Lesson video

Hi everyone and welcome to our lesson.

We have been conducting some really deep research on Harriet Tubman in preparation for writing our biography.

And today we're going to be planning and writing the introduction.

In today's lesson, you will be using your research about Harriet Tubman's life to help you plan and write the introduction of a biography.

Here are some key words we're going to use.

Purpose.

Introduction.

General information.

Well done.

The purpose is the aim of the text and introduction is the first paragraph of a nonfiction text that encourages the reader to read on.

General information is the most basic and necessary information.

Today we're going to be planning and writing the introduction of a biography about Harriet Tubman.

We're going to begin by planning the introduction and then we're going to move on to writing the introduction.

Biographical writing often follows the same structure.

We begin with a title, then we have sections.

organised using subheadings.

So we have an introduction, main sections, and a conclusion.

The introduction is the first paragraph that encourages the reader to read on.

The sections contain paragraphs of information related to a particular aspect of the person's life.

And the conclusion is the last paragraph that summarises the key information of the text.

We're going to begin today with planning and then writing our introduction.

The purpose is the aim of the text.

The purpose of the introduction is to do all of these things.

We want to engage our reader, make them want to read on and give them some general information about Harriet Tubman.

So when we're thinking about our introduction, we want to keep our information very general.

We'll save that more specific information for later on in the biography.

True or false.

Information in the introduction should be general.

Pause the video while you decide.

(silence) Well done if you spotted that this is true.

Now pause the video again while you decide how to justify your answer.

(silence) Well done If you spotted that the correct answer is A.

writers should only include general facts in the introduction.

Specific facts will be explored later in the report.

The introduction is the first paragraph of a nonfiction text that encourages the reader to read on.

The introduction follows a clear structure.

We begin with a subheading, then we have an introductory sentence, general information, and a linking sentence.

The introductory sentence introduces who the biography is about.

General information gives the reader some necessary information about the person.

And finally, the linking sentence indicates what the sections will be about.

Match each section of an introduction to its function.

Pause the video while you do that.

(silence) Well done if you spotted that the introductory sentence, it introduces the reader to who the biography is about.

General information sentences give the reader some necessary information about the person.

And the linking sentence indicates what the next sections will be about.

The purpose of a plan is to prepare ourselves for writing.

If we give careful thought to the planning process, our writing outcomes will be much more successful.

We can build on our ideas from our plan during the writing process.

When we plan, we use notes.

Notes are concise and they capture subject-specific vocabulary and information.

The purpose of notes is to help the writer to organise information easily for future use.

We use bullet points when note taking and they look like this.

What is in a plan? Pause the video while you decide.

(silence) Well done.

If you spotted that in a plan, we need to have bullet points for notes, subject specific vocabulary.

We do not use full sentences with capital letters and full stops.

The only capital letters we would be using would be for proper nouns and we do not include unnecessary information.

Remember, when we come to writing, we can build on the ideas written in our plans.

Let's review the structure of the introduction of a biography.

So we begin with our introductory sentence, then our general information, and finally our linking sentence.

We're going to use the same structure in our plan so that when you then come onto writing, your plan is in an appropriate format to help you.

Now it's time for the start of your first task.

First, write the subheading, which is just the word "Introduction".

Then write bullet points for key words and phrases you would use in your introductory sentence.

Remember to use the prompts to help you.

So we want to keep our information very general and in our introductory sentence, we just need to explain to our reader who the report is about.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

(silence) Well done everyone.

Here's my example of my plan.

Yours might be a little bit different and that's also good 'cause we want lots of different ideas.

So we should all have the same subheading, which is just the word "Introduction".

I've just put down Harriet Tubman's name, 'cause it's really important that I share her name in my introductory sentence so that my reader understands who this biography is about from that very first sentence.

Other ways that I could describe her or refer to her are as a significant historical figure.

So a very, very important person in history, and that she has left a legacy of civil rights work.

Now let's go back to some general information that we know about Harriet Tubman.

We've researched her life extensively in our last lesson.

So we know that she was born in the USA during the 1800s, which is also known as the 19th century.

She was born when slavery was still legal in the southern US states.

She led many enslaved people to freedom.

Her work was fundamental.

That means it was extremely important in the US Civil War.

She became the first African American woman to serve in the US military.

Now, if you think back to the research we've done on Harriet Tubman's life, you'll know that there is far more information that we could be sharing about her.

But remember, in the introduction, we keep our facts general.

We're not mentioning her growing up on the plantation or about the fact that she had eight siblings and that her parents were also enslaved people.

No mention of the Underground Railroad or her escape up to Pennsylvania, because that's very specific information.

We're saving that for the sections which will follow in our biography.

So take a moment now to reread some general facts about Harriet Tubman, 'cause these are gonna be really relevant for the next stage of our plan for the introduction.

Now you're going to write some bullet points for key words and phrases you will use in your general information sentences, using that general prompt to help you and the question, have you written interesting, but general facts.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

(silence) Great work, everyone.

Here is my plan, which remember, it's gonna be a little bit different to yours, but the key thing that we all will need to have in common is that our writing is general.

So I've recorded that she was born in America in the 19th century.

I haven't specified which state she was born in, or which year she was born in just very general information.

I've also included that when she was born was prior to or before the abolition of slavery in the US.

So that means she was born before slavery was abolished.

And I've also included that she was the first African American woman to serve in the US military.

I've kept my facts interesting, but also general for this point in my planning.

Now we are going to think about our linking sentence.

So this sentence needs to link onto the rest of the biography and tell our reader what the key sections are going to be about.

Remember, in our sections we're going to be learning about Harriet Tubman's early life and her activism.

So I'm gonna want to reference that in this section.

Use the general prompt to remind you to keep things general and use the questions.

So have you considered how you're gonna open your linking sentence? What opener you gonna use, and which aspects of Tubman's life will we be exploring in more detail in our biography? Pause the video now while you complete your task.

(silence) Well done everyone.

Here is my plan.

So the opener I've used, I've got a couple of potential openers I might decide on.

So either I'm gonna use, "in this biography" or "throughout this biography", comma, that's a frontline verb.

So I've got a comment on capital letter there at the start.

We are going to either explore or learn about Tubman's early life and activism.

As long as in your linking sentence you have explained to your reader what the two key sections of our biography are going to be about, then you have successfully recorded your plans and your notes for your linking sentence.

Well done.

Now that brings us on to the second part of our lesson where now we're going to use this plan to write the introduction.

When we write, we always try to do these things.

We plan and say each sentence before we write it.

We use punctuation where we know the rules.

We showcase each sentence type we know.

We write letters neatly on the line in joined handwriting, we use spelling strategies to help us spell words accurately and we check and improve our writing when we think we have finished.

This is the success criteria we're going to use to write today.

Now remember, success criteria is a really useful guide to help remind us of what to include in our writing, as well as our plan.

Let's read our success criteria together.

I have written an introductory sentence that explains who the biography is about.

I have included some general information about Harriet Tubman and I have written a linking sentence that tells the reader what they will learn about in the biography.

Now we're going to read my model.

This is my example of an introduction.

Let's see how it's met success criteria.

But first let's read it through together.

Harriet Tubman.

Introduction.

Harriet Tubman is a key historical figure who devoted her life to fighting inequality and injustice in America.

Born in a period when enslavement was still legal in southern states of the US, Tubman courageously led many enslaved people to freedom and became the first African American woman to serve in the US military.

In this biography, we will explore her early life, activism and the lasting impact she has made on the world.

Okay, so that was my model introductory paragraph.

Let's see now whether I've met the success criteria.

So our first success criteria was that I've written an introductory sentence that explains who the biography is about.

Have a think.

In my first sentence, have I done that? Let's read it through together.

Harriet Tubman is a key historical figure who devoted her life to fighting inequality and injustice in America.

Have I told my reader what the biography's about? Yes, I have.

So I've met my first success criteria.

Now the second success criteria is, I've included some general information about Harriet Tubman.

Let's read my general information sentences.

Born in a period when enslavement was still legal in southern states of the US, Tubman courageously led many enslaved people to freedom and became the first African-American woman to serve in the US military.

Okay, so have I included some general facts that are interesting and give my reader a bit of information about Harriet Tubman without giving anything too specific? I've told my reader about the period that she was born in, but not any particular dates or areas that she was born or lived in, and that she became the first African American woman to serve in the US military, but not high or what this entailed.

So yes, I have met my second success criteria.

And finally, let's read the linking sentence.

So does my linking sentence tell the reader what they will learn about in the biography? Let's read it again.

In this biography, we will explore her early life, activism, and the lasting impact she has made in the world.

Yes, I have told my reader what they're going to be learning about.

So I have met my third success criteria.

Now it is time for you to write your introduction.

Using your plan and your success criteria, write the introduction of your biography about Harriet Tubman.

Take a moment to reread your plan and reread your success criteria so you understand exactly what you're going to include in your introduction.

Remember, you can also say your sentences out loud before you write them down, and then reread them after you've written them to check that they make sense.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

(silence) Okay, everyone.

So now that you have written your introduction, using your plan and your success criteria to help you, take a moment now to read your introduction back again and check that it meets the success criteria.

(silence) Here is an example of a different introductory paragraph.

The legacy of Harriet Tubman.

Introduction.

Harriet Tubman is an important historical figure who led a life devoted to fighting inequality and injustice in America.

Born during the 19th century, Tubman bravely and fiercely brought many enslaved people to freedom, becoming the first African-American woman to serve in the US military.

In this biography, her early life, activism, and her legacy for the world we know today will be explored.

From having read your biography introduction again, and this other model biography, you might have spotted some things that you want to edit or add to your own writing.

Make sure you've met all of your success criteria.

When you've done that, you have completed your task.

Well done.

And that now brings us onto the end of our lesson where today we've been planning and writing the introduction of a biography about Harriet Tubman.

Information in the introduction of a nonfiction text should be kept general.

When planning, we should write a note form using bullet points.

When writing, we can build on the ideas in our plan.

We should use our plan and success criteria to guide us when writing.

I hope you're feeling so proud of the writing that you have produced in our lesson today everybody, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again very soon.

Well done.