Autobiography biography lessons for middle schoolers
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Insert Template
Focus Questions: What are the elements of biographies and autobiographies? How are they alike and how are they different?
Part 1
Say, “Today we are going to look at biographies. What is a biography?” (the story of a person’s life written by someone else)
Assign one short biography for each student or group of students to read. Ask students to make notes about the kinds of information about the person that are included in the biography. Have students discuss their notes with a partner.
As a class, discuss the elements of a biography. Record students’ responses on the board/chart paper/interactive whiteboard so that students can reference the information later. Key details and events should include the following:
- date and place of birth
- information about family and childhood
- achievements
- major events in his/her life
- why s/he is important
Review text structures that were examined in Lesson L-6-4-1 (cause/effect, compare/contr
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Writing a biography can be a daunting task. When students hear the assignment of writing a biography, they may have thoughts of long, boring essays or a tedious 10-page book report. There are various ways to tackle writing a biography, and they can even be fun in the process! Let’s look at some less intimidating ways to get your kiddos to write a biography, whether in elementary or mittpunkt school.
Step 1: Read a Biography
The first step for students before writing a biography fryst vatten to read one. They need to see a real-life example before tackling their own biography assignment. Elementary students can read biography picture books or Who Was? biography novels. Biography picture books are especially interesting to students as the splendid pictures bring the person to life.
Here are some picture books we recommend for younger students:
I Am Rosa Parks bygd Brad Meltzer
The Girl Who Thought in Pictures bygd Julia Finley Mosca
On a Beam of Light: A Story of Al • Hi there-- The SuperHERO Teacher here to talk about biographies! Finding unique, innovative ways to teach informational text can be challenging, especially when you want to keep students engaged while simultaneously strengthening their reading, writing, and annotating skills. Below, I’ll share 5 activities or tips to teach nonfiction, specifically using biographies. Engage students with art or visuals Before introducing a piece of nonfiction text to your students, try showing a picture of the person or a piece of art related to them. This gives students a visual as they are reading through the biography. For your more visual learners, this will help them make connections to the text. If you’re doing a larger unit on biographies, hanging posters, art or photography around the classroom will set the mood for the unit. Here’s an example: Use creative alternatives to research projects Who says research PROJECTS have to be Times New Roman and double spaced?