Writing an autobiographical text

When you write an autobiographical text, you are the narrator, and you tell your readers about what happened to you. You recount the events, describe people, places and things that you encountered, as well as actions as they appear to you. You will choose the things to write about based on why you are writing the account and what matters the most to you. The text day at school, everyone knew about my paper clothes. I called it artwork. They just laughed. As I think back, my recollections of that day hurt. I can still feel hot tears on my cheeks. I tried to hide them but Mrs. Tully noticed. After school, she called me in.

You express your own point of view, thoughts. You may be writing an autobiographical text a long time after some of the events happened and so different tense may be used to tell what happened, what you felt at the time the event happened, as well as what you felt about it at the time of writing. As I opened my box of paper clothes, Mrs. Tully grew silent. She picked up one after another, and examined them. Finally, she spoke. Her words are still vivid in my mind. I remember each of them. Past tense to recount events that took place in past Present tense to talk about the writers thoughts and feelings at the time of writing.

You report what other people say and do when it affects your life.
My dear, she said, these are works of art. You have a gift. Dont ever let anyone tell you differently.

I have lived every day of my life since then knowing I am an artist.

Solo Try to recall your first day at school in Primary One. Note the details. Note what you thought and how you felt then, as well as what you think and how you feel about it now.

Spelling 1
In your writing, it is important to spell correctly. Otherwise, the meaning of what you write may not be clear. There are many ways of improving your spelling. We are all different and learn things I different ways. Use one or a combination of the following ways to help you with your spelling: Seeing the word Look at the word. Then, shut your eyes and try to see the word in your head. Do this for at least ten seconds. Sounding he word Break the word into different syllable and say it slowly, pronouncing each syllable separately. By doing this, you learn how words are constructed and how to spell them. Look at the way the following words are broken into syllables: A syllable is a Picture = pic + ture unit of sound. Estimate= es + ti + mate Introduction= in + tro + duc + tion Group In groups, makes your own collections f two-, three-and four-syllable words. For each word you choose, decide where the syllable breaks come. Can you think of words with five or more syllables? Challenge other groups to spell words from your list. Listen to the words the other groups give you. Spell each words by spelling the syllables I them.

Writing the word Cover the word and write it from memory. Try see it in your head as you write. Try this out with some words you find difficult. Reflect and write

Proverbs that know Seasons why you would want to write about your life Tense you learnt in this unit that helps you write about things that happened in the past.

3 Jaw Droppers!
l e t s
Read about amazing life forms Learn how to extend sentence in different way Learn about abstract nouns and adjectives that function as nouns Write an explanation text

Cockroach party
Im a cockroach, black and shiny. I bring germs Although Im Tiny. When you leave some food at school, I party on All night! Its cool! All my mates come along with me, and we spread germs you cant see! We crawl across your desk and pen we hope that youll leave food Again!
Annette Kosseris

How do you fell about cockroaches? Why do you feel this way about them? Do you know that we share Earth, our home, with millions of different kinds of strange life form? Make a list of as many life forms as you can think of. Organise your list under suitable headings. How will you decide what heading to use?

Before you read

Chomp chomp chomp! Imagine what a night mare it would be If the plants around us suddenly turned carnivorous! Can you imagine being chased by killer tomatoes? How about a giant sunflower nibbling on your toes? Thankfully, these do not happen in real life. There are fascinating examples, however, of plants that make animals their dinner. These are carnivorous plants. The magazine article you are about to read explains why and how plants eat insects. As you read the article, pay attention to the ways in which different carnivorous plants trap and devour their prey.

Its trap!
Plants make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. However they also require other nutrients to grow well and these are absorbed by the roots from the sol too. However, they have also found other ways of getting these nutrients. The extra nutrition they need comes in the form of unfortunate flies, ants, spiders and other bugs. Urgh! Possessing special leaves to help them capture their meaty meals, carnivorous plants often lure their insect victims with their smell, color or sweet nectar. Insects are hence attracted to their doom. Some plants have leaves with sticky hairs to trap their lunch. Other plants have leaves shaped like tiny pitchers. Containing digestive fluid, these pitchers are ideal for drowning insects.

The Venus fly Trap is probably the best know carnivorous plant. Having an alien-like appearance, this fascinating plant has captured the imagination of many people. I fact, movies and cartoons have been made about this famous plant. To attract insect, the Venus Fly trap produces a sweet-smelling nectar. Each trap is formed by a leaf which has two lobes. There are trigger hairs on each lobe. When a snap shut! The stiff lobes,,,, together with the snipes on their edges, help to crush the insects body wile digestive juices dissolve it. After consuming three or four yummy victims, the trap usually withers. Triggering the traps repeatedly just for fun therefore, is not a good idea, as the traps, and eventually the plant, die. The pitcher plant is another interesting carnivorous plant. It is a climber that uses its tendrils to hold onto other plants or structures for support. Found at the ends of some tendrils are leaves which look like pitchers. It was from these pitchers that the plant got its name. Some pitcher plants have pitchers with brightly-colored lips to attract insect. Other pitcher plants secrete nectar under the pitcher lip to lure insects to visit the plant. Covered with wax, the pitchers inner wall is slippery so that the insect that accidentally falls is does not escape easily. The captured victim then drowns in the pool of digestive fluid at the bottom of the pitcher. This fluid breaks the insect down. The nutrients produced are then absorbed through the lower walls of the pitcher. Bladderworts are small water plants. As innocent as their name may sound, they are nonetheless carnivorous. Bladderworts have an interesting way of trapping their prey. These plants have small bladders or sacs on their thin feathery leaves. Partly filled with water, each bladder is usually less than 1 cm wide. The mouth of each bladder has a trap door and some long hairs. These hairs act as triggers for the mouth to open. When a water bug bumps into the hairs, the trap door opens instantly. The surrounding water rushes into the bladder, thus bringing the unfortunate bug along. As soon as the bug disappears, the trap door closes. All this happens in less than one-tenth of a second. Once again, the bladderwort pretends to be a harmless water plant. Meanwhile, inside the bladder, the poor trapped water bug is being digested. What amazing feats these plants are capable of!

After you read

Is it advisable to put your fingers into a Venus Fly Trap or a pitcher plant? Give reasons to support your answer. Imagine that you are an unsuspecting insect. What do you find so attractive about these carnivorous plants?

Group You are part of the insect Patrol set up to safeguard unsuspecting insects from ruthless carnivorous plants such as the Venus Fly Trap, pitcher plant and bladderwort. Prepare a poster to warn innocent insect about these dangerous plants.

Identifying a process
Some non-fiction texts explain how some processes or phenomena occur. In order to provide the explanation, the writer usually breaks the process up into smaller steps. To understand the process clearly, it is important for us, as readers, to identify the different steps in the process and to understand the sequence in which the steps occur. In the text we just read, the writer tells us about the processes by which different carnivorous plants attract, trap and consume insects. Lets look at how the Venus Fly Trap catches its prey. Step one To attract insects, the Venus Fly Trap produces a sweet-smelling nectar.

Step two Each trap is formed by a leaf which has two lobes. There are trigger hairs on each lobe. When a fly lands on the leaf and disturbs the triggers hairs, the trap snaps. Step three The stiff lobes, together with the spines on their edges, help to crush the insects body while digestive juices dissolve it. Step four After consuming three of four yummy victims, the trap usually withers.

If we read carefully and understand the stages in the process, we will understand the explanation better. Group Decide whether you want to be a group of pitcher plants or bladderworts. Read the text again. Then, identify the step by which pitcher plants or bladderworts catch and consume their prey. Prepare a poster to explain to the young plants in your group how to trap and eat insects. Present your poster to your class.

Providing more details

Participles as adjectives

We use the present and past participles to form verbs in the continuous and perfect tense. Present and past participles can also function as adjectives to describe nouns. This fascinating plant has captured the imagination of many people. The pitcher plant is another interesting carnivorous plant. The surrounding water rushes into the bladder. What amazing feats these plants are capable of! The Venus Fly Trap is probably the best known carnivorous plant. The captured victim then drowns in the pool of digestive fluid the bottom of the pitcher. Inside the bladder, the poor trapped water bug is being digested. Past participles used as adjectives

Present participles used as adjectives

Read the following sentences. Take not of the meaning highlighted adjectives. The bored girl yawned loudly. The show was to boring. The talk was interesting. All the participants were interested.

Here are other verbs that can be used as adjectives in the some way: Excite Solo Use the present and past participle forms of each verb above as adjectives in sentence. Make a list of five other verbs that can b used in the same way. tire disappoint surprise

Providing more information about nous

Present and past participle can also be used in subordinate clauses to describe a noun or pronoun in the main clause. Possessing special leaves to help them capture their meaty meals, carnivorous plants often lure their insect victims with their smell, color or sweet nectar. Covered with wax, the pitchers inner wall is slippery so that the insect that accidentally falls in does not escape easily. Present participle in subordinate clause Past participle in subordinate clause

Subordinate clauses using present and past participles are useful in combining sentences. These pitchers contain digestive fluid. These pitchers are ideal for drowning insects. Containing digestive fluid, these pitchers are ideal for drowning insects. Present participle in subordinate clause

describes

When the subordinate clause follows the noun it describes, we do not use a comma to separate it. Containing digestive fluid, these pitchers are ideal for drowning insects. These pitchers containing digestive fluid are ideal for drowning insects.

noun

describes

But, look out! What is wrong in the sentence below? How has its meaning changed? These pitchers are ideal for drowning insects containing digestive fluid. Always place the subordinate clause as close possible to the word it describes. Otherwise, the meaning of the sentence may become unclear and misleading

Providing more information about verbs

Subordinate clauses with participles can also provide more information about the action in the main clause of the sentence. They usually come after a connector other than that, and, but and or. The scientists continued researching the virus despite being extremely fatigued. The surrounding water rushes the bladder, thus bringing the unfortunate bug along. Subordinate clause preceded by a connector

Such a clause can be used before or after the main clause that it describes. When it comes at the beginning of a sentence, it is followed by a comma. Unless stimulated by a touch, the trap will not open.

Subordinate clauses formed using a suitable connector and a participle are an often-used and effective way of combining sentences because they help show the relationship between two ideas or action clearly. For example, you can use such clauses to show that one action follows, causes or results from another. The trap consumes three or four victims. Then, he trap usually withers. After consuming three or four yummy victims, the trap usually whiters.

What happens after the trap consumes three or four victims.

Using a participle or a connector + participle in a subordinate clause is a useful ay of providing more details about a noun or the action in the main clause in a sentence. It makes our writing more interesting as we can vary the length of our sentences by linking related ideas. We can show the relationship between different pieces of information within a single sentence.

Solo What does each sentence mean? What has brought about the different in meaning? The disappointed accepted defeat. Disappointed, the professor accepted defeat. Disappointing all his students, the professor accepted defeat. The professor admitted that the defeat was disappointing. The professor disappointed all his students when he said he had accepted defeat.