Year 6 - English
Planning a biography about Charles Darwin's life and theory of evolution
Charles Darwin: biographical writing
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils research Charles Darwin's life and evolution theory in order to write a biography. The biography is written chronologically, from his early life to university, his trip to the Galapagos and his theory of evolution. Finally, pupils present information about evolution to a group.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to plan the structure and content of a biography about Charles Darwin's life and theory of evolution and you can practise using a range of cohesive devices.
Key Notes
- Writing is most successful when it is planned.
- Our biography of Charles Darwin will contain paragraphs organised by theme and in chronological order.
- We can plan in note form, using our text map to support us in recalling information about the subject of the biography.
- When we write, we use a range of cohesive devices to connect ideas together.
Vocabulary To Learn
- theme: a central idea that the writer intends the audience to engage deeply with
- text map: a visual representation of a series of events, where pictures represent events
- notes: ideas recorded without using complete sentences
- subject-specific vocabulary: vocabulary we use when writing about a particular subject
- cohesive devices: language structures that develop text cohesion
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils may struggle to describe Darwin's theory of evolution in simple terms.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Writing is most successful when it is planned. Our biography of Charles Darwin will contain paragraphs organised by theme and in chronological order.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'theme'
a central idea that the writer intends the audience to engage deeply with.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils may struggle to describe Darwin's theory of evolution in simple terms. Correction: You may wish to allow time to model this section to pupils, showing them that a simple explanation can cover the main points briefly.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Identifying features of a biography in preparation for writing about Darwin Study Guide
- Presenting information about evolution Study Guide
- Researching Charles Darwin's life Study Guide
- Researching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution Study Guide
- Writing the first half of a biography about Darwin and his theory of evolution Study Guide
- Writing the second half of a biography about Darwin and his theory of evolution Study Guide
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