Title of Unit Biographies-Genre Study Grade Level 2nd

Curriculum Social Studies/ELA-Genre Study Time Frame 4 segments, 45 minutes each

Area
Developed By Donna James Wiki http://tiny.cc/ins6p
Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)
Standards:

21st Century Learner Standards:

Standard: 4-Pursue personal and aesthetic growth

Skills Indicator(s): 4.1.1: Read, view, and listen for pleasure and personal growth

Benchmark(s): Distinguish between what is real and what is not real; read, view, and listen to a variety of fiction and
nonfiction for enjoyment and information; begin to recognize that different genres require different reading, listening, or
viewing strategies

Dispositions Indicator(s): 4.2.1-Explore print, digital, and other resources to find information on a topic of personal interest

Responsibilities Indicator(s): 4.3.2 Recognize that resources are created for a variety of purposes

Self-Assessment Strategies Indicator(s): 4.4.1 –Identify own areas of interest

Georgia Performance Standards

SS2H1 The student will read about and describe the lives of historical figures in Georgia History

OVERVIEW: Through the year in social studies, second grade students learn about the historical figures who have made
contributions to Georgia. This three day lesson plan on the genre of biographies will help students locate information that
will help them in identifying the contributions made by these famous Georgians and help them to locate biographies on
persons of interests to them personally.

Understandings Essential Questions

 Students will understand that… Overarching
-Biographies are nonfiction books about a person’s life Why was Jimmy Carter a farmer before he became Governor
and follows time order. and President?
How is your life the same as Jimmy Carter’s life when he was
-The student will understand that some things will small?
change over time, while other things will stay the same. How is your life different from Jimmy Carter’s life when he
was small?

-How are biographies different from fiction?

Knowledge Skills
Students will know… Students will be able to…
- The elements of a biography - Identify the table of contents and chapter
headings
- A biography is non fiction
- Create a fact sheet on a person of interest
- Jimmy Carter is a historical figure of
Georgia who made contributions to the - Create a storyboard script on historical figure
state and country
Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)
Performance Tasks:

Students will be able to use preselected online reference sources and biographies from the media center to find facts about
a historical figure in Georgia. They will use a graphic organizer to create a fact sheet for their selected figure. Students will
create a script for a digital storyboard of their historical figure.
Other Evidence:
-Students will be given many opportunities to share their learning with the media specialist and other students.
This will be done verbally through group and partner discussion, where the media specialist facilitates the responses.

Students self assessment & reflection:

Students will assess their work by a rubric provided by the media specialist and will provide a written reflection on the
process they used to create their biographical facts.
Learning Plan (Stage 3)
LIBRARY LESSON(S): Instructional Plan

Day 1—Introduction of biographies:

Resources: Biography of Jimmy Carter; peanuts; picture of White House

Hook/Intro: Begin by telling students that a biography is a story written about a person’s life and it follows time order.
Students will be shown a variety of biographies from the media center and biographies can give you information about a
person that you interested in. Students will be shown a jar of peanuts and a picture of the White House and asked what
connection they could have to Georgia.

Activity: Together the students and media specialist will create a KWL chart on the Smartboard on Jimmy Carter.
Students will be asked what they know about Jimmy Carter to assess prior knowledge. Introduce students to the essential
questions and remind them to listen for the answers to the essential questions as the book is read. Throughout the book
talk about Jimmy Carter, have students relate their own lives to that of Jimmy Carter (same/different). Point out the
elements of a biography; time order, chapter headings give clues about the selection, and table of contents to locate
information. After reading, media specialist and students complete the KWL chart on the Smartboard.

Closing: Review the genre of biography and the elements of a biography. Have students connect the jar of peanuts and
the picture of the White House to the story read and why are they important to the biography of Jimmy Carter.

Day 2

Hook/ Intro: Briefly review activity from yesterday. Ask students the elements of a biography.

Activity: Introduce students to the wiki page which houses resources for collecting information on the historical figures of
Georiga. Students will be shown the print biographies located in the media center on their historical figure. Students will
be given the rubric for the performance task on their chosen Georgia Historical figure and discussion of the performance
task of creating a script for a digital storyboard/podcast. Students will choose their historical figure and begin researching.

Closing: Students will share what historical figure they’ve chosen and one fact learned from their research. Students will
be told they will have one more day to collect their information so they may write their scripts.
Day 3

Hook/ Intro: Review the rubric for completion of the performance task and what information a biography gives. Remind
students they must complete finding their facts by the end of the session.

Activity: Students will use wiki site and print resources to find information about their historical figure. They will collect their
facts on the acitivity sheet provided. Media Specialist will conference with students on their progress and answer questions.

Closing: Media Specialist will remind students they will write their scripts from their fact activity sheets and students needs
to reread the facts they have collected.

Day 4

Hook/Intro: Show students a sample digital storyboard/podcast on a historical figure listing fun facts and the storyboard
used to create the script.

Activity: Students will be given a storyboard to write their script (fun facts) about their historical figure. The scripts will be
used to create digital stories to be included on the weekly newscast for the school.

Closing: Students will share their storyboards and the fun facts they’ve learned. Media Specialist will discuss with the
students other people they are interested in learning more about. Students will be shown the choices of biographies in the
media center so they may check them out for their own reading pleasure.

Biography-Georgia Historical Figures

 Student Name: ________________________________________
CATEGORY 1 point 2 points 3 points Points Earned
Facts of Less than 3 3 -6 Facts More than 6
Historical facts gathered gathered from facts gathered
Figure from research research from research
Storyboard Storyboard is Storyboard has Storyboard has
Script incomplete facts listed but facts listed in
handwriting is time order;
not legible written legibly
Class Did not Participated in Participated in
participation participate in group group
group discussion Used discussion
discussion Did time given to Used all the
not use time work, but had time given for
wisely for to be reminded research
project to stay on task Stayed on task
Total Earned Less than 5 6-8 points 9 points earns
points earns I- earns "S"- "S+-goes
need to Satisfactory beyond what is
improve expected
 Activity Sheet

Name_____________________ Date_________

Historical Figure______________________

Facts:

1.

2.

3.
4.

5.

6.

7.

8.
Use the back if you need space to write more facts.