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Dear Netters,

            Previously I posted a request for plans on biographies and I =
received many wonderful plans.  Before I list the hit I need to make =
some corrections on my original request.  The recipe for biography hash =
that I received from a Judy Freeman (not Freedman as I had previously =
posted) workshop Judy got from Patty Melville, an LM_NET librarian from =
MA.  The last ingredient I mixed was Trix, not Kix as I had mentioned.  =
Trix are multi-colored which I explained to the students represent that =
biographies are about people of all races, religions, etc.  Also, check =
the Sept/Oct '00 issue of Library Talk for an article called =
"Investigating  Biographies" by Judy Freeman and the Nov"00 issue has a =
biography worksheet. =20

            Personally I feel biographies are a wonderful genre to =
introduce students to.  They serve many purposes 1) to introduce =
students to other genres 2) help students learn about real people who =
helped shaped our countries history, 3) help students understand time =
lines.  In Michigan biographies help to hit many of our benchmarks in =
both Social Studies and English Language Arts.

            1.  Check the ERIC archives - I found many great lesson =
plans on biographies.

            2.  From Pam Groucher:  Discuss BIO-life, GRAPHY-writing.  =
Follow with a very active exercise to explain shelving of Bio.  Each =
student pretend to be a bio book of him/herself and make a big spine =
label to tape on shirt.  Then the class had to see how quickly and =
accurately without talking if they could shelve themselves in correct =
order.  The next session was a book talk of "real famous people you =
probably have never hear of." =20

            3.  From Michele Missner:  Students made cubes using a =
pattern.  Each side of the cube had a picture of fact (or both) about =
the biographee.  Inside the cube was a little clue about the person.  =
For example, apple seeds for Johnny Appleseed.  Oral reports were given, =
but the name of the person was not on the cube.  Each cube was given a =
number and students had a quiz to see how many people they could =
identify based on the cube and or the clue.  Other ideas are =
dramatizations, monologues, dress up.  If a scientist, reproduce an =
experiment - Ben Franklin, batteries, etc.

            4.  From Ann Arpin:  Students could make a timeline of =
important events in the biolgraphee's life.  During the first lesson, =
students could begin by constructing their own timeline, perhaps listing =
10 important events (learned to walk, rode a 2-wheel bike, lost first =
tooth, etc.)  During the second lesson, they create the timeline of the =
biographee.  Timeliner software would add a very creative touch; if not =
they could perhaps add their own pictures or drawings to dress theirs =
up.   Also adding machine tape would be used for the timeline.  For the =
third lesson, they could display them on a large wall, layered an lined =
up by date, one on top of another, so they could see who else lived =
during the time of their person.  Each student could give a brief =
presentation of their person and what they were most famous for.

            5.  From Fitzsimmons:  One thing I do with fourth graders =
each year is have them write an obituary for a president.  Begin the =
unit by sharing obituary pages from a local paper from a small town and =
larger town.  There is a formula to obituaries if you read enough of =
them.  Then we go over terms like preceded in death by, survived by etc. =
They apply this to the president they have read the biography on. =20

            6.  From Kay Kliethermes:  Third grade teachers do a wax =
museum with biographies.  They read the book, prepare a report on the =
person and then invite parents.  They come in character and stay in =
character for the entire presentation which is about 45 minutes.  =
Parents and staff members then press a "button" on their hand (round =
sticker) and they start off ..I am..It is very impressive.  Some bring =
props and really get into it.

            7.  From Sherry Lancaster:  Biography unit with sixth =
graders.  They chose a biography to read, and then had to create various =
products.  Depending on the amount of time I had to spend on the unit, =
students chose a certain number of products from an approved list.  For =
example: (a) write a biography poem about your person (b) write a letter =
from your person to an important person in his/her life, about an =
important event (c) write an obituary for your person (d) complete a =
basic fact sheet. (e) create an imaginary souvenir page for your person =
(f) find an important quote and write a paragraph explaining why you =
chose it and what makes it meaningful to you.

            This school year I introduce the genre of biographies to the =
4th graders and then talk about the 10 elements that most biographies =
have, the next lesson we "eat" a biography by making "biography hash".  =
(each element of a biography I assign a certain food to it)  After =
mixing all the ingredients together we "eat" the biography.  The next =
lesson we begin our reading of Out of Darkness:  The Story of Louis =
Braille.  There are various things we do with the book such as =
vocabulary, making a time line of his life, I have Braille books to pass =
out to the students.   =20

            Then in 5th grade, all students have to pick a biography =
read it and make (a) an acrostic poem using the last name of the famous =
person (b) Six levels of Blooms. I got this from either Mailbox or Book =
Bag, in the issue was an organizer of a pyramid.  Each block had =
specific information about the person that the students had to write on =
the block and when it was done it was in the shape of pyramid.  The =
students had to put their acrostic poem on a piece of paper, glue it to =
a 12 by 18 sheet of construction paper and then glue the pyramid next to =
it. =20

            Judy Freeman also has a wonderful worksheet called Who Am I? =
(see the Nov/Dec'00 Library Talk)  The teacher types clues about the =
person and gives the call number for the biography.  Students have to =
find the person, write down the name of the book, author, etc.  It is a =
great exercise!

            Have a wonderful 2003. Thanks for all the wonderful ideas.

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