LI: To draft a biography.S2S

1. I can begin with a question to hook my reader in.

2. I can begin with a fronted adverbial.

3. I can introduce Malorie Blackman writing an overview of how she was famous.

4. I can include factual pieces of information.

5. I can link my pieces of information together used conjunctions.

6. I can write in the past tense.

Monday 8th June 2020

Structure

This week we will be writing a short biography on Malorie Blackman.

Each section will be looked at, broken down into sentences and then a model will be provided for you to use as an example.

Try your hardest and do your best and you’ll make your teachers proud!

Introduction – introduce Malorie Blackman summarising who she was. Start with a question.

In the introduction, you could use these points to structure your paragraph.

• Who is she?

• Why is she famous?

• Think about what your reader would be interested to know.

Remember to use the correct tense

Introduction – introduce Malorie Blackman summarising who she was. Start with a question.

An example is shown below for you to look at and follow. Can you see how questions have been used at the start? Then we briefly explain who she is and then we end it with a nice fact. 3 short sentences.

Who is Malorie Blackman? Do you know everything there is to know about her? Well, Malorie Blackman is an extremely famous author specifically focussing on books for children and young adults. Over time, her books have been that amazingly mind-blowing, that she has even received awards for them.

Checklist for introduction paragraph.

Have a go at writing your introduction and then check the list below.

• Have I used a question to hook my reader in?

• Have I used any fronted adverbials or interesting sentence starters? (Use the sheet to help you)

• Have I used conjunctions to link sentences together or start sentences?

• Have I used the past tense?

Tuesday 9th June 2020

Today we will look at paragraph 2. When you look at the next slide, don’t enter the panic zone!

There is a lot of writing, however, when we look at it closer you will understand it is nothing to panic over.

Each section has been written to make writing a second paragraph easier. In this biography, the second paragraph is going to add more detail about the person we are writing about. Time to look at the next slide…

Aaarrrggghhhh, look at all those words! Actually, it’s OK isn’t it? A lot of this you’ve already seen last week. The underlined parts are questions with the answers written next to them. See, easy, no need for the panic zone.

• When was Malorie Blackman born? 8th February 1962 in Clapham, South London, even though, her parents were originally from Barbados.

• Did she always want to be a writer? Did she ever change her career? When she was a young adult, she wanted to be an English teacher but went into computer/system programming instead. Eventually, she returned back to writing.

• When did she publish her first book? What was it called? ‘Not so stupid!’ in 1990. This was rejected 80 times before it was eventually published.

• Did she receive any important awards in her career? OBE from the Queen in 2008. She received an award for being Children’s Laureate (2013-2015.)

• Has anyone commented on her early success’? “Malorie is an incredible woman because she based her books on racism” such as within her book Noughts and Crosses.

• Has anything life changing happened to her? (marriage, baby, near death experience) She married a man called Neil in the 1990’s and had a baby called Elizabeth in 1995 (5 years after she published her first book.) She was nearly hit by a van in her early 20’s but a man pulled her back but disappeared so she could not thank him.

• Can we use any quotes of what she has said about any of these moments? She has said her daughter is her “most greatest achievement”. “When life knocks you down keep getting back up.” – relate to her ‘Not So Stupid’ book.

Paragraph 2 - Special events in MalorieBlackman’s life.

So here is the model for the start of the second paragraph. Look at the answers in the previous slide, can you see how a sentence has been structured around the answer given?

The amazing Malorie Blackman was born on the 8th February 1962 in Clapham, South London, even though, her parents were originally from Barbados. As time moved on, she then moved to Kent where she currently lives.

Can you see the conjunction and the fronted adverbial? Can you add one of each?

Wednesday 10th June 2020

Today we will continue to look at paragraph 2. We will look at this in the same way we did the introduction and the first part of paragraph 2.

This is the same paragraph so when we start to write, we do not need to start a new line, just carry on.

Special events in Malorie Blackman’s life.

Just like yesterday, use the answers to the questions from Monday to help form your sentences. Again, in the model we have made it interesting by using a conjunction and adverbials.

In her teenage years, Malorie dreamed of being an English teacher but overtime went into computer/system programming instead. Eventually, she returned back to writing. During the early 1990’s, Malorie Blackman produced her first book called ‘Not so stupid!’, however, this was rejected more than 80 times before it was eventually published.

Special events in Malorie Blackman’s life.

This is the final part of paragraph 2. Complete this in the same way that you completed the first two parts.

Although it took many attempts to publish, Malorie never gave up and never stopped believing in herself. She even said “When life knocks you down keep getting back up.” which is an inspiration message for all. Within the same year, she married a man called Neil and had a baby called Elizabeth in 1995 (5 years after she published her first book.)

Checklist for second paragraph.

• Have I used any fronted adverbials or interesting sentence starters? (Use the sheet to help you)

• Have I used conjunctions to link sentences together or start sentences?

• Have I used the past tense?

• Have I included dates?

• Have I used capital letters for people’s names?

Thursday 11th June 2020

Today we will move onto the third paragraph.

The work will be a little more independent. You have a model to look at and use as guidance and a checklist. You can do this, you’ve already written two paragraphs.

Just remember, you are all amazing for the work you are doing at home, you can do this!

Paragraph 3 – What books is she famous for?

In this section you will be answering these questions. Find the information from your sheet on Monday and from last week.

• List books that she is famous for. What punctuation do we need to use? If the books belong to her think carefully about the punctuation.

• Has she received anything such as an award (which we have not mentioned yet) for these books?

• Have her books been created into anything else? Are those widely known for anything?

• Are there any key dates which we can include for any of these?

Paragraph 3 – What books is she famous for?

Here’s the model to borrow from

Since her first book was published, Blackman has written more than 60 children’s books. Her first children’s novel, “Hacker” was published in 1992 and follows the story of a young girl capable of hacking in to computers. Further works that Blackman is well known for are “Thief” and “Pig Heart Boy.” However, perhaps her most renowned work is her highly acclaimed young adult novel series, “The Noughts and Crosses.” According to a survey conducted by the BBC, it is one of the most read novels for young people. In addition to racial issues, the book also addresses many other themes, such as ethnicity.

Checklist for third paragraph.

• Have I used any fronted adverbials or interesting sentence starters? (Use the sheet to help you)

• Have I used conjunctions to link sentences together or start sentences?

• Have I used the past tense?

• Have I included dates?

• Have I used capital letters for people’s names?

• Have I used capital letters for awards?

Friday 12th June 2020

Okay, today Mr Last is going to challenge the WHOLE of year 4.

You’ve been superstars, but now it’s time to become a Year 4 legend!

Today, you’re going to write the Conclusion. Yes, that’s right, no model just guidelines. You can do this, I know you can

And if you do, there’s 100 house points for each piece of work we see.

ConclusionSo what could you write about in your conclusion? Here’s a guide. Find the answers to these questions and make sure you end with a nice, powerful fact or a question. Here’s one possibility for the end - What Malorie Blackman will move on to next is unknown, but we’re sure it will be just as amazing.

• What other interesting facts have we missed?• What do people think about Malorie Blackman?• What will happen to her in the future do you think?• Could we use a question to leave the reader thinking?• What effect has her books had on the world? Has it changed anything in

society?

Conclusion

So this is where the model would appear.

Have a go at writing your own. The key words here are HAVE A GO.

Whether or not you manage to write a conclusion, the Year 4 Team would love to see your work or even just hear from you. Please email!

S2S

1. I can check that all my names have capital letters.

2. I can check my spellings are correct.

3. I can check I have used apostrophes for possession and omission correctly.

4. I can check I have used commas after my fronted adverbial phrases.

5. I can check I have written in the correct tense.

6. I can check I have used subheadings for each paragraph.

7. I can check I have used question marks at the ends of question sentences.