Lesson video

Hello everyone, my name is Miss Butt.

And today I'm going to be teaching you some new vocabulary.

The vocabulary we'll be learning today are words to describe hot weather, but they can also be used in many different contexts.

The reason I've chosen these words for today's lesson is because I know that at the moment, you're studying a unit based on the film, the "Rabbit-Proof Fence," which is based on a true story of three girls and their journey across Australia.

Now, Australia, as we know is a very hot country, but we don't want to just keep referring to it as being hot.

We want lots of other ways to describe it.

So that's why today we're going to be learning these new words in the hope that they'll be really useful for your narrative writing.

I hope you enjoy the lesson.

Here's what we're going to be doing today.

First, I'm going to introduce some new vocabulary, one word at a time, and we'll be looking at pictures, which illustrate what each word means.

Then we're going to identify word pairs and synonyms for each word, which will help us to have a deeper understanding of what the words mean and how we can use them in many different contexts.

Finally, we're going to apply these words in sentences, and we're going to try to write sentences that will be useful for your writing on the "Rabbit-Proof Fence." Right towards the end of the lesson I am going to ask you to write your own sentence.

So you will need something to write on and something to write with.

Perhaps you could pause the video now to make sure that you've got the things you need, that you've cleared away anything that might distract you and that you're ready and focused to start your learning.

Let's get started.

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

I'm going to see 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.

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

For example, you could say happy Christmas or merry Christmas.

Happy and merry mean the same thing.

Whereas pairs are words that often appear together.

So if you had the adjective bright it's word pairs might be a sun and moon or a light 'cause they're words that are often described as being bright.

An adjective is a describing word.

Hot is a describing word.

So today we're going to be learning some synonyms of hot.

So there we'll be learning some adjectives today.

And nouns are people, places or things.

So let's start thinking about the idea of being hot.

I'd like you to think about these two questions.

Firstly, would you rather that be too hot or too cold? And secondly, is it is feeling hot, a pleasant or an unpleasant experience.

Pause the video and have to think about those two questions now.

Now it's tricky, isn't it? To answer these questions because feeling way too hot can be quite horrible feeling, but also if you're feeling really cold, it can be horrible.

There's obviously not a right or wrong answer to this question.

It's just your own opinion.

Feeling hot can be or feeling warm, I'd say it's definitely a pleasant experience, but when you feel too warm, so when you're starting to feel too hot, it can actually be quite unpleasant.

In this picture here we can see somebody feeling, I think unpleasantly hot.

And as these girls are journeying across the dry land, but that sun beating down on them there's very little shade.

The feeling that they would have in feeling hot was probably very negative one.

So let's take a look at our first hot word.

Before I reveal what the word is, we're going to look at this illustration.

Look closely at this picture and see if you can describe what's happening, how the character's feeling and how would you describe this type of heat? So pause the video and either have a think about that in your minds or you can describe it out loud.

So in this illustration, we can see that there's a character who literally feels almost well.

They have got the sun on their back, sort of weighing down on them.

And the sun in this looks quite menacing.

This word is oppressive, oppressive.

This is an adjective, meaning heavy, harsh, or overpowering like heat so strong you feel like it's crushing you.

So we could use this word oppressive to describe the heat, but because it means heavy, harsh, or overpowering, you could also use it to describe, for example, a leader could be oppressive.

We could also turn the word into an adverb, which describes a verb, oppressive lead.

So you might say the sun oppressively beat down on the dry land.

So we can see how versatile these words are and how we can use them in many different ways.

I'm going to read the words, these words to you now.

And as I read them, I'd like you to see if you can spot any synonyms of the word oppressive.

Remember a synonym is a word that means exactly or nearly the same thing.

Heat, ruler, atmosphere, silence, heavy, gloom, government and harsh.

Here's the word in a sentence.

The birds sheltered under the trees to avoid the oppressive heat.

Oppressive is an adjective and that means that the synonyms should also be adjectives.

I can spot two synonyms. I wonder if you can pause the video and tell me what they are.

So the synonyms are heavy and harsh.

Which means the rest of these words are word pairs, which I'm going to read to you now.

Oppressive heat, an oppressive ruler.

Now that's not the ruler that you would use to measure something.

It's a ruler as in somebody who might rule a country.

An oppressive atmosphere, an oppressive silence.

Well we might need to think about that.

So how could a silence feel oppressive.

Imagine being in a room where there was so many people, but it was so quiet it almost felt like the silence was weighing down on you, or crushing you.

Oppressive gloom and an oppressive government.

Again, picture what would an oppressive government be like? So could you now pause the video and read these word pairs aloud? Because when we learn new vocabulary, we can't just read it and then just expect we'll remember it forever.

We actually need to say it many times before it will stick in our minds.

So pause the video and read these word pairs now.

And as you read them, picture what you're reading.

Excellent, so before we look at our second word, just remind me, what does the word oppressive mean? Well done.

It means heavy, harsh or overpowering.

So what's happening in this picture? How would you describe this character? How do you think they're feeling and how do you know? Can you pause the video to have a think about that.

So this character again is looking extremely hot.

They flattened out onto the path and leading over that log.

I can see sweat is pouring down them, the tongue's hanging out, they look extremely tired and extremely hot.

I think it might be the heat that's making them feel this way.

This word is stifling, stifling.

Stifling is an adjective that means smothering or suffocating.

If you smother something in something, you cover it.

So if you had a chicken, a raw or roast chicken that you were going to roast, you might say smother it in butter.

So you would smear butter all over it.

So this means smothering or suffocating when the day is so hot, it makes you over sweat.

So again, this word means smothering or suffocating, which could describe the heat, but it could describe many other things like a smell might be smothering or suffocating.

The verb to stifle means to stop yourself from doing something.

So for example, in what situation might you need to stifle a laugh? Remember stifle means you need to stop yourself literally as if you're suffocating or smothering yourself from having a laugh.

So in what situations might you want to laugh, but you might need to stifle it? Perhaps if you were in a really big assembly with lots and lots of people, or if you were in a really big important meeting.

If you were like an adult and you wanted to laugh, you might have to stifle it.

You might also have to stifle a cough or stifle a sneeze.

So again, this can be used to describe the heat, but it can be used in many other contexts.

So let me read these words to you.

And as I read them, see if you can identify the synonyms for this word, stifling.

Suffocating, heat, atmosphere, silence, smothering, oppressive, smell, air, stench.

Here's the word in a sentence.

The silence in the room was so stifling that nobody dared to speak.

Can you pause the video and see if you can tell me which of these words are synonyms of stifling.

So the synonyms are suffocating, smothering and oppressive.

Which means the rest of these words are word pairs, which I'll read to you now.

Stifling heat, a stifling atmosphere.

Maybe if it was a really tense atmosphere, it might make you feel smothered or suffocated.

A stifling silence, like an oppressive silence.

A stifling smell, stifling air.

So perhaps if you had the windows haven't been opened for a really long time, and it was really stuffy in there and a stifling stench, which is another word for smell.

So again, can you read these word pairs now out loud and also picture what you're reading as you read them? Excellent, so before we look at our final illustration, what does stifling mean again? Well then it means smothering or suffocating.

Let's look as our final illustration.

What's happening in this picture? What story is this telling? Pause the video and how to think about that now.

This word is searing.

Searing.

Searing is an adjective meaning burning or scorching.

Like a day is so hot, you can fry bacon and eggs on the pavement.

Have you ever been in a situation where the sun has been so powerful and hot.

That it's heated up the ground, especially if it's a dark ground, that absorbs more heat like tarmac and you walk on it with bare feet and it feels like it's going to burn or scorch you.

Searing comes from the old English word sear, which means dry up.

So how is searing linked to the root meaning? If it means drying up? What do you think? So searing describes the kind of hot weather that might dry something up.

So let's take a look at these words.

As I read them to you, see if you can spot the synonyms. Sunshine, heat, flames, burning, scorching, pain, honesty, criticism, portrayal, and intense.

A portrayal is a depiction of someone or something in a work of art or literature.

So you might say that, "Oh it's a very nice portrayal of someone." Like they've portrayed them in a very positive light, or maybe they might portray them in a very negative light in a story or a piece of art, And criticism, if you criticise someone, you were pointing out their flaws or their faults.

You're kind of showing how maybe you were showing an element of disapproval.

So here's the word in a sentence.

Step by step, the ache in her leg grew into a searing pain.

So after these words, can you pause the video and see if you can tell me the three synonyms of searing? So the synonyms are burning, scorching and intense.

So it might be a burning pain or an intense pain.

That means the rest of these words are word pairs, which I'll read now.

Searing sunshine, searing heat, searing flames, searing pain, searing honesty, searing criticism, and a searing portrayal.

Could you now pause the video and have a think about what these words mean? Especially the last two searing criticism and a searing portrayal.

Use your knowledge of what a criticism and what a portrayal is.

And your knowledge of what searing means to try and picture what those words together mean and how you might use them in what context.

And read the word pairs aloud so that, that way, this word searing will stick in your memories.

Excellent, well done.

So now we have learnt all three words to describe hot weather, but as we can see, these words can be used in many different contexts.

Can you remember each word? Pause the video and tell me what each picture represents now.

So the first word we learnt was oppressive.

The second one is stifling and the third one is searing.

I'd now like you to come up with a definition for each word.

It doesn't need to be the exact same definition that I read you earlier.

It's important sometimes that we put things in own words and explain things ourselves.

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

How would you define them? So here are the definitions so you can see how close you are.

Oppressive means heavy, harsh, or overpowering.

Stifling means smothering or suffocating and searing means burning or scorching.

So now we're going to look at some sentences and I've written these sentences so that hopefully they could be taken straight from this lesson and put into your writing on the "Rabbit-Proof Fence," describing the journey.

So in the sentences, I'd like you to think about which word do you think fits best.

Now, oppressive, stifling, and searing have a similar meaning so you might find that all three of them could work, it's just about which one you think works the best.

So the first sentence is, while the trees drooped in the heat, they rustled in the wind.

So this heat is so powerful that it's made the trees droop.

Pause the video and decide which objective you'd like to put in a sentence.

Now, as I said, all three of the words could work here.

I've actually gone for oppressive, but that's not to say that I'm right and you're wrong.

All of those words could work.

Because we could say that the stifling heat almost like it's kind of suffocating the trees.

That might be a nice idea as well.

Here's the second sentence.

The desolate dry desert cracked in the heat as the sun continued to beat down relentlessly.

If something happens relentlessly, it means it keeps going on and on and on, it never stops.

So again, pause the video and see if you can choose one of these adjectives that works well in the sentence.

So we could have searing heat or we could have stifling heat, but we could also have oppressive heat.

So as I said, these words are similar so we can use them in similar contexts.

It's time for you to write your own sentence.

Now I'd like you to write a sentence that uses either the word oppressive, stifling, or searing, so that we're applying the words that we've just learned.

If you want to really push yourself, you could even try to write two or three sentences, and then you could write a sentence, which includes each word.

It can be tricky, just thinking of a sentence on the spot.

So try to picture that journey that the girls are making in Australia in that heat.

And here's some extra help if you'd like it.

So here's a sentence starter that you could use to start your sentence.

Beating relentlessly, and then you can finish that sentence.

Beating relentlessly as a non-finite clause because we've got a verb beat with an ING on it.

So it becomes unfinished or incomplete.

Beating relentlessly, we've got a comma to separate it from the main clause which you would then write next.

Here's another idea.

A lizard, which, mm Hmm.

So you could find and think of the main clause about what the lizard might be doing.

And a lizard run under a tree.

Perhaps that might be your very simple main clause.

But then with an embedded relative clause we're adding in extra relative information about the lizard.

So you could say something like a lizard, which was sheltering from the sun, run under a tree.

So we're embedding, we're putting that in that relative cause inside of the main clause and that's why it's got a comment either end of it, to separate it from the main clause.

And finally, here's another idea.

As the girls trudged on,.

So that might be your subordinating clause starter and then you would write your main clause, which again is separated by that comma.

As the girls trudged on, what was the heat doing? What was the sun doing? What was the earth doing? So you don't have to use any of these sentence starters that are there to use if you would like them to.

Make sure that you say your sentence out loud before you write it down.

And once you've written it, go back and read and check for things like missing punctuation, missing words, where you could even just see if you could edit or improve your sentence.

Good luck everyone.

Okay, well done.

So we have now learned three different words to describe the heat.

And I really hope that these are very useful when you come to a narrative writing for the "Rabbit-Proof Fence." Thank you so much for watching and well done for working so hard.

I'll see you soon, everyone.

Bye.