FOCUS ON Biography - teaching biography

Biographies are a sure-fire way to inspire kids to reach their goals. As a person's life story, a biography can tell a tale of personal achievement, triumphs over challenge, or a lifelong journey. Point out to your class that biographies are often best-sellers because people like to learn how others reached their dreams and lived their lives.

Good biographies are the end products of research skills at their best, and writing biographical sketches gives children practice in these skills. In addition, reading biographies gives students the chance to explore such literary elements as turning points, cause and effect, and figurative language. In this workshop, you'll find resources and strategies for introducing your class to this popular genre.

Eyewitnesses to Biography

After the class has explored several biographies, ask them to become eyewitnesses to an important moment in a subject's life. Students first choose the pivotal scene, such as when Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton planned their first women's rights convention. Then they decide who might have witnessed the scene, such as a servant listening through a wall. Each student writes a brief paragraph explaining what happened from the eyewitness's point-of-view. A partner reads the description, then interviews the witness to gather more details. Interviewers and eyewitnesses work together to incorporate observations into mock newspaper articles.

Extension: After reading a whole-class biography, help students choose a scene that includes many anonymous witnesses, such as one played out in a crowd. After writing about the event as eyewitnesses, the class can design a mural illustrating the scene, including themselves as part of the image.

Free-Verse Biography

The picture book Home Run, by Robert Burleigh (Harcourt Brace, 1998), chronicles the life of Yankee outfielder Babe Ruth in present-tense free verse, making readers feel that they are witnesses to sports history. Images of vintage baseball cards with anecdotes and statistics appear on each page. Use this book to spark a discussion of purpose and audience with your class. Ask: Why might the author have chosen to present biographical information in this format? Why might he have decided to present anecdotes and facts in the form of baseball cards, rather than run them into the narrative?

Next, encourage students to write a biographical sketch in present-tense free-verse form. First, explain that free verse is poetry that does not rhyme, yet follows a loose rhythmic pattern. Students should research a specific incident in a subject's life, such as one of Amelia Earhart's early flights. They will then focus their verses on the incident, helping readers "see" the event as it might have happened. Encourage them to add relevant graphics to make their sketches visually interesting.

The Vocabulary of Biography

How a subject defies the odds to realize a dream is a common theme in many biographies. In Prairie Visions: The Life and Times of Solomon Butcher (Harper Trophy, 1991), Pam Conrad chronicles how this farmer endured bankruptcy, fires, and grasshoppers to complete a photo-history of pioneers. His life story became an important source for historians.

Ask students to find words the biographer or subject has used that demonstrate a desire to succeed. Label a bulletin board "Biography Words" and have students brainstorm categories of words in life stories, such as "Words for Mentors" and "Hardship Words." They can refer to this display when writing biographical sketches.

Biographical Timelines

Want to help students write well-ordered biographies? Try a timeline. On a sheet of butcher paper, have each child draw a line with the subject's birth date on one end and, if applicable, date of death on the other. As they research their subjects, youngsters can use sticky notes to indicate where on the timeline the event took place. If students find other important dates during their research, they can amend their notes.

Reading an Artist's Life

Artist's biographies, with their strong visual emphasis, are appealing to youngsters. Try the series First Impressions. Introduction to Art (published by Harry N. Abrams) which features the lives of such artists as Mary Cassatt and Marc Chagall.

Before students read, show samples of an artist's work, then invite students to make assumptions about his or her life based on what they see. Afterward, share the description of the artist. Did students' assumptions match up?

Encourage youngsters to do research on an artist of their choice and prepare an oral biographical presentation.

Teaching With the Poster

In Babe Didrikson Zaharias (Clarion, 1999), Russell Freedman describes how one woman overcame powerful gender stereotypes to become an excellent athlete. Use the poster on pages 59--60 to introduce students to Zaharias, who was an Olympic gold medal-winner in track and field but also played basketball, golf, and baseball. In addition, Zaharias won two national golf titles after being diagnosed with cancer. Have students read about other athletes who overcame adversity in Champions: Stories of Ten Remarkable Athletes (Little, Brown, 1998).

Teaching With the Reproducible

Many great life stories include mentors and role models--people who guide, educate, inspire, and support. Have students draw or take snapshots to complete the reproducible "Models and Mentors," on page 64. Students do not have to know their mentors or role models; they can be people admired from afar. Ask: Who has helped you get through a difficult time? Whom do you want to be like? Which of his or her qualities do you admire?

Extension: Ask children to think of at least two people they might mentor now or in the future.

Multimedia Resources

Books

Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African-American Whalers, by Patricia and Frederick, McKissack (Scholastic, 1999). A riveting biography of the overlooked contributors to this seafaring industry.

Against the Odds, by Joseph Layden (Scholastic, 1998). The fourth in the Fast Breaks series tells of athletes who achieved their dreams.

Duke Ellinglon, by Andrea David Pinkney (Hyperion, 1998). Illustrated with the impeccably detailed drawings of Brian Pinkney.

Software

Student Writing and Research Center (The Learning Company, 1995) features a bibliography template, grammar guides, and preformatted letters, journals, and other documents, as well as a scaled-down Compton's encyclopedia. (For Windows.)

Web Site

Biography.com, the Web site of the A&E channel, includes program descriptions, study guides for selected subjects, and a calendar listing upcoming school programs, which are broadcast weekdays from 7-8 A.M.

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