Year 4 · Biography · WAGOLL

The Story of Mary Anning

A short biography of fossil hunter Mary Anning. Models past tense, time connectives, paragraphs by life stage, and quotation. Meets Year 4 expected standard.

📚 Year 4 ✏️ Biography ✓ Meets expected standard

Early lifeBiographies are usually organised in time order with sub-headings.

Mary Anning was born in 1799Biographies often open with the date and place of birth. in the small seaside town of Lyme RegisExpanded noun phrase — adds detail.. Her family was poorStandard English ('was', not 'were' for singular).,Comma separates the embedded clause about her father. and her father, a carpenter, sometimes searched the cliffs for fossils to sell. From a young ageFronted adverbial — tells when., Mary went with him. ShePronoun replaces 'Mary' to avoid repetition. learned how to spot bones in the rocks and how to chip them out without breaking them.

An incredible discovery

In 1811Fronted adverbial of time — tells when.,Comma after the fronted adverbial. when Mary was just twelveSubordinate clause adding extra information., she and her brother found something extraordinary in the cliffs. After weeks of careful diggingAnother fronted adverbial., they uncovered the skeleton of a creature nobody had seen beforeExpanded noun phrase with embedded clause.. It was over five metres long. Scientists later named it IchthyosaurusCapital letter for the proper name of a species. —Dashes used like brackets to add extra detail. 'fish lizard' —Dashes used like brackets to add extra detail. because it looked like a giant lizard with flippers.

A life of fossil hunting

Throughout her lifeFronted adverbial., Mary continued to search the cliffs of Lyme Regis. She found many more important fossilsExpanded noun phrase., including the first complete Plesiosaurus and a flying reptile called a pterosaur. AlthoughSubordinating conjunction — shows contrast. she had little schoolingPast tense., she taught herself to read scientificY3-4 statutory word — silent 'c'. papers and could identify fossils as well as any university professor.

Why she matters

In her timeFronted adverbial of time., women were not allowedStandard English — 'were' for plural. to join scientific soConjunction showing effect.cieties, soConjunction showing effect. the men who bought her fossils often took the credit. TodayFronted adverbial — tells when (now)., howeverAdverb showing contrast — like 'but'., Mary Anning is rememberedPresent perfect — links past to now. as one of the most important fossil hunters who ever lived. Without herFronted phrase — could replace with 'If she hadn't lived'., we would know far less about the prehistoric world.

All teaching points

Early life Biographies are usually organised in time order with sub-headings.
Mary Anning was born in 1799 Biographies often open with the date and place of birth.
the small seaside town of Lyme Regis Expanded noun phrase — adds detail.
Her family was poor Standard English ('was', not 'were' for singular).
, Comma separates the embedded clause about her father.
From a young age Fronted adverbial — tells when.
She Pronoun replaces 'Mary' to avoid repetition.
In 1811 Fronted adverbial of time — tells when.
when Mary was just twelve Subordinate clause adding extra information.
After weeks of careful digging Another fronted adverbial.
the skeleton of a creature nobody had seen before Expanded noun phrase with embedded clause.
Ichthyosaurus Capital letter for the proper name of a species.
— Dashes used like brackets to add extra detail.
Throughout her life Fronted adverbial.
many more important fossils Expanded noun phrase.
Although Subordinating conjunction — shows contrast.
had little schooling Past tense.
scientific Y3-4 statutory word — silent 'c'.
In her time Fronted adverbial of time.
were not allowed Standard English — 'were' for plural.
so Conjunction showing effect.
Today Fronted adverbial — tells when (now).
however Adverb showing contrast — like 'but'.
is remembered Present perfect — links past to now.
Without her Fronted phrase — could replace with 'If she hadn't lived'.

National Curriculum objectives

Use paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme
Use fronted adverbials with commas
Use the present perfect form of verbs
Choose appropriate pronouns and nouns for clarity and to avoid repetition
Use commas after fronted adverbials
Use Standard English forms of verb inflections (e.g. 'we were' rather than 'we was')

How to use this

Show the clean version first — read it together as a class. Then toggle Show annotations to reveal the teaching points. Discuss what makes the text work. Children can attempt their own version of the same text type, then return to this annotated model when they revise.