Identifying features of a biography in preparation for writing about Darwin
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can identify the features of a biography.
Key learning points
- A biography is a non-fiction text written about someone's life.
- Linguistic features of a biography include third person, formal fronted adverbials, formal tone and relative clauses.
- Structural features of a biography include a title, paragraphs and information grouped by theme.
- A biography is usually written in chronological order and will contain lots of past tense verbs.
- Additional factual information can be added to a clause as parenthesis.
Keywords
Biography - a non-fiction text written about someone’s life
Formal tone - the effect created by choosing serious, factual language
Third person - the 'he/she/it/they' perspective, where we talk about another person
Fronted adverbial - a sentence starter followed by a comma
Relative clause - a type of subordinate clause starting with a relative pronoun (such as who, which or whose)
Common misconception
Pupils may find the formal tone of a biography challenging.
You may wish to provide additional time for children to read a range of biographical writing to 'tune in' to the text type.
Teacher tip
Complete lessons on using relative clauses, fronted adverbials and parenthesis are found throughout our grammar curriculum. You may wish to read the biography aloud to pupils, pausing occasionally to have them chorally say the next word.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which words best match the meaning of 'formal'?
Q2.Which sentence below is the most formal in tone?
Q3.What are the key features of a fronted adverbial?
Q4.Which of these sentences have a fronted adverbial?
Q5.Match the 'person' to the example.
Q6.Which sentence below is not written in the third person?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the purpose of a biography?
Q2.Which of the following could be the subject of a biography?
Q3.In what order is a biography usually written?
Q4.Which of these are key linguistic features of a biography?
Q5.Which sentence is appropriate for use in a biography?
Q6.Match the types of fronted adverbial to the examples.
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Identifying features of a biography in preparation for writing about Darwin, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 6 English lesson on: Identifying features of a biography in preparation for writing about Darwin, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 English lessons from the Charles Darwin: biographical writing unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.