T1: Sentence level objectives

T2: Word level objectives

T3: Punctuation level objectives

T4: Grammar Practice

Complex sentences, avoiding fragments and run-ons, capital letters

Paragraphing narratives for clarity, using possessive pronouns, using apostrophes accurately, structuring, writing and editing genre-specific narratives

Avoiding fragments, fused sentences and comma splices. Using capital letters and writing in the past tense. Using multiple subordinate clauses, punctuating lists correctly when in a complex sentence.

Writing accurate, correctly punctuated and paragraphed dialogue, using personal pronouns

Recapping the basics: simple sentences, statements, paragraphs, capital letters and past simple verbs

Past simple tense, subordinate clauses, punctuating conjunctions and lists

English Grammar

Y4 English Grammar

Key Stage 2

Year 4

Grammar

THEME

UNIT

In this lesson, we will revise our understanding of verbs and learn how to write simple and compound sentences.

To explore simple and compound sentences

﻿Hi, there. My name is Mr. Byrne-Smith, and today we're going to be doing some English together. In today's lesson, we are going to be exploring simple and compound sentences. So, let's make a start. Here's the agenda for today's lesson. First, we going to look at simple sentences, then we'll look at compound sentences, and then we'll have a practise of writing some compounds sentences. After that we'll have a chance to review what we've learned. In this lesson you will need an exercise book or paper, a pencil and your brain. If you need to go and get any of these things, pause the video now, okay. Let's start by looking at some simple sentences. So whenever you explore grammar, it's really important that you have a good grasp, good understanding of the various word classes. In today's lesson we're going to be mainly dealing with verbs. So it's really important that we understand exactly what a verb is. Now a verb is a doing or a being word. And I've given you four examples there, jump, run, sing and think. I'd like your help identifying the verb in this sentence. The strange looking car drove down the street. Perhaps you could point to it for me or shout out loud. The verb is drove, that's the thing the car is doing in this sentence, okay. Let's have a go at identifying the verbs in this sentence. Now in this sentence, there are actually three verbs. Pause the video now and see if you can spot them. Okay, the verbs are thought, was and stepped. Now thought and stepped obviously doing words, was, which is a form of the verb to be is a being word. We're going to use our understanding of verbs to help us understand a clause. So a clause is a group of words containing a verb. If you come across a group of words containing a verb its a clause. Here, we have two options, one of these is a clause one of them is not. Remember a clause is a group of words containing a verb. So we're looking for a verb, helped me out. The children played in the park or a group of colourful birds. Which of these is a clause? Maybe you could point or shout out for me, okay. This one is the clause, this contains a verb it contains the verb, played, which is the past tense of to play. A group of colourful birds is not a clause. It doesn't contain a verb basically you would describe as a phrase. So now we understand exactly what a clause is. Let's think about a main clause. A main clause is a clause a group of words containing a verb that makes sense by itself. So if you say it by itself if you say out loud, it makes sense. It doesn't need the help of extra information or extra clause is in order to make sense. Here we have two options. One of these is a main clause it makes sense by itself. One of them is not. I need your help deciding between the two. So we have, as the sun shone down and he relaxed in the garden. Which of these is a main clause and make sense by itself? Point for me or shout out, okay. This one is the main clause. Our other option as the sun shone down does not make sense by itself, cannot stand alone as a main clause. He relaxed in the garden on the other hand does and can stand alone as a main clause. So what we're going to do is we're going to use what we've just learned to see if we can figure out what a simple sentences is. Now a simple sentence is related very closely to what we've just learned about main clauses. Here is a simple sentence. The fish swam towards the shore. Help me complete this definition using what we've just learned. A simple sentence consists of one, it makes sense on its own. Pause the video and have it go. Okay, a simple sentence consists of one main clause it makes sense on its own. So we know that main clauses can stand alone and make sense. When they do stand alone as complete sentences, they form simple sentences. These are referred to as simple sentences. A simple sentence consists of one main clause and it makes sense on its own. Here, we have a little picture of Batman. Now we use Batman to talk about Mr. Main. Mr. Main is our main clause. Now Mr. Main could go out and do things by itself just like Batman can. Batman doesn't need to help with a sidekick in order to go and do missions. He can go out by himself or he can go out on missions with other people. But the most important thing is that Mr. Main can do things all by himself. I'm just going to draw your attention to one element of this definition. One main clause. So a simple sentence consists of only one main clause not more, okay. Here we have three options. What we're going to do is read them out loud and then see if we can figure out which of these is a simple sentence consisting of one main clause, okay. Everybody cheered loudly and the crowd threw their arms in the air. The beautiful flowers in the garden. He ran over the bridge. There are three options only one of these is a simple sentence, which one? Pause the video and have it ago. Okay, the simple sentence is, he ran over the bridge, the other two are not. Let's think about why they're not. Everybody cheered loudly and the crowd threw their arms in the air. This sentence actually contains two main clauses. So it is not a simple sentence. Everybody cheered loudly. there's our first main clause it makes sense by itself and the crowd threw their arms in the air. That's our second main clause it makes sense by itself. So this is not a simple sentence 'cause it contains more than one main clause. The next option, the beautiful flowers in the garden does not contain a verb. Therefore it is not a clause and therefore it is not a simple sentence. He ran over the bridge on the other hand, does contain a verb. Therefore it's a clause and it makes sense by itself. Therefore it's a main clause and there's only one of them therefore, it's a simple sentence, okay. Let's look at compound sentences. Compound sentence consists of two or more main clauses. Sometimes compound sentences are made up of more than two clauses. Normally however, they're just made up of two main clauses. Here you can see I've depicted a compound sentence using Mr. Main plus Mr. Main. But what's joining them together? That's something we need to think about. Joining our two main clauses in a compound sentence is a coordinating conjunction. My turn, your turn coordinating conjunction. When it comes to our coordinating conjunction we have a choice of three. We refer to these as BOA words BOA made up of B, O and A stands for the three coordinate conjunctions, but, or and and. I've used a snake picture here to depict BOA word because BOA is another word for a type of snake. You can see if you look closely at our three coordinate conjunctions now, but and or, are proceeded by a comma and on the other hand is not. But and or, are proceeded by a comma, and is not. Let's see if we can identify which BOA word has been used in these sentences. The class played in the playground and the teacher sat on a bench. Which BOA word has been used here. Shout out for me, and. The stars were glowing brightly, but there was not enough light to see. Which BOA word has been used here? But, okay. Now this BOA word if you look carefully is used to suggest contrast. So the stars were glowing brightly. So it was very bright in that sense, however, but there wasn't enough to see so that an element of contrast. We have the stars were glowing brightly but there wasn't enough to see. But, is a really useful but sometimes tricky conjunction to use. So you have to use it very carefully. We're going to see lots of examples today. So we'll get a feel for how to use it. Our next coordinate conjunction, we should leave now, or we will become wetter and wetter. Which coordinates conjunction have I used here? Shout out for me, it's or. Now, or is it not a tricky conjunction to use. it's really useful, but it's harder than thought and it's harder than, and. You use or when you have some sort of cause followed by consequence, they should happen or this will happen to here. We should leave now, or we will become wetter and wetter. That's the most common way to use or cause and consequence. Okay, I wonder if you can help me figure out whether this sentence is a compound sentence made up of two main clauses or a simple sentence made up of one main clause. She saw something interesting in the distance. I don't spot any BOA words and I can only find one verb. So how does that help me, pause the video and have it go, okay. This is a simple sentence. We have one clause it's a main clause, it makes sense by itself and therefore it is a simple sentence. How About with this one? They wanted to go to the park, but the son was setting, okay. I've spotted something which has given me a big clue here. I'll let you to have a go now pause the video, okay. This is a compound sentence, of course it is. There's the word, but there's our BOA word. It's joining two main clauses. Let's check that their main clause by reading them out loud by themselves. If they make sense then they're main clauses. They wanted to go to the park, yep. The sun was setting, yep. And what do we have in the middle, but which is one of our BOA words. So definitely a compounds sentence, okay. Now we have a challenge to write some of our own Before we do that I think it's important that we just check this tricky mistake which is often made when it comes to coordinating conjunctions. So we know that the three BOA words are, but, or and and. And in compound sentences, they're used to combine clauses. However, these three words can also operate as conjunctions that combine other things as well. Sometimes they just combine words or phrases which makes it tricky to identify when a sentence is a compound sentence or whether it's just a simple sentence that has the word and it Remember, the coordinates conjunction joins two main clauses. So there must be a main clause either side of the coordinating conjunction. If there's only one main clause then it's not a compound sentence it's a simple sentence. So we need to make sure that if we're writing compound sentences we have a complete main clause either side of our coordinating conjunction. Let's look at this in more detail with a few examples First we'll remind ourselves that clause is a group of words containing a verb, okay. So when we're looking for a clause, we're looking for a group of words containing a verb really useful, okay. Two options here, I went to the shops and I went to the park. I went to the shops and park. So I've highlighted the conjunction, conjunction being used in both of these instances is, and. Now one of these examples uses, and to join two main clauses, one of them doesn't. Which one uses it to join two main clauses, pause the video and have a think, okay. And it's being used to join two clauses in this sentence. Let's look either side of the word and we're looking for two clauses and therefore two verbs. I went to the shops, main clause containing a verb, great. I went to the park, main clause containing a verb fantastic. So this is a compound sentence. In the other example we're not identifying quite the same things. I went to the shop, great main clause containing a verb And there is a conjunction, park. Park is not a main clause, park is Just a noun all by itself. In this instance, the word, and is operating as a conjunction but it's just joining two words together in a list. Is joining shop and park so therefore it is not operating as a coordinating conjunction. And therefore this is not a compound sentence this is just a simple sentence, okay. Let's try again. This is tricky, but it's important. Polar bears are strong swimmers and they are excellent hunters. Polar bears live in Canada and Greenland. Pause the video and help me identify the compound sentence. Okay, the compound sentence is this one. I've highlighted the verbs and you can see that either side of our conjunction. We have one main clause, polar bears are strong swimmers joined to another. They are excellent hunters, fantastic. Definitely a compound sentence, you know. In the other example, Canada and Greenland have been joined by the conjunction, and, but just as items in a list, we don't have a main clause either side of our conjunction. Therefore it's not a coordinating conjunction. Therefore it is not a compound sentence. How about with these two, polar bears eat animals but not plants. Polar bears have black skin, but their fur is white. We're looking for the compound sentence. Pause the video now, okay. Compound sentence is here. Polar bears have black skin, but their fur is white. Let's see if we can identify the two main clauses either side of the conjunction. Polar bears have black skin, there's one. Their fur is white, there's another. Those two clauses make sense by themselves they're main clauses and therefore this is a compound sentence. How about here? Polar bears hunt alone or in small groups. Polar bears must eat a huge amount or they freeze, okay. So we're looking for a main clause joined to another main clause by a coordinating conjunction, pause the video and have it go. The compound sentence is here. Here we have two main clause joined by the conjunction, or polar bears must eat a huge amount and then the other main clause, they freeze. That's a short main clause, but it is to the main clause. In our other examples, we have polar bears hunt alone joined to in small groups. In small groups, is not a clause. Why not? In small groups It's not a clause 'cause it does not contain a verb, okay. You now have the opportunity to write three compound sentences using each of the three conjunctions. So one, but sentence, one or sentence, one and sentence. And I'd like you to do it using the theme of, "A Trip to the Park." Going to the park for some reason is an easy thing to describe. And there's lots of different things that you can use when describing it. So I think it's a good place to start. I'd like to have a go at this I'm looking for three sentences, pause the video now, okay. Let's review what we've learned. We're going to do it with a quick practise just to test what we've picked up in today's lesson. Here we have two options. I'd like you to help me figure out whether they're simple sentences or compound sentences. First option is they walked into the shop. The second option is they sat around the fire, but they didn't have the energy to sing. one of these is a simple sentence one is a compound sentence. Pause the video and have it go, okay. They walked into the shop is a simple sentence. They sat around the fire, but they didn't have the energy to sing is a compound sentence, okay. That's the end of the lesson well done you've done a fantastic job. Today we've looked at simple sentences, compound sentences. We've written compound sentences and we've reviewed what we've learned which is a lot. So well done for your hard work You've completed the lesson.

In this lesson, we will revise our understanding of simple and compound sentences.

To revise our understanding of simple and compound sentences

﻿Hi there, My name is Mr. Barnes Smith and today we're going to be doing some English together. In today's lesson, we're going to be looking at simple and compound sentences in a bit more depth. So without further ado, let's make a start. Here's the agenda for today's lesson. First, we'll explore simple sentences. Then we'll explore compound sentences. After that we'll write some compound sentences of our own before finally reviewing what we've learned today. In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or paper a pencil and your brain. If you need to go up and get any of these things, pause the video now. Okay. So let's look at simple sentences in order to understand simple sentences properly we need to remind ourselves of this particular word class, verb. A verb is a doing or a being word. Some examples here, jump, run, sing and think. I wonder if you can help me identify the verbs in this sentence. In this instance, in fact, there is only one. So the enormous bird flew through the air, which of these words is the verb? Point to it for me, maybe shout out loud, the verb is flew. That's the doing or being word, in this instance, it's a doing word. That's what the bird is doing. How about here? The animals ran wildly, shout out loud for me, point to it, which is the verb? Ran, okay. What we're going to do is going to use the understanding we've developed of what a verb is to help us understand what a clause is. Now this is something we've looked at before. So I wonder if you can fill this in for me, a clause is a group of words containing a what? Help me finish this off, a clause is a group of words containing a verb. Excellent, okay. Let's see if we can identify which of these is a clause and which is not. Remember, a clause is a group of words containing a verb. We have a cup, plate and knife, and the cutlery fell off the table, which of these is a clause containing a verb and which is not? Point for me or shout out. This one, okay. So we have an obvious verb in this sentence, fell. Now, if we understand exactly what a clause is, we can look in detail at a main clause and we can understand what a main clause is. Here we have two potential definitions of main clause. I want you to help me decide which one is correct. So is a main clause, a clause that make sense by itself or is a main clause, a clause that doesn't not make sense by itself? Have a think, clause that makes sense by itself or a clause that does not make sense by itself. It's a clause that makes sense by itself. So, a main clause can stand alone and make sense without the need for adding any other clauses or any other information. Here we have two options, which of these is a main clause and which is not? When they arrived, the dog jumped up and down. So I need your help, one of these is the main clause, one of them is not. Remember, a main clause makes sense by itself. This one, okay. So the dog jumped up and down. That makes sense by itself. It's a clause cause it contains a verb, group of words containing of verb. The other option also contains a verb. However, since it doesn't make sense by itself, we know it's not a main clause. It must be another type of clause. Help me define what a simple sentence is. So, a simple sentence consists of one, mmh mmh. It makes sense on its own, simple sentence consists of one, mmh mmh. It makes sense on its own. Top tip, this is linked to what we just looked at. Simple sentence consists of one main clause, it makes sense on its own. Here's an example, the man lifted the cup, here we have a clause, a group of words containing a verb. It's a main clause cause it makes sense all by itself. If you have one of these stand alone main clause, capital letter at the beginning, full stop at the end, it's what we refer to as a simple sentence. Okay, I'd like you to pause the video and come up with three of your own. I'd like your simple sentences to describe a trip you made or might make to the museum. Three simple sentences, pause the video and have a go. Okay. The simple sentence consists of one main clause. It makes sense on its own and we use this image of Batman to depict Mr Main. Now, Mr Main is a clause who can do things all by himself. He doesn't need the help of others, now he sometimes uses other people to help him on his missions, but he's fine going off by himself and doing things and completing missions all alone. That's not a problem for Mr Main. Here we have three options, the interesting building, they saw the bird in the sky, the dog barked and the man jumped. Now one of these three is a simple sentence. The other two for whatever reason are not, help me identify the simple sentence and then also explain why the other two are not simple sentences. Pause the video now. Okay, the simple sentence is, this one, group of words containing a verb. So it's definitely a clause, it makes sense on its own. They saw the bird in the sky it's made up of just one main clause. No more than one, fantastic. Two other options, the interesting building, the dog barked and the man jumped are not simple sentences. Now let's figure out why not? The interesting building, mmh well that, I can see straight away, does not contain a verb so it's not even a clause. Let alone a simple sentence. This is what we refer to as a phrase, it's just a group of words down at the bottom, the dog barked and the man jumped. Aha, so they're actually more than one main clause in the sentence. We have the dog barked, main clause and we have the man jumped, main clause. Well, we know that simple sentences are made up of just one main clause not two. So therefore this is not a simple sentence. Let's look at compound sentences. So, a compound sentence consists of two or more of what type of clause. There's a picture here to make it very, very clear. Compound sentence consists of two or more main clauses. And here they are Mr Main and Mr Main. Now Mr Main and Mr Main are being joined by something. We need to use a special technique to join the two together. What we use is a, something conjunction, a something conjunction. Now, a conjunction is a joining word, it joins words or phrases or clauses. This particular type of conjunction joins two main clauses to make a compound sentence. I wonder if you can remember what it's called, have a think, it's a coordinating conjunction. My turn, your turn, coordinating conjunction. So, coordinating conjunction combines two main clauses to make a compound sentence. These coordinating conjunctions, we call boa words and we named them after the boa constrictor. And here's a lovely drawing of one. The question is, which are our three boa words? Top tip, one begins with B, one begins with O, one begins with A. Here we have five options because, but, and so, and or. I need your help picking the three of these that are boa words, pause the video and have a go. Okay, our three boa words are, but, or and and and you can see them but and or are proceeded by a comma, and is not. Help me use the appropriate boa word for each of these sentences. We will eat at home, mmh, we will eat at a restaurant, okay. We will eat at home, mmh we will eat at a restaurant. If you're unsure, use all three possibilities and then use the one which sounds correct. Sometimes when you say these out loud, it becomes very clear, which is correct and which is not. Pause the video and have a go. Okay, we will eat at home comma, or we will eat at a restaurant. One of two choices. They visited the museum, mmh, they didn't have a good time. They visited the museum, mmh, they didn't have a good time, help me out. They visited the museum, but they didn't have a good time, Okay? The strange creature can glow in the dark, mmh, it can breathe under water. The strange creature can glow in the dark, mmh, it can breath under water, pause the video and have a go. And the strange creature can glow in the dark and it can breathe underwater. We're adding additional information. So here we have a sentence which is either a compound sentence or a simple sentence. I wonder if you can figure out which it is, remember, compound sentences is made up of two main clauses joined by a coordinator conjunction. Simple sentence is made up of just a main clause. The flame flickered in the darkness, is that compound or simple? Shout out loud for me, or point to the one you want. Simple, this sentence is made up of just one main clause. The flame flickered in the darkness has the verb flickered in it? So it's definitely a clause, makes sense by itself so it's a main clause and there's only one of them so it's a simple sentence. How about this one? They seemed brave, but their hands were trembling. They seemed brave, but their hands were trembling. Have a go for me, point to the one that you want or shout out loud. Compound, they seemed brave, main clause, but, coordinating conjunction, their hands were trembling, main clause. We have main plus main. Let's see if we can write some compound sentences of our own. Now when we write compound sentences we need to be a bit conscious and a bit careful of something. We know that the three boa words are conjunctions and when they're used to join main clauses they're coordinating conjunctions. However, sometimes these three words are also used as conjunctions in different situations. In these other situations they're not acting as coordinating conjunctions and they don't help create compound sentences. So we need to make sure that we can identify when a boa word is being used as a coordinating conjunction and when it's not. We need to make sure that it's being used to join a main clause with another main clause. If it is, then it's creating a compound sentence. Quick reminder, a clause is a group of words containing a verb. So that's how you check. Is there a verb in the group of words? If so, it's a clause. Is there a clause, either side of our conjunction? That's what we're looking for. Here's an example, I went to the shops and I went to the park and I went to the shop and park. In the first instance the word 'and' is separating two main clauses. I went to the shops is being combined with I went to the park, therefore that is a compound sentence. All right, in our other option the word, 'and' is just joining two items in a list. So it's behaving as a conjunction, but not a coordinating conjunction. Therefore this is not a compound sentence. I'll let you to have a go with these two options. The anglerfish eats fish and crustaceans. The anglerfish can survive in ice cold waters and it can see in the dark, which of these is a compound sentence and which is not? Pause the video and have a go. Okay, there's our compound sentence. We have two clauses, two main clauses, either side of our coordinating conjunction and, you can see that I've underlined the verbs. So we have the anglerfish can survive in ice cold waters, that's our first main clause. Then we have our coordinating conjunction and we have our second main clause, it can see in the dark. How about here? This creature thrives in the dark, but not the light this strange species roams the depths but it does not enter the shallows. Okay, so one of these is a compound sentence, one of them is not. I'd like your help figuring out which is which. This one's the compound sentence. Either side of our coordinating conjunction is a main clause. So we have this strange species roams the depth, there's our first main clause. It does not enter the shallows, there's our second, definitely a compound sentence. How about here? Humans should look after the environment or the anglerfish become extinct. Humans should not pollute or fish. One of this is compound, one of them is not. Now I'm trying to trick you here so you have to be very careful and read these carefully. What's happening either side of our conjunction? Pause the video and have a go. Our compound sentence is here, either side of our conjunction we have a main clause. Humans should look after the environment, there's a main clause. The anglerfish will become extinct, there's another main clause. Therefore, in this instance, we have a compound sentence. So, time for you to come up with some of your own. I'm looking for compound sentences, I'm looking for one of each type, one using but, one using or, one using and. I'd like you to do it on the topic of an animal of your choice. Now you could talk about the anglerfish since that's familiar. If however you'd like to choose another animal, I don't mind, you can get facts about the animal. You can describe things it does or maybe you can think about going on a little journey or trip with the animal, that would work too, pause the video and have a go. Okay, well done. Let's review what we've looked at today. Now I'm going to review what you've learned with a little tricky test. So you have two sentences here, I need your help deciding which of these is a simple sentence and which of these is a compound sentence. When you've decided I want you to explain to yourself, so I want you to vocalise your explanation as to why. So why is the one you've chosen as a simple sentence, a simple sentence. And why is the other one, a compound sentence? That's really important. We ate our tea and we sang a song and we danced around the room. There are two options, one is simple, one is compound. Which is which and why ? Pause the video now. Okay. We ate our tea is a simple sentence made up with just one main clause. We sang a song and we danced around the room is a compound sentence made up of two main clauses joined together by a coordinating conjunction in this instance 'and'. Congratulations, really good lesson, and we've covered a lot. We've looked at simple sentences, compound sentences we've written compound sentences and we've reviewed what we've learned. Well done for your hard work. You've completed the lesson. Bye.

In this lesson, we will explore 'As' complex sentences and have a go at writing our own, based on the clip we watched in the first lesson.

To explore complex sentences

﻿Hi everyone, how are you doing today? It's me Miss Webster with you for our next lesson in this unit. We'll be focusing on practising complex sentence writing and we'll use our film clip, all about the little robin to help us do that. So, let's get started. In this lesson, you will need, an exercise book or some paper, a pencil or a pen, and of course your brain. If you haven't got everything you need, pause the video, go and collect it, and I'll see you when you're ready. We will be doing a writing warm up, we will investigate as adverbial sentences, and then we will do some sentence writing practise. Let's see what's our writing warm up is. So we're going to identify phrases and clauses. My turn your turn, phrases, clauses. So a phrase is a group of words, that does not contain a verb. There would be no verb in a phrase. So what do you think a clause is? If a phrase doesn't have a verb, what must a clause have? It does contain a verb, and let's just remind ourselves of what verbs are. I'm going to say the definition, and then we'll say it together. A verb is a doing or a being word; if you do it or you are it, then the word is a verb. Let's say it together one, two, three. A verb is a doing or a being word; if you do it or you are it, then the word is a verb. Well done. So here's an example of a phrase, above the snow capped mountains. That's a phrase because it does not have a verb in it. Here's a clause, the little bird flew, above the snow capped mountains. Now that's the clause because it does have a verb in it. What's the verb in that clause? Point to it. Tell me, act it out. He flew above the snow capped mountains. So it's your turn to identify the phrases and clauses. Remember a phrase doesn't have a verb, and a clause does have a verb. So you've got to look at each group of words. High above the dense forest, flying through the misty sky, soaring above the lush fields, the shimmering Lake, the little bird glided through the air. Pause the video now and write down, if you think each one is a phrase, or a clause, and play the video when you've done that. Let's check. So can you see the ones that are in purple? They are the phrases. High above the dense forest and the shimmering lake. We can sometimes use the word shimmer as a verb, but in this case we've used it as an adjective, to describe the lake. And can you see the ones that are clauses? Did you get them? Why are those three clauses? Ah because they've got a verb in them? What's the verb in, soaring above the lush fields? Tell me? Soaring well done, which is another way of saying flying through the air. And what about flying through the misty sky? What's the verb? Flying, and the little bird glided through the air. What's the verb? Point to it, and tell me. Glided well done, which again is another synonym for flying. Now we're going to investigate as complex sentences. All complex sentences have to have a subordinate clause and a main clause. Let's say those words, my turn your turn, subordinate clause, main clause. Well done. So subordinate clause has got a verb in it because we know all clauses have to have verbs, but it doesn't make sense on it's own. But a main clause, we know it's got a verb in it, because all clauses have to have verbs, but it does make sense on its own. So, let's read this question, I'll read it and then you can read it. As the little robin perched on a branch, torrential rain poured down. Your turn to read it. Fantastic, so which of coloured part of the sentence is the subordinate clause and the main clause? Hmm, as the little robin perched on a branch, that must be the, subordinate clause, because it doesn't make sense on it's own. But the bit in purple, torrential rain poured down, that's the main clause. It does make sense on it's own. What is the verb, in the subordinate clause? Point to it, tell me. Perched, and what's the verb in the main clause? Point to it, tell me. Poured, good job. We are writing as complex sentences, which are sometimes called adverbial complex sentences. And they are a good idea when we want to add plenty of descriptive detail, to our writing, and to show two things, happening at once. Let's have a look at this sentence, follow along whilst I read it. As the little bird hopped out of the old hut, snowflakes fell from the sky. What two things happened in that sentence? What was the first thing? The little bird hopped out of the old hut, hopped out of the old hut. And, what else happened in that sentence? Snowflakes fell from the sky. How many pieces of punctuation would you use, if you wrote an adverbial complex sentence, starting with as? I'm going to show you that sentence again. Hmm have a really good look there. How many pieces of punctuation can you see? Hmm, is it one, is it two or is it three? Should we say it together? Ready, you need, three. Let's check what they are. We've got to have, our capital letter at the beginning of our sentence. What's the next piece of punctuation that you can see? I can see a comma. Oh, okay, I can see the comma, after the subordinate clause, after the bits in pink. And then the final thing we need is, a full stop. So you've got a challenge now. You've got to look at the words on the screen and tell me if you think they are a main clause or a subordinate clause. So let's start off with this one, as the robin flew higher and higher, is that a main clause? Does it make sense on its own or is it a subordinate clause, it does not make sense on its own? One, two, three, it's a subordinate clause. As the robin flew higher and higher, that doesn't make sense on its own does it? Ready for the next one? Ice cold wind bit at his feathers. Hmm, main clause or subordinate clause? One, two, three, it's a main clause. It does make sense on its own. I could have that, as a sentence by itself. Ready for the next one, as the stormy waves crashed. Subordinate clause or main clause? One, two, three, subordinate clause. And finally, the feathered creature shivered. The feathered creature, and that's a way of referring to the little robin in our story, the feathered creature. Is that a main clause or a subordinate clause? Can I have that as a sentence by itself? Let's say it together one, two, three, it's a main clause. Well done, let's play a true or false game. Complex sentences have two different types of clause, two different types of clause. Hmm, think back to our learning that we've just done. And shall we say it together, is it true or false? One, two, three. It's, true. They need to contain a main clause, which makes sense on its own, and a subordinate clause, which doesn't make sense on its own. So the two different types of clauses, are main and subordinate. Ready for the next one? Complex sentences need to have more than 20 words in them. Well I remember reading, some quite long sentences with you a minute ago, Hmm. Do they need to have more than 20 words in them? True or false? One, two, three. It's false, there's no minimum or maximum number of words. They just need to have the main clause and subordinate clause. Ready for this one? Complex sentences are the best type of sentence to write. Well I remember we were talking about them being a really good idea, when we want to add plenty of description to our writing. And when we want to show two things happening at once, but are they the best type of sentence? Should we say it together? One, two, three. It's, false. It depends on what you want the purpose of the sentence to be. Sometimes it's more effective to use a short, simple sentence. Are you ready to spot what's wrong with this sentence? I'll read it aloud. As the little robin flew through the bitterly cold air, it began to rain. Hmm, I think that sentence makes sense. I can see two things that are happening. Can you see all the punctuation I need? Hmm, count the pieces punctuation. I've got my capital letter one, my full stop that's two. I remember we need three things in a complex sentence that starts with an as clause. What's missing? Should we say it together? It's a, comma. Point to the comma. Well done. What's missing or what's wrong with this sentence, as the larger bird swooped down, the robin. What's wrong with that sentence? What haven't it got? It hasn't got, a main clause. I forgot to finish it. So it could say something like this, as the larger bird swooped down, the robbin swiftly flew out the way. Ooh, I finished my main clause off there. And then this one, as the little robin swiftly, the air turned colder and colder. What's wrong with that sentence? Have a really good look. Read it to yourself, as the little robin swiftly, the air turned colder and colder. Well I can see all my punctuation there, I can see my main clause there, the air turned colder and colder. Is there something wrong with that subordinate clause? There is, isn't there? I've missed out a verb. I forgot to put my verb in it. So this is what it should say, as the little robin flew swiftly, the air turned colder and colder. It's your turn to practise writing some sentences. So there are some pictures here that we had in our first lesson. And hopefully they'll help you think of some ideas for your sentences. So, you're going to use this structure as, the something something something, something else happened. I'd like you to pause the video, have a go at writing your sentence, and then play it when you've done that. Okay, you've got your sentence. I would like you to give yourself a tick for each of the following. Now your sentence won't look like mine, it will be different. It will have different words in it, but it will be, there will be somethings that are similar. So, give yourself a tick if you've got your capital letter for as, give yourself a tick if you've got your verb in your subordinate clause. My verb is crashed, as huge waves crashed down below, that's verb one. What do you think the next tick should be for? I think it should be for our comma. Have you got your comma after your subordinate clause? Give it a tick. As huge waves crashed down below, the robin's little heart pounded in his chest. My next tick is for verb two. I haven't underlined it, can you see what it is? Point to it, and tell me, pounded well done. His little heart pounded in his chest. Give yourself a tick for your verb number two, which will be in your main clause. And then what's our final tick for? It must be for our, full stop. Well done. I'd like you to have a go at one more, as complex sentence. Choose a different picture this time, I chose the stormy sea picture for my one, but maybe you can choose a different one, for this sentence. Pause the video now, and write down your sentence. Wow, well done. What brilliant writing today. We did a writing warm up, we investigated as complex sentences, and then you wrote some amazing sentences for yourself. Can you just finish by reading me your final sentence please? Fantastic, really good job. If you'd like to, you can share your work with your parent or carer, and I really hope that you have a lovely rest of your day, and I'm looking forward to our next lesson very soon, bye.

In this lesson, we will explore using 'As' adverbial complex sentences and complex sentences that have relative clauses in them. We will practise writing sentences throughout the lesson.

To develop understanding of complex sentences

﻿Hi, everyone. How are you doing today? Welcome to our next lesson in the Robbins journey unit. This lesson has a special grammar focus. So I hope that you're sitting somewhere comfortably and feeling confident. Let's get started. In this lesson, you'll need an exercise book or some paper, a pencil or something to write with, and you'll need your brain. If you haven't got everything you need, pause the video, go and collect it and I'll see you when you're ready. We'll do a writing warm up. Then we will explore 'As' complex sentences. Then we will explore relative clause complex sentences. Let's see, what's our writing warm up is. It's all about identifying phrases and clauses. Let's say these words, phrase, clause. Can you remember the difference? Give you a clue. It's something to do with verbs. One of them has got verbs in them, and one of them hasn't. Let's see. So phrase is a group of words that does not contain a verb. So that means a clause must be a group of words that does contain a verb. Should we remind ourselves of our word class clause the verb? I'll do it. And then we'll do it together. A verb is a doing or a being word. If you do it or you are, then the word is a verb. Are we together? One, two, three. A verb is a doing or a being word? If you do it or you are, then the word is a verb. Good job. So here's an example of a phrase above the tempestuous sea. Your turn to say it, and here is an example of a clause. The wind howled above the tempestuous sea. Your turn to say it. Good job. Can you see the difference? So there's a verb in the clause. What's the verb in the clause? Point to it. Tell me, howled. Well done. The wind howled above the tempestuous sea. I can almost hear that in my ears as I read that sentence. So your turn to identify the phrases and clauses. There's the reminder of what's the phrases. There's the reminder of what the clause is. And you've got some groups of words on the screen. Let's see what they are. The dark stormy sky beating his wings as fast as he could heart thumped inside his chest. The crashing waves battled against the strong wind. Pause the video now and write down whether each group of words is a phrase or a clause. Pause the video and play it. When you're ready. Let's check. Can you see a little words that are in the purple rectangle, those are the phrases. Did you get them, in the dark stormy sky? There is no verb in that. The crashing waves. There's no verb in that either, just objectives and nouns, and let's look at the other ones. Also there are the clauses beating his wings as fast as he could heart thumped inside his chest. He battled against a strong wind, but really good picture in my mind of the poor little robin flying as quickly as he could in trying his hardest in that strong wind. So do you know why their clauses? Did you see the verbs? Tell me the verb in heart thumped inside his chest. Tell me, thumped. okay. Tell me the verb in beating his wings as fast as he could. Tell me. Okay. And what about battled against the strong wind? Tell me. Lets check. Thumped, beating, and battled. well done. So we are going to investigate 'As' complex sentences all complex sentences have to have a subordinate clause and a main clause. Let's say those words, subordinate clause, main clause. Well done. So a subordinate clause has a verb because we know that all clauses have to have verbs, but the subordinate clause does not make sense on its own. So the main clause has a verb and does make sense on its own. Let's look at an example of a sentence with both clauses in them. As bright lightning, flashed, perilously, torrential rain poured down. So the bit in pink is the subordinate clause, and the bit in purple is the main clause. What are the verbs in that sentence? Tell me the first one. Yep. Flashed and tell me the second one. Yeah. Poured. We are writing 'As' complex sentences. They're sometimes called adverbial complex sentences. So in that example, the 'As' clause is the subordinate clause. I've started off with an 'As' clause, as bright lightning flashed perilously torrential rain poured down. So I've started with my subordinate clause and I finished with my main clause. True or false? The subordinate clause always has to be at the beginning. In that example, it is isn't it. I can see that it's in pink, the subordinate clause that's the beginning. Does it always have to be at the beginning? Show me with your thumb if you think it's true or false, show me. Let's check. It's false. It doesn't have to be. It can be at the end of the sentence. So have a look at these two examples. As bright lightning flashed, perilously, torrential rain poured down. We could write it. As torrential rain poured down as bright lightening flashed perilously. So I start with my subordinate clause in the first one, finished with my main clause in the first one, but started with my main clause in the second one and finished with my subordinate clause in the second one. Here is a sentence I'd like you to finish by saying it's out loud. When the main clause is at the beginning, you don't need a, something. Have a really good look at that first sentence. Have a good look at that second sentence. Remember the second sentence has got the main clause at the beginning. Should we say the full sentence together? Have you had a really good look? Think about the punctuation. Is there anything you can see in the first sentence that you can't in the second one? Let's say the full sentence together. When the main clause is at the beginning, you don't need a comma. Yeah. Look in the first one. I've got my comma to separate my clauses, but in the second one, I don't need a comma there to separate my clauses. So when the main clause is at the beginning, you don't need a comma. So it's your turn now to write these sentences with a main clause at the beginning. Okay. I've got three sentences on the screen. Number one, as furious thunder roared, the fishing boat was being violently tossed upon the stormy sea. Number two, as the audacious robin flew right into the heart of the storm, bolts of lightning zig zagged across the night sky and number three, as torrential rain lashed down, the howling wind grew stronger. So can you see, they all start off with an 'As' clause, the subordinate clauses at the beginning. Okay. Some of his sentences I've coloured the clauses in some of them I haven't. So it's your turn to pause the video and write your three sentences with the main clause at the beginning, you don't have to change any words. You just have to swap the clauses around and remember, will you need a comma? Yes or no? You won't need a comma. Will you? So pause the video, write the three sentences and play the video when you're ready. Let's check. Let's look at this first one. Okay. So that's what it was originally the first sentence. This is what it should say if we start with the main clause, the fishing boat was being violently tossed upon the stormy sea as furious thunder roared. You know its quite a good sentence for really giving my reader an accurate picture in their mind of what's happening out on the sea. Before I show you the next one, can you read it aloud to me for number two, read it aloud to me. Should we see, bolts of lightning Zig zagged across the night sky as the audacious robin flew into the hearts of the storm? Well done. Look at that one and let's check number three. So instead of, as torrential rain lashed down comma the howling wind grew stronger. It could be, the howling wind grew stronger as torrential rain lashed down. Great job. Let's have a look at some more sentences, and I want you to tell me what's wrong with them. I'm going to read it. Listen really carefully and follow along as I'm reading. Furious thunder roared overhead comma as the brave robin flapped his wings with all his strength. Okay. Got some good word choices there. A good picture in my mind of what's happening, but what's wrong with it? Really, really good look. Is there some punctuation that's there that shouldn't be point to the punctuation that's there that shouldn't be Well done. So it shouldn't have a comma. Should it? This is what it should look like. Furious thunder roared overhead as the brave robin flapped his wings with all his strength. So I don't need a comma when my main clause is at the beginning. What's wrong with this sentence? Strong winds as lightning flashed up above. Can't see a comma there that was good. Cause I know that I've got to start with my main clause. Okay. Strong winds as lightning flashed up above, you say one, two, three. Can you hear any words missing? Yeah. Strong winds, strong winds what? There's a word missing? Isn't there, strong winds what? What could the word be? Let's think what did the strong winds do? Strong winds blew strong winds blew as lightning flashed up above. So I'd forgotten my verb in that main clause. We're going to move on to explore relative clauses now. So this is just a recap and a lesson that we did previously, where we looked at using relative clauses at the end of a sentence. And we talked about using relative clauses to get extra detail to the reader, to help them get a really good picture in their mind of what was happening. And we have this sentence, didn't we? The robin hopped out of the old rickety hut, which was in the middle of nowhere. So that relative clause was used to give information about the robin or the hut. One, two, three, the hut. Good job. So here is another example. The robin flew into the storm, which was growing more dangerous by the second. So sentences that have relative clauses are a type of complex sentence because they have a what kind of clause and what kind of clause, a main clause and a subordinate clause. And the relative clause is a type of subordinate clause. Have a look at these two sentences, I'll read them aloud. The robin flew into the storm, which was growing more dangerous by the second. The kind fishermen looked after the robin, who had been badly injured in the storm. Think about the things that are the same and think about the things that are different in those sentences. Like you to pause the video and just have a really good look and come up with some things that's are the same, and simple things that's are different. Pause the video and play when you're ready. Let's check. Let's start off with the things that are the same. Did you get anything that's the same? Point to something that's the same in both sentences. Okay. I can see a comma in both sentences before my relative clause, before their bit in pink. So the next thing this is saying is that the relative clause is at the end of the sentence. What's about things that are different. Can you see something that's different? How have I started my relative clause? So, and the first one, it starts with which, and in the second one, it starts with who. So I need to use which if my relative clause gives more detail about a thing, and I use who, when it gives more detail about a character. Okay. And which, and who are examples of relative pronouns, relative pronoun. Well done. I like you in a second to pause the video and complete these sentences. The bird heard loud thunder, which something, something, something. So that relative clause is about the thunder. So we need to use which, because thunder is a thing and the next sentence you need to complete. Luckily the injured robin was picked up by the kind fishermen who, so that relative clause needs to be about the wrapping all the fishermen. It's about the fishermen. Isn't it. So pause the video and complete your sentences. Should we see what I wrote. The bird had loud thunder come up, which roared in the sky. Can you tell me your relative clause one, two, three. Well done. This is what I wrote for the second one. Luckily the injured robin was picked up by the kind fisherman who carefully wrapped him in a warm blanket. What a really nice thing to do by the fishermen? What was your relative clause for this sentence? Tell me. Well done. Have a look at these two sentences. And we will think about the things that are the same and the things that are different. The robin flew into the storm, which was growing more dangerous by the second. Ready for the next one? The waves which crashed against the fishing boats grew taller and taller with every second. Pause the video and think about the things that are the same. Have I got the same relative pronoun? Have I got any of the same punctuation or is that different? And think about the things that are different as well. Pause the video and play it when you've had a really close look at those sentences. So the things that are the same, we've got a relative clause in both sentences. Okay. We've got a main clause in both sentences, so it must be a complex sentence. What does my relative clause start with in both sentences? It starts with the word which, well done. Okay. So few things that are the same, what's about the things that are different. Look at where that relative clause is look where that relative clause is. So the relative clause is in a different place. So I've finished my sentence with my relative clause for the first one. And in the second sentence, the relative clause is near to the beginning. Okay. What else is different? How many commas are in the first sentence? Show me in fingers? just one. How many commas are in the second sentence? Show me in fingers? Two. You all got to complete these sentences? A huge wave crashed into the robin who and the robin who was swept on board a nearby fishing boat. Pause the video and complete those sentences. This is my one, a huge wave crushed into the robin comma who was swept on board a nearby fishing boat. Can you read me your sentence for the first one? Well done. This is what I wrote for the second one. The robin who was hit by an immense wave was swept, on board a nearby fishing boat. Can you read aloud your second sentence? Well done. Really great work today, did a great job in the writing warmup. We explored 'As' complex sentences and we had a really good focus on exploring relative clauses in complex sentences. That's the end of today's lesson really well done. I hope that you have a really great rest of your day and I'm really looking forward to seeing you again for our next lesson very soon. Bye.

In this lesson, we will learn all about clauses and how they can be used to make simple, compound and complex sentences. We will also learn about the coordinating and subordinating conjunctions that we use to make the different sentence types.

To develop our understanding of simple, compound and complex sentences

﻿Hello everyone, it's Mr. Brown with your English lesson. I hope you're ready, because I'm ready. Let's get started. Okay, so our learning objective for today is to develop an understanding of simple, compound and complex sentences and this is our third lesson. Okay, so the agenda for today, the things we're going to be learning about is simple sentences, compound sentences and complex sentences. In this lesson, you will need your exercise book or a piece of paper, a pencil or a pen, something to write with and, of course, your brain. Let's start with our key vocabulary and today it is essential that we really focus on our key vocabulary. These are our four main word classes. Let's go through them one at a time to make sure we fully understand what each of those means. The first one is noun. Can you say that for me? Noun. A noun is a PPT, a person, place or thing. A noun is a PPT, a person, place or thing. So something like a table, Mr. Brown, I'm a noun, you are a noun, the sky is a noun. A thought can be a noun, even though you can't touch it, it's a thing, it's still a noun. Okay, let's move on across to the pink box here. Adjectives. Say it for me. Adjectives, good job. An adjective is a describing word. An adjective is a describing word. This is a word that describes something else. For example, if I'm describing a table, the adjective could be hard table or round table. Those adjectives are words that describe something. Okay, onto the bottom row and the green box, it's verbs. Say that with me. Verbs. A verb is a doing or a being word. Something that you do is a verb. Run is a verb, sit is a verb, listen, which you're doing right now, that's a verb. And then our last box is adverbs! An adverb describes a verb. Say it with me. An adverb describes a verb. An adverb basically tells you how the verb is being done, because I can sit quietly or I can sit sleepily . The adverb controls the verb and it's essential in our writing. We look a lot at that. Okay, let's start with simple sentences. My first question to you is what is a clause? What is a clause? Now I don't mean Santa Claus. What is a clause when we're writing? Do you think you know? You can tell me out loud if you do or you can tell someone who might be at home or at school, wherever you're watching this lesson. A clause is simply a group of words that contain a verb. Let's repeat that. A group of words that contain a verb. What's the key thing that a clause has to have? A verb, exactly. A group of words that contains a verb. Let's have a look at some clauses. Now clauses can be sorted into two categories. Those that make sense on their own and those that do not make sense on their own. What I want you to do is to pause the recording to read the four clauses and try and work out if any of them make sense on their own. And by make sense on their own, I think the easiest way to explain it is that these could be sentences on their own. A clause that makes sense on its own can be a sentence. You could put a full stop at the end, a capital letter at the start and it works as a sentence. Do any of these clauses make sense on their own? Pause the lesson now. Okay, let's have a look and see if you are right. Our full clauses were the snow fell, when I was at home, because he was so cold and he gazed at the keys. I love the word gazed. You're going to see that probably lots. It's a great word for when you're looking at something really, really hard. Okay, if you didn't have a chance to read through those and have a go, you can have a go now. Let's see which two clauses make sense on their own. The snow fell and he gazed at the keys are both main clauses because they make sense on their own and they therefore can become sentences. And I use this symbol to help me remember that. Mr. Main and he is the main man. He's the superhero who can go out there and fight crime all on his own. He doesn't need anyone else. He might go out with someone else to help him fight crime, but he doesn't need them. He can go on his own. Now a main clause is sometimes called a simple sentence. It's just got one main clause and that can be a simple sentence. I would like you to write a simple sentence to describe this picture, so pause the lesson and write a simple sentence with just one main clause remember. What's a clause? Ah, yeah, group of words that contain a verb. Write a simple sentence to describe this picture. Pause the lesson now. Okay, let's see how you got on. Here was my attempt. The man counted his coins. The man counted his coins. Now we know to be a main clause you need to have a verb, so counted is the verb. It's the thing that he did and to be a main clause you need to make sense on your own. The man counted his coins. Yeah, makes sense. It's a simple sentence. Okay, let's have a look at compound sentences. Getting a bit tricky now. Just say that with me. Compound sentences. Now I just wanted to read you some of my writing I did. Let me know what you think. The man sat at his desk. He counted his coins. A candle flickered. The wind blew. What do you think? Good writing? Not so good writing in the middle. What do you think? And sometimes it's just a feeling or an opinion, isn't it? What do you think, was that good writing? No, it wasn't, wasn't it? It didn't sound like good writing and the reasons for that is because it wasn't varied enough. To keep our writing varied and interesting to read we can't just write a long sequence of simple sentences. Now the word varied and variety I'm going to keep talking about in literacy and English because to be a great writer you need to keep your writing varied. It needs to have also variety, so do different things. That's what varied means. Means it's never just the same, the same, the same, the same. Variety means something different at all times, okay? And in our writing in English we need to make sure we are always being as varied as we can to keep our reader interested. However, we can fix this problem because we can use certain words to join two simple sentences together. And this, when you do that, is called a compound sentence. If you have one simple sentence, another simple sentence, you join them together, you have made a compound sentence. Can you work out what a compound sentence is then? Use these pictures to help you. What will make up a compound sentence? It's a main clause, plus another main clause and you got yourself a compound sentence. Now these three words are called coordinating conjunctions and they can be used to join two main clauses together. Let's read those words at the top. You've got but, or, and. And again, but, or, and. One more time, but, or, and. A bit louder, but, or, and. Good job. Now those three words are called coordinating conjunctions. Your turn, coordinating conjunctions, good. They can be used to join two main clauses together. Now two main clauses joined using coordinating conjunctions is called a compound sentence. Let me give you an example. Here are two main clauses. The man sat at his desk, full stop. He counted his coins, full stop. Two perfectly good simple sentences, but if you want variety, you've got to think about joining some of your simple sentences. Let's have a look at this then. Here's our two simple sentences and our three, what are they called at the top? Coordinating conjunctions, yeah, thank you. Coordinating conjunctions. I would like you to have a read through of the three sentences in front of you here. I have taken those two main clauses, those two simple sentences and I've joined them using each of the coordinating conjunctions, but which one is correct? To find this out, you're simply going to have to think of which one sounds right. Which one sounds right? So I want you to read these three sentences to yourself. Decide which one sounds right and that one would be the one that you would use to join these two sentences, these two main clause simple sentences. Okay, pause the lesson, have a go now. Okay, welcome back. So, let's read through these three compound sentences and see which one sounds right. First one, the man sat at his desk, but he counted his coins. Mm, not sure about that. Now the way that we use but is with this symbol. Think of it like this. A but sentence has something positive in the first main clause and then something negative in the second main clause or the other way around. It could be negative first, then positive. For example, it was a beautiful sunny day, but it started to rain. Let's try another one. I scored a goal in football, but VAR ruled it out for offside. Let's try flipping it around. Let's start with the negative. I had a terrible day at school, but I went out for dinner after school. So, you're seeing what I mean. Now but doesn't work for that sentence does it, because the man sat at his desk. That's okay, I guess it's positive. Nothing negative happening there. He counted his coins. Well, that's positive as well, so but doesn't sound right. Let's try the next one. The man sat at his desk or he counted his coins. Again, it's not sounding right is it because or works by offering someone something that will happen if the first part of the sentence doesn't. For example, I must go to sleep or I will be very tired tomorrow. Being very tired tomorrow is going to happen if the first part of the sentence doesn't happen, so or doesn't work for that either. Let's try the last one. The man sat at his desk and counted his coins. Perfect. All I'm doing is giving you another piece of information and that is what and is amazing at. And is just when you want to tell someone some more about the same topic. For example, I went to school today and, so I know if and is there you're going to be telling me something about going to school or something that you did today. I went to school today and I had a PE lesson. Perfect, really good. Okay, let's move on. The man sat at his desk and counted his coins. Definitely. Main clause plus main clause equals a compound sentence. The candle flickered. The wind blew. Your job is to turn these two simple sentences into a compound sentence. Can you remember what our three coordinating conjunctions were? Can you remember what our three coordinating conjunctions were? We can go back and have a look if you want. Because I put this picture of a snake there to help us, because this snake is a boa constrictor. It's a type of snake, B-O-A, boa. Why do you think I called the snake B-O-A, boa? Because it helps me to remember but, B, or, O, and, A, boa. My three coordinating conjunctions. So have a go at joining those two simple sentences to make a compound sentence using your three coordinating conjunctions and remember boa to help you remember. Off you go. Okay, let's have a look. I went for this one and again, because it's giving two bits of information. The candle flickered and the wind blew. It's the same thing and I'm telling you that's it. Okay, let's move onto complex sentences and this is where it does get tricky. If you need a quick brain break, maybe give your brain a massage, maybe loosen up, get ready, because this could be the hardest one, but I know you're going to be able to do it. Okay, the clauses that are not main clauses are called subordinate clauses. Now let's say that together because that's a big word. Subordinate, subordinate clauses. So you've got main clauses and subordinate clauses now. Subordinate clauses can't make a sentence on their own. They need a main clause. For example, my main clause would be the snow fell. There's my verb fell, so that's a clause. It makes sense on its own. The snow fell. A subordinate clause would be when I was at home it can't work on its own, can it? Can you imagine if someone said, "Oh, let me read you my sentence." When I was at home, full stop. That's not a sentence. It doesn't make sense on its own. It can't be a simple sentence. So, have a look at how I have used these in the same sentence and let's look at our action hero here, because he is a bit like Mr. Main. He likes to fight crime. He likes to be a superhero, but he can't do it on his own. He is Mr. Subordinate. He can't do it on his own and there he is. He needs Mr. Main with him. Together, they work really well. Mr. Main can go on his own, but Mr. Subordinate needs him there, that's why he's the helper. So, my main clause, the snow fell, that could be on its own. If I want to use my subordinate clause I need a main clause with it. For example, the snow fell when I was at home. That makes sense. When did the snow fall? It was when I was at home. The snow fell when I was at home. You can even change the order of the main clause and the subordinate clause around. You can have main clause, subordinate clause or you can have subordinate clause, main clause. It works both ways. The snow fell when I was at home. Main clause first. When I was at home, the snow fell. Subordinate clause first. They both make sense. There is only one punctuation rule that you need to know. Can you spot what it is? Have a look at my two examples there. When main clause is first and subordinate clause is second and when subordinate clause is first, the main clause second. There is one punctuation rule you need to know when you are writing complex sentences, what is it? Have a good look. What have you spotted? What piece of punctuation is there in one and not in the other? Subordinate clauses will start with subordinating conjunctions and they when they are starting a subordinate clause need a comma. They have to have a comma at the end of them. Just like when you can see when I was at home there is when, which is one of the subordinating conjunctions. It started a clause and it needs a comma before you get to the main clause, but only when the subordinating conjunction starts the sentence. For example, let's look at the snow fell when I was at home. There's when again, but it is in the second part of the sentence where the subordinate clause comes. Tricky isn't it? Subordinate clauses will start with subordinate conjunctions and here are the four kind of main examples. There are lots of subordinating conjunctions, but at this stage I think if we can master these four, we'll be doing really well. They are when, as, while, because. And they can be split, these guys, into two categories. When, as, and while talk about when something that is happening at the same time as the main clause. For example, when I was brushing my teeth, it was raining outside. It's raining at the same time as I'm brushing my teeth. That's what when, as, and while do, whereas because explains why the main clause happened. Let's have a look at some examples of when, as, and while, something that's happening at the same time as the main clause. When I went to the shops, it started to rain, so it was raining when I went to the shops. As the man counted his coins, so whatever comes next is going to be happening at the same time as the man counting his coins. As the man counted his coins, the candle flickered. Really nice complex sentence and a good one that we can use in our writing for "A Christmas Carol." The man sat in silence while the snow fell outside. Why have I not got a comma in that third sentence? The man sat in silence while the snow fell outside. Of course, yes, because the main clause comes first. The man sat in silence, that's my main clause and all I'm doing is adding a bit more information. While the snow fell outside, with a subordinate clause. Good job. Let's have a look at some because examples then. Because explains why the main clause happened. The girl used her umbrella because it was raining. That's main clause first, subordinate clause second. No need for a comma. Because it was raining, comma, the girl used her umbrella. Because is a subordinating conjunction. It's starting a subordinate clause. The subordinate clause is going first, main clause second, so you need the comma. I know it's tricky. You're going to learn and practise this lots and lots. Okay, your turn. Can you write a simple sentence for this picture? Write a simple sentence for this picture. What is happening in this picture. A simple sentence is just one main clause, so you're only going to tell me one thing that's happening. You can say this out loud actually. If you would rather write it down, you can write it down and pause the lesson or you can say it out loud to me. So tell me, what's your simple sentence for this picture? But make sure you start with your capital letter. I always do this to show a capital A to help me remember and your full stop. Write a simple sentence for this picture. You should have a look at my example. The man warmed his hands, full stop. That's it, I told you one piece of information. It has my verb, warmed. What a nice verb that is. The man warmed his hands. Now add another main clause using a coordinating conjunction and turn your sentence into a compound sentence and there he is. There's my boa snake. Can that help you to remember the three coordinating conjunctions that you can use? The man warmed his hands. Add another main clause and a coordinating conjunction and you would've made a compound sentence. You can tell me out loud or you can pause and write it down. Okay, let's have a look at my example. The man warmed his hands. Oh, that sounds good, doesn't it? Positive, he's warming his hands. Oh, there's a but. But, he was still shivering. He was still cold, so but works so well there, because he warmed his hands and then he's shivering. It's a really good example of positive and then negative and it's a compound sentence because but was one of my three coordinating conjunctions. Remind me, what were they? But, or, and. Exactly, good. Okay, the tricky one. Now try adding a subordinate clause before or after your main clause. Can you remember your subordinating conjunctions that you could use to start your clause? What were they? Your subordinating conjunctions. I can remind you. You remind me first. Do you know them? The subordinating conjunctions. There were four of them that we said are great to start a subordinate clause. They were when, while, as, because. Write them down if you need to. They are great ones to start a subordinate clause with. Okay, the man warmed his hands. That's our main clause. Can you add a subordinate clause before or after that? What have you got? Tricky one that one, isn't it? Let's have a try. I have given you three examples here. While the man shivered, there's my subordinate clause, starting with my subordinating conjunction while. While the main shivered, he warmed his hands, and I've got a comma because my main clause comes second. The man warmed his hands as he shivered. Main clause first, so no comma, good. The man warmed his hands because he was cold. Because works really well. It tells us why he warmed his hands. I don't need a comma because my main clause goes first. Good job. Well done today. Some really tricky stuff and you've handled that so well. You've learned about simple sentences, compound sentences and complex sentences. Very, very good. Well done everyone today. That was a really, really tricky lesson and you handled it so well. I think if you are feeling that you might need to work on those tricky things again then watch the lesson again, it will be so helpful to go through that two times, maybe three times. If you have a parent or a carer or a family member or a friend who is nearby ask them to sit down with you to stop and start that lesson to go over those tricky things, because simple sentences, compound sentences and complex sentences are one of the hardest things that you're going to be doing in your English writing, but well done. I'll see you soon.

Unit Overview: T1: Sentence level objectives

Lessons:

To explore simple and compound sentences

To revise our understanding of simple and compound sentences

To explore complex sentences

To develop understanding of complex sentences

To develop our understanding of simple, compound and complex sentences