Biography Lesson Plan by Lindsay D

Biography Lesson Plan by Lindsay D'Agostini

Objectives:

* The students will select pertinent information from a variety of sources.

* The students will write a biography on how a young person in China

lives.

* The students will in a final written product, apply the skills of revising

and editing by considering content, organization, vocabulary, sentence

structure, and mechanics of writing.

* The students will be encouraged to develop respect and appreciation for

the ways in which people in China satisfy basic needs.

* The students will be encouraged to develop empathy for the problems

faced in meeting ones needs.

Materials:

Paper, pencils/pens, white board and markers, computer with a word program on it, printer, access to the internet, biography rubric, and An Mei's Strange and Wondrous Journey

Anticipatory set:

Read an excerpt from Stephan Molnar-Fenton’s book, An Mei's Strange and Wondrous Journey. Give some background information on the text so that the students have some idea of what is going on during the passage being read. Have a discussion about An Mei and how her life was in China before she moved to America. Have the students brainstorm as a class a web about An Mei’s lifestyle.

Procedure:

Once the students have completed the web, tell the class that they will be working on a bibliography for the next week. The students will pretend that they are a young Chinese person who is living in China and write a journal entry about a day in their life. The students will have to discuss specific topics as listed in the rubric such as, clothing, food, shelter, daily chores, friends, school, and family life and traditions.

The students will work through the writing process at their own pace (independent practice) and can use their own knowledge about Chinese life learned in the first four weeks of the unit, but are required to seek at least two different additional resources (sources must be referenced in a bibliography). The resources can be from the internet, a book (fictional and non fictional), an interview, or other multi media. The students must write their rough draft by hand first. Before using a computer for the final draft, they must also complete a peer writing conference for editing and revising (see writing conferences at the end of the lesson).

The students will be given the entire week’s worth of social studies classes to research and create their journal entry. They are to hand in their assignments by the end of the last social class. Students who are finished early and have written in their learning logs can work on a learning center activity.

Closing:

After completing their assignment, the students will take some time to reflect on what they have learned from this assignment. They will write in their learning logs about how their life is different from the simulated journal entry they completed. This reflection will provide students with an opportunity to feel respect and empathy for young Chinese people and will foster appreciation of their own lifestyle.

Assessment:

The teacher will observe the students while working on their assignments making anecdotal records on specific incidents (i.e. someone is off task, working very diligently, helping other students, finished in record time, etc…). The teacher will pay close attention to student conferences, making notes where applicable. The formal assessment will be the journal rubric used to mark the assignments. The focus for this assignment is on content, however, the writing process will also be part of the assessment.

Modifications:

Students with special needs can complete a modified assignment where they write a simulated letter to a pen pal in China. The student must ask him or her questions about their lifestyle. The teacher will write a letter in response so that the student can learn from their questions. This will be informally assessed in a portfolio to document progress.

Writing Conferences:

Rules for conferencing:

1. The writer states what specifically the conference partner should be

commenting on.

2. The writer reads their writing out loud.

3. The conference partner says something that they noticed about the piece

(neither good nor bad).

4. The conference partner gives a compliment about the writing.

5. The conference partner gives suggestions for the piece of writing relative

to what the writer wants comments for.

In this case, the conference is an editing and revising one and so the conference partner will be looking for writing mechanics and errors (spelling, sentence structure, paragraphs, word choice, etc…)

Resources:

Molnar-Fenton, Stephan. An Mei's Strange and Wondrous Journey. Barnes

and Noble, 1998.

Journal Entry Assignment

For this assignment, you will be pretending that you are a young Chinese person who is living in China. You will write a journal entry about a day in your life as a Chinese person. The entry should cover topics like:

-what kind of food you eat

-what kind of clothes you wear

-your traditions and beliefs and how you practice them daily

-describe what your house is like

-daily chores

-things you do at school

These are just a few ideas about the kinds of things you should write about. You can be creative and write about other things not mentioned here. However, make sure whatever you write about relates to the China Unit we are studying in social studies.

You can use the knowledge you have learned about China in the past four weeks. However, you are required to look at a minimum of 2 other resources for research on this assignment. They can be websites, books, interviews, or any other multi media.

Your journal entry should be typed up on the computer with 12 point font and double spacing. Before you type the assignment up, you must complete a rough draft and outline by hand and have a peer writing conference with a partner from the class to edit and revise your journal entry. You will be given all the social classes for this week to complete this assignment. You will be graded by the following rubric.

Journal Entry Rubric

Content

5 Topics covered in the journal entry are clearly related to the social

unit. The writing shows the student is thinking critically about the

issues of Chinese lifestyle

4 Topics covered in the journal entry are related to the social unit. The

writing shows the student is developing ideas about the issues of

Chinese lifestyle.

3 Topics covered in the journal entry are mostly related to the social

unit.

2 Most of the topics covered in the journal entry do not relate to the

social unit. The writing is lacking critical thinking about the issues.

1 Topics do not relate to the social unit.

Originality of thought/Creativity

5 The writing is fun to read, presents different perspectives on an issue,

and is well thought out.

4 The writing is enjoyable to read, presents perspectives on an issue

and is thought out.

3 The writing is okay to read and some thinking about the writing is

present.

2 The content is there but the writing is purely informational.

1 The writing does not make sense and is not easily readable.

Writing Mechanics

3 The writing is clear of spelling errors, grammatical errors, and the

sentence and paragraph structure are varied.

2 The writing is mostly clear of spelling errors, grammatical errors, and

the sentence and paragraph structure are present.

1 The writing seems as though it has not been proof read. There is no

effort for sentence or paragraph structure.

Organization

2 The outline and rough draft are present. There is evidence that peer

conferencing took place

1 One or more of the organization pieces are missing.

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