Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to Lesson 9 of our literacy unit, all about the day the crayons quit, where we will be writing a persuasive letter.

My name is Ms. Bourke, and I am a teacher with the Oak Academy.

I'm really excited to be teaching you all about commands and rhetorical questions today.

If you don't know what they are, let's find out now.

Let's go through our agenda for today.

First, we will do a warmup.

Next, we will look at some commands, then we will look at rhetorical questions, and finally, you will complete a task.

In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or some paper, a pencil, and your brain for all the thinking you will do.

If you don't have an exercise book, some paper or a pencil, pause the video and go and get them now.

Good job.

It's time for our warmup.

I would like you to think of some synonyms for tired and sad to describe how these crayons are feeling.

Now, remember a synonym is a word that means the same thing.

So you're looking for different words that mean the same as these.

So you're going to see how many words you can come up with that mean tired, which is how the Red crayon is feeling, and see how many words you can come up with that means sad, which is how the Beige crayon is feeling.

You're going to need some thinking time first.

So after you pause the video, first, you need to think, then you can write.

Pause the video now.

Great job.

I bet you came up with lots and lots of great synonyms for tired and sad.

I had a go as well.

Let's look at mine.

These are my synonyms for sad.

I'm going to say it first and then you can say it after me.

Drained, fatigued, weary, worn-out, exhausted overworked.

Those words all mean tired or mean something similar to tired.

Next, we had sad.

These are my synonyms for sad.

My time first; downcast, upset, glum, miserable, deflated, downhearted.

Well done.

I wonder how many synonyms for tired and sad you came up with.

If you would like to make pie any of mine, and use them in your writing later, pause the video now and write down as many as you would like.

Okay.

Now we are going to look at some commands.

What do all these sentences have in common? Stop talking! Put that back! Go away! Give me a day off! What do all of these have in common? I'd like you to pause the video, think what do they have in common, and say it loud.

The thing that these sentences have in common is.

Pause the video now.

Okay.

I wonder if you spotted what they all have in common.

These are all commands.

My turn, I'm going to say it like that again.

Commands.

Your turn.

Good job.

We say it in a bossy voice.

Commands usually start with an imperative verb.

Commands tell or persuade the reader to do something.

So when we use them in our writing, we're trying to tell the reader to do something, like give me a day off, or persuade them to do that thing.

I wonder if you can find all the imperative verbs in these sentences.

Where do they go in our commands? Those imperative verbs? Pause the video, and see if you can find all the imperative verbs.

You can write them down.

Well done.

Let's see how you went.

The imperative verbs were: Stop, put, go and give.

They go at the beginning of our command.

Here, we've got the Red crayon's letter.

Let's read through it again quickly now.

Hey Duncan, it's me, Red crayon.

We need to talk.

You make me work harder than any of your other crayons.

All year long, I wear myself out colouring fire engines, apples, strawberries, and everything else that's red.

I even work on holidays.

I have to colour in all the Santas at Christmas and all the hearts on Valentine's day.

I need a rest.

Your overworked friend, Red crayon.

What command would the Red crayon gift Duncan? Maybe he'd say; "Stop using me so much." Or "Give me a break." I would like you to use one of these imperative verbs: Stop, start, give, or use, to write a command that the Red crayon would give Duncan.

Pause the video and do that now.

Good job.

I'm going to show you mine.

I've come up with a few.

I thought we could have; Stop using me so much! Give me a break! and Use me less! I'd like you to give yourself a tick, if you used an imperative verb at the beginning of your command, and maybe you used a full stop at the end of your sentence, but you could also have used an exclamation mark.

Maybe if you've used a full stop, you could change it to an exclamation mark now.

Okay.

Next we have the Purple crayon.

What do we think the Purple crayon-- What command would the Purple crayon give Duncan? Let's read through their letter.

Dear Duncan, all right, listen, I love that I'm your favourite crayon for grapes, dragons and wizards hats, but it makes me crazy that so much of my gorgeous colour goes outside the lines.

If you don't start colouring inside the lines soon, I'm going to completely lose it.

Your very neat friend, Purple crayon.

Again, I would like you to write a command that the Purple crayon might give Duncan, starting with one of these imperative verbs: Stop, start, give or use.

Pause the video now and write your command.

Great job.

I bet you came up with a really excellent command.

Here are the commands that I came up with: Stop wasting me! Start colouring inside the lines! And the last one, which I think is a bit rude, Use your eyes! The Purple crayon is very cross that Duncan keeps colouring outside the line.

Again, give yourself a tick for the imperative verb that you used, and give yourself a tick for your exclamation mark or your full stop at the end of your sentence.

Now, we're going to look at some rhetorical questions.

What do you notice about these questions? Here I have parts of my letter from Mr. Fox.

He sleeps in my garden.

It says; Dear Ms Bourke, do you think I liked being woken up from my naps? Do you think I have nothing better to do all day than find new places to sleep.

What do you notice about these questions? Is there any interesting language? Are they questions that you think the Fox would like an answer to? Pause the video and think, what do you notice about these questions? You can say aloud, I noticed that.

Good job.

I wonder what you noticed.

I think the Fox doesn't really want me to answer these questions.

And that's because these are examples of rhetorical questions.

Your turn.

Rhetorical questions are asked to the reader, but they're not supposed to be answered.

So Mr. Fox has asked me those questions, but they don't really want an answer from me.

Rhetorical questions are used to get the reader to think about an argument being made, or to persuade a reader, to think about the writer's point of view.

So Mr. Fox is telling me information in those questions.

He was saying that he has to move, to find a new place to sleep all the time, and that he doesn't like being woken up from his naps.

Here are some rhetorical questions that I thought the Red crayon might ask.

How would you like it if you had to work every holiday? Don't you think I deserve a break? Wouldn't you be tired if you had to colour in all day every day? what would you do if you never had a chance to rest? So in these questions, the Red crayon isn't expecting Duncan to answer them.

The Red crayon is showing Duncan and persuading Duncan.

So showing Duncan how they feel, and what they think, and trying to persuade Duncan to be on their side by relating it to them.

How would you like it if you had to work every holiday? That makes Duncan think, "Oh, I didn't think I would like to work every holiday." And that might persuade him to give the Red crayon a break.

Here we have Beige crayon feeling very upset and deflated.

Let's read Beige crayon letter again.

Dear Duncan, I'm tired of being called light brown or Dark tan because I am neither.

I am Beige and I am proud.

I'm also tired of being second placed in Mr. Brown crayon.

It's not fair that Brown gets all the bears, ponies and puppies, while the only things I get are turkey dinners if I'm lucky, and wheat.

And let's be honest, when was the last time you saw a kid excited about colouring wheat? Your Beige friend, Beige crayon.

What rhetorical question would the Beige crayon ask Duncan? We need to think about how the Beige crayon is feeling.

And the Beige crayon will want to put Duncan in their shoes to get Duncan to be on their side.

So what question could the Beige crayon ask Duncan? Maybe, how would you like it if you were never chosen for anything? Don't you think I'd be great at colouring in a puppy? Have a think, and then write down the rhetorical question that you think Beige crayon might ask Duncan.

Pause the video now.

Really good job.

I hope at the end of your question, you remembered your question mark.

Here are some of my ideas.

I thought the Beige crayon might say to Duncan, how would you like it if you were never chosen first for anything? And, what would you do if you only got to colour in boring turkeys and wheat? Those are my two persuasive rhetorical questions that I think the Beige crayon might ask Duncan.

You can give yourself a tick for a capital letter, you can give yourself a tick if you used one of my rhetorical question sentence status.

How would you.

Don't you think.

Wouldn't you.

What would you do.

And you can give yourself a tick if you used a question mark at the end of your question.

Really well done.

Now let's think about the Peach crayon.

Let's read the Peach crayon's letter again.

Hey Duncan, it's me, Peach crayon.

Why did you peel off my paper wrapping? Now I'm naked and too embarrassed to leave the crayon box.

I don't even have any underwear.

How would you like to go to school naked? I need some clothes.

Help! Your naked friend, Peach crayon.

I can see that Peach crayon included a rhetorical question in their letter.

That Peach crayon asked Duncan, how would you like to go to school naked? That's really effective because that makes Duncan think, "I wouldn't like to go to school naked at all.

Oh, so maybe Pitch crayon doesn't like to be naked at school either." It makes Duncan see things from Peach crayon's perspective.

So what rhetorical question do you think the Peach crayon could ask Duncan? I'd like you to come up with a different one than it's written in the letter.

You can start with one of my rhetorical questions starters.

How would you.

Don't you think.

Wouldn't you.

or What would you do.

I'd like you to pause the video now and write your rhetorical question.

Excellent job.

I bet you came up with something really creative and brilliant.

My ideas were; how would you like it if you were humiliated in front of all your friends? Humiliated is another word for embarrassed.

And, what would you do if you were trapped inside a crayon box? Those are my two rhetorical questions.

I'd love you to read through yours now and check, does it have a capital letter? Does it have a question mark? Give yourself a tick if it has both of these things, and have you used one of my rhetorical questions sentence starters? You can give yourself a tick for that as well.

Good job.

You have been working so hard today.

Now, it is time for our task.

Before we start, I want you to think about what is your character upset about? The character that you came up with in an earlier lesson.

Remember, my board game is upset with me.

What is your character upset about? What do they want you to change? I would like you to pause the videos and answer these two questions aloud.

My character is upset about.

My character wants me to change.

Pause the video now.

Okay, good job.

My character is the board.

My board game that's upset with me for not using them enough.

So it says I'm upset because you've left me to rot on a dusty old shelf.

So that is why they are upset.

And what they want me to change is; I want you to play with me more.

Okay.

What rhetorical question do you think your object might ask? Thinking about what they are upset about.

My character is upset about being left on a shelf to collect dust.

So maybe, how would you like to be left on a shelf all by yourself to collect dust? That might be what my character asks.

What rhetorical question will your character ask? Pause the video and write the rhetorical question now for your character.

Okay.

Off you go.

Really well done.

I wonder what rhetorical question your character will ask you in their letter.

My character has said, how would you feel if you were abandoned on a shelf to collect dust? I have given myself three ticks there.

I have given myself a tick at the beginning for a capital letter for the start of my sentence.

Give yourself a tick if you've used a capital letter for the start of your sentence.

If you haven't, add one in now.

I have given myself a tick at the end of my sentence for my question mark.

Every question needs to finish in a question mark.

Give yourself a tick if you remembered your question mark, and if you didn't, add it in now.

And then I have given myself a tick for my rhetorical question starter; how would you.

Give yourself a tick if you used one of those as well.

Really good job.

We've just got one more challenge today.

And that is to write a command.

I have given you the imperative verbs there to help you.

Stop, start, give, and use.

You are going to write a command that your object might give you.

So remember, my board game wants me to play with them more.

That's what they want me to change.

Your command will be to do with what your character wants you to change.

So my board game might say, start using me more or just use me more.

If you would like to challenge yourself, there is a challenge box on the screen for you.

It says, add the joining conjunction "or" to your command to tell the reader what will happen if they don't listen to you.

So for example, the Red crayon might say, give me a break from colouring or I will quit.

I would like you to pause the video and write your command now.

Great job.

Here is my command.

Start playing with me again! You can see I've given myself a tick at the beginning, for using my imperative verb with a tall capital letter.

If you've started your command with an imperative verb and a tall capital letter, give yourself a tick now.

And then I've give myself a tick at the end of the sentence, for using my exclamation mark.

If you used a full stop, that's fine, but you might want to use an exclamation mark instead next time.

Now, if you chose to do my challenge and use the joining conjunction "or" your sentence might look a little bit something like this; Start playing with me again or I will run away! So again, a tick for your capital letter and your imperative verb, a tick for using the joining conjunction "or," and a tick for your exclamation mark or full stop at the end of your sentence.

Well done.

You have worked so hard today and you have done lots of writing.

You have completed a warmup.

We have looked at commands.

We have looked at rhetorical questions and you have completed your task.

Excellent job.

Congratulations.

You have completed your lesson.

If you would like to, please share your work with a parents or carer.