Biography and Autobiography - Lesson 4 - Writing about People PowerPoint

In a thoughtfully crafted lesson on writing about people in autobiographies, students delve into the art of character depiction, using Roald Dahl's portrayal of Mrs Pratchett in his book "Boy" as a case study. The objective of the lesson is to help students grasp how Dahl presents this character from his early childhood, encouraging them to read up to the end of the chapter titled 'The Bicycle and the Sweet Shop' and note down their observations about Mrs Pratchett. The lesson aims to enhance the students' ability to remember and describe characters, a key skill in writing engaging autobiographies.

The lesson continues with a writing exercise, where students are invited to draft a paragraph about Mrs Pratchett, aided by sentence starters provided to stimulate their descriptions. These prompts guide the students to explore Dahl's introduction of Mrs Pratchett, her characteristics, manner of speech, and the reactions she elicits from the young Dahl and his peers. After crafting their paragraphs, students have the opportunity to present their work to the class. This is followed by a constructive critique session, where classmates are encouraged to offer feedback on what aspects of the writing are effective and suggest areas for improvement. This interactive plenary not only consolidates the students' understanding of character portrayal but also hones their ability to give and receive constructive feedback.