Four educators opened their files to share lessons that integrate biographies in classroom activities. Using monologues, poems, and time lines, these teachers show children that biographies can be fun as well as informative. Could you use a new method for teaching biography? These educators may have the ideal idea for you!
"Success, or heroism of any kind, is the product of setting goals for
yourself and working hard to attain those goals," Pam Chandler told Education
World. "If kids can see that many of these important people came from
backgrounds similar to or even tougher than their own, maybe they will
be the next generation of heroes and influential people. Historical figures
often do not seem real to young people. Reading a well-written biography
can make them come alive."
Chandler, who teaches sixth-grade at Sequoia Middle School in Redding,
California, has her students read biographies and implements some ingenious
related activities. "I incorporate reading biographies into my reading
class for several reasons," she said. "First, I try to expose my students
to as many genres as possible. Second, I teach a core class that includes
reading, English, and social studies. I try to integrate across the three
curriculum areas as much as possible. Third, I believe it is important
for students to realize that heroes and other people of importance were
not born with all they needed to be successful."
One of Chandler's most successful activities is her biography book report.
She has her students write a monologue as the person they have read about
in their selected biographies. The children then dress up as the individuals
and perform their monologues for the class. They have been very creative--
some even provide music as a background for their speech.
Chandler's students have provided her with some wonderful memories of
past performances. "One of my favorites was a girl who read about Rosa
Parks," she commented. "She walked to the front of the class as though
she was exhausted, carrying her shoes in her hands. She set the shoes
down in a nearby chair and began talking about her hard day at work and
her need to sit down in the bus. She did the whole thing with an accent,
which might not have been very accurate, but she did have the kids' full
attention."
"Another fun presentation was done by a boy who read about the Wright
brothers," Chandler continued. "He came to class with a cardboard airplane
that he wore around his waist, supported by shoulder straps. Then this
year, I had a boy named Richard who became Stevie Wonder. He wore dark
glasses and a suit. We had to find someone who had a belt to keep the
pants from falling down! He talked for a full half-hour about Wonder's
involvement with Motown Records and civil rights."
Click here
to see Martin Luther King, Jr., portrayed by Alex W.
Click
here to see Princess Diana, portrayed by Sara M.
Click
here to see Stevie Wonder, portrayed by Richard S.
Click
here to see Dolly Parton, portrayed by Maranda P.
The monologues have even made it to the school office and morning "news."
"The kids do a wonderful job," said Chandler. "I always send a few of them
down to the office to perform for the secretaries and the principal. I have
also videotaped them and had the tapes shown during our regular morning
announcements. The video is perfect for playing during open house. This
is the best thing I have ever done with biographies. My biggest problem
is in being able to direct their attention to another genre. They want to
read every biography in the library!"
When another educator posted a request for good biography lessons, Pam
Chandler offered her monologue suggestion, and teacher Helen Beesley of
Windsor Elementary School in Windsor, Maine, supplied an additional suggestion.
The members of Middle-L had come to the rescue!
For a recent immigration unit, Beesley instructed her students to create
a grab bag of items that had significant meaning to their characters.
"I had the students pretend they were from different countries. They had
to bring in items they would have brought with them to [the United States].
The students also had to explain why the items were important and how
they pertained both to their characters as well as their countries."
Beesley thought the idea could work just as well with biographies. "With
biographies, you could have students choose maybe three to five items
that help explain who the person is, what is important to the person,
or something the person might wear," she explained. "For example, if a
child read about Anne Frank, he or she might pull out the Star of David
to represent religious beliefs, a toy kitten to explain Anne's friendship
with Peter, and a diary to explain how Anne spent her time. Students should
be given instructions about what type of information the teacher wants
and a rubric that tells what is expected for an oral presentation and
for props, etc."
Beesley has found that props make good lead-ins for audience questions.
Her idea could be done in conjunction with Chandler's biographical monologue
or as a stand-alone activity. Students are sure to enjoy choosing just
the right props for their grab bags!
Pam Chandler also makes time for an activity she calls the "bio-poem."
In this lesson, students use a format and fill in terms that apply to
themselves or another individual and construct revealing individualized
poetry.
"A bio-poem is a form of poetry using a prescribed or structured format,"
explained Chandler. "Although it follows a 'formula,' this form still
allows for creativity on the part of the writer." She gives students the
following instructions:
"On each line of your poem provide only the information requested for
that line. For lines 4 through 9, you should begin the line with the underlined
words given; you supply the information in the parentheses. You may complete
the line with single words or with phrases. Your object is to show the
depth of your understanding about the character."
Line 1-- First Name
Line 2-- Title given to the character
Line 3-- Four words that describe the character
Line 4-- Lover of (three items, objects or ideas)
Line 5-- Who believes (one idea or concept)
Line 6-- Who wants (three things)
Line 7-- Who uses (three things)
Line 8-- Who gives (three things)
Line 9-- Who says (a direct quote)
Line 10-- Last name or synonymous descriptor
Following is an example of a bio-poem:
Pam
Teacher
Strong, caring, dedicated, curious
Lover of her children, learning, and her students
Who believes all children can learn
Who wants a safe world for her children, her students to love to learn,
and to have more time to write
Who uses her education, her experience, and the support of her family
Who gives her leadership to her students, her tenderness to her children,
and her love of reading to her students
Who says, "A good book opens the door into another world."
Chandler
To familiarize students with the bio-poem before they create one for the
subject of a biography, Chandler has her students write poems for themselves.
"To make it more interesting, I create a master where the center of the
paper is lined text surrounded by 2 to 3 inches of blank space," she said.
"Students write their bio-poems in the center area. Then they illustrate
their poems around the outside of the text box. I show them how they can
hide part of their drawing behind their writing. I illustrate this by using
some type of full-page illustration. I cover the center with another sheet
of paper so that parts of different objects are hidden behind the paper.
This gives kids more of an idea of what I am asking them to do. They create
some very interesting pieces this way.
"In addition to using bio-poems to represent a person from a biography,
I use them with students in doing a character study," explained Chandler.
"My favorite book to use for this is The Pinballs, by Betsy Byars.
Kids really relate to the characters."
Heather Schacher, of Golden, British Columbia, is no stranger to the
concept of the bio-poem. In fact she has her own version that she refers
to as the "Getting to Know You" poem. As a new kindergarten teacher at
Alexander Park Elementary School in Rocky Mountain School District #6,
she hasn't had much opportunity to use this poetry-writing activity, but
she holds onto it as a great example of an activity that encourages creativity
and stimulates interest in both biographies and poetry.
"The Getting to Know You poem is an idea that an instructor gave in
one of my language arts courses in university," recalled Schacher. "I
think the poem is valuable because it makes the kids think about themselves
in different ways. It makes them aware of themselves and others." Like
Chandler's bio poem, this poem also has a set format.
Getting to Know You Poem
Line 1: First name
Line 2: 4 Descriptive words
Line 3: Relationship to (sister, brother, mother, uncle, etc.)
Line 4: Lover of (three things)
Line 5: Who feels (three feelings) ... when ...
Line 6: Who fears (three things)
Line 7: Who would like to (three things)
Line 8: Resident of (location)
Line 9: Last name
Following is an example of a Getting to Know You poem:
Heather
Happy, quiet, red hair, lots of freckles,
Sister of Cory
Lover of my cat, my family, children,
Who feels shy when meeting new people, happy when home with Carmen, exhilarated
when riding a horse,
Who fears swimming alone, bears, stitches,
Who would like to see a sunset in Italy, Thyra in Vancouver, a Bryan Adams
concert again,
Resident of Golden, B.C.
Schacher.
"All I know is my own personal experience writing the poem," Schacher
explained. "I know I felt a sense of pride to have others read my poem.
I liked to read other classmates' poems as they let me know something
about them. I was able pick something interesting about their poems and
ask questions to get to know them better. I learned about the diversity
of other people's feelings and daily lives."
The Getting to Know You poem is another ideal activity that students
will enjoy creating for themselves or for the subject of a biography.
Your students will enjoy sharing their insights into the characters of
the individuals they meet through the biographies, and you may choose
to have them read or display their poems so that others can learn about
the figures, too.
If monologues and poetry don't appeal to you, Gail Watson, a computer
technologist of John F. Pattie Elementary School in Dumfries, Virginia,
recommends that you try time lines! In conjunction with other teachers,
she developed an excellent online project that allowed students to combine
their biography reading skills and technology prowess.
"It is in the language arts objectives for students to do a biographical
time line on themselves or someone famous," said Watson. "In the case
of the project Mrs.
Murphy's Timelines, students first researched people's lives and wrote
up paper time lines. They used a special graphical organizer for collecting
data. Then they came into the computer lab and used Microsoft Excel to
create their time lines."
Now all of the third-graders in the school are doing autobiographical
time lines. They go into the lab with years and events recorded and use
the spreadsheet to add boxes, lines, and bars. This year, the students
are adding color. They have colored the outlines of the boxes, the background
inside the boxes, and the text-- exciting stuff for third grade!
"The benefit I see, from the standpoint of technology, is the multiple
use of the spreadsheet," stated Watson. "Teachers think it is good only
for math calculations and graphing and fail to envision its use in a purely
text environment. Third-graders are required to create spreadsheets and
actually end up doing two projects at that grade level. The time line
project is first, and it is excellent for introducing kids to the concept
of typing things into boxes or cells." The bonus from the standpoint of
language arts teaching is that the students gather details for their own
"biographies" and make them come alive through technology.
Cara Bafile
Education World®
Copyright © 2005 Education World
Updated 06/4/2007
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