand the word determined? Have a little think about that? Well, if you are determined, it means you've made a firm decision, you've settled or decided on something.

For example, in this image, he has decided that he's only going to eat that burger once he's finished his running.

And so you can sort of see how the word has changed over time, but it still holds on some of the same meaning from the old French meaning.

So I'm going to read some words to you now, and I'd like you to see if you can identify the synonyms of determined.

Remember synonyms are words that mean the same thing.

Now, as determined is an adjective the synonyms should therefore also be adjectives.

The rest of the words will be word pairs, which we'll look at a little bit in more detail, each one.

Effort, expression, purposeful, enemy, thief, opponent, that's someone that you might play against or fight against, voice, dead set on and driven.

Here's the word in a sentence.

Initially, Darwin was determined to study to be a clergyman, but his father wanted him to be a doctor.

Could you pause the video and see if you can identify the synonyms of determined? So the synonyms are purposeful, dead set on and driven, which means the rest of these words are word pairs, which I'm going to read to you now.

A determined effort, determined expression, this character is definitely got a determined expression, a determined enemy, a determined thief, a determined opponent and a determined voice.

It's really important when we try to learn new vocabulary that we say the words out loud.

So could you perhaps pause the video now and say these word pairs out loud? And as you're saying them, picture what you're reading, for example, what would a determined thief be like, why would a thief be determined.

Off you go Well done.

So before we move on to our second word very quickly, can you remind me what does determined mean? Well done, driven or single-minded.

Let's look at our second illustration.

So what's happening in this picture? How would we describe this character? Pause the video and have a think about that now.

I've noticed that in this picture, it says desire drive.

And it seems like this character has got some big desires, things that they want.

It looks like they want to be very successful.

Perhaps they're going to their first day at a job and they're aiming to get to the top.

This word is ambitious.

Ambitious.

Ambitious is also an adjective.

It means determined to achieve big things like someone who has plans to rule the world.

How does the word class change if we change the word ambitious to ambition.

So for example, the ambitious scientist always knew they wanted to write a book or you have to have ambition if you want to become a scientist.

What word class is that word ambition? You might want to pause the video or just have a quick think.

So ambitious is actually a noun.

It's an abstract noun, it's not something that we, it's a thing, it's not something that we can hold in our hand.

And it means a strong desire to do or achieve something.

So somebody might say to you, you must have ambition, or you could say you must be ambitious.

So again, I'm going to read some words to you.

And as I read them, I'd like you to see if you can identify the synonyms of ambitious.

Banker, vision, attempt, determined, student, driven, project, aspiring, plan, spirit.

Here's the word in a sentence.

Darwin had the ambitious plan to publish a book on his findings from the Galapagos islands.

So he began filling his notebooks with drawings and descriptions.

Could you pause the video and tell me which of these words you think are synonyms of ambitious? So the synonyms are determined, driven, and aspiring.

If you're aspiring, it means you're directing your hopes towards becoming a specific type of person.

For example, if you are an aspiring artist, it means that your hope is that you are going to become an artist.

Here are the word pairs.

An ambitious banker, ambitious vision.

So if you have a vision , it's like you've got something in your mind that you want to achieve.

So if it was an ambitious vision, how to think about what that might be.

Ambitious attempt, ambitious student, ambitious project, ambitious plan, and ambitious spirit.

Could you pause the video and read these word pairs out loud and again, as you read them, picture what it is you're reading.

Well done.

So before we look at our final word, just very quickly remind me what does ambitious mean? Well done.

It means determined to achieve big things.

I hope that you are all very ambitious.

Right, let's look at this final illustration.

So what's happening in this picture and how would we describe this character? Or how would we describe these two characters? Off you go.

This word is dedicated, dedicated.

If you're dedicated, it's an adjective, meaning you're keen or devoted.

When you care about something so much, nothing can stop you.

In this case, in this picture, this person, his character is so dedicated that they've walked off a cliff without even noticing, because they're so dedicated to what they're talking about.

And the other little character who's following on looks so dedicated to his job that he's following her, despite walking off a cliff to take notes of what she's saying.

So what do you think it means if you dedicate a book or a song to someone? You might notice in books you're reading that quite often on the front page, it will say, or on the inside page, it will say I'm dedicated to my daughter Florence or something like that.

So what do you think it means if you dedicate a book to someone.

You might want to pause the video to have a think about that.

Well, if you dedicate a book to someone, it means that you're devoting that book.

It's almost like saying this book is for you.

So again, I'm going to read these words and as I read them, see if you can spot some synonyms of the word dedicated.

Devoted, follower, team, committed, staff, teacher, keen, employee, space, volunteer.

Here's the word in a sentence.

From a young age, the young naturalist was dedicated to exploring and collecting things such as shells, seals, coins, and minerals.

Could you please pause the video and see if you can tell me which of these words are synonyms? Okay, so the synonyms are devoted, committed and keen, which means the rest of the words are word pairs, which I'll read to you now.

A dedicated follower, a dedicated team, perhaps if you were in a dedicated football team, you would practise every day no matter what, dedicated staff, a dedicated volunteer, a dedicated teacher, dedicated employee, and a dedicated space.

If you have a dedicated space, it means that that space is devoted or committed to someone.

Quite often, if you go to something like a dentist or a doctor, there will be a dedicated space for the doctor or for the dentist so that they know that no matter what happens, there will always be a parking space for them.

So could you now read these word pairs out loud and again, as you read them, picture what it is that you're reading.

Okay, well done.

So now we've learned three new words and hopefully these will be useful when you describe Charles Darwin.

Can you remember what each word is? Pause the video and see if you can tell me.

So the first word was determined.

The second word was ambitious and the final word was dedicated.

I'd now like you to come up with your own definition for each word, because it's really important that we try to explain things using our own words.

So imagine you're talking to someone who's never heard what these words are and they have no clue what they mean.

How would you define them? Pause the video and do that now.

Okay, well done.

So let's just see how you got on.

Determined means driven or single-minded.

Ambitious means determined to achieve big things and dedicated means keen or devoted.

So let's take a look now at some sentences and see how we could fit these words into our sentences.

I'll read it to you while you think about which of these adjectives you think fits best.

Whilst in the Galapagos, this mmh explora spent five weeks collecting all types of specimens.

Pause the video and decide which adjective you would put in this sentence.

Okay, so we could actually say this determined explorer, this ambitious explorer, or this dedicated explorer.

All of them could work 'cause they're all describing words to describe an explorer.

I've gone for dedicated, because I feel like if someone spent five weeks collecting specimens, they're very dedicated to that job or committed to that job.

Here's another sentence or a couple of sentences.

Charles found boarding school boring and dropped out when he was 16 years old.

His exasperated father wished his son was more mmh.

Little did he know that he would one day be one of history's most influential scientists.

Again, pause the video and decide which adjective you would put in this blank.

Okay, so if his father is exasperated, it's when you're really frustrated.

So he must be have been frustrated when he perhaps knew his son had so much potential and yet he dropped out of school.

So perhaps his father wished he was more ambitious and of course little did he know how he would go on to achieve such great things.

So now it's your turn to write a sentence.

I'd like you to write a sentence and either include the word determined, ambitious, or dedicated.

If you want to, you could even write three sentences and try and include each word in each sentence.

So, it can be tricky just thinking of a sentence off the spot.

So try to think about a fact that you know about Charles Darwin, and then think about how you could tie one of these words in.

Here are a couple of ideas as well if you want to make your sentence really ambitious, then here are a couple of sentence stems. So you could use parenthesis, which I think you've looked at in a previous lesson.

Parenthesis, we can include with commas or with dashes.

So you could pick a main clause like Charles Darwin wanted to train to become a member of clergyman.

And then you could include, you could add a parenthesis with commas round it.

Charles Darwin, who had always been interested in mmh, wants to train to become a member of clergyman.

Or you could say Charles Darwin, who had great ambitions, travelled many places and collected various specimens.

So it's a way of adding relative information about Charles Darwin, sneaking some extra information into that sentence.

And the important thing with parenthesis is that we have a comma or a dash either side, just like, how if you include parenthesis with brackets, you would have to have a bracket at the beginning and at the end of your parenthesis.

So there are a couple of sentence stems that you could use if you wanted to, but it's completely up to you.

So I'd like you to pause the video now and have a go at writing your own sentence or sentences.

And remember the really important thing is, is that you're trying to apply these new words that we've learned.

Good luck.

Okay, well done.

I hope that you've enjoyed today's lesson and I hope you've enjoyed expanding your vocabulary.

I'm pretty sure that these words are going to come in very useful when you write your reports all about Charles Darwin.

If you feel really proud of your sentences, which I hope you are, then you can ask a parent or carer take a photo of them and you could upload them on Twitter so that we can all celebrate your brilliant work.

Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you soon.

Bye everyone.