Mrs Sutherland's English Classroom



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This unit will help you to learn about autobiographies. At the end, you will have completed an autobiography of your own.

Activity 1 [pic]

In your pairs discuss the following questions:

• What is an autobiography?

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• Who would write an autobiography?

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• What sort of things would it be about?

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Share your ideas with the group. Afterwards, one person from each group will talk about these ideas with the class.

Activity 2 [pic]

One of the reasons we might read an autobiography is to get an idea of the author’s personality.

You are going to write an acrostic poem to describe your own personality. Here are the instructions.

Example:

R eads adventure stories

O ptimistic

S illy sense of humour

E ats lots of chips

T ries her best

Y oung at heart

L istens to pop music

E xcellent singer

R ocks out to the radio

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Activity 3

Autobiographies also tell us about the writer’s early life.

Think about your earliest memory. This will be different for everybody. It might help to pick one of these ideas.

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1. In your pairs, each partner should quickly tell the other the important details of their earliest memory:

• When and where did it take place?

• What can you remember seeing, hearing, touching or tasting?

• How did you feel?

2. Copy and complete the following mind map of your memory using the details which you have discussed with your partner.

3. Now each person will share their memories with the class – but there is a time limit! You only have 1 minute to tell the class the important details. Your teacher will time you and stop you to move on.

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Activity 4

When a writer is planning an autobiography, they have to think about the important events that have happened in their life.

You are going to create a timeline to represent your life so far. Show 5 important events from your life. For each one, give the year, say what happened and explain why the event was important to you.

Activity 5

Autobiographies give the reader some information about the other important people in the writer’s life.

Choose five people who are important in your life.

These might include:

- Parents or carers

- Brothers or sisters

- Other relatives

- Friends

- Teachers

Complete the following fact file for each of these people. This means writing about them in notes – not in sentences. This is to sum up the important points about each person.

Activity 6

Autobiographies often talk about the writer’s ambitions for the future.

In your groups, discuss what you would like to do when you are older. Think about:

• Jobs you might like to do[pic]

• Places you would like to visit[pic]

• Ambitions you would like to achieve[pic]

On your own, write in full and detailed sentences about four of your own goals for the future and why you want to achieve them. Use ideas from the group discussion to help you.

Example:

1. When I leave school in a few years’ time, I would like to do some charity work in India. I want to make a difference by helping people in need.

2. I want to beat my previous record by swimming 200m in less than 3 minutes. With practice, I might break a record!

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4. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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Activity 7

Each pair must decide who will be the speaker and who will be the listener.

The speaker must tell the listener each of their four goals. The listener must listen to and remember each of the speaker’s goals, so that they can report back to the class.

Activity 8

You are now going to a computer lab, in which you will create your own avatar. An avatar is an animated character.

Use your own personal characteristics and the information in your personal factfile to create an animated version of yourself.

Remember: if you have brown hair then your avatar should too; if you have green eyes then your avatar should too.

This activity will make you really consider your physical characteristics.

Writing Your Autobiography

We have discussed the purpose and audience of an autobiography. We have been learning to think, talk and write about different aspects of our lives. You are now able to write your own autobiography – the story of your life.

This plan will help you. Write each paragraph into your jotter, remembering to use full sentences.

Paragraph 1: Background

Set the scene for the reader by answering these questions, using your work in both this unit and in your personal fact-file:

• Who are you?

• Where were you born – Scotland or another country?

• Who are the other members of your family?

• What are the other members of your family like?

Paragraph 2: Physical Appearance

Use your avatar to describe what you look like:

• What colour hair do you have?

• What colour eyes do you have?

• Are you short or tall?

Paragraph 3: Personality

Use the acrostic poem which you wrote to describe yourself to answer these questions:

• What are your hobbies?

• What sort of personality do you have?

In the same paragraph, use the fact-files to answer this question:

• What do other people think about you?

Paragraph 4: First Memories

You only had one minute to tell the class about your earliest memory. Use the important details of that memory to answer these questions:

• Where did your earliest memory take place?

• What can you remember seeing. hearing, touching or tasting?

• How did you feel?

Paragraph 5: Events

Use your timeline of the events in your life to help you answer these questions:

• What event changed your life?

• When did this happen?

• How did it change your life?

Paragraph 6: People

Use the fact-files you made about people you know and your own personal fact-file to answer these questions:

• Who are the most important people in your life?

• Why are they important to you?

Paragraph 7: In the Future

Use the goals you wrote down to answer the following questions:

• What would you like to do when you leave school?

• Are there any places you would like to visit?

• At=re there any activities you would like to try?

When you have finished:

Many celebrity autobiographies have interesting or funny names. Think of a name for your own autobiography.

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Write your name vertically (downwards).

Describe what you are like as a person using the letters of your name as the first letter of each line. Use adjectives as well as facts.

• First day at school

• Fights and quarrels with friends or family members

• Losing / Finding things

• Birth of a new family member

• Death in the family

• First time you were allowed out to play with friends

• First night you spent away from home

Born 25th

May 1997

Met my best

friend, Mike,

at playgroup.

2000

Holiday in

France. Best

family

holiday ever

- so much

fun. 2003

Left primary

school.

Didn’t want

to leave but

was looking

forward to

meeting new

friends. 2008

Started at

secondary school.

enjoying it so

far! 2008

NAME:

AGE:

COLOUR OF HAIR:

COLOUR OF EYES:

HOBBIES:

LIKES:

DISLIKES:

PERSONALITY:

WHAT DO THEY THINK OF YOU?:

Earliest Memory

When

Where

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