Autobiography Unit of Work

Show students two autobiographies; Nelson

Mandela and Anne Frank. Discuss what life events
happened to these two people. What is the
difference between a biography and
autobiography? (ACELT1614) Brainstorm on the
board what we could include in our
autobiographies. Show an example on the board
of completing a timeline.

First
Session

Activity-

Students will complete a brainstorm on

events that have happened in their live,
including each year of school. (Literacy
focus).
Students will then plot their events from
their brainstorm onto a timeline. (Maths
focus)

Assessment-

Assess students work against a rubric.

Show students some different comic strips and

discuss how the written text adds to the comic.
Does the written text tell you step by step what is
happening? How does the written text add to the
comic? Discuss what comic strips are about.
Discuss what sort of things they could do their
comic strips on. Ask students to share where they
have been on holiday. How do

Second
Session

Create a comic strip about my holiday to America

on the board and demonstrate how written text is
used within a comic strip (when someone is
saying/thinking something or sound effects.
Activity-

Do a rough copy of comic strip so the

students know what pictures and written
words they want to include in their comic
strip.

Comic Strip about a holiday. (Idea

collected from students input).

Assessment-

Does it have some writing explaining

what is happening or adding to the
images without explicitly saying what is
happening?
Is the picture clear?
Does the comic strip flow?
Is the overall work at a good quality?

As a group we will discuss, what is a hero and who

can be a hero? List examples of heroes on the
board that students may say, e.g. dad, grandpa,
football players, sporting people, teachers, singers
etc.

My hero activity-

Third
Session

Students will write a short report about

their hero and why they are their hero.

Structure:
-Introduce their hero.
-1st paragraph, why this person is their
hero.
-2nd Paragraph, something this person has
done that they admire them for/heroic
moment, or a personal memory with
them (could be a funny memory).
-3rd Paragraph, something this person has
taught you.
-Conclusion, statement about that
person.
AssessmentAssess students work against a report
rubric.

Start lesson by telling students some funny

memories I have from primary school (ordering
floppy pizzas, not wanting to work so I twiddled
my thumbs, bringing toast for lunch and heating
it up in-front of the heater, dancing in the
production Grease).

Fourth Session
My school Years

Write an example of one of my years in primary

school.
Year five, I had Mr. DeWacht as my teacher. He
was the best teacher in the world! One day I
didnt want to do my work so he said I could sit
on the couch and twiddle my thumbs. I got
bored pretty quickly and went back to work. He
always use to play teacher tiggy with us and
he would chase us. The funniest thing I can
remember is the puppets he used. They were so
funny and we all were always in tears of
laughter!
Activity Students will write a third of a page
section on each year at school. They will
include:
- What grade they were in
- Who their teacher was
- Something they can remember from
that year (camp, production, funny
memory, people in their class, etc).
- Include picture if they have one.

Ask students to have think time to reflect on

their family. Ask them to think about their mum or
dad and why they are special. Share with person
sitting next to them. Ask them to think of
something that their mum or dad likes and share it
with the person next to them.

Fifth Session

Give the example that my mum loves lollies

snakes, sleeping, shopping and chocolate. Show
example on the board how I would draw a rough
picture of her and then add pictures of the things
she likes around her.

(Family page)

Now ask students to think about their siblings and

things they like.

Activity-

Have heading My Family.

Explain that they are going to create a
family collage. Students will get a A3
piece of paper and divide the paper into
equal sections based on the amount of
people in their family.
Each section will be dedicated to a
member of their family (my brother
section would have a drawing of his, his
name and then drawing of his hobbies
and things he likes around his picture).
Do this for each immediate family
member.

Tell students all about me. Talk about my hobbies,

my friends, what I like to watch and listen to and
do an example of an all about me on the board.

Sixth Session
(About me and hobbies page)

Activity-

Students can use the sheet provided to fill

in all of their information and decorate or
they can create their own page.
They are to include their hobbies, friends,
what movies, tv shows, video games they
like.
They must decorate their page and add to
their autobiography.

Letter structure
Students need to write a letter to their future
selves.
Assessment-

Eighth Session
Letter to themselves in the
future and front page.

Letter structure met?

Activity-

Ninth Session
Putting together their
autobiography

Students will be given their pages of their

autobiography and from that they will
create a contents page. Students will
need to put the pages in the order of the
contents page. Students will choose
coloured ribbon or string, to bind their
autobiography together.

Links to ausvels:
Analyse and evaluate similarities and differences in texts on similar topics, themes or
plots (ACELT1614)

Identify, describe, and discuss similarities and differences between texts, including
those by the same author or illustrator, and evaluate characteristics that define an
authors individual style (ACELT1616)

investigate how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express

shades of meaning, feeling and opinion (ACELA1525)

Create literary texts that adapt or combine aspects of texts students have
experienced in innovative ways (ACELT1618)

Make connections between students own experiences and those of characters and
events represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural
contexts (ACELT1613)

Participate in and contribute to discussions, clarifying and interrogating ideas,

developing and supporting arguments, sharing and evaluating information,
experiences and opinions (ACELY1709)