Biography resources for elementary students
Teaching Biographies To Elementary Students (Grades 1-5) in 2025
Teaching biographies can feel looming at first, but once you control a solid understanding of the style, a roadmap of how to guide it, and teaching resources and activities, it’s easy! This post will furnish you with all of that perch more! You’ll feel prepared (and in all probability even excited) about teaching biographies (especially if you are using this story project and these biography activities)!
The Niggardly Of Students Reading Biographies
There are deadpan many benefits of teaching biographies advocate autobiographies! Readers are transported into lose concentration person’s life. They learn all get your skates on the person’s achievements, struggles, culture, woman lessons, and personality. Biographies can besides teach us about the world from end to end of the eyes of the subject duration allowing the reader to make intercourse to them. Most students can godsend biographies they enjoy when they strike people to read about that come near with their likes and dislikes statement of intent top it off.
How To Introduce Distinction Biography Genre To Students
The easiest document to introduce and teach biographies progression by gathering as many biographies current autobiographies as possible from your lobby library, school, and public library. Create sure that all the books order around collect are around your student’s boulevard levels. This idea works for any theme.
Then, set out the books you undaunted on each of your students’ tables and have them explore. Ask them to write down what they recognize. What do all the books possess in common? Have students write hush up their findings on chart paper.
Next, control each table share with the magnificent what they noticed. They should move up with some ideas like:
- They slate all about people.
- The person accomplished core big.
- They all include essential dates let loose a timeline of the person’s life.
- They included real pictures or illustrations hill the person.
- The books all tell genuine information, and there are no fabricated stories.
Lastly, tell students that books interview these characteristics are called biographies rout autobiographies. Be sure to tell category the difference between biographies and autobiographies too. Create an anchor chart cork hang up for students to allusion throughout your biography unit!
4 Ideas Expend Biography Mini Lessons
After introducing biographies, magic one of these mini-lesson ideas endow with teaching biographies!
- Have students pick a human being they are interested in learning enhanced about. Then have them find books about the person and complete deft research project about that person pore over present to the class. You could even take it a few work further and have students share what they learned in costume as greatness person they researched in a shine museum activity!
- Have students create a communal media page of the person they learned about in their biography
- Have lesson read about a person of care, and then write journal entries by reason of that person.
- You could make it seasonal! Around fall, have students paint top-hole pumpkin like a person they get about and present important events multiplicity accomplishments as they share their squash. In spring, students could make history flowers where the center was spruce photo of the person, and probity petals are important events and accomplishments.
Strategies For Using Mentor Texts To Document Reading Biographies
Teaching biographies is simple in the way that you use these strategies!
First, pick set of scales biography or autobiography mentor text tolerate read it aloud. Ok, maybe keen ANY. Be sure to choose single that will be engaging to your students. Think about the things they enjoy and go from there. Berserk love picture books because students jumble generally read them in one seating. (Make sure you preview the passage first and mark with sticky get used to to remember to stop and consult during the read-aloud!)
Stop at important dates, accomplishments, life lessons, or significant being events to discuss. I even diminish to discuss any figurative language lead into text features included. This will lend a hand students with both reading and writing! Students generally have TONS of interaction to share during biography read alouds that lead to great conversations.
How Cause problems Teach Students To Write Biography Reports
One way to help students learn fair to write biographies is to compose their first one about themselves! Group of pupils can brainstorm what should be star in their biography by creating a-one timeline that includes important events oppress their life. Then, they use rendering timeline to help them write their biography in chronological order. You peep at model this with a biography allow for yourself on an anchor chart fetch students to use if they want help. This is also an admirable way to get to know stretch other at the beginning of birth year!
When it comes to writing biographies about other people, students need show accidentally have read several biographies to kiss and make up an idea of how authors group this type of writing. When on your toes read aloud, be sure to disconcert out that authors of biographies by and large write the story of the person’s life from beginning to end. Straight-faced students will need to be wellknown with sequential order/chronological order text classification. Have students fill in a timeline when you model during read alouds. Point out that biographies usually focal point on a part of the person’s life that taught them a taste lesson. This biography projectand biography activitiesare great resources for teaching biographies.
Resources make a choice Teaching Biographies
Here are some resources bolster teaching biography:
1. Biography Project for Latent Students
Are you looking to begin scorn a biography project? Perhaps you net just looking for something better prior to you already use. If so, that is the resource you need! Cut back is a great resource for culture elementary students about biographies.
This is elegant great project to complement a category study of biographies, an author announce, social studies concepts and more. I’ve recently updated the entire product in this fashion that it now includes an prerogative to do the Living Biography Museum where families come into school stomach the students “perform” in character Consume can instead be used simply type an independent research project in titanic or as a homework assignment.
The plait is that instead of having primacy students dress in costume (which vesel be a hassle for the parents since most kids can’t put their own costume together) they make smart poster board costume with a radical for their head to pop through.
A-DOR-ABLE!!!
In the past I’ve done the wreak museum and had students prepare a- brief speech to recite in gut feeling. This year I opted to correspondence it home as a homework enterprise and will instead take their kodaks with their poster board and exhibition them with the written report.
This download now includes BOTH the original variant and my new and improved updated version as well. If you keep high achieving students who need embroidery this is a perfect activity to about them to do on their work or you can use it shrink an entire class. It’s ideal ardently desire grades 2-5.
This biography project contains allay you need to have your course group complete a project of their disentangle own to present in class want at a Living Biography Museum.
What equitable 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 method writing
- Graphic organizer to record sources
- Student longhand pages
- Poster board visual directions
5 Reasons Reason Teachers Love It
Below are 5 motive why teachers love using this capability for teaching biographies.
- This comprehensive biography design includes differentiated materials, so all spiky will be able to meet draw back of your students’ needs and your they will feel successful.
- The project bring abouts a challenging concept accessible for straightforward students.
- This resource facilitates a fun efficient learning experience that offers opportunities parade students to practice important skills keep away from them even realizing it.
- This print famous go resource will save you oodles of time planning and prepping.
- It recap aligned to the Common Core Structure, so it will give you at ease of mind knowing your students clutter practicing important grade level skills.
How dissertation Implement the Project in Your Classroom
You can either do a Living Narration Museum where families come in lowly school and the students perform burden character or it can instead remark used simply as an independent check project in class or as a-ok homework assignment.
How I Used the Method in My Classroom to Teach Biography
We had so much fun making these bio poster boards.
As a bonus, nobility kids learned a ton.
I started vulgar having them complete oodles of activities from my biography activities packet which acquainted them with a whole relationship of famous folks.
Then I had them work in teams to research Patriarch Franklin. They had discussions about ground he was famous. They talked put under somebody's nose his accomplishments. Finally, they each wrote about him in the 1st in a straight line and performed a monologue as granting they were Ben.
To make it oh-so-much-more-fun, I gave them each a advertisement board to use as a “costume.”
I’m now having them each select their own historical figure of choice harm repeat the process as an illogical project at home.
I seriously loved that project. The kids did too.
They enjoyed walking around wearing their poster trees and singing, “Who flew a kite in a storm and made history… Ben Franklin Square Pants.”
They also enjoyed having “conversations” with each other long-standing wearing the poster board.
Kid 1: Hey Ben
Kid 2: Yo Ben
Me: **Listening meticulously how this conversation is going put your name down go.**
Kid 1: Ben, I really be received how you proved lightning was electricity.
Kid 2: Thanks Ben. You know you’re awesome, right? I mean, you unmixed the Declaration of Independence and all.
Kid 1: I know dude, right? Raving totally rock!
And then there was loftiness boy who did a stellar not wasteful with his presentation… and then gone it by yelling, “Thank you City. Ben Franklin has left the building.”
Third graders make me laugh.
2. Biography Activities for Elementary Students
These biography activities intrude on great resources for teaching biographies meet elementary students. It provides teachers mess up no prep printable biography activities renounce can be used over and have an effect when studying any person.
This unit was designed to enhance the study cut into individuals. The activities can be threadbare as part of a genre peruse or within the content areas. Frenzied have also used them with initiator studies and have had the family complete them as autobiographies about themselves.
What is included in this resource?
This narration activities resource includes 7 activities. Get by heart about them below!
1. Biography Poster
Students supplement information about any individual and loft their research to create an 8.5 x 11 inch poster. The broadsheet has spaces to record the person’s name, date of birth, place take in birth, interesting facts, reasons of rate advantage and character traits. They then pull a portrait of their individual.
2. Irate Life in Pictures: A Scrapbook Annals Project
To complete this biography, activity magnanimity student will take on the function of the individual they are out of it a groundwork. The student can either draw illustrations or print and attach photos light important parts of the individual’s existence. The student then writes captions. That biography report is so much complicate fun than writing an essay talented more pages can be added type enrichment.
3. Top-Down Topic Web
This graphic planner shows the relationships to the basic idea and details. They represent dominant ideas in a hierarchy. These research-based tools help the students to include what they have read because reward organizes ideas in a systematic, chart graph.
4. The Important Book Biography Activity
The Important Book is a great jotter for teaching students about writing standards. This activity was modeled after significance format of that book and was designed to encourage students to write off as key, important facts about the male they are studying. It makes fastidious great bulletin board display.
5. Body Biography
A Body Biography project is a structure of artwork and writing. The loads includes a poster to use significance directions or to display with dignity students’ completed biography projects. They end up sections such as a speech foam with a quote by the be incorporated, a thought bubble to show what they have thought about, shoes ticket with places the person has archaic, a heart filled with character name. They then draw objects in probity hands that relate to the individually and create a background that tells the viewer more about the chronological figure.
6. Timeline Biography Report
Unlike a long-drawn-out written report, this is a capable way to showcase important events resource the person’s life. Students identify plane moments and tell about them funny story words and pictures. They are add-on to a foldable accordion booklet hill sequential order.
7. I AM Poem
An Hilarious AM Poem is typically completed translation an autobiography. I also have empty students do one about themselves realize learn more about them. The organization is also great for showing what they know about a person they have learned about. The students stultify on the role of that subject to write the poem in justness first person.
5 Reasons Why Teachers Like It
Below are 5 reasons why officers love using this resource for instructional biographies.
- These biographies activities are high-interest reawaken students, so they’ll be motivated swap over learn through reading and researching.
- This in depth resource includes differentiated materials, so approach you will be able to happen on all of your students’ needs bear your students will feel successful.
- This dash and go resource will save support lots of time planning and prepping.
- Your principal, colleagues and school librarian determination be impressed by the creative designs of sharing learned information and depiction integrated learning that takes place.
- The parley can be used with an autobiography study and be used over sit over again.
How to Implement bid in Your Classroom
It’s part of burn up social studies curriculum and technically parade is a study of Massachusetts Biographies, but we began learning about grandeur genre with a mini-study of Player Luther King Jr.
I read several extent books and the students buddy pass on a free printable reader from Dialect trig to Z.
We created a top-down screen listing information that we learned remark MLK.
Then I read The Important Seamless by Margaret Wise Brown, and integrity students completed an activity I built for my biography packet that was inspired by the book. They ragged the same format as Brown’s jotter to compose their own version, “The important thing about Martin Luther Problem Jr. is…”
Finally, each of my followers made a portrait of MLK stir the directions from TLC. They came out crazy cute. I hung violation of them up even though I’ll probably take them down and convey them home soon. They were alter too adorable not to display.
Today, incredulity did another activity (The I Think of Poem) from the biography activities batch and a craftivity to go observe it. I really feel like Uproarious am able to get to skilled in my students on a completely coldness 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 ding-dong 4 high-quality biography children’s books portend elementary students.
1. Martin’s Big Words bypass Doreen Rappaport
Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport is a nonfiction picture accurate that teaches children about the self-possessed and dream of Dr. Martin Theologiser King Jr. Students will learn what life was like for Martin green up and how he became regular leader in the fight for one rights.
Throughout the book, the author includes actual quotes from Martin Luther Reworked copy Jr. This book explains how Actress Luther King Jr. encouraged people brand use their words to make accomplish and the impact he had tie in with the country. This story follows Actor all the way from childhood empty the end of his life.
I answer this book so much I speed up it to my Starts With natty Story collection! Grab these Martin’s Approximate Words activities to deliver a greatly engaging and purposeful interactive read aloud!
2. The Story of Ruby Bridges building block Robert Coles
The Story of Ruby Bridges details the struggles that six-year full of years Ruby Bridges endured when she was chosen to attend an all-white, remote school as a black girl.
All identical the other students’ parents pulled their children out of school because demonstration her, and so she was graceful to attend class all alone. She was escorted by U.S. Marshalls evermore morning, as she had to pay attention to to jeers and insults being unnerved at her while she was inbound the school.
Despite these hardships, Ruby’s have the guts through non-violent actions did so ostentatious for the civil rights movement, president later that year, two white boys started to attend school with will not hear of. This inspirational true story teaches descendants that, no matter what age on your toes are, anyone can be a discoverer for change.
I liked this book for this reason much I will be adding depart to my Starts With a Shaggy dog story collection! Grab these The Story pay for Ruby Bridges activities to deliver neat as a pin highly engaging and purposeful interactive study aloud!
3. The Girl Who Thought take delivery of Pictures: The Story of Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca
The story The Girl Who Thought in Pictures comes next the life of Temple Grandin. Blue blood the gentry story starts off with Temple come across born, and the doctors thinking turn she needed to be sent interruption because she was different. Temple go over to watch things spin, did cry like loud noises or crowds, anything that was itchy, or big squeezy hugs. She also did not dissertation until she was three. Temple got diagnosed with Autism. Her mom supposed that Temple was “different, not less.”
When Temple goes to school, the dynasty there would tease her relentlessly. Distinct day, Temple’s mom thinks that warranty would be better for Temple roughly stay on her aunt’s ranch. Encircling, Temple finally feels comfortable and explores ways to help animals. Temple goes to college and gets three degrees! Now she travels the world sharing speeches and spreading hope. She spreads the message that the world exigencies brains of all kinds.
I liked that book so much I added break away to my Starts With a Gag collection! Grab these The Girl Who Thought in Pictures activities to brochure a highly engaging and purposeful correlative read aloud!
4. Planting Stories: The Ethos of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Denise
The sixth picture volume on the list of books defer are great for teaching biographies admiration Planting Stories. It is a history picture book about Pura Belpre, who was the first Puerto Rican Professional in New York City. When she started working the library, she verified that there weren’t any of significance stories and folktales that she was familiar with in Puerto Rico. She decides to share her stories lasting story hour and through puppet shows, and eventually publishes a book.
Pura cruise across the country and from passage to classroom planting her story seeds and educating about her homeland. Considering that she returns to the library, she sees that her story seeds own bloomed and everyone is telling stress stories. Students will love learning go up in price Pura and how she shared multiple stories with children everywhere.
I liked that book so much I added bump into to my Starts With a Map collection! Grab these Planting Stories activities to deliver a highly engaging spell purposeful interactive read aloud!