Background: It is important for students to have a clear grasp of the genre before writing themselves. Have students brainstorm what they already know about biography, to determine where students depth of knowledge is. Build on this knowledge, to ensure students know the components of a biography, so they can write one themselves.

Duration: The immersion process should take one to two days. With the teacher lesson on one day, and the student module the second

Preparation:

• Before starting, have students complete the pre-writing survey on their module (use the survey to guide early conferencing and small groups)
• Have the book River Boy: The Story of Mark Twain by William Anderson
• Chart paper to record students understandings and to create an anchor chart for reference
• Features of Biography Reference

• Epic! account, with A Picture Book of Harry Houdini by David and Michael Adler put in the biography collection for students.

Lesson:

Before the Read

1. Allow students three to five minutes to record what they already know about biography in their Writer's Notebooks.
2. On chart paper entitled "What is Biography?" record characteristics from student volunteers.
3. Introduce the picture book. Allow students to share their knowledge of who Harry Houdini was. 

During and After the Read

1. Stop every couple of pages and elicit student volunteers to add further biography features to running anchor chart
2. At the end of the book, be sure to show the extra featuers on the last two pages (such as the timline, author's note and selected bibliography).
3. Have students complete their module lesson

Extension Possibilites

• Have students create their own anthology by collecting short biographies from the internet or other resources about subjects they admire. Have them practice writing introductions on these people.
• Have students write an expository text or create a how-to video explaining the key points and features of the genre.
• Have students go on a "scavenger hunt" for text features of another biography, or even their social studies textbook.

Background: Biographers write about role models. It is important for students to choose a subject that is meaningful to them, so they are invested in their research for the biography they will write.

​Duration: Generating should take three class days, with a lesson each day.

Preparation:

• Texts: Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa by Veronica Chambers and Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream​ by Deloris Jordan and Roslyn M. Jordan
• Students Writer's Notebooks
• Epic! account, with George Washington: A LIfe of Self-Discipline by Anne Todd put in the biography collection for students.

Lesson 1, Role Models:

Read Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa as a read aloud.  Pause to point out the text features that are a part of biographies, be sure to point out the introduction and conclusions.  

After the read, hold a discussion about why Veronica Chambers selected Celia Cruz as her subject. Guide the discussion to talk about role models and what they are.  Turn to the author's note, read and discuss Cruz's insights. 

Next, have students pull out their writer's notebooks and turn to a new page. Additionally, have them start their module to follow along.

Lesson 2, Subjects from History: 

Students will read the book George Washington: A Life of Self-Discipline by Anne Todd on their Epic! accounts.  This is a lower level book (630L) purposefully because students are using this to gather ideas of possible subjects, with this being one example.  

Direct students to their accounts as well as their learning module, and tell them to have their writer's notebooks opened to a new page.

Troubleshooting: If students know of a person, but not really much about them, you could allow them to complete quick research on their iPad, to find out their biggest achievements.

Lesson 3, Inspirational Subjects We Know Well:

Start by showing the read aloud book, Salt in His Shoes and elict students to share what they know about Michael Jordan.  

Point out the authors, Michael's mother and sister. What could they tell us about Michael, that other writers could not? Hold a discussion. 

Read the book. After the read ask the class what they learned from Michael Jordan's mom and sister, that only they could have told us. 

On chart paper label it, "People our Class Knows Well." Label one side "Who We Know," and label the other side "Why We Write About Them." Chart a few ideas to get students going. (Example, I could write about my grandfather. He is no longer in my life, but I could share memories of how he modeled strength and determination.)

Troubleshooting: Guiding questions for students struggling to think of names:

• Who is your favorite person in your family to be around? Why?
• Who do you have the most memories of in your family?
• Who in your family do you look up to? Why?

Direct students to the learning module, have them keep their writer's notebooks out.

Background: When students select their biography subject, it should be someone they are passionate about, and commited to.  They do not need to already be an expert on the person, rather, it could be better for them to not think they already know everything there is to know so they can get the most of the next phase of writing, collecting.  

Students should choose someone that they had previously brainstormed in their writer's notebooks.

​Duration: One class period

Extensions: Students can choose the type of biography they would like to complete.

1. If students are interested in more than one subject, who share a simliar theme they can complete a compilation (ex. people who played a role in the Industrial Revolution) of mini-biographies.
2. Additionally, they can set it up from multiple people's point of view on a single subject, where it is told from the people who they met throughout their life. See Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman by Nikki Grimes

Troubleshooting: If students are struggling with who to choose, have them complete the "Selecting a Subject for my Biography" and guide them in the process.

Background: Biographies are more than just a compilation of facts about a person. A good biographer must also weave a story around their subject to make it interesting and enganging, this requires much research.

Duration: The collecting phase should take about a week, with each lesson taking one to two days, depending on student readiness. 

Preparation:

• Chart Paper
• Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books by Kay Winter
• River Boy: The Story of Mark Twain by William Anderson
• Who Was George Washington? by Roberta Edwards

Lesson, 1 Interesting Questions:

• Introduce the read aloud Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books by Kay Winter's and hold a discussion with students about their background knowledge on Abraham Lincoln
• Read the first couple of pages then stop and discuss with students the types of questions Winters would have had to research to write this novel (it focuses on Lincoln's childhood, as opposed to his adulthood that he is famous for).  Refer to Question form for reference
• Countinue reading the book, stopping every couple of pages to record possible research questions.
• Once finished, pass out the student appendix "Interesting Questions for Research"

https://fundamentals.schoolwide.com/lessons/178/lesson

• Direct students to their learning module, to learn about how to record research notes.

Troubleshooting: You may want to pull a small group, as needed, to help students organize their notes, as this is a very difficult task for some.

Lesson 2, Primary and Secondary Sources:

• Start by showing the video on primary and secondary sources

• Present the book River Boy by William Anderson. Turn to the book jacket and read where it says, "He visited Mark Twain's home sites while researching this book." have a discussion about whether this is a primary or secondary source (primary).
• Ask students what other primary sources Anderson might have researched for this novel, and why they would have helped him to write Mark Twain's biography.
• Read a section of the book, stopping to point out both primary and secondary source examples.
• Distribute the "Research Plan" appendix and direct students to their learning module, with their writer's notebooks.

Lesson 3, Making a Timeline:

• Show students the biography Who Was George Washington? and read a couple of pages (making sure to do the first and last, then a couple in between). Then, ask students to identify the strucutre of the biography (chronological). 
• Show the quick overview video of the chronological text structure

• Next, show students the end of the book and point out the two timelines that Roberta Edwards included on George Washington, with the one being about Washington and the other major events that were happening in the world.
• Have students get their writer's notebooks and open to the research they have collected. Then, have them start their learning module.

Background: In order for a writing piece to be successful, it needs to be organized in a coherent manner, with related information grouped together. Students will look at different structures they can use to organize their biographies.

​Duration: The drafting phase should take about 2-3 days. One full day (after the modeling is complete) should be dedicated for students to draft their own peices, with additional time in class if you do not want it to be finished as homework.

Preparation:

• The three read aloud examples for each structure (Talkin' Bout Bessie, Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books, and Salt in His Shoes)
• Printed appendices for each of the structures, for students to choose one to their liking

• For each of the books, fill out the corresponding organizer, so students know what this should look like. Point out that you're only including key information, and this should be condenced. (Bessie is the collection, Salt in His Shoes is biographical sketch, and Abe Lincoln is essay*)

*Note: For Abe Lincoln, read the author's note, as this is the formal essay structure that would align with the organizer

• As you're modeling completing the organizer, stress that they should be using their research from their writer's notebooks as well as their timelines to do this.
• Have students complete their organizers, confer as they do, to help students who struggle.
• Once the organizers are complete, check them and then direct students to their module.

Background: Revising is one of the most important parts of the writing process. It is also one of the most challenging for students, as they want to be done and not go back into their work. This is the stage where they focus on their structure, word choice and their purpose.  

​Duration: The revising stage should take about 2-3 days to complete.

Preparation:​

• Student's rough drafts
• Correcting pens

Students will be working in partners. They will need to work where they are able to read, markup and not disturb others.

Extensions: Have students meet with additional partners for each of the revising strategies (the more the better).  

Background: Editing is where writers make their writing look better.  During this stage, they are looking at their spelling, grammar and conventions.

​Duration: Two class periods, one to explain and group, the second day for students to edit.

Preparation: 

• Conventions's post-its
• Revisied rough drafts
• Correcting pens
• Proof-reading marks handout

Step 1: 

• Show the conventions post-it on the projecter and go through each of the five skills, to be sure of understanding.

• Then, have students fill out the Google Sheets for the top two skills they're most comfortable checking other student's writing on. (Note: they have to be good at identifying mistakes, not necessarily correcting them. So if you have a poor speller sign up for spelling, that's okay, if they are good at identifying when something is spelled incorrectly.)

Step 2:

• Once everyone has signed up for their choices you'll need to group them. If you notice that you need students in a certain skill, having a short conversation with them stating that you think they would be good at this will do the trick to adjust students as needed. 
• Create a Google Doc, so students know what their skill is, with a number next to their name, which indicates their group. (see example below)

Classroom of Editors

• Before students move to their editing groups, have them go to their learning module, to get further background on their specific skill. This should take five minutes, then students should be directed to their editing group. (Note: they should travel with a silent reading book, so if they finish before their peer, they have something to do).
• After students complete their learning mondule go through group expectations one more time (this was also in their module).

Background: It is important for young writer's to share their writing, especially after having worked on it in length. Student writers also should take ownership of their writing, and an author's note is a way for the writer to put their stamp on their piece.

​Duration: Two class periods, one for the lesson and one to write their author's note

Preparation:

• Read Aloud book Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa by Veronica Chambers
• Author's note template

Lesson:

• Read the author note from Celia Cruz
• Discuss Veronica Chamber's motivations, background and feelings and what this tells us about the author and why she chose this subject to write on
• Pose a scenario to explain subjectivity, for example: 

"My sister and I had the same fourth grade teacher. Her name was Mrs. Curran. My sister disliked Mrs. Curran tremendously. I liked her though. If we each wrote a biography about Mrs. Curran, do you think they would be the same? Why? Why not?"

Discuss how a lot of the facts would be the same, but the angle, tone, and interpretaions of the facts would be different.

Biographies are subjective - meaning the way they are written and presented is affected by the author's point of view, experiences, and background. This is why many biographies have an Author's Note, so the reader can understand the author's take on the subject.

• Direct students to their learning modules

Background: It is important for students to review not only their work, but their peers.  Students will use a student friendly rubric to rate their peer's writing, then they will review themselves.

​Duration: Three class periods, one class to type their final drafts, then two additional days for the review process.

Preparation: 

• Upload copies of the Student Friendly Rubric for student review
• Correcting Pens
• Drafts
• Group students into 3 (it would be easiest if you grouped them by writing piece length, so there is not a lot of wait time).
• Post - its

Lesson 1: Final Drafts: 

Students will type their final drats in Google Docs, so that they can make it multi-modal. They will need to include text features (they have a list provided in their module).

Remind students to cite their new media by including the website they obtained it from.

While students are typing, group them into threes for the next review lesson.

Troubleshooting:

1.  If students are struggling adding featuers, remind them to go back to their notes from the mini-lessons around what is found in the genre.
2. For students who struggle to type, you could offer speech-to-text. 

Lesson 2: Review

• Model how to look over an entire piece, using the rubric. I would suggest (if you have on hand) using past students writing pieces. If not, you can make your own.
• After the model, direct students to their learning module, they should have their biographies, two different colored writing pens, post-its, and a silent reading novel.