New
New
Year 6

Writing the second half of a biography about Darwin and his theory of evolution

I can write the second half of a biography, using a range of language features.

New
New
Year 6

Writing the second half of a biography about Darwin and his theory of evolution

I can write the second half of a biography, using a range of language features.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In a biography, we write using a formal tone in the third person; our writing is mostly, but not all, in the past tense.
  2. We use a range of cohesive devices to connect ideas together.
  3. We orally rehearse our sentences before we write, using our notes.
  4. We can include parenthesis to add extra details to a sentence, including using brackets and relative clauses.
  5. We give a title for the biography as a whole and subheadings for each paragraph. Each paragraph is indented.

Common misconception

Pupils may believe that a relative clause can only be placed in the middle of a sentence.

Relative clauses can be placed after any noun or noun phrase that they refer to, including at the end of a sentence.

Keywords

  • Formal tone - the effect created by choosing serious, factual language

  • Cohesive devices - language structures that develop text cohesion

  • Subject-specific vocabulary - vocabulary we use when writing about a particular subject

  • Parenthesis - extra information added into a sentence that can be removed

A slide is left intentionally lined for you to complete shared writing of the second paragraph; you may also wish to do this for the first paragraph, depending on your assessment of pupils' confidence. An example of the shared writing can be found in the lesson video.
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).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following language features will we not find in a biography?
formal tone
Correct answer: informal language
third person
Correct answer: first person
Q2.
What will each paragraph start with in our biography of Darwin?
title
Correct answer: subheading
introduction
Correct answer: indent
Q3.
Which cohesive device is used in this sentence? 'The Beagle's voyage, which lasted five years, took it all the way around the world.'
adverbial complex sentence
Correct answer: relative complex sentence
compound sentence
fronted adverbial
Q4.
Which cohesive devices are used in this sentence? 'Darwin went to Edinburgh because his father sent him there; however, he did not enjoy it.'
Correct answer: adverbial complex sentence
relative complex sentence
colon
Correct answer: semi-colon
Q5.
Which subordinating conjunction could work in the gap in this sentence? 'Darwin enjoyed Cambridge he had the chance to explore his love of entomology.'
as
when
so that
Correct answer: because
Q6.
Which fronted adverbial could be used as a cohesive device in the gap in this sentence? 'Darwin left university in 1831; , he joined the voyage of the Beagle.'
that day
Correct answer: in the same year
due to this
however

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the cohesive devices to the examples.
Correct Answer:parenthesis,Darwin collected finches (small birds) from each island.

Darwin collected finches (small birds) from each island.

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial,Years later, Darwin published his theory.

Years later, Darwin published his theory.

Correct Answer:complex sentence,When he got back from England, he threw himself into his work.

When he got back from England, he threw himself into his work.

Q2.
Which sentence has brackets in the correct position to show parenthesis?
He published his theory (natural selection in a famous book).
Correct answer: He published his theory (natural selection) in a famous book.
He published (his theory natural selection) in a famous book.
Q3.
Which relative complex sentence is punctuated correctly?
Correct answer: The visit, which lasted 5 weeks, gave Darwin time to collect many specimens
The visit, which lasted 5 weeks gave Darwin time to collect many specimens
The visit which lasted 5 weeks, gave Darwin time to collect many specimens
Q4.
Which relative clause could complete this sentence? 'The crew captured a tortoise, .'
who they ate in a soup
Correct answer: which they ate in a soup
whose soup they ate
where a soup was found
Q5.
Which of these words can be considered 'subject-specific vocabulary'?
Correct answer: specimens
island
Correct answer: theory
animal
Correct answer: observations
Q6.
Which sentence has the appropriate formal tone for a biography?
Darwin suddenly realised - they'd evolved!
Correct answer: Darwin realised the finches must have evolved to be well-adapted.
Darwin reckoned the finches had somehow adapted.

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