following the order in which a series of events happened

a large farm that specialises in growing one type of crop

to hand over a person accused or convicted of a crime to the state in which the crime was committed

a secret network of people offering shelter and aid to fugitive enslaved people

a war between citizens of the same country

Researching Harriet Tubman in preparation for writing a biography

English

In 'Harriet Tubman: Biographical Writing', pupils learn to research an inspirational figure's life to write a celebratory biography. In this unit, pupils will write a biography based on research about a scientific theory of a famous scientist.

In 'The Amazon Rainforest: Essay Writing', pupils developed their understanding of writing to inform their reader and apply this in the context of an essay. In this unit, pupils will develop their understanding of non-fiction writing and apply this to the context of a biography. 

In this unit, pupils write a biography based on Harriet Tubman, centred around her significance as a historical figure, her early life and her civil rights activism. Pupils conduct research about the subject and organise their research into clear paragraphs, using a range of cohesive devices.

Harriet Tubman: biographical writing

Discriminatory behaviour or images, whether on the grounds of race, gender, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation, or otherwise.

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Depiction of war, threats of war, death or the aftermath of war.

Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

when a text is written following the order in which events happened

to send a person accused of a crime back to their state or country 

secret network of people offering shelter to fugitive enslaved people

finding out more information about a person's life

writing the introduction of the biography

understanding sequences of events in the person's life

learning about the period of time in which the person lived 

What does researching for a biography involve?

Order the sections of a biography about Harriet Tubman.

Which elements of Harriet Tubman's early life have we learned about?

Maryland was a __________ State in the USA.

helped guide fugitive slaves across different hiding places

hiding places, including private homes, schoolhouses and churches

Match the terms associated with the Underground Railroad with their definitions.

a non-fiction text written about someone’s life

a non-fiction text written about an event

a non-fiction text written about a subject

Select which of these are types of non-fiction texts.

They tell the reader what the biography is about

They show the reader pictures of the person

They tell the reader what the section is about

How do subheadings help to achieve the text's purpose?

a person dedicated to securing equal opportunity for minority groups

Content guidance

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Adult supervision recommended

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Researching Harriet Tubman in preparation for writing a biography

Lesson outcome

Content guidance

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.