Body biography ideas for teachers

Then, they use the timeline to help them write their biography in chronological order. You can model this with a biography about yourself on an anchor chart for students to use if they need help. This is also an excellent way to get to know each other at the beginning of the year! When it comes to writing biographies about other people, students need to have read several biographies to get an idea of how authors organize this type of writing.

Have students fill in a timeline when you model during read alouds. This biography project and biography activities are great resources for teaching biographies. Are you looking to begin using a biography project? Perhaps you are just looking for something better than you already use. If so, this is the resource you need! It is a great resource for teaching elementary students about biographies.

This is a great project to complement a genre study of biographies, an author study, social studies concepts and more. This year I opted to send it home as a homework project and will instead take their photos with their poster board and display them with the written report. This download now includes BOTH the original version and my new and improved updated version as well.

If you have high achieving students who need enrichment this is a perfect activity for them to do on their own or you can use it with an entire class. This biography project contains everything you need to have your students complete a project of their very own to present in class or at a Living Biography Museum. Make teaching biographies fun by incorporating this biography projectwhich includes the following:.

You can either do a Living Biography Museum where families come in to school and the students perform in character or it can instead be used simply as an independent research project in class or as a homework assignment. I started by having them complete oodles of activities from my body biography ideas for teachers activities packet which acquainted them with a whole bunch of famous folks.

Then I had them work in teams to research Benjamin Franklin. They had discussions about why he was famous. They talked about his accomplishments. Finally, they each wrote about him in the 1st person and performed a monologue as if they were Ben. Kid 2: Thanks Ben. I mean, you signed the Declaration of Independence and all. Ben Franklin has left the building.

These biography activities are great resources for teaching biographies to elementary students. It provides teachers with no prep printable biography activities that can be used over and over when studying any person. This unit was designed to enhance the study of individuals. The activities can be used as part of a genre study or within the content areas.

I have also used them with author studies and have had the children complete them as autobiographies about themselves. This biography activities resource includes 7 activities. Learn about them below! Students gather information about any individual and use their research to create an 8. They then draw a portrait of their individual. Students must dig deep into characterization and work together to create a visual representation of a specific character.

This post covers everything you need to know before assigning this engaging project. As much as I love teaching characterizationI wanted something more than just asking students to list character traits or the traditional essay. I wanted to find a something my students would always remember. With body biographies, you will inspire your students to think critically about characters and encourage them to synthesize their findings in a unique, creative way.

Keep reading to learn all about my favorite teaching tool for character analysis. Not only do characters play a pivotal role in moving a plot forward, but they also provide a lens into the broader ideas presented in the text, encouraging readers to engage with diverse perspectives and experiences. As a result, readers can explore and understand the themesconflicts, and deeper messages of a narrative more thoroughly.

Understanding characterization on a deeper level allows readers to engage with the entire text on a deeper level, encouraging thinking critically, making inferencesand fostering empathy. Body biographies engage students in a fun, collaborative, and hands-on exploration of characterization, opening the door for them to learn more about themselves, others, and the world around them.

A body biography is a hands-on project that requires students to analyze and represent characters in a visual format. Rather than having students write yet another analysis essay, body biographies invite students on a creative, yet in-depth exploration of character.

Body biography ideas for teachers

I have listed some possibilities for your body biography, but feel free to come up with your own creations. As always, the choices you make should be based on the text; for you will be verbally explaining and thus, in a sense, defending them. Above all, your choices should be creative, analytical, and accurate. Although I expect your biography to contain additional dimensions, your portrait must contain:.

Adapted from a presentation by Cindy O'Donnell-Allen. Creative Commons "NoDerivatives". Select overall rating no rating. This resource hasn't been reviewed yet To ensure quality for our reviews, only customers who have downloaded this resource can review it. Save for later.