To plan an explanation text

Key Stage 2

English

How Bees make Honey - Explanation writing

﻿Hello everyone, it is Mrs. Hardisty with your English lesson for today. We are going to be doing lots of planning. So we're going to get all the things that we have already learned in this unit, we're going to put them into a brilliant plan, ready to help us in our writing. So when you're ready, let's get started. This is what we're going to do in our lesson today. We're going to start off by learning some fun facts about bees, some more information that we can pack into our explanation text for later. And then we're going to think about how to plan, what to include, what not to include, and how to form it. And then we're going to recap some of our vocabulary, and then put that into our plan. And then the bulk of the lesson is going to be us making a really good plan for our explanation text so that you can then use it when we come to write in the next few lessons. So, for this lesson, you will need the sequencing pictures that you made earlier, the word bank that you made earlier, and paper and pencil. So can you pause the video now, and make sure you've got all of those things? Let's get cracking. So we're going to start with some fun facts about bees. Did you know that bees have really good colour vision that helps them find flowers and the nectar they offer. So that's how they find the flowers because they've got really good colour vision. They can see the colours really well. And the flower colours that particularly attract bees are blue, purple, violet, which is quite similar to purple, and yellow. And I can definitely say this is true because my garden is full of purple flowers at the moment, and they are covered in bees. And so when I learned this, I thought, well that would explain why I have so many bees on my purple flowers. So when the bees are in the hive and they've got the honey in their crop stomach, they chew the honey for about half an hour until they pass it on to the next bee. And so then they regurgitate it, and then they chew it for half an hour, and then they pass it on to the next bee. And then finally, it takes the life of eight bees to make one single teaspoon full of honey. So just think how many bees it takes to make a whole pot of honey, when it takes eight bees, just to make one teaspoon of honey. So those were our fun facts, and now we're thinking about how to plan. So what are plans for writing and why are they useful? So I think these are the three reasons why we have them, and why they're useful. So they're to organise ideas. To make sure that we've got things in chronological order. Really important for our explanation text, so that we can remember each section. So we've kind of done that a little bit with our sequencing pictures, but we're going to do a bit more now in our plan. And to make sure we've got useful facts, fun facts like the ones we've just learned, to kind of then use in our writing. It's really useful to have all the vocabulary that we want to use in our writing, in our plan ready to go. So our nouns, our person, place, or thing. Our adjectives describe the noun. Our verbs, our doing and being words words. Our adverbs describe the verbs, like carefully and rapidly. Our sequencing conjunctions, like first and next. And our causal conjunctions, like consequently. Now, this is really important, what is the format of a plan? What do they look like? You don't write in full sentences for a plan because that's going to come later when you properly write your explanation texts. So they can just be phrases, or little facts, or a few words, that are going to be reminders for you when you come to write. You can use bullet points, if you just want to write a few things down very quickly. And as I said, it's just key phrases and words. You're not supposed to be writing in complete, whole sentences, unless there's a particular sentence that you just want to write down, so you've got it ready for your writing. We haven't looked at this since the first lesson of our unit. But let's just have a quick recap of what our whole explanation text is going to be like. So we're going to have a title and an introduction. We're going to make sure it's in order. And we're going to have some pictures and diagrams. So in our plan, we're going to have our title and what we're going to include in our introduction. And then, we're going to have a section one, which are our first three pictures, our first three stages of the process. And then we're going to have a section two, with the last three stages of the process. So we've broken it down so that each part of our plan is then going to help us write. So now we are going to write our own plan. So you definitely need to make sure that you've got your paper and pencil ready to do this now. So to start with, we're going to think about the start of our explanation text. So we need to think about what our title is going to be, and then some fun facts are going to hook our reader in. Maybe a question that we can use to get our reader thinking. And then any exciting adjectives that, again, are going to make our reader think, wow, I just want to find out all about bees. So my title needs to tell my reader exactly what they're going to be reading about. So I'm going to have it short and simple, How Bees Make Honey, and it's underlined to show that it's my title. You might want to write something different for your title. And now I need to think about some facts that are going to excite my reader. So I'm going to actually start with a sentence stem or starter. Did you know, and I'm going to finish it off in my proper writing. And then I'm going to put that it takes eight bees to make one teaspoon of honey, and that bees have excellent colour vision. And then I'm going to have some questions to answer. Have you ever wondered, and I'm going to finish that off in my writing. Or do you want to find out more, again. And then I'm going to include some adjectives which I can sprinkle in my introduction. So, interesting, fascinating, intriguing, which is another word for interesting, maybe surprising, because it is a really unusual process, isn't it? Oh, can we have unusual, as well? Let's put that in, unusual. So I've got all of these things ready to then use in my writing. So I've done my plan, and now I'd like you to do yours. Pause the video and have a go at this start of your plan. Now that we've done this start of our explanation text, we're now going to go onto the first section. So the first three stages of the honey making process. So let's just remind ourselves of some of the words that we might want to put down into our plan, that we definitely want to include in our writing. So you might want to choose one adjective for the flower, one for the nectar, one for the bees. You might need to choose which verbs are going to be used in that first section. So things like searches, and collects, and sucks. And which adverbs you might want to use as well. So on your paper, you might want to cut out and put your pictures down the side so that you know that you've got them in the right order. Or you might want to just make your own note, picture one, picture two, picture three. Just write the numbers that match your pictures, so that you've got it in exactly the right order. And then we're going to write our plan. So I'm going to start with my sequencing conjunction. I'm going to start with first, and I'm going to use a comma because then it's going to remind me to use the comma correctly in my writing. And then I'm going to put in what the bee does. So the bee, it looks for, it searches. How does it search? It's trying really hard, so it's diligently, for flowers. Oh, I think I could probably add in an addictive there. So, scented, for scented flowers. And then we can add in some extra information that we want to include. So, the colours that attract the bees, so blue, purple, indigo, and pink flowers, attract bees. And, then maybe we could add in about the fact that they have to visit nearly 1000 flowers to fill their stomach, remembering that it's their, belonging to them, so we spell it E I R, not E R E, which means over there. Great, so I've got my first bit done. So now we're talking about the nectar going into their stomach. So I'm going to use another time conjunction with a comma. And then the fact that they suck up the nectar, using their long tongue. Long tongue. And then, I can add in that they have two stomachs, and that one is called the crop stomach. And now, actually, we want to talk about the enzymes. And that's a little bit of a cause and effect, isn't it? There's enzymes in the stomach, and it causes the nectar to be broken down. So, I can add in a causal conjunction in a moment. So, enzymes in the stomach, add in consequently, because I can use that in my writing. And then, in fact, I'm going to put that as a capital letter, because it's going to start my sentence, so I want to make sure that that's right. And can you see, just like my sequencing conjunctions, I've got a comma after it. And then, I'm going to put that the nectar is broken down into honey. Then now our favourite bit, I'm going to start with another sequencing conjunction. So, later on, with my comma, and then I'm going to use that special word, so they regurgitate the nectar, I'm going to put honey, 'cause it's already starting to turn into honey, into each bee's mouth. And then they chew it for half an hour, so I'm going to turn that into a sequencing conjunction. So, half an hour later, comma, and then it gets passed on. And then they repeat that process, don't they? They do it for bee after bee after bee. So they use that word, repeat. Repeat this process until honey is thickened. You can see that I'm not writing in full sentences, it's just there to remind me. Well done. So we've done our title, introduction, our section one, and now we're going to do our section two. So again, let's look at our word bank, and think about which adjectives and verbs and adverbs we might want to put into our plan to make sure that we've definitely got them. So this is where we want the spits and regurgitates, and the carefully, the rapidly for the wings flapping, for that last section. And again, you might want to cut out your pictures, and put them on the side of your plan. Or you just might want to write, four, five, and six, so that you definitely know which pictures they match. And now let's write the last bits of our plan. So once the honey is ready, it goes into the cell, doesn't it? So, I'm going to use a time conjunction here, I might not use it in my writing. So I'm going to put, then. And then we've got the verb, I think will be pour or spit. So, pours the thickened honey into honeycomb cell. And I want to add in that fact that the shape of the cell, so the cell, and I'm just going to write a note, doesn't have to be a sentence, just so that I can write a whole sentence about the fact that it's a hexagon. But I'm also going to make sure I read it once to find out more, by saying that the honey isn't thickened enough yet. Is not thick enough, and remember enough is spelled really unusually, with that O U G H. This is our big opportunity to use our causal conjunctions for this section, so I need to remember to put them in. So, the bees rapidly flap and fan their wings, making sure I'm spelling their correctly again. And then I can put in my causal conjunction. So, as a result, or maybe therefore, I can choose which one I use later on, and then I'm going to put about the hive getting warmer. So the hive warms up, and then the, and the honey becomes thicker. And now we got to the last section, so I need to use a sequencing conjunction that communicates that. Lastly, you might want to use finally, with my comma again. And then, the bee seals up, making sure that we've got the correct verb in there, seals up the honeycomb cell, with a wax cap. And this is to stop the honey from kind of disintegrating, deteriorating, so going bad, inside the honeycomb cell. So, I'm just going to add in that this protects the honey inside. So I've done my plan for the second part, and now I'd like you to pause your video, and complete the second section of your plan. So, we've done our main task, haven't we? Cause we've done it all together. But if there's anything else you want to add to your plan, now is the time to do it. So you might want to pause, just look over your plan. Is there anything else you want to add to it? But we've kind of done our main task already. Well done, everyone. Let's recap what we've done. So we've learned some fun facts about bees, like the fact that it takes eight bees to make one teaspoon of honey. We've thought about how to plan why they're important. We've capped something here about all that vocabulary that we want to put into our writing. And then you've done your plan, so you can then use that to help you with your writing. Fantastic work, everyone. Brilliant planning. It's going to be so useful to have that ready so that you can just write the most brilliant explanation text, all about how bees make honey.

To plan an explanation text

To plan an explanation text

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UnitEnglish / How Bees make Honey - Explanation writing

English