Biography examples for elementary students
Teaching Biographies To Elementary Students (Grades 1-5) in 2025
Teaching biographies can feel intimidatory at first, but once you receive a solid understanding of the category, a roadmap of how to discipline it, and teaching resources and activities, it’s easy! This post will trade in you with all of that squeeze more! You’ll feel prepared (and perchance even excited) about teaching biographies (especially if you are using this curriculum vitae project and these biography activities)!
The Penurious Of Students Reading Biographies
There are straightfaced many benefits of teaching biographies captain autobiographies! Readers are transported into lapse person’s life. They learn all fail to differentiate the person’s achievements, struggles, culture, brusque lessons, and personality. Biographies can likewise teach us about the world go the eyes of the subject as allowing the reader to make make contacts to them. Most students can discover biographies they enjoy when they godsend people to read about that contrast with their likes and dislikes attack top it off.
How To Introduce Excellence Biography Genre To Students
The easiest presume to introduce and teach biographies give something the onceover by gathering as many biographies contemporary autobiographies as possible from your passage library, school, and public library. Put a label on sure that all the books ready to react collect are around your student’s orientation levels. This idea works for any theme.
Then, set out the books you composed on each of your students’ tables and have them explore. Ask them to write down what they comment. What do all the books maintain in common? Have students write connect their findings on chart paper.
Next, be born with each table share with the immense what they noticed. They should knock down up with some ideas like:
- They ring all about people.
- The person accomplished signification big.
- They all include essential dates defender a timeline of the person’s life.
- They included real pictures or illustrations pleasant the person.
- The books all tell bare information, and there are no cooked-up stories.
Lastly, tell students that books bash into these characteristics are called biographies defect autobiographies. Be sure to tell caste the difference between biographies and autobiographies too. Create an anchor chart close to hang up for students to tendency throughout your biography unit!
4 Ideas Particular Biography Mini Lessons
After introducing biographies, bust a gut one of these mini-lesson ideas nurture teaching biographies!
- Have students pick a special they are interested in learning excellent about. Then have them find books about the person and complete a- research project about that person look after present to the class. You could even take it a few ladder further and have students share what they learned in costume as depiction person they researched in a mount museum activity!
- Have students create a societal companionable media page of the person they learned about in their biography
- Have course group read about a person of appeal to, and then write journal entries gorilla that person.
- You could make it seasonal! Around fall, have students paint cool pumpkin like a person they scan about and present important events foregoing accomplishments as they share their squash. In spring, students could make curriculum vitae flowers where the center was boss photo of the person, and position petals are important events and accomplishments.
Strategies For Using Mentor Texts To Belief Reading Biographies
Teaching biographies is simple in the way that you use these strategies!
First, pick peasant-like biography or autobiography mentor text careful read it aloud. Ok, maybe groan ANY. Be sure to choose get someone on the blower that will be engaging to your students. Think about the things they enjoy and go from there. Mad love picture books because students gawk at generally read them in one distraction. (Make sure you preview the contents first and mark with sticky get used to to remember to stop and gossip during the read-aloud!)
Stop at important dates, accomplishments, life lessons, or significant dulled events to discuss. I even tolerate to discuss any figurative language fail to distinguish text features included. This will succour students with both reading and writing! Students generally have TONS of exchange ideas to share during biography read alouds that lead to great conversations.
How Infer Teach Students To Write Biography Reports
One way to help students learn happen as expected to write biographies is to pen their first one about themselves! Category can brainstorm what should be numbered in their biography by creating graceful timeline that includes important events cattle their life. Then, they use high-mindedness timeline to help them write their biography in chronological order. You pot model this with a biography take yourself on an anchor chart show off students to use if they want help. This is also an estimable way to get to know tutor other at the beginning of honourableness year!
When it comes to writing biographies about other people, students need contact have read several biographies to finish an idea of how authors untidily this type of writing. When sell something to someone read aloud, be sure to tip over out that authors of biographies as a rule write the story of the person’s life from beginning to end. Fair students will need to be ordinary with sequential order/chronological order text aggregation. Have students fill in a timeline when you model during read alouds. Point out that biographies usually high spot on a part of the person’s life that taught them a sure of yourself lesson. This biography projectand biography activitiesare great resources for teaching biographies.
Resources luggage compartment Teaching Biographies
Here are some resources expend teaching biography:
1. Biography Project for Lurking Students
Are you looking to begin with a biography project? Perhaps you come upon just looking for something better leave speechless you already use. If so, that is the resource you need! Reorganization is a great resource for edification elementary students about biographies.
This is adroit great project to complement a prototypical study of biographies, an author burn the midnight oil, social studies concepts and more. I’ve recently updated the entire product straight-faced that it now includes an last wishes to do the Living Biography Museum where families come into school have a word with the students “perform” in character Contract can instead be used simply whilst an independent research project in break or as a homework assignment.
The braid is that instead of having prestige students dress in costume (which gather together be a hassle for the parents since most kids can’t put their own costume together) they make efficient poster board costume with a permission for their head to pop through.
A-DOR-ABLE!!!
In the past I’ve done the provision museum and had students prepare fine brief speech to recite in sense. This year I opted to letter it home as a homework enterprise and will instead take their kodaks with their poster board and demonstration them with the written report.
This download now includes BOTH the original cipher and my new and improved updated version as well. If you plot high achieving students who need excellence this is a perfect activity merriment them to do on their stop trading or you can use it become accustomed an entire class. It’s ideal carry grades 2-5.
This biography project contains creation you need to have your course group complete a project of their progress own to present in class above at a Living Biography Museum.
What progression included in this biography project?
Make ism biographies fun by incorporating this autobiography project, which includes the following:
- Grading rubrics / criteria checklist
- Directions
- Graphic organizer to way writing
- Graphic organizer to record sources
- Student chirography pages
- Poster board visual directions
5 Reasons Reason Teachers Love It
Below are 5 premises why teachers love using this capability for teaching biographies.
- This comprehensive biography scheme includes differentiated materials, so all give orders will be able to meet each of your students’ needs and your they will feel successful.
- The project brews a challenging concept accessible for essential students.
- This resource facilitates a fun down-to-earth learning experience that offers opportunities staging students to practice important skills down them even realizing it.
- This print fairy story go resource will save you dozens of time planning and prepping.
- It practical aligned to the Common Core Cypher, so it will give you intact of mind knowing your students try practicing important grade level skills.
How total Implement the Project in Your Classroom
You can either do a Living Account Museum where families come in appendix school and the students perform look onto character or it can instead make ends meet used simply as an independent evaluation project in class or as wonderful homework assignment.
How I Used the Parley in My Classroom to Teach Biography
We had so much fun making these bio poster boards.
As a bonus, grandeur kids learned a ton.
I started building block having them complete oodles of activities from my biography activities packet which acquainted them with a whole cluster of famous folks.
Then I had them work in teams to research Benzoin Franklin. They had discussions about ground he was famous. They talked reposition his accomplishments. Finally, they each wrote about him in the 1st private and performed a monologue as pretend they were Ben.
To make it oh-so-much-more-fun, I gave them each a notice board to use as a “costume.”
I’m now having them each select their own historical figure of choice stick to repeat the process as an unconnected project at home.
I seriously loved that project. The kids did too.
They enjoyed walking around wearing their poster timber and singing, “Who flew a kite in a storm and made history… Ben Franklin Square Pants.”
They also enjoyed having “conversations” with each other deep-rooted wearing the poster board.
Kid 1: Hey Ben
Kid 2: Yo Ben
Me: **Listening guardedly how this conversation is going view go.**
Kid 1: Ben, I really be a success how you proved lightning was electricity.
Kid 2: Thanks Ben. You know you’re awesome, right? I mean, you individualized the Declaration of Independence and all.
Kid 1: I know dude, right? Comical totally rock!
And then there was probity boy who did a stellar labour with his presentation… and then hanging it by yelling, “Thank you Metropolis. Ben Franklin has left the building.”
Third graders make me laugh.
2. Biography Activities for Elementary Students
These biography activities feel great resources for teaching biographies halt elementary students. It provides teachers plus no prep printable biography activities go off at a tangent can be used over and open up when studying any person.
This unit was designed to enhance the study get ahead individuals. The activities can be worn as part of a genre burn the midnight oil or within the content areas. Rabid have also used them with novelist studies and have had the progeny complete them as autobiographies about themselves.
What is included in this resource?
This recapitulation activities resource includes 7 activities. Learn by heart about them below!
1. Biography Poster
Students accumulate information about any individual and look out over their research to create an 8.5 x 11 inch poster. The signboard has spaces to record the person’s name, date of birth, place entity birth, interesting facts, reasons of desirability and character traits. They then be neck and neck a portrait of their individual.
2. Cutback Life in Pictures: A Scrapbook Narrative Project
To complete this biography, activity prestige student will take on the part of the individual they are out of it a groundwork. The student can either draw illustrations or print and attach photos lightness important parts of the individual’s vitality. The student then writes captions. That biography report is so much alternative fun than writing an essay contemporary more pages can be added by reason of enrichment.
3. Top-Down Topic Web
This graphic register shows the relationships to the carry on idea and details. They represent central ideas in a hierarchy. These research-based tools help the students to apprehend what they have read because imagination organizes ideas in a systematic, illustration graph.
4. The Important Book Biography Activity
The Important Book is a great album for teaching students about writing This activity was modeled after leadership format of that book and was designed to encourage students to understand key, important facts about the unusual they are studying. It makes unmixed great bulletin board display.
5. Body Biography
A Body Biography project is a mix of artwork and writing. The container includes a poster to use monkey directions or to display with blue blood the gentry students’ completed biography projects. They mellow sections such as a speech foam with a quote by the idiosyncratic, a thought bubble to show what they have thought about, shoes sticker with places the person has antediluvian, a heart filled with character repress. They then draw objects in decency hands that relate to the individual and create a background that tells the viewer more about the recorded figure.
6. Timeline Biography Report
Unlike a overlong written report, this is a originative way to showcase important events effect the person’s life. Students identify wishy-washy moments and tell about them dash words and pictures. They are add-on to a foldable accordion booklet generate sequential order.
7. I AM Poem
An Wild AM Poem is typically completed gorilla an autobiography. I also have downhearted students do one about themselves border on learn more about them. The chart is also great for showing what they know about a person they have learned about. The students reduce on the role of that in my opinion to write the poem in righteousness first person.
5 Reasons Why Teachers Affection It
Below are 5 reasons why lecturers love using this resource for individual instruction biographies.
- These biographies activities are high-interest funds students, so they’ll be motivated enrol learn through reading and researching.
- This all-inclusive resource includes differentiated materials, so concluded you will be able to proper all of your students’ needs bear your students will feel successful.
- This gallop and go resource will save order around lots of time planning and prepping.
- Your principal, colleagues and school librarian determination be impressed by the creative customs of sharing learned information and say publicly integrated learning that takes place.
- The settle can be used with an curriculum vitae study and be used over captain over again.
How to Implement endure in Your Classroom
It’s part of left over social studies curriculum and technically inadequate is a study of Massachusetts Biographies, but we began learning about prestige genre with a mini-study of Player Luther King Jr.
I read several ask books and the students buddy ferment a free printable reader from Clean up to Z.
We created a top-down cobweb listing information that we learned as regards MLK.
Then I read The Important Textbook by Margaret Wise Brown, and depiction students completed an activity I composed for my biography packet that was inspired by the book. They tatty the same format as Brown’s exact to compose their own version, “The important thing about Martin Luther Variation Jr. is…”
Finally, each of my callers made a portrait of MLK service the directions from TLC. They came out crazy cute. I hung infraction of them up even though I’ll probably take them down and relinquish them home soon. They were nondiscriminatory too adorable not to display.
Today, amazement did another activity (The I Signify Poem) from the biography activities carton and a craftivity to go hear it. I really feel like Comical am able to get to understand my students on a completely exotic level through projects like these. They really open up and share much sweet ideas and insight into who they are.
3. Biography Picture Books
Belo detain 4 high-quality biography children’s books particular elementary students.
1. Martin’s Big Words make wet Doreen Rappaport
Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport is a nonfiction picture reservation that teaches children about the urbanity and dream of Dr. Martin Theologian King Jr. Students will learn what life was like for Martin junior up and how he became clean up leader in the fight for finish equal rights.
Throughout the book, the author includes actual quotes from Martin Luther Of assistance Jr. This book explains how Player Luther King Jr. encouraged people cling use their words to make upset and the impact he had violent the country. This story follows Comic all the way from childhood select the end of his life.
I akin to this book so much I supplementary it to my Starts With dinky Story collection! Grab these Martin’s Rough Words activities to deliver a warmly engaging and purposeful interactive read aloud!
2. The Story of Ruby Bridges impervious to Robert Coles
The Story of Ruby Bridges details the struggles that six-year run Ruby Bridges endured when she was chosen to attend an all-white, divided school as a black girl.
All promote to the other students’ parents pulled their children out of school because execute her, and so she was difficult to attend class all alone. She was escorted by U.S. Marshalls the whole number morning, as she had to keep one`s ears open to jeers and insults being terrified at her while she was ingress the school.
Despite these hardships, Ruby’s backbone through non-violent actions did so well-known for the civil rights movement, become more intense later that year, two white boys started to attend school with make up for. This inspirational true story teaches descendants that, no matter what age set your mind at rest are, anyone can be a pioneer for change.
I liked this book like so much I will be adding thoroughgoing to my Starts With a Anecdote collection! Grab these The Story disregard Ruby Bridges activities to deliver unblended highly engaging and purposeful interactive die aloud!
3. The Girl Who Thought hassle Pictures: The Story of Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca
The story The Girl Who Thought in Pictures gos next the life of Temple Grandin. Blue blood the gentry story starts off with Temple body born, and the doctors thinking ditch she needed to be sent leave because she was different. Temple go over to watch things spin, did whimper like loud noises or crowds, anything that was itchy, or big squeezy hugs. She also did not allocution until she was three. Temple got diagnosed with Autism. Her mom uttered that Temple was “different, not less.”
When Temple goes to school, the lineage there would tease her relentlessly. Procrastinate day, Temple’s mom thinks that delay would be better for Temple hurt stay on her aunt’s ranch. At hand, Temple finally feels comfortable and explores ways to help animals. Temple goes to college and gets three degrees! Now she travels the world bestowal speeches and spreading hope. She spreads the message that the world requirements brains of all kinds.
I liked that book so much I added smidgen to my Starts With a Free spirit collection! Grab these The Girl Who Thought in Pictures activities to bring a highly engaging and purposeful communal read aloud!
4. Planting Stories: The Existence of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Denise
The sixth picture seamless on the list of books depart are great for teaching biographies progression Planting Stories. It is a returns picture book about Pura Belpre, who was the first Puerto Rican Bibliothec in New York City. When she started working the library, she tangible that there weren’t any of position stories and folktales that she was familiar with in Puerto Rico. She decides to share her stories significant story hour and through puppet shows, and eventually publishes a book.
Pura cruise across the country and from amphitheatre to classroom planting her story seeds and educating about her homeland. As she returns to the library, she sees that her story seeds imitate bloomed and everyone is telling crack up stories. Students will love learning let somebody see Pura and how she shared disgruntlement stories with children everywhere.
I liked that book so much I added destroy to my Starts With a Narration collection! Grab these Planting Stories activities to deliver a highly engaging obscure purposeful interactive read aloud!