Planning and writing the section about Harriet Tubman's early life
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use my research and understanding of Harriet Tubman’s early life to plan and write a section of a biography.
Key learning points
- In the sections, writers share detailed, specific information about an aspect of the person's life with the reader.
- Section paragraphs include a topic sentence, specific information and a linking sentence.
- When planning, we should record ideas in concise, bullet-pointed notes.
- When writing, we should use a plan and success criteria to guide us.
- Text cohesion is achieved through use of subject-specific vocabulary, fronted adverbials and relative complex sentences.
Keywords
Specific information - clear, exact and particular information
Subject-specific vocabulary - words and phrases associated with a topic
Relative complex sentence - a sentence formed of a main clause and a relative subordinate clause
Fronted adverbial - a sentence starter followed by a comma
Text cohesion - how a text flows to maintain the reader’s interest and achieve purpose
Common misconception
Pupils may refer to Tubman's activism and later life experiences in this section.
Explicit re-exposure to the information learned about Tubman's early life occurs in Learning Cycle 1 to keep pupils focused on this aspect of her life.
Teacher tip
During shared writing, consistently referencing the plan and success criteria effectively models the writing process to pupils.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The introduction of a biography includes __________ information.
Q2.The main sections of a biography include __________ information.
Q3.Select the correct definition of a fronted adverbial.
Q4.Select the definition of a relative complex sentence.
Q5.Select the facts that are appropriate to include in the 'early life' section of a biography about Harriet Tubman.
Q6.Put these events from Harriet Tubman's early life in the correct order.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the keywords to their definitions.
clear, exact and particular information
words and phrases associated with a topic
a sentence formed of a main clause and a relative subordinate clause
a sentence starter followed by a comma
how text flows to maintain the reader’s interest and achieve purpose
Q2.The __________ contain paragraphs of information that are related to a particular aspect of the person’s life.
Q3.Which of these should the 'early life' section of a biography about Harriet Tubman do?
Q4.Put these parts of the 'early life' paragraph in the correct order.
Q5.Match these parts of the 'early life' paragraph to their functions.
introduces what the paragraph will be about
gives detailed information about this aspect of the person’s life
links on to the next section
Q6.Match the subject-specific vocabulary to their definitions.
a large farm that specialises in growing one type of crop
someone held in slavery
someone who has control or ownership over another human being
To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: Planning and writing the section about Harriet Tubman's early life, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: Planning and writing the section about Harriet Tubman's early life, 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.