STEFAN GATES: I鈥檓 Stefan Gates, I鈥檓 a TV presenter and a chef. I鈥檝e eaten all sorts of food, from the weird to the wonderful. What can I say? I just like exploring the world.
Whether you are making a Victoria Sponge, or an exploding cake, the essential thing you need is a recipe.
Now a recipe is an example of instructional writing, which helps you to follow a course of actions successfully to create something.
So I鈥檝e got an idea for making a massive chocolate head, for you to make for your mates when they come round. The idea is that it鈥檚 going to be so big, that you can just dive in there and make a terrible mess!
Now the first thing I need to do is to plan the recipe, so the question is, what do I need?
What I like to do is write a list of all the kit and all the ingredients, and then you know you have everything together before you begin.
So I need certain kit鈥 and certain ingredients for you to be able to make this massive head鈥
Right that鈥檚 everything I need. Now I like to make sure that my instructions are easy to follow, so I use simple, precise language, and then nobody can make any mistakes.
I also need to make sure that the instructions appear in 鈥榗hronological order鈥. Now 鈥榗hronological鈥 means in the order that they happen. You don鈥檛 want to start putting the rice pops in before you鈥檝e put the butter, otherwise you鈥檒l have a disaster on your hands!
The next step is to work out what we do with all these ingredients. So first of all, a quarter of a normal pack of butter into a bowl. Then a hundred and sixty grams of golden syrup鈥 whoa I love it! And then a hundred grams of drinking chocolate鈥
Now what I鈥檓 going to do, is pour all of that into a big saucepan鈥 and then I need to warm it over a nice gentle heat.
Stir until it鈥檚 all melted into a sticky goo鈥 beautiful! Now tip a box of rice pops in, and then mix it together with the spoon.
Next take a large bowl and grease it with butter.
Then pour your rice pop chocolatey mixture into the bowl鈥 and press it firmly down.
Repeat the process making more chocolatey rice pops, and then pack them in on top of the first layer. Keep doing this until your bowl is a little bit overfull.
There we go, when the bowl鈥檚 full, chop the top off to make a nice flat layer鈥 beautiful! Then pop it in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Now when I write a recipe, I make sure that I address the reader, so I鈥檓 basically saying 鈥淲hat you must do now is this鈥︹. To do that you use these things called 鈥榠mperative verbs鈥, they鈥檙e also called 鈥榖ossy verbs鈥, because they tell you what to do. It鈥檚 things like 鈥榮tir鈥, 鈥榤ix鈥, 鈥榩our鈥, or 鈥榞rease鈥. They are all examples of imperative verbs.
So after a couple of hours of your bowl being in the fridge it should be ready. So 鈥榯ake鈥 the bowl out of the fridge.
鈥楾ake鈥 a baking tray, 鈥榩ut鈥 it ontop of the cake, and then flip it over and 鈥榯ip鈥 out your cake鈥 ho ho ho ho!
Then use the sweets to make a face.
And then we have a vast chocolate head, how brilliant is that?!
So the last thing you need to do is think through the recipe and work out how successful you鈥檝e been?
Now I think he鈥檚 great, but there鈥檚 a few sort of cracks in the front of the head here, and if I go back to the recipe and change the amount of golden syrup in it, I think that鈥檒l crack it.
Now you don鈥檛 need to rewrite the whole thing, just go back to it and adjust a few bits here, and then I鈥檒l press it down, make sure they press it down really, really hard. And then that鈥檚 the recipe done!
Which means there鈥檚 only one thing left to do鈥
Eat it!
Video summary
Stefan Gates demonstrates the process of instructional writing using a cake recipe.
He talks through the key features of instructional writing including using the correct technical terms, simple precise language, and imperative or bossy verbs.
This short film is from the 大象传媒 series, The Facts About Non-Fiction.
Teacher Notes
Key Stage 1
Ask pupils to identify how well Stefan writes his recipe. Does he use the correct language? How do you know?
After he has made his cake, why does he change some of the instructions?
Your pupils could follow Stefan鈥檚 recipe and make the cake together in class.
Key Stage 2
Ask your pupils to recall the key features of instructional writing and write down as many as they can remember in groups.
Watch the short film together and ask pupils to check their lists against the key features outlined by Stefan.
Ask them how well they think Stefan did. Could he have added any other sections to improve his instructions or final cake? What about a section exploring decorating the cake in different ways?
Pupils could write a survival guide to demonstrate their understanding of chronological order and imperative verbs.
Survival guides could be linked to pupils鈥 learning, for example: 鈥楬ow to survive in the Amazon/ Antarctic/ Space/ the 1960s/ without water.鈥
The survival guide could be related to a text pupils are reading too, 鈥楬ow to survive the wrath of Macbeth'.
This short film will be relevant for teaching English at KS1 and KS2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 1st and 2nd Level in Scotland.
How to write a persuasive text. video
Actors Shannon Flynn and Richard Wisker talk about using emotive language, the difference between facts and opinions, and how to use evidence to support persuasive writing.
How to write a discussion text. video
Newsround presenter Leah Boleto explains how discursive writing requires an understanding of the difference between facts and opinions, and how to use connecting phrases and statistics.
How to write a recount. video
Michael Rosen explains how writing a recount requires an understanding of chronological order or sequencing, and how to structure a piece of writing.
How to write a non-chronological report. video
大象传媒 journalist Sonali Shah explains how writing non-chronological reports requires an understanding of the planning, writing and drafting process.
How to write an explanation. video
Chris Packham explains how writing an explanation requires an understanding of chronological order or sequencing, how to use technical language and how to write succinctly.
