New
New
Year 6
Identifying features of a biography in preparation for writing about Darwin
I can identify the features of a biography.
New
New
Year 6
Identifying features of a biography in preparation for writing about Darwin
I can identify the features of a biography.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- A biography is a non-fiction text written about someone's life.
- Linguistic features of a biography include third person, formal fronted adverbials, formal tone and relative clauses.
- Structural features of a biography include a title, paragraphs and information grouped by theme.
- A biography is usually written in chronological order and will contain lots of past tense verbs.
- Additional factual information can be added to a clause as parenthesis.
Keywords
Biography - a non-fiction text written about someone’s life
Formal tone - the effect created by choosing serious, factual language
Third person - the 'he/she/it/they' perspective, where we talk about another person
Fronted adverbial - a sentence starter followed by a comma
Relative clause - a type of subordinate clause starting with a relative pronoun (such as who, which or whose)
Common misconception
Pupils may find the formal tone of a biography challenging.
You may wish to provide additional time for children to read a range of biographical writing to 'tune in' to the text type.
Complete lessons on using relative clauses, fronted adverbials and parenthesis are found throughout our grammar curriculum. You may wish to read the biography aloud to pupils, pausing occasionally to have them chorally say the next word.
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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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Which words best match the meaning of 'formal'?
chatty
descriptive
Q2.
Which sentence below is the most formal in tone?
She's done amazing things.
The things she's done would amaze you!
Q3.
What are the key features of a fronted adverbial?
comes in the middle of a sentence
is followed by a semi-colon
Q4.
Which of these sentences have a fronted adverbial?
She studied at university during the 1990s.
She worked in Manchester after she left university.
Q5.
Match the 'person' to the example.
I love nature.
You love nature.
She loves nature.
Q6.
Which sentence below is not written in the third person?
She chose to train as a gymnast after watching the Olympics.
She saw the potential in him immediately.
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
What is the purpose of a biography?
to inform the reader about a particular event
to inform the reader about a particular place
Q2.
Which of the following could be the subject of a biography?
an election
the Houses of Parliament
the River Thames
Q3.
In what order is a biography usually written?
random order
starting from their death
starting from their first job
Q4.
Which of these are key linguistic features of a biography?
first person
Q5.
Which sentence is appropriate for use in a biography?
She just loved those chimps!
She taught me everything I know about chimps.
Q6.
Match the types of fronted adverbial to the examples.
However,
Due to this,
During the war,
Additional material
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