GWR 2024 Look Inside - Manual / Resource - Page 7
Y5 English Lesson Plan: Junior Journalists
Timing
Teaching activity
Teacher notes
Using slide 5, ask the children: what is a biography?
Discuss the difference between an autobiography and a
biography. You could go on here to talk about word
prefixes, if there is time.
Show the example on the next slide of a biography for
Serena Williams. Ask children to discuss in their groups
which key features they see in the biography. As they
feed back their ideas to the class, annotate the
biography on the slide with a smart pen. Particular
elements you should try and draw out are:
Parentheses
Speech punctuation
Four sentence types: statement, command,
exclamation, question
Organisational structures to break up the text, such
as headings, underlining, and bullet points
Colons before a list
Third person
Chronological order of events
Hand out A3 copies of
the Example Biography:
Serena Williams to each
group for children to
make notes of the
features they identify.
Once you’ve closely analysed the text, share the
biography writing checklist on the following slide.
Reading:
Retrieve, record and present information from nonfiction
Maintain positive attitudes to reading by reading books
that are structured in different ways, reading for a
range of purposes
15 mins
Hand out the Preet Chandi and Dave Walsh
Information Sheets and ask children to read one or
both. Ask them to decide which individual they would
prefer to write a short biography for.
Encourage pupils to highlight key information that they
would like to include in their biographies.
5 mins
Support readers, as
needed. Some pupils
could be paired up to
read through the
information.
Alternatively, you could
read the information to
the class or select
readers to read sections
to the class.
Brain break! Try out the world records in the Lesson
Presentation. (Optional)
© 2024 Guinness World Records Limited
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