Year 6 - English
Researching Charles Darwin's life
Charles Darwin: biographical writing
Study Hub
Study Guides
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 tell the story of Charles Darwin's life up to and including his visit to the Galapagos Islands.
Key Notes
- Charles Darwin was a British naturalist known for his contributions to the theory of evolution.
- A biography is a non-fiction text so we must do research to gather factual information.
- A text map can be used to help us learn and remember the key events of someone's life.
- In the text map, pictures represent key events (and a few words and numbers can be used too).
- The more we rehearse a text map out loud, the better we will remember it.
Vocabulary To Learn
- biography: a non-fiction text written about someone's life
- 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
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils may think that the purpose of the text map is to learn a particular text word-for-word.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Charles Darwin was a British naturalist known for his contributions to the theory of evolution. A biography is a non-fiction text so we must do research to gather factual information.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'biography'
a non-fiction text written about someone's life.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils may think that the purpose of the text map is to learn a particular text word-for-word. Correction: Although text maps can be used in this way, in this case we are trying to learn the series of events; pupils should re-tell the events using simple language, pointing to the relevant picture as they do so.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Identifying features of a biography in preparation for writing about Darwin Study Guide
- Planning a biography about Charles Darwin's life and theory of evolution Study Guide
- Presenting information about evolution 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
Browse all guides in the Year 6 English guide library.