Description
Are you looking for new ways to teach biographies? Are you tired of the same ole’ lesson? Try the Biography Book! Included in this book are 20 different teaching strategies to bring biographies to life in your classroom.
This easy to read manual includes teacher directions, templates for ease of use and even photographs showing student examples.
Strategies Include:
Alphaboxes – This strategy can be used at the beginning or end of a biography activity. Students can brainstorm adjectives to describe their historical figure.
Anticipation Guide – A strategy used to set purposes for reading texts and to activate prior knowledge to support students as they make connections with the text.
Attribute Graph – This is a graph that shows the attributes of a historical figure, an inventor, an ordinary citizen or a character from a book. The focus might be attributes of a character, an author, a historical figure, the climax of a story, and so on.
BioPoem – A poem that describes a historical figure in 11 lines in order to summarize key ideas and events related to that person and their achievements.
Character Map – This is a processing activity in which students create visuals to represent key figures and their importance to history.
Character Quotes – Character Quotes can be used to examine fictional characters in literature, real-life individuals in biographies, and authors- all who present themselves through their words.
Decision Tree – This strategy allows students to create a visual display of possible alternatives and consequences in the decision-making process. This can be used with a biography to map out the consequences of an individual’s decision.
Definition Poem – A Definition Poem is a format that students can use to synthesize their learning about a person, place or event in social studies.
Diamante Poem – A diamante poem is a 7-line poem in the shape of a diamond. It does not have to rhyme but each line uses specific types of words like adjectives and –ing words.
Dinner Party – The Dinner Party is a processing strategy that allows students to see the complex relationships between historical figures in a given time period.
Emotional Timeline – Emotional Timeline is an activity used by the teacher and/or students to chart the main events in an historical figures’ life.
Famous Person’s Desk – This is a summarization strategy that allows students to tie key ideas to an historical figure.
Frame It – This is a strategy that can be used with significant people, events, or Supreme Court cases in social studies.
Historical Tweets – Uses tweets like twitter to have students review, summarize, and create ideas about historical events.
I Am Poem – This is a structured format for students to use to guide their descriptive writing about a topic, event or historical figure.
The Important Thing About… – A structure that helps students focus on main ideas and works especially well with a wide range of biographies. Students can use this to consider an entire current or historical event, person or theme.
Report Card – Report Cards can be used by students to evaluate systems, events or individuals.
Social Networking Site – This is a strategy that mimics a Social Networking Site (Facebook) to summarize the key contributions on an individual.
Terquain – A “terquain” is a simple three-lined poem about any person. Each line states something learned about the subject or topic. There are no rhymes or syllable patterns.
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You can see these strategies in action in these lessons!
Conquistadors: Heroes or Villains. Learn about the Conquistadors in Texas – answer an essential question analyzing their motives for exploration.
The Republic of Texas Presidents. Create a role playing activity where students take on the persona of Sam Houston or Mirabeau B. Lamar in a debate.
Famous Texans Celebrity Ball. Students will learn about different famous Texans by conducting research and then hosting a celebrity ball.
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Other Instructional Strategies:
Creating Quality Interactive Student Notebooks
Preventing Death by Lecture
© 2015 Social Studies Success. This purchase is for you and your classroom. Duplication for an entire school, an entire school system, or for commercial purposes is strictly forbidden. Please have other teachers purchase their own copy. Do you want to buy one for a friend? Additional copies can be purchased for only a $1.00! If you are a school or district interested in purchasing several licenses, please contact me for a district-wide quote.
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