Yr 6 Biography Talk4writing Harriet Tubman

Biography Talk4writing yr 6 Harriet Tubman and the Underground railway

The following 4 weeks of English has been carefully thought-out and planned for primarily yr 6, but can be taught to yr 5 as well.

The first week looks at the features of a biography, and recognising the key features and with this children will learn about a famous abolitionist Harriet Tubman and her biography through a text and a BBC clip. Interesting activities have been included based around grammar and a reading comprehension to retrieve information about the text. Included in week one are 5 lessons of PPP, Also included is an overview of Harriet Tubman’s life for key features - NOT A STORY MAP, but could be used to learn all about Harriet’s life.

The second week offers opportunities for children to identify grammatical features in a biography, using the box up plan to help develop ideas, before composing ideas orally and in writing. The English lessons links to History, where children will research another abolitionist/civil right campaigner or a Quaker during the 19th Century. This research will give children a deeper understanding on what life as a slave working on a plantation was like in the United States of America or as a worker in Great Briton in the work houses in Victorian Briton. During this week, children will use the box up grid to develop ideas before starting to prepare a shared piece of writing on either famous person.

The third week focuses on continuing a shared write putting together a complete biography aiming to write five paragraphs. Other fun activities include role playing a Historian of American History/slavery radio phone in.
In week four children will choose and write independently a biography about another historical person from the Victorian era who have made a difference to our lives today. This four week block will link to a cross curricular topics of: The Victorians or 19th Century American history.

Take the time to read the biography of Harriet Tubman by Dorothy Sterling before you teach the 4 week block or read it as a class book. I enjoyed reading Harriet’s biography.