Lesson video

Hello, my name is Miss Vincent, and I'm going to be teaching you today.

We're going to be looking at the opening of the film version of "How to Train Your Dragon".

This film is based on a book by the author and illustrator Cressida Cowell.

Today we're going to look at the opening really closely to think about precise verbs and adverbs that can describe the action that we can see happening.

Right, let's get started.

Let's have a look at today's agenda.

We're going to start the lesson with a writing warmup about word class, then we're going to move on to sequencing and retelling the opening of a story.

Sequencing means putting in an order, and retelling just means retelling the stories or telling the story in our own words.

After that, we're going to move on to think about our adverb choices and making them precise, and then finally using images from the opening, we're going to have a go at coming up with our own verbs and adverbs.

For this lesson, you will need an exercise book or a piece of paper, you will need a pencil or a pen, and you'll need your brain switched on and your thinking caps on ready to do lots of excellent learning.

So if you need to go and get anything, please pause the video now and go and get what you need.

And when you press play, we can start the lesson.

Off you go.

Okay, great.

Hopefully we are all set and ready to go.

Let's start with our writing warmup.

In today's writing warm up, we're going to think about the four different word classes.

We've got nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs.

We talked about this briefly in a previous lesson, but we're going to think in a little bit more detail about what each of these word classes means and what words fit inside each group.

So I'm going to teach you some rhymes or some little ways of remembering what the purpose of each type of word is and how to spot them.

So let's start with nouns.

We're going to do my turn, your turn.

So my turn first.

And noun is a PPT, a person, place or thing, your turn.

Good job, fantastic.

So a noun is a PPT, a person a place or thing.

And I can use that to help me spot nouns in sentences.

And also to think about whether something is a noun or not.

Next, we've got adjectives.

My turn, your turn.

An adjective describes a word, it tells you what it's like.

Fantastic.

Now adjectives describe words but they go really closely with nouns so they often describe nouns and they're really fantastic for giving extra detail about a noun.

So if we're thinking about the island of Berk being the noun so the island, we could add in an adjective.

The remote island, or the wild island, to give your reader a little bit more of a picture of what the island is like.

Now let's look at verbs.

My turn, your turn.

A verb is a doing or being word.

If you do it or you are it then the word is a verb.

It's quite long so let's do my turn, your turn in two parts.

The first part, a verb is a doing or being word.

If you do it or you are it then the word is a verb.

Fantastic.

So verbs are action words, like the dragon flew through the sky.

Flew is the verb cause it's the action, it's the doing word that the dragon is doing, or being words.

So the dragon is lonely.

Is is the being verb because it's telling us about its state of being or how it is.

So I am hungry.

Am is the being word, the being verb there.

And then finally we've got adverbs.

My turn, your turn.

An adverb describes a verb, it often ends in ly.

Fantastic.

Now, in the same way as adjectives are really good for describing nouns, adverbs are really, really good for describing verbs, and that's what we're going to focus on today.

But before we do that, let's see if you can put the name of the word class with the correct definition.

So I've got four sentences for you and you need to match the name of the word class to the correct sentence.

So you need to find the definition for a noun, the definition for an adverb, definition for a verb and the definition for an adjective.

So I'm going to read each one for you and then you can pause the video and have a go.

So the first one says, A hmm is a PPT, a person place or thing.

Second one says, an hmm describes a word, it tells us what it's like.

And when I make that noise, hmm, that's the space for you to put the correct word class in.

The third one, a hmm is a doing or a being word.

If you do it or you are it then the word is a hmm.

So you have to think which one that is, it comes up twice in that rhyme.

And then finally, a hmm describes a verb, it often ends in ly.

Okay, so pause the video and have a go, have a think about which word class fits with the correct definition.

Off you go.

Okay, welcome back.

Let's check if your ideas were correct.

So something that is a PPT is a noun.

Well done.

Something that describes a word and tells us what it's like is an adjective.

Fantastic.

Something that's a doing or being word is a verb.

Well done.

So that means that.

Last of all, something that describes a verb and often ends in ly is an adverb.

Fantastic job, well done.

In today's lesson, we're going to think really carefully about verbs and adverbs to describe the action in our opening scene.

Now we know that verbs are doing and being words and they go really closely with adverbs that describe them.

So that's what we're going to focus on today.

So let's have a think back to our opening scene.

If you haven't watched the previous lesson and you haven't seen the opening scene before, don't worry, we'll watch it again in this lesson.

I'd like you to have a go of putting these pictures in the correct order, in the order in which they happened in the opening scene of "How to Train Your Dragon." So in order to show the order, you can use the letter names to help you.

Look at the letter name for each picture and put them in the order that those events happen.

I'd like you to pause the video and have a go at doing that for me now.

Okay, fantastic.

So, we're going to watch the clip again.

And you can check your answers as you go.

And then we're going to check our answers all together, as well.

Let's watch to see.

This, is Berk.

It's twelve days North of hopeless, and a few degrees South of freezing to death.

It's located solidly on the meridian of misery.

My village.

In a word, sturdy.

And it's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new.

We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets.

The only problems are the pests.

You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes.

We have.

Dragons.

Let's check our answers.

The first one was b with the eerie mist floating just inches above the water.

The next one was d, with the island up ahead in the distance and the tall, looming watchtowers, guarding it in front.

Next came c, with the close up shot of the waves crashing against the base of one of the big statues.

Then came a, where we can see the sheep in the distance dotting the hill, like tiny little white dots.

And then came e, where we could see the sheep grazing.

And our opening does go on a little bit further, but we've stop there for now.

What I'd like you to do now is to have a go of retelling the opening to your hand.

It sounds a little bit funny, but it's just a way to get us practising the sentences that we might write afterwards.

So when we're retelling the opening, we don't just say one really simple sentence, we really think about the detail that we can see, and we have a go retelling it like we would write it.

Okay, so an eerie blanket of mist covered the water just inches above it.

In the distance, there were twinkling lights from the island to tall colossal statues guarded the island from intruders.

They had blazing fires inside their mouths.

Down below the mouths of the statues, waves crashed angrily against the base of the rock.

In the distance, white fluffy sheep doted the mountainside, grazing happily on the lush green grass.

They didn't know what was above them.

So they kept eating calmly and happy.

So that was my turn at telling the story with each picture.

So I'd like you to pause the video and just like I did, mine wasn't perfect, but just like I did, have a go at describing each picture as though you're telling a story.

Off you go.

Okay, fantastic, really good effort for giving it a go.

I know it seems a little bit strange sometimes to retell it to yourself, but I think it's a really good skill to practise telling our stories out loud.

Okay, so now we're going to think about precise adverbs.

When I talk about a word being precise, it means that it's the best possible choice of that word, in order to make your sentence as accurate as possible.

So in order for the picture in your readers mind to be as close to the picture that you have in your mind.

So, if we want to make an adverb, often we can do it by turning adjectives into adverbs, quite simply by adding ly at the end.

So we discussed the word ominous in a previous lesson as something that's a little bit scary, makes us feel a little bit worried.

So you might have the ominous mist, but you could talk about the mist moving in an ominous way by just adding ly and making the word ominously.

My turn, your turn.

Ominously.

Fantastic.

Just like mysterious can become mysteriously.

Fantastic.

Menacing which makes me think it's a little bit scary, a little bit threatening can become menacingly.

Fantastic.

Rapid, which means fast can become rapidly.

Slow can become slowly.

Can you guess what calm will become? Well done.

Calmly.

Good job.

However, beware, there are many exceptions to this rule.

So we can't use this rule for everything but it does work for lots and lots of adjectives turning them into adverbs.

For example, some exceptions might be that scary is turned to scarily, so the y needs to be changed to an i before we can add ly.

And same with heavy, heavy becomes heavily, so we just swap the y for a i before adding ly.

Okay, so that's a good rule.

It's our best bet, but it doesn't happen every single time we want to turn an adjective into an adverb.

So you'll have to think about what you know, if something sounds right or doesn't sound right.

We've already talked about verbs and adverbs going really closely together.

And that's not a surprise given that an adverb describes a verb.

So the job of an adverb is to add to a verb to give more detail.

But we can't just put any old verbs and adverbs together, they need to be a good match, and they need to make sense.

So for example, could you stand up for me? I'm going to give you some instructions and you need to follow them.

So could you stand up please.

Okay, now I'd like you to have a go at tiptoeing really loudly.

Off you go.

It's not so easy.

You can't tip toe loudly because tiptoeing is a really quiet action, so it's impossible.

Okay, now I'd like you to jump really slowly.

So when you're in the air slow down, off you go.

It doesn't work, you can't jump slowly.

Can you shout really quietly? It's not shouting if you're shouting quietly.

So you can see that it really matters that our adverb choices are precise.

So I'm going to show you a few examples.

And you can tell me, show me thumbs up or thumbs down if you think that my choices were precise or if you think that I need to have a go at being more precise.

So let's have a look at some examples.

The first one says the waves crash gently against the cliffs.

What do you think? Good choice or not good choice? Can you point to the one that you thought? It's not a good choice.

You can't crash gently.

Crash tells me that there's a lot of power coming behind it so it can't do it gently.

So a better choice might be, the waves crashed angrily against the cliffs.

The mist eerily blanketed the horizon.

If something is eerie, it's a little bit creepy.

So it's creepily blanketing it.

Do you think that's a good choice or it could be better and I need to try again? Can you point to your answer? Yeah, that works, that's a good choice.

The dragon swooped slowly down to the ground.

So swooping is an action that comes down.

Do you think you can swoop slowly? Or do you think that I need to be more precise? Can you point to your answer? I need to be more precise.

The dragon might swoop rapidly, which tells me that it's doing it quickly.

The Vikings ran calmly away from the dragons.

That's a good choice or not a good choice? Can you run calmly? Have a think.

Wrong, it's not a good choice.

You can't run calmly, but probably not when you're running away from dragons.

So perhaps something like the Vikings ran frantically away from the dragons would be more precise, to show that they're running all over the place and they don't know where they're going.

Now we're going to have a think about the scenes that we've seen in the opening.

And we're going to have a go at coming up with precise verbs and adverbs to describe those parts of the opening.

We're going to have a go at doing this for two parts in particular.

We're going to do at first using the image of the mist on the horizon.

And then we're going to do it for the image of the crashing waves and see how many different precise verbs and adverbs we can come up with.

How could you describe the mist using verbs and adverbs? Have a think to yourself, have a think about how it makes you feel, have a think about how it's moving, what it looks like.

I've got a little word bank of verbs that might help you if you're feeling a little bit stuck.

The first one my turn, your turn is blanketed.

Fantastic.

Covered.

Clung.

Floated.

Crept.

Great.

So if something blankets something it's like stretching a blanket over it and covering it completely.

Which means the same thing, it's a synonym for the word covered.

Clung is the past tense of hanging on to something so the mist might cling in the air, might have clung in the air.

Floated, means that it floated above the water, and crept perhaps you might think that it crept towards the island.

So I've given you some verbs if you're feeling a little bit stuck.

Do you think you could come up with some precise adverbs and write them down on your sheet to describe the mist pairing these verbs with an adverb? Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, well done.

Let me share with you some of the ideas that I came up with.

We might have said that it blanketed the horizon fully.

That it clung heavily just above the water.

That it covered the island completely.

Or that crept eerily towards the islands to show that it was moving.

Fantastic effort.

If you didn't have any of those and you'd like to copy some of those down because you like the sound of it and think you might use it in your writing, then please pause the video and do that now.

In a moment, I'm going to ask you to pause the video.

This is because I want you to write a sentence about the mist using precise verb and adverb choices, perhaps using the notes that you've just taken.

So if you're feeling confident, you can pause the video and you can start now.

If you're feeling a little bit unsure, I've got some sentence starters that you can use.

So I'm going to read you the sentence starters and then you can think about what you might put afterwards.

So the first one says, filling the horizon, or creeping towards the shore.

Finally, up ahead.

So those are sentence starters that you could describe where or what the mist is doing and then finish it off.

So pause the video and have a go at completing a sentence about the mist.

Off you go.

Okay, fantastic.

Let me show you how I completed each of those sentences.

Filling the horizon the mist completely blanketed the small island.

Creeping towards the shore, the mist hung eerily just above the water.

Up ahead, a silvery mist floated elegantly over the water.

So elegantly would be somebody who perhaps is a ballet dancer and holds themselves really gracefully.

And we could imagine the mist floating gracefully like a dancer as well.

Really good job for giving a sentence a go.

Let's move on to the waves next.

Do you think you could come up with some precise verbs and adverbs to describe what the waves are doing? I've got some verbs that might help you do this.

So the first one is my turn, your turn, crashed, broke, shattered, sprayed.

Fantastic.

Okay, so you can use those verbs if you're feeling a little bit stuck, but you need to come up with a precise adverb that could go together.

So I'd like you to pause the video, have a go at thinking of as many verbs and adverbs, precise verbs and adverbs to describe the crashing waves.

Off you go.

Okay, good job.

Let's check to see what I found.

And remember, if there's anything that you like the sound of that you think you might want to include in your writing, you can make a note of it on your sheet next to your ones that you came up with.

So the waves crashed angrily against the cliffs.

They shattered instantly on the rocks.

They sprayed water powerfully up towards the village, or they raced furiously towards the shoreline.

Good job.

Remember, if there's anything that you'd like for your writing, you can copy it down now.

Super.

Okay, so the last task that you need to complete today is to have a go writing at least two sentences about the waves.

Remember to include precise verbs and adverbs.

Just like last time, I've got some sentence starters for you there to start you thinking about where the waves are or what they're doing already.

So let me read those to you.

Racing towards the shore, or powerfully comma, or below the village comma.

So, have a go at completing those two sentences, at least two sentences, and then press play once you've finished, off you go.

Fantastic job, well done.

So let's look back at our agenda.

We did our writing warm up, we sequenced and we retold the story.

We thought about making our adverbs precise.

And finally, we identified some precise adverbs in our opening.

Really well done for all your hard work today.

You've worked really hard and you've got some fantastic verbs and adverbs that you'll be able to use when we come to writing in future lessons.

If you'd like to, please feel free to share your work with a parent or carer.

I'm sure they'd love to see it.

I will see you soon.

Thank you again for working so hard.

Bye.