Video: To analyse the opening of the poem 'The Highwayman'

﻿Hi everyone, really really good to see you. Hope your day is going well, I hope that you're feeling good and I hope that you're feeling ready to learn. Our next lesson for 'The Highwayman' is looking in a little bit more detail at the first verse of the poem and I know that you're going to work really really hard. Let's get started. In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or some paper. A pencil or something to write with and your brain. If you haven't got everything you need, pause the video now, go and collect everything and I'll see you in a second. So, our agenda for today. We're going to start with our writing warm up, we're going to do some reading aloud, of a little bit of the poem and a vocabulary check, we'll practise some sentences and there's a special optional extra activity at the end for you. So, our writing warmup is to match the sentences to their sentence types. I will read aloud each sentence in a moment and as I'm doing that, I want you to think about whether it's a simple sentence, a compound sentence or a complex sentence. Okay, ready to listen? Number two. And number three. So now, pause the video and all you need to do, is write number one and whether you think it is a simple, compound or complex. And the same for number two and three. Pause the video now. Okay, did you have a really good go? Let's see what the first sentence is. So, the highwayman leapt on his horse and galloped urgently through the dark countryside. That's a compound sentence because there are two main clauses and they are joined by a coordinating conjunction. Can you see what the coordinating conjunction is? It's the word in pink, it's 'and'. And then we've got the two clauses on either side. The first main clause, 'the highwayman leapt on his horse'. And the second main clause, 'galloped urgently through the dark countryside'. Did you have a go at the next one? As the night grew darker and darker, the highwayman rode desperately towards the old inn. That's a complex sentence. We know that because its got a subordinate clause and one main clause. The bit at the beginning in bold, 'as the night grew darker and darker'. That's our subordinate clause. So then the final one, must have been a simple sentence. Desperately, the highwayman galloped through the night. That's a simple sentence because its just got one main clause. Okay, we're going to do a little bit of reading aloud now. I'm going to read the first verse and then you can have a go at reading it. And remember, when we said in the first lesson of the unit, there are some really really tricky words in here and we will be looking at the meaning of some of those words so just have your best go at reading aloud once you've heard me read it. Can you pause the video now and take as long as you need to, to have a go at reading it aloud. Okay, hopefully you've had really really good go at that. Your next challenge, is to just think about the words that you might not be sure about. Now remember, this poem was written a very very long time ago, in 1906, wasn't it? So there are definitely words that we don't use now and that we may never have heard before, that are used in this poem. So I want you to pause the video and have a think about, any words that you're not sure about. Pause the video now. Okay, these were the ones that I thought about. I've got, 'torrent', 'gusty', 'galleon', 'ribbon', 'moor' and 'inn-door'. Should we have a go at saying those out loud? Torrent, gusty, ribbon, moor, inn-door. Were those the same words that you got? I bet they probably were. So we're going to have a really close look at the meaning of some of these words. So, let's have a look at that line there. That first line. The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. I've got a picture to help us with these words. Have a look at this What are those trees doing? Do they look like they're still? Or do they look like they're moving around? I think it looks like they're being blown around in the wind. So the word torrent, is when something is really fast flowing, like a big rushing river. So it travels really really fast and it's basically saying that the wind is this big rush of darkness among the gusty trees. It's a metaphor. The wind is a huge rush of darkness. And gusty, you might have heard of that word before. Even if you haven't heard of the word torrent. So it means that the branches of the trees, are blowing wildly, like a never-ending huge gust of wind. Have you ever been in a storm? Or somewhere outside where its been really really windy? And you almost can't keep still, the wind is almost so strong that it's blowing you around a bit. Well that's exactly what it's like in this first line. So, this is an interesting one. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas. So I put a picture of the moon to help us with this, but it doesn't say it's in the sky, it says it's on the sea. Hmm, so that gives us a clue about the word galleon. A galleon, is actually an old ship. A really really old sailing ship, used in the 16th to 18th centuries. And again, this is another metaphor. This is saying that the moon, is one of these big ships, rocking up and down on a stormy sea. And the sky in this case, is being described as the stormy sea. So again, it really adds to the imagery from before, where we had the picture in our heads of the trees being blown around in the wind and like a really stormy day. So, let's just check. Hmm, a torrent, of wind or water, so a torrent, you can have a torrent of wind or a torrent of water. Does that move slowly or quickly? Have a bit of thinking time. And we'll say our answer together. A torrent of water moves quickly. Well done. Okay, ready for the next one? If you went out for a walk on a very gusty day and you were wearing a hat, what would happen to it? Would it definitely get blown off? Or would it stay firmly on your head? Have a bit of thinking time. Hmm, think back to that imagery of the trees, blowing around in the wind. What would happen to your hat? Should we say it together? It would definitely get blown off, wouldn't it? Now, what is a galleon? We don't hear this word very often. Hmm, was it a river, an old ship, a gust of wind, or a big storm? Hmm, the moon was a ghostly galleon. So the moon was being described as being something else, wasn't it? Hmm, have a bit of thinking time. Should we say it together? A galleon is an old ship. Well done. Let's have a look at the next few lines. Hmm, got a picture of what I think this road looks like because when I think of the word ribbon, I think of something curvy and it's basically saying that this road is really curvy. Can you see that there are lots of bends in this road? It's a winding road. And then a moor, looks like this. So a moor is another way of saying like a large expanse of grassland. So like a big, big field. So let's just have a little look at the writing there. So the road was a ribbon of moonlight, means that the road has lots of twists and turns. And again it's another metaphor, the road is a ribbon. And then the picture of the moor there helps us, it's a large area of grassland and it's usually covered in purple heather. And you can see the picture there, it's just a wild plant that grows in these remote wild fields. The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door. Inn-door, that sounds weird. Cause it's spelt differently isn't it? From the normal word 'in', its got two 'n's' there. Hasn't it? Hmm, I wonder if you know what an 'inn' is. Here's a picture to help us. So an inn, is a place where travellers stayed overnight. A little bit like a hotel, they've been around for centuries and they historically had stables, which we know is important because we know a little bit about the highwayman. We know that he rode a horse. So an inn, is where you would stay overnight if you were on a long journey somewhere and you needed to rest for the night. So, let's have a think about this question. A road that is described as being a ribbon. Hmm, is it very straight or has it got quite a few bends in it? Have some thinking time. Should we say it together? A road that is described as being a ribbon, has quite a few bends in it, doesn't it? A winding road, a road with lots of curves, lots of bends. What's a moor? We didn't talk about the spelling earlier but I think it's important to talk about it now. It's a different spelling to the word 'more'. Like, 'I would like some more ice cream please'. That's spelt 'more' but this moor is spelt 'moor'. Is it somewhere there's a river, a place to go riding, a very large grassy stretch of land or a large building? What's a moor? Should we say it together? A very large grassy stretch of land, which means that it's this big, vast area of grass. I'll read the second verse aloud and then you will have a go at reading it to yourself. And remember, there are lots of tricky words in this poem, aren't there? Lots of words that were used back when it was written, in 1906 that we don't use today. So it's fine if there are some words you're unfamiliar with in this verse as well, cause there's certainly words that I wasn't sure about. So listen carefully. Okay, pause the video and have a go at reading aloud this verse. Well done. So, most of this verse describes the highwayman. It's about what he looks like, what he's wearing but there is a little bit of it that helps us think about the setting. I wonder if you can spot that bit. Are there any words that help you picture, in your mind, what the setting looks like? Remember, we've already spoken about the trees and the clouds and the moor and the road. Anything there that you think helps us with the setting? Hmm. What do you think? I think, 'under the jewelled sky' really adds to our image of where the story takes place, where the setting of the story is. So, what do we mean by a jewelled sky? What does that look like? Is it a bit like this? Number one? Or does it look like this? Number two? So are there lots and lots of stars in a jewelled sky, or no stars? Hmm, well what do you think the jewelled bits refers to? What are the jewels? Hmm. Do you think it's picture one or picture two? Should we say it together? One, two, three. It's picture one. Ah, okay, so the stars are jewels in the sky. It's another metaphor that really helps us picture, what the sky in the rest of the setting looks like. It gives us much more detail. Now, you're going to practise writing some sentences. And we're going to use some of our vocabulary from today, to write an 'As' complex sentence. Here's my first one. I'll read it aloud, and then you can have a go at reading it after me. And I can see that there are words like torrent and moonlight and trees, all words that we've looked at today from the poem. You're going to read it aloud. Pause the video. Off you go. Well done, shall we have a look at another one? Which means that the wind blew really quickly through the trees. Pause the video now and read that sentence aloud. Well done for reading so wonderfully. So, it's your go to write two complex sentences, starting with 'As the'. As the something happened, what else happened? Try and challenge yourself to use some of those new words that we learnt today. And you can see my sentence there, that's up there for you, in case you want to use any of the words in it. Pause the video now and write down your sentences. So the last thing of this lesson, if you like, is a drawing activity. I wonder if you can guess what it's going to be. So, could you draw a picture of what the setting of the poem looks like? In other words, where does the poem take place? You can use any of words or pictures that we've looked at to help you and then you can add some vocabulary to your drawing. Pause the video now and have a go at this task. So, really really well done. You worked so hard today, there was a writing warm up, we did some reading aloud of the first couple of verses of the poem, we had a vocabulary check and we learnt lots and lots of new words. We practised some sentence writing and then you drew a picture of the setting. So, feel free to share your work with your parents or carer and I'm really looking forward to seeing you for our next lesson, very soon.

Completed: To analyse the opening of the poem 'The Highwayman'

In this lesson, we will explore vocabulary in the opening verse of the poem and practise writing complex sentences using this vocabulary.

English

To analyse the opening of the poem 'The Highwayman'

Video

Lesson Complete