Biography Book Clubs
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Click below to watch Martin Luther King, Jr. give his famous "I Have a Dream Speech."
Day 1 Biography Book Club Lesson
Today we learned how to read a biography and create a timeline on a Post-it. Instead of trying to write lots of unrelated details, we learned to focus on dates of important events in a person's life- birth, schooling, family, career or personal milestones, challenges or achievements, and death. We will use these Post-it notes as springboards for group discussions.
Day 2 Biography Book Club Lesson
On day 2, we read from the biography Young Jackie Robinson, Baseball Hero to practice writing character traits on Post-it notes. While discussing Jackie's character traits (determined, persistent, peaceful, hard-working), we also discussed the times in which he lived, including segregation, poverty, prejudice, and an all-white major league baseball. Students will eventually use these notes to have meaningful partner and class discussions during their biography book club groups.
Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? Click here to see the lyrics to a famous 1949 song about the great player. The following YouTube clip plays this song while showing Jackie Robinson photos. In the second video, see Jackie Robinson steal home in the 1955 World Series.
Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? Click here to see the lyrics to a famous 1949 song about the great player. The following YouTube clip plays this song while showing Jackie Robinson photos. In the second video, see Jackie Robinson steal home in the 1955 World Series.
Day 3 Biography Book Club Lesson
On day 3 we read "The Osage Firebird," a biography of Native American ballerina Maria Tallchief, found in Highlights magazine. This day we used our Reader's Notebooks to take notes on the challenges Maria faced, as well as ways she may have overcome those challenges. Some major challenges she faced were poverty and prejudice. We then turned often to talk to our neighbor about how she may have overcome these challenges- her grandmother's faith in her, her pride in her heritage, her willingness to work hard, and her persistence in not giving up.
Watch one of the few videos of Maria Tallchief dancing the Firebird and a ballet part called Sylvia. The second video is Maria with Rudoph Nureyev in a ballet from Flower Festival.
Watch one of the few videos of Maria Tallchief dancing the Firebird and a ballet part called Sylvia. The second video is Maria with Rudoph Nureyev in a ballet from Flower Festival.
Day 4 Biography Book Club Lesson
On day 4 we read a biography from Highlights magazine called "Fly High, Bessie Coleman." On this day, we combined all we knew so far about taking notes when reading biographies. As we read the article together, students had a choice on how to record their notes- a timeline of important dates, a character trait chart, or a T-chart listing challenges and ways they overcame them. Students wrote in their Reader's Notebooks as we discussed and shared each of these three types of biographical notes. We then met in small groups to share what we'd recorded.
Watch the video biography of Bessie Coleman, America's first black woman aviator.
Watch the video biography of Bessie Coleman, America's first black woman aviator.