Lesson video

Hello and welcome.

My name is Mr. Santhanam, and this is lesson four of 10.

Today, our learning objective is to vary sentence openers.

The reason why we want to make sure we're varying our sentence openers is to make sure that our writing is varied and different, and therefore it flows really well, and it sounds much more interesting and enjoyable, and clearer to listen to.

I want to start off this lesson by thinking about the little bird and the Eagle God from our story.

Now, in the story, the Eagle God is made fun of by the other gods because he hasn't done as much as they have.

And the little bird is made fun of by the other gods because she thinks that she can put out the great fire, even though she's very small.

In the end of the story, they both manage to overcome those doubts that other people have about them, and they manage to persevere and really, really overcome those difficulties.

Have you ever been doubted in your life? Has anyone ever made you feel like you can't do something, or that you're not good enough? I remember when I was a little boy, when I used to play football with the other boys, sometimes they would tell me that I wasn't very good.

But then, one day in PE, I managed to score two goals in one match.

That's one of my examples.

What's your example? Has anyone ever made you feel like you can't do something properly, and then you've proven them wrong? Hmm.

I'd love to hear about something that you managed to do, even though people doubted you, just like the little bird.

Okay, for this lesson, you are going to need an exercise book or some paper.

You will need a pencil or a pen.

And of course, you're going to need your brilliant brain.

Pause the video now while you go and get those things.

Ah, you was super speedy today.

Well done.

In today's lesson, we're going to start off by thinking about our grammar focus, and our grammar focus is going to take up the whole lesson say, so we're really going to think about how we can use different sentence starters and openers in our writing.

We're then going to review our new story map to help us with our sentence openers.

We'll then do a writing activity.

And then afterwards, we'll do some reflection and a self-assessment to help us think about our writing in more detail.

Okay, today's grammar focus is all about sentence starters and making sure that we're choosing different sentence openers when we're writing our sentences.

Have a look at this piece of writing that I've done.

I'm not too sure about it.

I don't think it's the best I can possibly do.

Have a look at it.

"As the Eagle God "saw a fire burning in the forest, "the Eagle God was shocked.

"The Eagle God saw the little bird "flying back and forth from the river.

"The Eagle God noticed she was trying to put out "the fire to save the forest.

"The Eagle God saw the other gods "laughing at the little bird.

"Eagle God felt sad for the little bird.

"The Eagle God wanted to help her." I don't know about you, but I feel a bit tired after reading that, and I also feel a little bit bored.

What do you think about my writing? What do you notice? Is there anything that you would do differently? I heard a lot of people saying that I use the phrase, "the Eagle God," lots of times.

And I used it at the beginning of my sentence a lot.

Hmm.

To make sure our writing is varied, we must use different sentence openers.

One way of doing this is by using fronted adverbials.

These tell the reader about where something is happening, how something is happening, or when something is happening.

So, three different ways that you can start your sentences.

When we're talking about where something happened, we are using a fronted adverbial of place.

When we are talking about how something happened, we're using an adverbial of manner.

And when we are talking about when something happened, we are using a fronted adverbial of time.

So, where, how, and when.

I'm going to test you now.

Hmm.

What kind of fronted adverbial would I use if I wanted to talk about when something was happening? That's right.

I would use a fronted adverbial of time.

When is something happening? What would I use if I wanted to talk about where something was happening? That's right, I would use a fronted adverbial of place.

And what about if I wanted to use a fronted adverbial of how something was happening? That's right.

I would use a fronted adverbial of manner.

How am I doing something? Have a look at some of these examples of fronted adverbials.

How could you use them in your writing? Hmm.

I will always put these parts of the sentences at the beginning, because that's why we call it a fronted adverbial.

It goes at the front.

I'm going to put the fronted adverbial.

I'm then going to put a comma, and then write the rest of my sentence.

Have a look to see how I do it, and then you can have a go.

Okay, my first fronted adverbial is going to be a fronted adverbial of time.

I think I'm going to choose the fronted adverbial of time.

Hmm, I know it needs to be something about when it happens, so I will choose, ah, "In the morning," that tells me when it happens.

I know that I need a comma straight afterwards.

"In the morning,' comma, "the sun "rose "over "the "trees." Full stop.

So here I've got my main clause, and here I've got my subordinate clause, my less important clause.

Most important clause, less important clause.

This part adds detail.

Now the next thing I'm going to do, I'm going to try a fronted adverbial of place.

And I'm going to write, hmm, I need it to be something about where something is happening.

Hmm.

I know.

"At the top "of the "tallest "tree," comma, that tells me where something is happening.

"At the top of the tallest tree, "a little "bird "lived." Brilliant.

My main clause, "A little bird lived.

." My subordinate clause, "at the top of the tallest tree." And I've got a comma in the middle to separate them.

Now finally, I'm going to do a fronted adverbial of manner.

Hmm.

Now, how might the bird do something? Ah, I know.

"Quickly," comma, to separate it from my main clause.

"Quickly, "the little "bird "flew "down "to "the "river." Full stop at the end.

I've got my main clause here: "The little bird flew down to the river." My subordinate clause here.

"Quickly," this is the less-important part of the sentence.

Notice how these parts of my sentence, they could be sentences on their own.

If I took away the first part of the sentence, the fronted adverbials, they could still be sentences on their own.

But these are detailed to the sentence.

And each time, I'm starting with a new sentence opener.

So, I'm not saying the same thing every single time.

And that's how I can use fronted adverbials.

I saw some amazing sentences written there.

We're now going to have a look at our story map, our Eagle God story map, to help us to write some different sentences for each part of the story.

So let's have a look.

So, here I've got my story map that I created, that's all about the main character being the Eagle God, and him being the main character.

In the beginning part of the story, I know that he's living happily up in the heavens with the other powerful gods.

There are clouds all around him.

There are blossoms everywhere.

There is glowing, beaming light all around him.

Now, what kind of fronted adverbial might work at this point in the story? Am I going to use a fronted adverbial of time, of place, or of manner? Let's have a think about it.

Hmm.

I could use any of those, but I've chosen this one.

"Up in the heavens, "the Eagle God lived with the other gods." Here, I've got my fronted adverbial.

This is a fronted adverbial of place, because it's telling me where something is happening.

"Up in the heavens," and then my main clause.

"The Eagle God lived with the other gods." So the fronted adverbial is not only adding detail to the sentence, but it's also telling me straight away from the beginning where something is happening.

Right, now it's time for you to have a go.

I would like you to write a different sentence for each part of the story.

Use your story map to help you.

So that means that you need about seven or eight sentences.

Choose a different fronted adverbial each time.

I've got some examples here that you can use.

I want you to finish the sentence for each part of the story.

Don't forget, each fronted adverbial needs to be different each time so that we're making sure that we've got a really great variety of different kinds of sentence openers to start our sentences with.

Pause the video now while you complete your task.

Don't forget to use the examples that I've given you.

Okay, now that I've finished doing all my sentences, I want to have a look over them and assess how I've done, so I can reflect on my progress.

I'm now going to have a look back at all my sentences, and I'm going to do some reflection, and self-assess my work.

I'm going to do this by identifying where I've put the fronted adverbials in my work.

I know that the fronted adverbial always go at the beginning of my sentences, and they can either be a fronted adverbial of time, place, or manner.

The fronted adverbials of time, I'm going to underline in blue.

The fronted adverbials of place, I'm going to underline in red.

And the fronted adverbials of manner, I'm going to underline in green.

So let's have a look, and see if I have included the correct fronted adverbials, and I'm also going to see if I have included all my commas as well to separate my fronted adverbials from my main clause.

Let's have a look.

"Up in the heavens, there lived a mighty Eagle God." Hmm, I know that "up in the heavens" is telling me where something happened, so I know that I should underline "up in the heavens" in red.

Hmm, have I included my comma though? Uh oh, no I haven't, so I'd better add that in now.

It always goes after my fronted adverbial.

"Up in the heavens, there lived a mighty Eagle God." Fantastic.

That makes sense.

So I'm going to give myself a tick, and I'll do that orange.

Amazing.

"Unfortunately, "he lived with some very powerful gods, "and sometimes they were mean to him." Hmm.

"Unfortunately." That doesn't sound like an adverbial of time.

It doesn't sound like an adverbial of place.

I think it's telling me how something is being done, and a clue to that it's got "ly" on the end.

It's an adverb.

"Unfortunately," so I know that it must be a fronted adverbial of manner.

"Unfortunately," comma, "he lived with some very powerful gods "that were sometimes mean to him." Fantastic.

I can give myself another tick for that.

"In the morning, the sun would rise, "and he would look down on the glorious forest below." "In the morning." Is that a fronted adverbial of time, place, or manner I wonder.

I know it's telling me about the time, because it says "in the morning," so I must underline that in blue.

"In the morning, "the sun would rise and he would look down "on the glorious forest below." And I know that I've done that right, because I've included my comma after my fronted adverbial.

Fantastic.

Last one.

Ooh, last few.

"Smiling happily, "he felt grateful to live "above such beautiful nature and animals." Hmm.

I don't have to just start it with an adverb.

I could say what he's doing.

I know that he's smiling, and I'm adding an adverb, "happily." Now, that's telling me how he's smiling, so that must mean it is a fronted adverbial of manner.

Amazing.

Have I left anything out though? Ah, I didn't put in my comma after my fronted adverbial.

"Smiling happily, he felt grateful to live above "such a beautiful nature and animals." Last couple.

"Deep in the forest, he could hear howls and cries "of desperate animals as they fled for their life." Hmm.

"Deep in the forest." Is that an adverbial of time, place or manner? Hmm.

I know that's happening in the forest.

Therefore, it must be an adverbial of place.

Have I got my comma there? Yes, I do.

Amazing.

Last one.

"Seconds later, he realised the forest was on fire." Hmm.

What's the clue here that tells you what kind of fronted adverbial this is? "Seconds," and "later." So I know that must be talking about time.

Fantastic.

Have I got my comma there? Now I do.

Ooh, there's something else missing as well.

Some more punctuation that's missing.

"He realised the forest was on fire." Is there anything there? No, so I need my full stop there.

Fantastic.

I've read through my work, and I've changed everything that needs to be changed.

I think they are great sentences now, so I can give myself a tick for each one.

Amazing work today.

That was a really challenging thing for us to do today, so if you've managed to do it, well done.

If you're still finding it a little bit tricky, don't worry, we're going to practise it again another time.

Don't forget to share your work with Oak National.

If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, using the hashtag #LearnWithOak, or tagging @OakNational.