New
New
Year 2

Generating information about authors to prepare to write an information text

I can learn about the authors Atinuke, Roald Dahl and Ibtihaj Muhammad and develop a personal response.

New
New
Year 2

Generating information about authors to prepare to write an information text

I can learn about the authors Atinuke, Roald Dahl and Ibtihaj Muhammad and develop a personal response.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. An information text about an author provides information about their life, e.g. childhood, inspiration, jobs and books.
  2. Atinuke is a Nigerian born author whose stories are inspired by African culture and traditional storytelling.
  3. Roald Dahl was a British author who wrote popular children’s literature containing imaginative and magical elements.
  4. Ibtihaj Muhammad is an American fencer and author who was inspired to write stories celebrating the Muslim identity.
  5. Developing a personal response to what we have read can inspire in writing our own information text.

Keywords

  • Information text - a form of non-fiction writing that provides true and factual information about someone or something

  • Author - the person responsible for crafting the words that make up a text

  • Personal response - expressing your own opinions, ideas or feelings

Common misconception

Children may be unfamiliar with the meaning of some of the vocabulary involved in exploring these author's lives. E.g. 'immerse', 'boarding school', 'hijab'.

Allow opportunities for children to highlight any words they do not know the meaning of within each cycle of the lesson and explain the meaning (providing visual aids where appropriate) to support children in understanding each author's life.

Have a range of books by Atinuke, Roald Dahl and Ibtihaj Muhammad available for this lesson. Begin the lesson by asking the children whether they recognise the books and what they can recall about them in order to engage them in learning about the authors.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
What do we learn from reading information texts about an author?
Correct answer: We learn about many aspects of an author's life
We read the author's stories
Correct answer: We learn about the author's childhood
Q2.
What is the purpose of a heading in an information text?
It summarises the text
Correct answer: It tells us who or what the information text is about
It introduces a section
Q3.
What does the introduction of an information text do?
Correct answer: introduces the topic and engages the reader
goes into detail about specific aspects of the topic
Correct answer: provides general information and outlines the text
Q4.
What is the purpose of a subheading?
It tells you what the whole text is about
It makes you laugh
Correct answer: It tells you what a particular section of the text is about
Q5.
Order the following sections to show the structure of an information text about an author.
1 - introduction
2 - childhood and inspiration
3 - jobs and books
Q6.
What is a personal response?
expressing someone else's opinion
Correct answer: expressing your own opinions, ideas or feelings
sharing facts

6 Questions

Q1.
Which country was Atinuke born in?
Correct answer: Nigeria
United Kingdom
Japan
Q2.
What is Atinuke's writing mainly influenced by?
her time at school in the UK
Correct answer: African culture and her childhood
mythical creatures
Q3.
Who was Roald Dahl's literary idol?
Philip Pullman
Jacqueline Wilson
Correct answer: Beatrix Potter
Q4.
What inspired Roald Dahl to write 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'?
He ate chocolate everyday
He hated chocolate
Correct answer: His boarding school was next door to the Cadbury's Chocolate Factory
Q5.
What job did Ibtihaj Muhammad do before becoming an author?
She was a professional dancer
Correct answer: She was a professional fencer
She was a professional singer
Q6.
What does the book 'The Proudest Blue' celebrate?
Correct answer: the hijab and the Islamic faith
oceans and rivers
fencing and the Olympics

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