A Biography StoryA Biography Story

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Unit Plan SummaryUnit Plan Summary• The unit is entitled Who's My Hero? to capture that personal, connecting aspect of biographies.

The unit invites students to think of their own personal heroes who have shaped their lives or thinking in different ways. The next step is to offer them an opportunity to share their heroes as biographers. To prepare for that, they study other biographies to become more aware of and use their unique formats and structures. They learn, too, how the effective use of language enhances their work as biographers and its power in casting one's hero in a clear, positive light.

The events take place in a language workshop context, which plays a major role each day in providing opportunities for students to read/ listen, speak/ write with a specific area to consider and apply. It incorporates the principles of Reader's and Writer's Workshop and includes ALL aspects of literacy instruction: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening.

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Targeted Content Standards The student will use word

recognition and vocabulary (word meaning) skills to communicate.

The student will apply strategies and skills to comprehend, respond to, interpret, or evaluate a variety of texts of increasing levels of length, difficulty, and complexity.

The student will express, communicate, evaluate, or exchange ideas effectively.

The student will apply Standard English to communicate.

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Student Objectives / Learning OutcomesStudent Objectives / Learning Outcomes1. The student will use word recognition and vocabulary (word meaning) skills to communicate.

c. The student will develop and apply expansive knowledge of words and word meanings to communicate.e. The student will use definitional, synonym, or antonym context clues to infer the meanings of unfamiliar words. f. The student will apply knowledge of simple figurative language (e.g., simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole) to determine

the meaning of words and to communicate.

2. The student will apply strategies and skills to comprehend, respond to, interpret, or evaluate a variety of texts of increasing levels of length, difficulty, and complexity.

a. The student will apply knowledge of text features, parts of a book, text structures, and genres to understand, interpret, or analyze text. b. The student will analyze texts in order to identify, understand, infer, or synthesize information. c. The student will recognize or generate a summary or paraphrase of the events or ideas in text, citing text-based evidence.

3. The student will express, communicate, evaluate, or exchange ideas effectively.

a. The student will use and reflect on an appropriate composing process (e.g., planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing/ sharing) to express, communicate, evaluate, or exchange ideas with a focus on texts increasing complexity and length. [Note: Editing will be tested under competency four.b. The student will compose descriptive texts using specific details and vivid language. d. The student will compose informational text clearly expressing a main idea with supporting details, including but not limited to, text containing chronological order, cause and effect, compare and contrast, or simple procedure. f. The student will compose text based on inquiry and research.

4. The student will apply Standard English to communicate.

a. The student will apply Standard English grammar to compose or edit. b. The student will apply Standard English mechanics to compose or edit. c. The student will apply knowledge of sentence structure in composing or editing.

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Curriculum Framing QuestionsCurriculum Framing Questions

Essential

Question

       How can I use personal connections to be a

more powerful reader and writer?

Unit

Questions

       How can I think beyond the facts to capture

and convey the message of what I am

reading and writing?

   How do biographers differ from other

non- fiction writers?

Content Questions

     What is a well-written biography?

    How and why do biographers choose the

people they write about?

   How can writing a biography about my

personal hero lead me to more powerful writing?

What are the steps of the Writing Process?

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Assessment TimelineAssessment Timeline

Before project work begins Students work on projects and After project work is completed complete tasks

* Modeling * T-chart * 4-Square Organizer * Write final copies * Biography * Final Reflections

* Discussions * Interviews * Write a rough draft * Create project presentations

* Edit and Revise drafts brochures

Questioning occurs throughout the unit to probe student thinking and allow student reflection. Teacher takes notes to assist in keeping track of individual student needs. These notes can also provide information on how well students understand certain concepts and can be used to reteach difficult concepts. The presentation rubric is used by students to self-asses their presentations before teacher assessment. The writer’s checklist and 4-Square organizer describes the criteria for their writing from a different point of view and is used while students are writing and again to assess their final products. When students finish their drafts, a peer feedback form is used to give and receive feedback on their stories. Students use this feedback to revise their final products. Students will use blogs to share, critique and make suggestions. Students’ oral responses to the Essential Question in provide information about how students have connected their work in the unit with broader issues.

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Assessment Process and Purpose of Assessment

Discussion Students begin to think about and define a biography. This definition will be developed and shaped throughout the unit, but students will have produced a clear, more formal vision or definition by Day 10. This definition will extend beyond the common impression that a biography is simply a book about a person. Opening: Teacher poses question, What do we already know about biographies? and generates brief discussion, listing students' responses on chart paper (to be kept and reviewed at the end of the unit, for comparison and awareness of expanded thinking).

T-Chart Student will contrast Biographies and Non-fiction writers.

Practice Interview Feedback Form / Interview Checklist

Before students conduct their interviews, they use this checklist to help them prepare for a successful interview. Pairs of students role-play an interview in front of whole class who fill out this form to give them feedback about their interviewing techniques.

Writers Checklist Students will use this checklist to write and monitor the steps of the writing process.

Peer Writing Feedback Students will meet in small groups to share their writing and to use a rubric to provide feedback about content, organization, style, and conventions.

Brochure Project Students will use a rubric to create a brochure about their hero.

Front Page Cover Project Students will use a checklist to create a front cover page for their biography stories.

Final Reflection When the projects are complete students will write a reflection in which they describe what they learned about writing and interviewing and set goals for their next writing project.

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Instructional ProceduresInstructional ProceduresLesson 1 – 4 daysPurpose: Proficient readers stay focused on their reading. They attend to the most important information in the

text in order to better understand what they have read.          Discussion –

Opening: Teacher poses question, What do we already know about biographies? and generates brief discussion, listing students' responses on chart paper (to be kept and reviewed at the end of the unit, for comparison and awareness of expanded thinking).TTW model by reading a biography story and have students use a bubble map to list important facts about that person. TSW read a printed biography paying close attention to the story elements used to write the story. They use their knowledge of these elements to make decisions about the overall meaning of a passage, chapter, or book. TSW complete a T-Chart contrasting biographies and non-fiction writers.

          Students will research hero & conduct practice interviews in pairs using a guideline rubric to discuss interview process.

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Instructional ProcedureInstructional ProcedureLesson 2 - 8 days

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson and events is to support readers in learning how to employ behaviors of strategic reading to build deeper understanding of the text. At a text level, readers . . .

identify key ideas, themes and elements as they write       distinguish between important and unimportant information using their own purpose(s), as well as the text

structures and word cues      use text structures and text features to help decide what is essential      use their knowledge of important and relevant parts of text to prioritize what they commit to long-term

memory and what they retell and/or summarize for others. TSW use a 4-Square organizer to plan for writing.       Write a rough draft biography about that person,      Edit and revise biographies. Write final copies.       Create project brochures or story boards

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Instructional ProceduresLesson 3 – 8 days 

Purpose: Writing is an active thinking process. Writers explore ideas, engage in reflective thought, and select and arrange language in a way that allows them to communicate effectively.

Writing is hard work. Writers honor both process and product. A piece of writing often evolves through a process of planning, drafting, revising, and editing. This process is recursive, allowing for considerable reflection, rereading, and revision at any point along the way.Writers make plans for their writing before and during the drafting process. They use their knowledge of text elements such as character, setting, conflict, sequence of events and resolution to create a structure for their writing. They work to replicate the style of authors they find compelling.

Writers revise (add, delete and rearrange) their writing so that it is clearer and more meaningful. Writers use what they know about good writing craft to enhance their meaning.

Writers monitor their own progress by asking questions about the choices they are making in content, structure and word selection as compared to their initial writing plans. Writers write in such a way that makes it possible for their audience to ask questions while they read. Writers share their final copies with class.

When the projects are complete students will write a reflection in which they describe what they learned about writing and interviewing and set goals for their next writing project.

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Accommodations for Differentiated Instruction

Special Needs Students

Make modifications as dictated in the student's IEP Use cooperative grouping Provide written and oral instructions in a variety of ways Work with a parent or a teacher's aide for assistance Provide teacher-created templates to guide work Provide positive reinforcement for each accomplished benchmark

Nonnative Speakers

Have the student share their biography story. Use cooperative grouping Use visuals and illustrations to develop vocabulary and understanding Encourage support from common language speakers who are more proficient in English

Gifted/Talented Students

Have the student create a timeline of their biography story. Have the student create a timeline of their life up to now.

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