Factual Recount: Biography

What is factual recount?

Factual recount reports the particular events by retelling facts or information. The writer tells the events that he/she has not been involved in that events. The objective of a factual recount is to inform a true event. 

Factual recount is written in the third person point of view. We use past tense to write a factual recount. One examples of factual recount is biography. 

Biography is a detailed description of someone's life. People who are written into a biography is usually someone who has made a great achievement and has made a contribution to the world. 

What information can you include in your biography?

Introduction
Introduce your subject in the first paragraph. tell who your subject is. What he/she is, e.g. an inventor of some technology, an athlete who has made amazing achievements, a scientist, a world leader, and many more. Next, tell why he/she is worth to write about.

Basic facts
In the next paragraphs, you can tell some basic information about the subject. You can inform the date and place of birth, parents and siblings, his or her educational background.

Events shaped the subject's life
In this paragraphs you can relates the subject journey to success. Tell his/her greatest achievement. Inform the lasting contribution to the world. Lastly, if the subject you write has dies, tell about his/her death.

Conclusion
In the last paragraph, tell why the subject is special or what people can learn from him/her.

Click the link below to see the biography example.
Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

Biography

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the world's greatest composers. He wrote many symphonies (music written for orchestra), overtures (music for opera), and pieces for piano and other instruments. Some of his best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets. 

He started studying the piano and violin when he was 4 years old. His father who was a singer was his first teacher. When he was 10 years old, he started taking lessons from Christian Neefe. He wrote his first song when he was 11. When he was 12, his teacher let him direct the orchestra part of the time. 

He knew he could play the piano very well and began to play at parties and to give concerts around Europe. When he needed an orchestra, he used a big orchestra. He would even use some of the instruments in the orchestra to sound like birds in the forest.

He liked taking long walks during the day. During these walks he planned his music. He would make notes in a notebook. Then in the evening after dinner, he would write music from about 7:30 to 10:00 p.m. He followed the same routine every day. If he was eating out and didn't have his notebook with him, he would write on the back of a menu. He would work on a composition until it was just right. Sometimes it took years, but it would be perfect when he finished it.

When he was around 30 years old, Beethoven started going deaf. Even though he could no longer hear, he was well enough to play piano. Beethoven even composed some of his best music after he was deaf!

In 1826 he caught a cold. It developed into pneumonia and he died. The world lost a great composer, but his music lives on today. Beethoven is considered one of the greatest musical geniuses who ever lived.

References:

http://gardenofpraise.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.classicsforkids.com 

How a Butterfly is Born?

Explanation Text

We all know how beautiful butterflies are. Do you know that butterflies are not hatched with those beautiful and colourful wings? To have those gorgeous pair of wings, they have to go through a long transformation. This process is called metamorphosis. Butterfly life cycle or metamorphosis takes 4 stages. They are eggs, caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly.

Stage 1: the eggs

It all starts when a female butterfly lays her eggs, usually on leaves or stems of plants. Inside these tiny eggs, caterpillars grow. The eggs shape and texture can vary depending on the butterfly species. They can be round, oval, or cylinder. Their texture can be smooth, bumpy, or wrinkled.  The time to hatch also varies. Some species will hatch within a few weeks. Others will only hatch when the weather is warm enough.

Butterflies eggs on a leave

Stage 2: caterpillar

Once ready, the caterpillar leaves its egg home and enters the big outside world! And these little critters have one serious appetite. They actually eat their way out of the egg and immediately start chomping on the leaves of the host plant. During this stage, they shed their skin four or five times. As the caterpillar grows, its skin becomes too tight and splits open, revealing a new, larger skin underneath. A fully grown caterpillar can be over 100 times larger than when it emerged from its egg.

A caterpillar

Stage 3: the pupa

Once fully grown, the caterpillar forms into a “pupa” also known as chrysalis. Chrysalis is a kind of vessel in which the caterpillar changes into a butterfly. They usually do this on twigs or safe, hidden areas around the host plant. The pupa stage may last a few weeks to several months depending on the species. The pupa has a hard case around it. This case protects the pupa from predators and extreme weather conditions. The tissue, limbs and organs of the caterpillar transform inside the pupa. Then, a marvelous winged butterfly emerges!

A pupa or chrysalis

Stage 4: the butterfly

Once the butterfly is ready to emerge, the case around the pupa splits open. At first, the wings are wet, soft and wrinkled against its body. The butterfly waits for its wings to dry, and pumps a liquid called hemolymph into them so that they become big and strong. Once ready for flight, this brilliant bug then takes to the air in search for flowers to feed on. The cycle complete, and it is ready to start all over again!

A butterfly emerging from its cocoon

Butterflies need to go through a long process to become what they are. It takes days even weeks for them to be wonderful winged insects.

Source: www.natgeokids.com 

Water Cycle

Explanation Text

The water cycle is also known as the hydrological cycle.  The water cycle is how the earth's water recycles itself.

The cycle includes precipitation, evaporation, condensation, and transpiration. Earth's water keeps changing from liquid water to vapour and then back to liquid water. This cycle happens because of the sun's heat and gravity.

First of all, water from lakes, rivers, streams, and the sea get heated up by the sun. Then, it turns into vapour that rises into the air.

Next, these water molecules form into clouds. This is because a condensation occurs.

When the air and the water cool, they form drops of water which then fall to the earth as rain.  If they are frozen, they become snow. Once the water reaches the ground, it can flow across the land until it reaches rivers, lakes, streams, or the sea.

It can also sink into the ground and flow because of gravity through gaps in rock, gravel and sand.  Because of this, it reaches these bodies of water too.

Next,  the cycle begins again, when water is evaporated once more.

Explanation Text

What is an explanation text?

An explanation text tells the reader how something works or why something happens. It describes the stages in the process, for example, water cycle, how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. An explanation text can also details the causes, for example why we blink when we sneeze, why is the ozone layer getting thinner.

Features

1. Explanation text is written in simple present. It tells facts or general truth.
2. Talk in group instead of individual, e.g. boats, cats, cows, and so on.
3. It uses connectives to tell the sequencing process such as first, then, following, finally, and many more. It sometimes uses connective that explain cause-effect like so and because.

Structure

Title

Title is an important part. It can introduce what the paragraphs explain about. We may use questions why or how on the title, for example why do we sneeze? or how do we breathe?

Introduction

This gives information what to be explained in the following paragraphs. 

Explanation

These paragraphs inform the steps explaining why or how it happens.

Conclusion

The last paragraph sums up the main ideas or draw everything together.

These are some example of explanation text. Click to read the text.
Water Cycle
How a butterfly is born?

Reference
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/englishD4.htm 
http://www.literacyideas.com/explanation-texts/ 
http://englishonline.tki.org.nz/English-Online/Planning-for-my-students-needs/Resources-research-and-professional-support/Features-of-text-forms/Explanations 

Diving in Bunaken Island

Personal Recount

Last year, I left New Zealand for Bunaken island. I went there with a group of New Zealand divers. Getting there was not quite easy. It took a long flight to get from Wellington to Bunaken island.

Soon after we arrived at Bunaken, we got a general briefing. The guide explained how to dive safely. They also told us where to find the best diving site. It included a description about how to take pictures under water.

Then, we began our diving. In our diving, we saw groups of tiny fish. In order to identify them, we needed a good guide. We need to know about their habitat and behavior. Without that knowledge, it is difficult to identify them.

In summary, the trip was mostly enjoyable. This place is so impressive with its marine life.

A Cold Crisp Day

Personal Recount

Last Sunday, my 2 sisters and I went for a walk in the park. It was freezing, but our mom and dad insisted that we had some outdoor activity. I reluctantly come with them.

We eventually reached the park. I lifted my gloves up to my damp eyelashes and wiped the snowflakes from my eyes. I could not feel my nose and my breath was like icicles forming in the air. I was cold. I was fed up. I wanted to go home. I could see my footprints on the snowy path. They were like a trail of breadcrumbs in the forest showing me the way home.

On the other hand, my sisters enjoyed the walk. They joyfully played with the snow. They started throwing the snowballs to each other. I stayed away from them. Otherwise, they would begin the snow war with me. 

Then, I stopped. I listened to the magic around me. I heard the wind howling like a dog hungry for a yummy bone. The branches of trees had become bare, and the grass was covered with white sparkling blanket. My breath was like smoke wafting up into the freezing cold air. I began to enjoy the park and joined my sisters building a small snowman.

Suddenly, there were mom and dad holding big cups. Mom handed one to me with an enormous smile on her face.

“Here you are Jo. This will keep you warm,” she said.

It was hot chocolate. I slowly sipped the delicious liquid and felt it dripping down into my tummy.

My wet woolen gloves were no longer frozen but warm. I was no longer fed up or cold. Walking in the park during winter was not that bad after all. It can be fun.

Recount Text

What is a Recount?

A recount retells an experience or an event that happened in the past. There are some types of recount. Some of them are personal recount and factual recount.

Personal Recount

It tells an activity that the writer has personally involved in, for example diary journal and personal letter.

Factual Recount

It reports the particular of an event by reconstructing facts, for example historical recount, biography, and autobiography.

This article will focus on the personal recount writing. Factual recount will be discussed in the next post.

Text Structure

Personal recount is divided into 3 parts. They are orientation, sequence of events, and reorientation.

Orientation 

It gives the background information. This paragraph introduce What the event was, where it  happened, when it happened, who involved. Sometimes, you can include why it happened.

Sequence of events

Events are identified and are told in chronological order.

Reorientation

In this paragraph, the writer expresses personal opinion regarding the event. Besides, the writer can recommend others, or tell what he or she learnt from that events.

Personal recount is mostly written in the first person "I". Although, it can be sometimes written in the third person, "he, she, they".

We use past tense to write a personal recount because it has already happened. 

Personal recount is written in chronological order, in order in which they happened. Use time connectives such as first, next, then, eventually, and so on. 

Below are the example of personal recount. Click on the title below to read them.

Camping 
A Cold Crisp Day 
Diving in Bunaken Island

Kangaroo

Descriptive Text

A kangaroo is an animal lives in Eastern Australia. It has a smaller relative called a wallaby which lives on the Australian island of Tasmanian and also in New Guinea. 

Kangaroos eat grass and plants. They have short front leg, but they have very long and very strong hind legs and a tail. These they use for sitting up on and for jumping. Kangaroos have been known to make forward jumps of over 8 meters and leap across fences more than 3 meters high. They can also run at speed of over 45 kilometers per hour.

News.com.au

The largest kangaroos are the great Grey Kangaroo and the Red Kangaroo. Adult kangaroo grows to a length of 160 meters and weighs over 90 kilograms.

Kangaroos are marsupials. This means that the female kangaroo has external pouch on the front of her body. A baby kangaroo is very tiny when it is born. It crawls at once into this pouch where it spends first five months of life.

Camping

Recount Text

A group of kids went on a camping for their school vacation. They arrived at the camping ground late in the afternoon. First, they put up their tent in the middle of a field. When they finished, they cooked a meal over an open fire. They were all hungry, and the food smelt good. After a wonderful meal, they told stories and sang songs by the campfire. But, sometime later, it began to rain. The kids felt tired, so they put out the fire and crept into their tent. Their sleeping bags were warm and comfortable, so they all slept soundly.

The next morning, the kids packed their things and went home happily. 

The Ants and the Grasshopper

Narrative Text

One summer day, a grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing. a group of ants passed by. They are struggling to carry kernels of corn. 

"Where are you going with those kernels? asked the grasshopper.

"We're delivering them to our ants hill, of course," replied an ant.

"Let's sing with me, instead of working hard. winter is far away," teased the grasshopper.

The ants didn't even stop. They went on working, storing food for winter.  

One bright day in late autumn, a family of ants was busy under the warm sunshine. They were drying out the grain that they had stored during summer. The grasshopper, who was starving, came up and begged the ants for something to eat.

"What!" cried the ants in surprise, "Haven't you stored anything away for the winter? What were you doing all last summer?"

"I didn't have time to store up any food," whined the grasshopper. "I was so busy playing music. Before I knew it, the summer was gone."

The ants shrugged their shoulder in disgust. "Playing music were you?" they cried. "Very well, now dance!"

And the ants turn their back on the grasshopper and went on with their work.

Moral value:

There's a time for work and a time for play.