Identifying the features of a biography
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can identify the purpose and features of biographical writing.
Key learning points
- A biography is a non-fiction text written about someone's life.
- Linguistic features of a biography include fronted adverbials, facts, relative complex sentences and parenthesis.
- Structural features include a title, subheadings and relevant information grouped by theme.
- The purpose of a biography is to inform the reader about a particular individual.
- In biographies, extra, factual information can be added to clauses using brackets or commas.
Keywords
Biography - a non-fiction text written about someone’s life
Purpose - the aim of a text
Linguistic feature - a structure of language that uses words
Civil rights activist - a person who is dedicated to securing equal opportunity for members of minority groups
Common misconception
Pupils may find identifying linguistic features of the text type challenging.
Explicit explanations are given for key linguistic features and modelled in the example biography.
Teacher tip
Some pupils may benefit from reading an adapted, shorter model that is easier to read and access.
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Biographies are types of __________ text.
Q2.Which of these definitions describes the purpose of a text?
Q3.Which of these definitions describes the audience of a text?
Q4.Which of these definitions describes the layout of a text?
Q5.A fronted adverbial is ...
Q6.A paragraph is ...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the key words with their definitions:
a non-fiction text written about someone’s life
the aim of a text
a structure of language that uses words
a person dedicated to securing equal opportunity for minority groups
Q2.In 'biography', the letter string 'bio' means '...'
Q3.In 'biography', the letter string 'graphy' means '...'.
Q4.A biography is a non-fiction text written about what?
Q5.Order the parts of a biography.
Q6.Tick the layout features of biographies.
To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: Identifying the features of a biography, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: Identifying the features of a biography, 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 Harriet Tubman: biographical writing unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.