Lesson video

Hi, everyone, and welcome to today's lesson.

Today, we're going to be writing the next section of our biography about Harriet Tubman.

In our lesson today, you're going to use your research and your plan to write the activism section of a biography about Harriet Tubman.

Here are some key words we're going to use: cohesive devices, adverbial complex sentence, non-finite complex sentence, parenthesis, brackets.

Cohesive devices are linguistic structures that can enhance text flow.

An adverbial complex sentence includes a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause.

A non-finite complex sentence includes a main clause and a non-finite subordinate clause.

Parenthesis is extra information that can be added or removed from a sentence, and it still makes sense.

Brackets are punctuation marks that can be used to add additional information to a sentence.

Today, we're gonna be writing the section about Harriet Tubman's activism.

Firstly, we are going to prepare to write and then we're going to move on to writing the activism section.

In today's lesson, we are going to be writing the activism section.

So we know we've already done our introduction, which is the first paragraph that encourages the reader to read on.

We've also already written our first section on the early life, and the sections contain paragraphs of information related to a particular aspect of the person's life.

Up next, we are going to finish with our conclusion.

This is the last paragraph that summarises the key information of the text.

So we've done our introduction, we've also done the early life section, which was section one, and today we're going to be focused on section two, which is all about Harriet Tubman's activism.

The paragraphs in this section gives the reader specific information about Harriet Tubman's activism.

The section follows a clear structure.

We begin with a subheading, then our first sentence is an introductory sentence followed by specific information, and finally, a linking sentence.

The introductory sentence introduces what the paragraph will be about.

The specific information sentences give the reader detailed information about this aspect of this person's life.

And finally, the linking sentence links on to the next paragraph.

When we write about this section of our biography, we need to consider text cohesion.

Text cohesion refers to how text flows to maintain the reader's interest and achieve the text's purpose.

We can use a range of cohesive devices to improve our text cohesion.

So we might use fronted adverbials, subject-specific vocabulary, relative complex sentences, adverbial complex sentences, non-finite complex sentences, parenthesis demarcated using brackets.

Well done, we've got so many cohesive devices that we can choose from here.

Now, we have used these cohesive devices, so our fronted adverbials, our subject-specific vocabulary, and our relative complex sentences, in previous sections of our biography.

Take a moment to match the cohesive devices to their definitions and pause the video while you do that.

Well done if you spotted that a fronted adverbial is a sentence starter followed by a comma.

Subject-specific vocabulary is words and phrases associated with a topic.

Relative complex sentences are a sentence formed of a main clause and a relative subordinate clause.

We can use a range of cohesive devices to improve our text cohesion.

Now, we've recapped fronted adverbials, subject-specific vocabulary, and relative complex sentences.

Now, let's talk in a little bit more detail about the other cohesive devices we can use.

We are going to be focusing on these three in our lesson today.

Adverbial complex sentences are sentences that include a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause.

For example, let's read this one together.

Although Tubman escaped to freedom in Pennsylvania, she later returned to help her family flee enslavement.

Now, although Tubman escaped to freedom in Pennsylvania, this is an example of an adverbial subordinate clause.

And we know this because an adverbial subordinate clause always starts with a subordinating conjunction, and this forms an adverbial complex sentence.

Some examples of subordinating conjunctions we could use in this biography include, although because, after, before.

Well done.

Now, let's move on to non-finite complex sentences.

Non-finite complex sentences are sentences that include a main clause and a non-finite subordinate clause.

Let's read this example together.

Using the support of the Underground Railroad, Tubman travelled 90 miles north to Pennsylvania, a 'free' state.

Now, our non-finite subordinate clause here is using the support of the Underground Railroad, and we know this because it begins with "using".

This is an example of a verb that is in the progressive tense.

And I know it's in the progressive tense 'cause it ends with the -ing suffix.

So our non-finite complex sentences have a progressive tense verb with the -ing suffix.

And this forms a non-finite complex sentence.

Match the complex sentence types to their definitions.

Pause the video while you do that.

A relative complex sentence is a sentence formed of a main clause and a relative subordinate clause.

An adverbial complex sentence is a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause.

A non-finite complex sentence is a sentence formed of a main clause and a non-finite subordinate clause.

Now, it's time for your first task.

Match the complex sentence types to their examples.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

Well done, everyone.

The relative complex sentence was, Tubman, who became a conductor for the Underground Railroad, helped many fugitive slaves travel north to freedom.

The adverbial complex sentence was, after escaping to Pennsylvania, Tubman joined the Underground Railroad, and the non-finite complex sentence was, working as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Tubman helped many fugitive slaves escape to freedom.

Great work, everyone.

Parenthesis is additional information.

It can be removed from a sentence, and the sentence will still make sense.

Brackets can be used for parenthesis in nonfiction texts.

For example, let's read this sentence together.

With the aid of the underground railroad, Tubman escaped to freedom.

So here, we've got a sentence we might find in our biography.

Now, if I wanted to add some extra information here, I might want to explain to my reader what the Underground Railroad was.

The Underground Railroad was a secret network of people offering help to fugitive slaves.

Let's see what it looks like if we added this additional information into the sentence.

Let's read this together.

With the aid of the Underground Railroad, a secret network of people offering help to fugitive slaves, Tubman escaped to freedom.

So I've got my additional information here, but the issue I now have is that it all runs together in this sentence, and I need to separate the parenthesis from the rest of the sentence so my reader doesn't become confused.

This is where our brackets to demarcate parenthesis comes in.

Now, we've got the parenthesis and it is separated from the rest of the sentence using brackets.

Which of these sentences uses brackets for parenthesis correctly? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you spotted that the correct answer was A.

The additional information here was explaining what a conductor is, and it needs to be separated from the rest of the sentence using a pair of brackets.

Now, it's time for your second task.

Identify the parenthesis in this sentence and use brackets to demarcate it.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

Great work, everyone.

So the parenthesis in this sentence, the additional information was, a 'free' state where enslavement was prohibited and this needed to be separated from the rest of the sentence using a pair of brackets.

Well done, everyone.

Now, we are going to move on to writing the activism section.

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 spell words accurately.

We check and improve our writing when we think we have finished.

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

Let's read through these together.

I have used parenthesis within brackets to share facts.

I have used relevant subject-specific vocabulary.

I have used all three types of complex sentence.

I have used fronted adverbials to enhance text cohesion.

Here's the planning format that we've used for our activism section.

Paragraph one was the first section of our plan, and paragraph two is going to be based on the second part of our plan, the second and third part of our plan.

This is what my plan looked like at the end of our planning lesson.

Take a moment now to read through your plan.

And remember, you can add any extra ideas to your plan as you wish now.

Okay, everyone, now that we have read our success criteria, and we've also read through our plans, we are now going to start writing.

Firstly, I'm going to show you how to draught the first paragraph of this section.

Remember, this section is written into two parts.

I'm gonna show you my draught of the first paragraph, and you're gonna help me with my success criteria.

Okay, everyone.

So I've stuck in my success criteria, and I've written my subheading, which says Harriet Tubman's activism.

Now, the activism belongs to Harriet Tubman, so we need an apostrophe for singular possession.

Now, with my first sentence, I want to try and meet some of my success criteria straight away.

So I'm going to aim to use a type of complex sentence.

I'm gonna go with an adverbial subordinate clause to create an adverbial complex sentence.

So first thing I need to do is make sure I've remembered my indentation in from the margin for my first sentence.

And I'm gonna go with, in my plan, I'm talking about that she learned her brothers were going to be sold.

So I'm gonna go with a when.

When Tubman learned that her two brothers were to be sold.

When Tubman learned that her two brothers were to be sold.

What did she do? Let's think about that.

Well done if you've helped me with the answer, that she decided to flee the plantation.

So when Tubman learned that her two brothers were to be sold.

Now, I need a comma after my opening subordinate clause, comma, she decided to flee the plantation.

To flee, that means runaway.

I could also use the word escape the plantation.

Now, that is my introductory sentence and explains that she ran away.

Full stop.

When Tubman learned that her two brothers were to be sold, comma, she decided to flee the plantation.

I've used one of my three types of complex sentence.

I've also used the word plantation, that's a piece of subject-specific vocabulary so I can tick that one off.

Now, I need to explain what she did.

So she travelled 90 miles north to Pennsylvania and then that's when she got her freedom.

And Pennsylvania was a free state.

So I'm going to use a different type of complex sentence here.

I'm gonna go with a non-finite.

So instead of saying she travelled, I'm gonna go with travelling.

So I've got that part, that progressive tense verb.

So travelling 90 miles north to Pennsylvania to, no, Pennsylvania is a tricky word to spell, so it needs a capital P for proper noun, Penn-, oh, it needs two N's, actually.

This is why it's tricky spelling.

So I'm gonna try it again.

Capital P, Penn- with two N's, -sylvania.

Now, I'm gonna give some extra information about Pennsylvania here.

Travelling 90 miles north to Pennsylvania, it has to be relevant additional information.

I'm gonna explain that it was a 'free' state.

So remember, a 'free' state, it was a state that had no slavery.

A 'free' state.

Close my bracket.

She was finally able to live as a free woman.

Able to live as a free woman.

Okay, let's have a look at this sentence and just make sure we've not left anything out.

Travelling 90 miles north to Pennsylvania, bracket.

Oh, you might have spotted, I need, after the bracket, use a comma to separate my non-finite subordinate clause from the main clause.

She was finally able to live as a free woman.

So I've done one type of complex sentence up here.

I've also done a second type of complex sentence, and a non-finite complex sentence.

I can't take it off yet 'cause I need to use a relative complex sentence.

I might not do that in this paragraph.

Remember, my writing's gonna go across two paragraphs so I can do it in my next paragraph.

I have also used some parenthesis within brackets here.

Now, I'm going to introduce the Underground Railroad.

So Tubman's escape, who does the escape belong to? Well done if you spot it.

It belongs to Tubman, so we need an apostrophe for possession.

Tubman's escape was largely aided by, that means helped by, aided by the Underground Railroad.

Now, I want, my reader might not know what the Undergrad Railroad was.

So I actually, in this sentence, want to explain to my reader what that is.

I could give that information as parenthesis inside brackets, but I just did that with this sentence up here, so I think that might become a bit repetitive.

So actually, I am gonna use a third type of complex sentence, 'cause I'm gonna give that information as a which relative cause.

Tubman's Escape was largely aided by the Underground Railroad, comma, which, if we think back to our definition of the Underground Railroad, was a secret network of people offering shelter.

Secret network of people offer shelter and, now I could say aid, but I wrote aided up here, So I'm just gonna go with support.

And support to fugitive slaves.

There's another bit of subject-specific vocabulary there.

Fugitive slaves.

Let's reread my sentence just to make sure it makes sense.

Tubman's escape was largely aided by the Underground Railroad.

I need to make sure I've used a capital letter for both of those, which I have, comma, which was a secret network of people offering shelter and support to fugitive slave.

So I've got a which relative clause at the end of my sentence, that means I've used a relative complex sentence that's all three types, so I can tick this one off as well.

The last thing I need to include is fronted adverbials for text cohesion, but that's something I can do in my next paragraph.

Let's reread the whole piece, make sure we're happy with it.

Harriet Tubman's activism.

When Tubman learned that her two brothers were to be sold, she decided to flee the plantation.

Travelling 90 miles north to Pennsylvania, a free state, she was finally able to live as a free woman.

Tubman's Escape was largely aided by the Underground Railroad, which was a secret network of people offering shelter and support to fugitive slaves.

I've done everything I wanted to do in my plan.

I've met three out of my four success criteria, and I think my writing here is clear and cohesive.

So thank you so much for your help with that.

Thank you so much for your help just now, everybody.

Now, it's your turn.

Using your success criteria and your plan to guide you, draught your subheading and first paragraph of your activism section.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

Make sure to reread and check for edits and improvements you can make.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

Great work, everyone.

Now, let's just take a moment to self-assess our planning and our drafting here.

Did you use your success criteria to help you and did you use your plan? 'Cause those two are really crucial elements to the planning process.

Great work if you did.

Here's an example of the first part of the paragraph.

Let's read it together.

Harriet Tubman's activism.

Knowing that she wanted to escape enslavement, Harriet Tubman decided to go to Pennsylvania.

This was a free state, which meant that enslavement was prohibited there.

In 1849, the Freedom Fighter successfully fled.

Take a moment to reread your writing and spot whether you can make any edits or improvements.

Now, let's go back to our plan.

We've now done our first paragraph, and now we're going to move on to the second paragraph.

This is where we look at the second and third sections of information in our planning documents.

Using your success criteria and your plan to guide you, draught the second paragraph of your activism section.

Make sure to reread and check for edits and improvements you can make.

Pause the video while you complete your task.

Brilliant work, everyone.

So again, did you use your success criteria and your plan to help you? Well done if you did.

Here's my example second paragraph.

I wonder whether you can spot any success, where I've met any of the success criteria in my writing here.

Let's read it together.

After her escape to Pennsylvania, Tubman worked as a 'conductor', a person who helped fugitive slaves move from one hiding place to the next on the underground railroad.

Eventually, she returned to the plantation in Maryland and helped her family escape to freedom.

Over the following years, Tubman helped many others escape and never lost a passenger.

As tensions between the northern and southern states grew, civil war erupted in America.

Tubman, who worked as a nurse, scout, and spy for the northern States, aided Abraham Lincoln's Union Army during the Civil War.

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

So here are some elements of my writing that meet the success criteria.

So after her escape to Pennsylvania, that's a fronted adverbial.

A conductor, that's an example of subject-specific vocabulary.

And also, parenthesis within brackets following the word conductor to explain what it was.

The Underground Railroad is more subject-specific vocabulary, eventually, a nice cohesive device.

Plantation and Maryland are all examples of subject-specific vocabulary.

As tensions between the northern and southern states grew, there's an example of an adverbial subordinate clause as part of an adverbial complex sentence.

Who worked as a nurse, scout, and spy for the northern states, this is an example of a relative subordinate clause for a relative complex sentence.

So you can see here I've got a few different fronted adverbials, lots of subject-specific vocabulary, and different types of clauses for different complex sentences.

So in this entire section, so my first paragraph and my second paragraph, I have met using parenthesis within brackets, I've used relevant subject-specific vocabulary, I have used all three types of complex sentence, and I've used fronted adverbials to enhance text cohesion.

Take a moment now to reread your writing one more time and check that you have met all of your success criteria across the two paragraphs.

Well done, everyone.

Okay, everyone, that now brings us to the end of our lesson today, where today we've been writing this section about Harriet Tubman's activism.

The purpose of a section in a biography is to give the reader specific, detailed information about a particular aspect of the person's life.

Using a range of different cohesive devices can be used to enhance text cohesion.

When writing, we should use our plans and success criteria to guide us.

I hope you're feeling really, really successful after our writing lesson today, and I'm so impressed with your efforts.

Well done.