To write the introduction to an explanation text

Key Stage 2

English

How Bees make Honey - Explanation writing

﻿Hello everybody! It is Mrs. Hardisty here, for your English lesson again. Today, we are going to be writing the start of our explanation text. We are going to be writing an introduction and I can not wait to see the amazing writing that I know you are going to do! So, when you are ready, let's get started! This is what we're going to do in today's lesson. We're going to start by thinking about expanded noun phrases and how we can use these in our writing. And then we are going to read an example of an introduction to pick all the brilliant things in it that we can use in our own writing. And then we are going to write our own introduction to our own explanation text all about how bees made honey. So for this lesson, you will need the plan that you have made, your word bank and paper and pencil ready to write your own explanation text. So again, you may want to pause the video and make sure you've got all of those things. So we are going to start with our expanded noun phrases. So an expanded noun phrase is a phrase that has a noun, person, place or thing, and two adjectives that describe that noun, separated by a comma. So I'm going to give you an example here. So sweet, transparent nectar is an example of an expanded noun phrase. And sometimes we might refer to them as an ENP, an expanded noun phrase which has two adjectives and then a noun. So here's another example of an expanded noun phrase. So my noun is process and my two adjectives are intriguing, surprising process. So it's a way of adding description to your writing and so here I'm describing the process of honey making and I've called it intriguing and surprising. This intriguing, surprising process. So now it's your turn! So I've already given you the noun, the noun is going to be creature. So can you think of two adjectives that you could use to describe a bee? Something, something creature. You might want to call it out to me. Tell me your two adjectives. Think about your word bank. You might want to have a sneaky look at your word bank now. You might want to write it down. Have a think, have a write. Okay, now I'm going to show you one my ideas! So I think you could have diligent, resourceful creature. That's an example of an expanded noun phrase. So we've got two adjectives separated by a comma. Okay, it's your turn again! So this time your noun is honey! Can you think of two adjectives that can describe honey? Maybe the colour? What might be what it tastes like? Might be what it looks like? Again, you might want to tell me now two adjectives. You might want to write it down. Okay, I have 3, 2, 1. This is what I put. So I put thick, golden honey. You might have come up with similar words you might have come up with different words. Okay, last one is those honey comb cells. So can you think of two adjectives to describe the cells? You might want to think of what shape they are. What they're made of. So again, tell me what two adjectives do you have? Or write it down. Have a little think. How could you describe those cells? 3, 2, 1. Well done! Here are my examples. So I've got hexagonal, waxy cells. Another example of expanded noun phrase using my two adjectives, a comma and a noun. So we are finally getting around to writing our own explanation text! And today we are going to be writing the title and introduction. So let's just recap what are introductions for. Do you know what they're for? Can you remember what introductions are for? So introductions tell the reader general information about what's going to be contained in the explanation text and they hook them in to read more. So you're trying to get your reader to get really excited about your writing so that they carry on reading. Now I have two examples here. I've got example A and I've got example B. I'm going to read them both out to you and I'd like you to point out to the one that you think is the best introduction text. So example A. This text will tell you about how buzzy bees make honey. This process is really awesome. Read on to find out more about this cool species. Okay so that was A. Now here's B. Have you ever wondered how honey bees make the delicious, thick honey that humans eat daily? This explanation text will guide you through the fascinating, surprising process of honey making. Did you know that it takes the lives of eight bees just to make one teaspoon of honey? Read on to find out exactly how these resourceful insects turn simple nectar into the sweet, golden liquid we all enjoy to eat. Hm, it's pretty obvious which one's better. Can you point to which one you think is the best? A or B? I agree! I think B is better and we're going to look at that in more detail, but let's just unpick a little bit what went wrong with example A because they did choose a really exciting word to try and pull us in. Buzzy and the word awesome and the cool. And all of those words might excite your reader but the problem is explanation text, if you remember, are meant to be quite formal. You are meant to use formal language. And those adjectives are too informal. You wouldn't expect them to be in a scientific explanation. It's also a little bit short. There aren't any facts that are going to make your reader want to find out more. So let's now look at example B in more detail. So we haven't used success criteria before. Success criteria are like a checklist of all the things that are going to make your writing successful. To make it fantastic! And we have four today. We are going to use these to check that example B and make sure it has everything in it that it needs to be successful and we're going to use this checklist for our own writing as well. To make sure that we include everything we need. So one. I have used a question and read on sentence. Two. I have used technical language and synonyms. Remember that's that word that means the same as another word. Such as process, creatures. Three. I have included an interesting fact. And four. I have used exciting adjectives. And if we can we might be able to use two of them in a comma to make that an expanded noun phrase. So I've got my success criteria up at the top of the screen. And now we're going to check each one in our example. So let's check now to see we've got our question and our read on sentence. Let's have a look! Have you ever wondered? Right at the start how can bees make honey. And then did you know in the middle. So I've got both of those. Tick! Brilliant. Okay now let's look at success criteria number two. Technical language and the synonyms. Have I got them in there? Yes I have! I've got the word process, in my second sentence and I've got the word insects so I'm so just using the word bee every time. I'm also using the word insect so I've got the synonym as well. Fantastic! Tick! Okay, now for success criteria number three. I've included an interesting fact. Let's check if I have. Yes! Here it is in the middle of my introduction. It takes the lives of eight bees just to make one teaspoon of honey. I actually put that into a question didn't I? So I've got answer we kind of mixed up together. Brilliant! Tick for me! Okay, so now success criteria number four. Have I used exciting adjectives? Formal but exciting. Let's have a look. Yes! I've got the word delicious, fascinating, surprising and resourceful. And look at that I've got fascinating and surprising together with a comma in between so that's my expanded noun phrase. I've used my adjectives with an expanded noun phrase. Brilliant! Give myself a tick for that as well! So I've made sure that I've got all the things in my success criteria to make my writing really successful. So now it's our turn to write our own introduction. Here is the plan that we made in a previous lesson. We mustn't forget that we need to write our title and underline it as well as our introduction. So my title is how bees make honey and then I have my sentence starters my sentence stems for questions. Like did you know, have you ever wondered and my introductory facts. So I had two. It takes eight bees to make one teaspoon of honey and that bees have excellent colour vision. I wonder which one you are going to use in your writing. And then here are some of the adjectives that I could use in my own writing. So interesting, fascinating, intriguing, surprising and unusual. You might want to look your plan. You might want to look at your word bank and make sure you know exactly which adjectives you want to use in your writing. You can tick them off, highlight them off as you do that. Okay so, now it's our turn to do our own introduction. I've written my title already. How bees make honey. And so now we're going to start with a question I think. Have you ever wanted to know how bees make, and I want an adjective maybe two then we could have an expanded noun phrase. Sweet, golden honey. And it's a question so I bet we should finish with a question mark. So now I need to tell them what they're going to be reading. This, oh I could put in an adjective now, this fascinating explanation text will tell you how this interesting, surprising process happens. Wonderful. So I've got my question, I've got my general information. So now maybe I need a fun fact. Why don't I do the colour vision one? So did you know that bees have excellent colour vision that helps them find the flowers they need to make honey. Not going to have to make honey because I think I might use that at the end of my introduction. So now I've got my fun fact, let's have my read on. Read on to find out all about how bees. Or no, why not have a synonym? How these resourceful creatures turn nectar into, now I've already got sweet and golden so I need different adjectives. Thick, delicious honey. Okay so now it is time for you to do your main task. You need to write your title and introduction. Make sure you have all four of these success criteria. So make sure that you have your read on sentence and a question, your technical language and synonyms, your interesting fact and some exciting adjectives. If you can, try and put those in an expanded noun phrase with a comma. So can you pause the video now and write the start of your explanation text. Well done everybody! Brilliant writing! Let's just check our writing now so can you have your writing ready in front of you. And you might want to do this in a different colour. But just can you check to make sure you've got all these things. You might want to give them a little tick. So have you used a question? Give it a tick. Have you used a read on sentence? Make sure you've got a question mark for those questions as well. Have you used technical language and synonyms? Again, just check through your writing. Make sure you got those. Have you got your interesting fact? And have you got your exciting adjectives? If you haven't got those things you might want to go back. And just add them in now. So in today's lesson, we looked at expanded noun phrases. Those are two adjectives that describe a noun. We read an introduction. We thought out all that made it successful. And then you wrote your own introductions. Fantastic work everyone! Brilliant writing! Well done!

To write the introduction to an explanation text

To write the introduction to an explanation text

Slide deck

Lesson details

Key learning points

Licence

Video

Lesson appears in

UnitEnglish / How Bees make Honey - Explanation writing

English