Biographical Writing Teacher Resources

Reinforce research skills, close reading, teamwork, and biographical writing skills with one collaborative lesson plan. Groups create slide shows detailing the elements of a biography through a presentation on a famous American person....

Students read short biographies on Abraham Lincoln from various artists. Using the texts, they identify the subject of the biography and discuss whether or not illustrations contribute to a biography. They research specific information...

A creative way bring autobiographical writing to your poetry unit or back-to-school curriculum, this lesson plan guides you through a bio poem activity. Kids use the graphic organizer to describe themselves using adjectives, things they...

The final installment of a 22-part American history series examines the many faces that make up the country's story. From Henry Ford to Tulio Serrano, scholars use biographical evidence and Internet research to uncover the people behind...

Discover the life of renowned children's author, Eric Carle, with a biographical, graphic organizer. Scholars read an informational text and locate details such as Carle's birthday, siblings, favorite books, and write a reflection about...

Learn more about a famous person in history and record this information on a biography format worksheet. After conducting research on a person of interest, biographers record information about their subject's name, birth and death dates,...

How is your grandmother related to you? How is your cousin related to your grandmother? Learn about family relationships and pronouns with an activity that guides pupils to write two short narratives about members of their families.

I Have A Dream ... that after the lesson, all individuals master the reading, writing, researching, listening, and speaking skills the biography project helps them develop. Martin Luther King, Jr. serves as a topic example for a model...

Despite the slightly off-putting title, the instructions and activities detailed in these project guidelines for researching a noteworthy figure will serve as a fantastic supplement to your next famous person research assignment. 

Are we really all that different from people in the past? First, learners of all ages write an autobiographical poem. Then, they research the lives of historical figures. They use the same format that they used to write their own poem to...

Readers of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men will learn much “more than what (is) said to them” as they use the biopoem format and craft a poem about one of the major characters in Steinbeck’s tragic story of Geroge Milton and Lennie...

The design of good graphic organizers indicate the relative importance of the information collected. This biography graphic organizer is a good one because the focus is more on events in the subject's life, the whys and whats, rather...

Get to know a person in your class or a famous figure in history. With questions about the person's birthplace, parents, and what they are famous for. A space at the bottom prompts writers to list three things they have learned.

Gathering information about a person is the easy part. Crafting an interesting biography is another thing altogether. The value in this information-collecting worksheet is that writers are asked to move beyond the usual basic questions.

What if scholars based mock trials on history? The fourth installment of a five-part series on the Dreyfus Affair asks learners to read various pieces of evidence before conducting a mock trial for a French officer. Teams answer...

Students practice biographical writing after completing research on the subject.  In this journalism instructional activity, students read a story of an important person's life and discuss the important moments along the way.  Students...

Students use interviewing skills to explore and express the culture of their community. In this literacy/writing lesson, students interview a community member as a basis for a biographical writing project. Each class member contributes a...

Students become familiar with the ways slaves reacted to educating themselves.  In this postbellum and freeman lesson, students complete readings from chapters in the book Up From Slavery.  Students write about the readings and organize...

Students develop skills of biographical writing through research. Students analyze a video on John Lennon and his death. Students visit the website on John Lennon still recording details of his death.

If you are interested in having a basic framework for teaching expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive writing, this resource may help; however, you will have to find information on the different forms of writing to share with...

Everyone can be a poet with this simple activity! After reading of Lucy Westerna's death, assign your class this bio poem on Professor Van Helsing. There's a specific format to follow, but it'll be interesting to see how your kids add...

Reinforce the actions, emotions, and characteristics that determine what a character is like by having your middle schoolers create a biopoem using the model presented here. You could engage them first by having them write a poem about...