Subtitles
KS2 Literacy: The Grammar Dance
0001 10:00:00:17 10:00:03:18
Yeah, let's make it,
"A huge bear roaring loudly".
0002 10:00:03:18 10:00:07:08
One, two, three, four,
0003 10:00:07:08 10:00:10:15
five, six, seven, eight.
0004 10:00:15:13 10:00:19:03
Right back at the...
in fact, it was at half term,
0005 10:00:19:03 10:00:24:12
we had an inset in dance
at a neighbouring primary school.
0006 10:00:24:12 10:00:29:02
I liked the idea of incorporating
dance into the classroom.
0007 10:00:29:02 10:00:31:04
We just learned the basic structures
0008 10:00:31:04 10:00:35:09
according to the National Curriculum
- travel, turning, jumping.
0009 10:00:35:09 10:00:38:22
And it just so happened
to coincide with my aim
0010 10:00:38:22 10:00:41:24
of covering adverbs and verbs
this half term,
0011 10:00:41:24 10:00:44:12
and adjectives and nouns
and all the rest.
0012 10:00:44:12 10:00:47:13
I thought, "Well,
why not see if there's a link
0013 10:00:47:13 10:00:51:09
between something like movement
and dance and grammar?"
0014 10:00:51:09 10:00:55:03
I thought maybe that is my way in
to turn it into something
0015 10:00:55:03 10:00:59:11
that children
actually feel excited about.
0016 10:00:59:11 10:01:03:20
At the same time, they will maybe
remember it a bit better than I did
0017 10:01:03:20 10:01:05:24
from my own schooling.
0018 10:01:06:24 10:01:10:10
(narrator) After seven years
as a secondary geography teacher,
0019 10:01:10:10 10:01:14:01
Aidan O'Kelley
moved into primary teaching.
0020 10:01:14:01 10:01:18:03
He did not relish the idea
of tackling grammar.
0021 10:01:18:03 10:01:21:06
The idea of teaching grammar,
0022 10:01:21:06 10:01:24:10
when I began teaching
four terms ago,
0023 10:01:24:10 10:01:26:10
I wouldn't say it was terrifying,
0024 10:01:26:10 10:01:31:08
but it filled me with a sense
of, sort of, boredom, really.
0025 10:01:31:08 10:01:33:13
I have to be really frank
and say that.
0026 10:01:33:13 10:01:35:23
So to teach something like grammar
0027 10:01:35:23 10:01:38:22
when you suddenly realised
as an adult:
0028 10:01:38:22 10:01:42:02
"I don't really know
if I remember much of this",
0029 10:01:42:02 10:01:45:21
it made me think, "Why didn't I
remember very much of this?"
0030 10:01:45:21 10:01:49:20
And it wasn't something that
I remembered feeling excited about
0031 10:01:49:20 10:01:52:18
or thrilled about
when I was at school, grammar.
0032 10:01:52:18 10:01:55:00
And I really felt challenged
last year,
0033 10:01:55:00 10:01:57:17
in my first year of teaching
at primary, thinking:
0034 10:01:57:17 10:02:01:17
"How can I make grammar
something very, very exciting,
0035 10:02:01:17 10:02:04:06
partly for me,
so that I want to teach it?"
0036 10:02:04:06 10:02:07:17
I thought, "If I want to teach it
then the children will respond."
0037 10:02:07:17 10:02:09:10
I just knew that they would.
0038 10:02:10:18 10:02:14:07
(narrator) Aidan's lesson plan
covers four stages -
0039 10:02:14:07 10:02:16:13
shared writing as a whole group,
0040 10:02:16:13 10:02:18:21
collaborative writing in pairs,
0041 10:02:18:21 10:02:21:16
the development of ideas in groups,
0042 10:02:21:16 10:02:25:11
and finally,
performance and appreciation.
0043 10:02:32:21 10:02:35:09
So if we're trying
to put together a sentence
0044 10:02:35:09 10:02:38:16
which is action-packed
with adjectives and adverbs,
0045 10:02:38:16 10:02:42:15
and if you have difficulty trying to
think of all those different words,
0046 10:02:42:15 10:02:47:04
which one of these words
would you start with?
0047 10:02:47:04 10:02:49:02
George.
0048 10:02:50:02 10:02:53:11
- The noun?
- Yes. I'd start with the noun.
0049 10:02:53:11 10:02:55:23
What I have found
with something like grammar,
0050 10:02:55:23 10:03:01:14
that in just covering adjectives
and adverbs and nouns and verbs,
0051 10:03:01:14 10:03:07:02
in fact we have touched on
imaginative story writing.
0052 10:03:07:02 10:03:08:11
Joyfully.
0053 10:03:10:17 10:03:13:11
- Cheetah.
- (Aidan) Cheetah.
0054 10:03:13:11 10:03:15:11
Running.
0055 10:03:16:06 10:03:18:09
So the cheetah is running.
0056 10:03:18:09 10:03:22:10
In terms of meeting the government
criteria and making it rigorous,
0057 10:03:22:10 10:03:26:21
well, I feel with some children
it has been necessary
0058 10:03:26:21 10:03:33:02
to go off on what could be called
a more imaginative digression.
0059 10:03:33:02 10:03:35:13
But in fact
it's not really a digression at all
0060 10:03:35:13 10:03:38:07
because it's brought them
back to where they should be.
0061 10:03:38:07 10:03:41:20
(narrator) Aidan uses the word
classes and their allocated colours
0062 10:03:41:20 10:03:44:16
to generate
a provocative opening sentence.
0063 10:03:44:16 10:03:46:22
The opening line is going to be:
0064 10:03:46:22 10:03:49:18
"When I visited
0065 10:03:49:18 10:03:52:10
the freakish school,
0066 10:03:52:10 10:03:54:08
this is
0067 10:03:54:08 10:03:57:19
what I saw."
0068 10:03:57:19 10:04:00:11
Right, this is what I saw
at the freakish school.
0069 10:04:00:11 10:04:03:14
Joseph,
could you give us a noun, please?
0070 10:04:03:14 10:04:06:08
- Dinner lady.
- (Aidan) Dinner lady.
0071 10:04:06:08 10:04:08:24
Can someone tell us
what the dinner lady was doing
0072 10:04:08:24 10:04:10:19
in the freakish school?
0073 10:04:10:19 10:04:11:21
Cooking.
0074 10:04:11:21 10:04:13:16
If it's a freakish school,
0075 10:04:13:16 10:04:18:05
the adjective and adverb bring it
to life and tell us something more.
0076 10:04:18:05 10:04:20:03
Let's have Alice.
0077 10:04:20:03 10:04:23:21
Could it be
foul-smelling dinner lady?
0078 10:04:24:24 10:04:28:23
So I want you to tell us about
your visit to the freakish school,
0079 10:04:28:23 10:04:32:18
and you can be as wild
and as outrageous as possible,
0080 10:04:32:18 10:04:35:19
and bring all
of the characters to life
0081 10:04:35:19 10:04:38:20
with your adjectives
and your adverbs.
0082 10:04:38:20 10:04:42:08
(narrator) Aidan strikes a balance
between a structured approach
0083 10:04:42:08 10:04:43:24
and the freedom to experiment.
0084 10:04:43:24 10:04:49:15
I find it easier to just do it
all in the right order
0085 10:04:49:15 10:04:53:07
instead of noun, verb, adjectives.
0086 10:04:53:07 10:04:55:10
- You mean in this order?
- (girl) Yeah.
0087 10:04:55:10 10:04:57:04
Oh, that's absolutely fine.
0088 10:04:57:04 10:04:59:21
If you start off
with the same first letter,
0089 10:04:59:21 10:05:02:03
so, for example,
0090 10:05:02:03 10:05:06:18
if the adjective, noun, verb,
and adverb all have the same letter,
0091 10:05:06:18 10:05:11:01
what do you actually call that, when
they all start with the same letter?
0092 10:05:11:01 10:05:14:02
Because some of you
have been doing this anyway.
0093 10:05:14:02 10:05:17:14
You have been doing it anyway
without actually realising it.
0094 10:05:17:14 10:05:19:19
- Mischa.
- Onomatopoeia. No.
0095 10:05:19:19 10:05:21:14
- No. Michaela.
- Alliteration.
0096 10:05:21:14 10:05:25:10
Excellent.
If you could quickly and quietly
0097 10:05:25:10 10:05:27:24
go to your away places, please.
0098 10:05:35:09 10:05:38:06
I think the collaborative
approach to work,
0099 10:05:38:06 10:05:40:20
I began to see last year,
in particular,
0100 10:05:40:20 10:05:43:00
was increasingly important.
0101 10:05:43:00 10:05:46:08
I really like the idea
of children...
0102 10:05:46:08 10:05:50:19
bouncing ideas backwards
and forwards and discussing things.
0103 10:05:51:15 10:05:54:10
Then two colons, like that.
0104 10:05:54:10 10:05:58:01
And when I visited
the butcher's...
0105 10:05:58:01 10:06:01:16
- I saw...
- I saw some smelly fish.
0106 10:06:01:16 10:06:05:05
Yeah, go on.
No, Billy, take off the colons.
0107 10:06:08:16 10:06:11:12
(Aidan) I still have the concern
at the end of the day
0108 10:06:11:12 10:06:14:22
that they'll be overdependent
one on the other, for example,
0109 10:06:14:22 10:06:18:03
or that their work will be
identical, but I should know better
0110 10:06:18:03 10:06:20:09
because it never is identical.
0111 10:06:20:09 10:06:22:14
They will always go off on tangents.
0112 10:06:22:14 10:06:26:06
They will always have their own
ideas, but sharing at the same time.
0113 10:06:26:06 10:06:30:15
But what is interesting is that when
they're listening to each other,
0114 10:06:30:15 10:06:33:02
they can actually
be very, very supportive.
0115 10:06:33:02 10:06:35:00
Not always.
They're not perfect.
0116 10:06:35:00 10:06:36:19
But they can actually be
0117 10:06:36:19 10:06:40:01
if they're listening to each other
read their work.
0118 10:06:40:01 10:06:43:03
I want you to hear
what people on blue table have done
0119 10:06:43:03 10:06:46:19
because Alice has decided not to
stick with the freakish school,
0120 10:06:46:19 10:06:51:00
but has completely - this is what
I absolutely get so excited about -
0121 10:06:51:00 10:06:53:16
you have completely
gone off on your own tangent
0122 10:06:53:16 10:06:57:02
and created something
very interesting. Go ahead.
0123 10:06:57:02 10:07:01:09
"The antique dressing table proudly
held 30 fashionable perfumes,
0124 10:07:01:09 10:07:05:02
70 frilly pink knickers,
100 odd pongy socks,
0125 10:07:05:02 10:07:07:16
170 Barbie picture boxes,
0126 10:07:07:16 10:07:11:14
one large triangular mirror
carved around the edge,
0127 10:07:11:14 10:07:13:23
130 fake silver bracelets,
0128 10:07:13:23 10:07:15:09
600 forged pounds,
0129 10:07:15:09 10:07:18:21
and 600 sly socks swaying silently.
0130 10:07:18:21 10:07:21:11
Excellent.
Very, very interesting indeed.
0131 10:07:21:11 10:07:25:10
It really strikes me
when I hear people like Alice
0132 10:07:25:10 10:07:28:10
reading about her dressing table,
0133 10:07:28:10 10:07:31:14
and the quirkiness
and the oddness of that.
0134 10:07:31:14 10:07:35:14
I'm thinking, "Oh, my God.
There is such a story there."
0135 10:07:35:14 10:07:39:05
So, in a way, the grammar is...
I thought it would be a foundation,
0136 10:07:39:05 10:07:45:12
but in fact it has already, I feel,
given rise to some exciting stories.
0137 10:07:50:16 10:07:54:16
So you're going to have to come up,
as a group, with a sentence,
0138 10:07:54:16 10:07:58:18
which you are going to put together
as a little dance or performance.
0139 10:07:58:18 10:08:02:17
And then we're going to have
one group after another,
0140 10:08:02:17 10:08:07:05
passing by like it's this wonderful,
outrageous circus parade.
0141 10:08:07:05 10:08:11:18
But could we just have one quick
example off the top of your head?
0142 10:08:11:18 10:08:14:13
What might you see
passing by in a circus parade?
0143 10:08:14:13 10:08:18:06
And make it outrageous
and wild and exciting
0144 10:08:18:06 10:08:22:05
because, remember,
you are going to be acting it out.
0145 10:08:23:05 10:08:25:04
- Billy.
- Um...
0146 10:08:25:04 10:08:27:22
- A cheetah.
- (children giggle)
0147 10:08:29:09 10:08:33:02
A cheetah.
What is the cheetah doing, Billy?
0148 10:08:35:01 10:08:37:11
- Walking slowly.
- Shh.
0149 10:08:37:11 10:08:40:03
Mm. OK. Walking...
0150 10:08:41:03 10:08:43:04
slowly.
0151 10:08:43:04 10:08:45:06
And... Shh. Don't.
0152 10:08:45:06 10:08:47:17
- What kind of a cheetah is it?
- Extraordinary.
0153 10:08:47:17 10:08:49:13
An extraordinary cheetah.
0154 10:08:49:13 10:08:52:13
Now, that's quite a challenging one
to actually act out.
0155 10:08:52:13 10:08:55:13
OK. What you're going to do
in your groups,
0156 10:08:55:13 10:08:59:03
and we've discussed what groups
you'll be in for this afternoon,
0157 10:08:59:03 10:09:03:03
you're going to have to come up,
as a group, with a sentence,
0158 10:09:03:03 10:09:07:01
which you are going to put together
as a little dance or performance.
0159 10:09:07:01 10:09:10:13
And you'll have some time
in the hall to practise that.
0160 10:09:13:24 10:09:17:19
"Jumping dwarves
pirouetting slowly."
0161 10:09:18:09 10:09:20:21
- Have you checked your spelling?
- (girl) No.
0162 10:09:20:21 10:09:23:23
I didn't think so. Dictionary.
0163 10:09:25:23 10:09:28:23
I'll give you a hint.
"P-i" is what it starts with.
0164 10:09:28:23 10:09:30:23
So look up under "p-i".
0165 10:09:30:23 10:09:33:05
Pir-ou-etting.
0166 10:09:33:05 10:09:35:02
Pirouetting.
0167 10:09:39:12 10:09:41:14
Tiger echoing,
0168 10:09:41:14 10:09:43:14
swaying slowly.
0169 10:09:43:14 10:09:45:07
Five, four,
0170 10:09:45:07 10:09:47:17
three, two, one.
0171 10:09:47:17 10:09:49:23
One, two,
0172 10:09:49:23 10:09:52:03
three, four,
0173 10:09:52:03 10:09:55:09
five, six, seven, eight.
0174 10:09:55:09 10:09:57:19
And sway, two,
0175 10:09:57:19 10:09:59:13
three, four,
0176 10:09:59:13 10:10:02:23
five, six, seven, eight.
0177 10:10:02:23 10:10:05:11
Slowly, two,
0178 10:10:05:11 10:10:07:11
three, four,
0179 10:10:07:11 10:10:10:16
five, six, seven, eight.
0180 10:10:10:16 10:10:12:23
Keep going, two,
0181 10:10:12:23 10:10:14:19
three, four,
0182 10:10:14:19 10:10:17:21
five, six, seven, eight.
0183 10:10:17:21 10:10:20:11
- Excellent.
- (all clap)
0184 10:10:20:11 10:10:22:06
(Aidan) OK, once more.
0185 10:10:22:06 10:10:25:20
Posing penguins wobbling evilly.
0186 10:10:25:20 10:10:28:13
(Aidan) One, two, three.
0187 10:10:28:13 10:10:31:03
And one, two...
0188 10:10:31:03 10:10:34:14
I just feel, at this stage, we have
the space and the opportunity
0189 10:10:34:14 10:10:37:11
to explore
different ways of learning.
0190 10:10:38:11 10:10:42:06
I just felt it was really important
that we would approach topics
0191 10:10:42:06 10:10:44:12
in a whole variety of ways.
0192 10:10:44:12 10:10:48:04
So some of the time, yes,
is the mundane, sitting down,
0193 10:10:48:04 10:10:51:22
doing your spelling test, writing
things in your book, for example.
0194 10:10:51:22 10:10:55:02
But other times it's creating,
it's visualising.
0195 10:10:55:02 10:10:58:03
And, increasingly,
it's the kinaesthetic approach -
0196 10:10:58:03 10:11:00:00
acting out, performing.
0197 10:11:00:00 10:11:04:00
But if the children are having
that variety of experiences,
0198 10:11:04:00 10:11:06:18
it makes it exciting.
0199 10:11:16:18 10:11:20:10
(Aidan) The circus parade came
to town and this is what I saw.
0200 10:11:20:10 10:11:23:05
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls,
0201 10:11:23:05 10:11:25:11
to our circus of madness.
0202 10:11:25:11 10:11:27:11
(Aidan) Five, six,
0203 10:11:27:11 10:11:29:11
seven, eight.
0204 10:11:29:11 10:11:32:15
And one, two, three, four,
0205 10:11:32:15 10:11:34:17
five, six, seven, eight.
0206 10:11:34:17 10:11:38:16
We're the jumping dwarves
pirouetting slowly.
0207 10:11:40:20 10:11:42:21
(Aidan) Turn, two, three, four,
0208 10:11:42:21 10:11:45:16
five, six, seven, eight.
0209 10:11:47:15 10:11:50:17
Three slithering snakes
smiling evilly.
0210 10:11:50:17 10:11:53:17
(Aidan) ..four, five,
six, seven, eight.
0211 10:11:57:07 10:12:00:02
Four loopy fleas gnawing ruthlessly.
0212 10:12:00:02 10:12:02:12
(Aidan) ..five, six, seven, eight.
0213 10:12:02:12 10:12:04:08
Gnaw, two, three, four,
0214 10:12:04:08 10:12:07:01
five, six, seven, eight.
0215 10:12:09:17 10:12:12:16
We are dangerous rhinos
0216 10:12:12:16 10:12:14:21
charging rapidly.
0217 10:12:16:11 10:12:19:15
(Aidan) ..six, seven, eight.
One, two, three...
0218 10:12:22:21 10:12:26:14
I am a mad monkey dancing madly.
0219 10:12:26:14 10:12:29:04
(Aidan) ..four, five,
six, seven, eight.
0220 10:12:32:03 10:12:35:12
I'm a Turkish lady
dancing cheerfully.
0221 10:12:35:12 10:12:38:12
(Aidan) ..five, six, seven, eight.
0222 10:12:40:18 10:12:43:03
I guess, at the end of the day,
0223 10:12:43:03 10:12:47:13
the aim is to make people really
enthusiastic readers and writers.
0224 10:12:47:13 10:12:50:14