This document provides a unit plan for teaching 5th grade students about biographies. The unit spans 3 weeks and uses a project-based learning approach where students work in groups to research and create a digital photo story biography about a famous person. Key activities include an introduction to biographies, reviewing research resources, conducting research in the media center, outlining information, drafting and revising scripts, developing the digital stories in Photostory, presenting the stories, self-reflection, and a final review. The unit is aligned to national English language arts standards and incorporates modifications for differentiating instruction.

1. Jeanna Edge – FRIT 8530
Title of Unit Storytelling Grade Level
5th
grade
(can be used in higher grades as well)
Standard: Content Standards:
NCTE/IRA NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by
posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print
and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their
purpose and audience.
8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases,
computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate
knowledge.
12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for
learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Understandings:
Students will understand that:
Big Ideas:
Understand that biographies give an account of a person's life and achievements.
Understand that there are a variety of research resources and not all provide factual
information.
Understand that there is a connection between being famous and hard work and dedication.
Understand that organized research techniques allow for a simple, straightforward writing
process.
6 Facets:
Can EXPLAIN what a biography is.
Can INTERPRET facts about a person they have discovered through their research and use it to
tell a meaningful story.
Can APPLY the research techniques to discovering information about their interests adding to
knowledge in other areas.
Have PERSPECTIVE through their research – getting the big picture and using a “critical eye” to
judge a resource’s information.
Can EMPATHIZE with the subject of their biography and find commonality in their experiences.
Have self-knowledge by evaluating the strategies of research that worked well for them and
areas of improvement.

2. Essential Questions
Overarching Questions:
Why do authors write biographies?
What does the reader gain in reading a
biography?
What do you want your audience to
remember about your work?
What should we do when primary resources
in our research disagree?
How am I connected with the person in the
biography?
What is the connection between hard work/
dedication and being famous?
Topical Questions:
Why is this person famous?
What are important characteristics about this
person?
What do you admire about this person?
What is unique about the biography genre?
How do you narrow the subject down to main
points and facts about the person?
Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences
Week 1
Introduction to Biographies (Standards 7, 8, 12)
1. HOOK – Play Famous Person Trivia with the class; divide the groups into teams and
use some popular as well as scholarly figures to get them interested in facts about
people. Tie in the game with a question – if we wanted to know more about _________
(person from the game) how could we find that information? Where? Which type of
books would we look for? - Try to steer class toward the answer of “A Biography”
2. EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE – Provide a “pre-test” to students about biographies. Each
student will be asked to write in their writing journal what a biography is.
3. ORGANIZED/EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE - Ask students as a group what they know about
biographies and record their answers on flip chart or white board. Have students
brainstorm which type of people can be found in biographies and common
characteristics that biography subjects share. (This can be done as a class or in the
groups from the trivia game.)
4. EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE/RETHINK – Keep the discussion going with some essential
questions from the list above.
5. WHERE/WHY/WHAT– Introduce the assignment using the video podcast to explain
the assignment. The video covers that for the next three weeks, their role will be
biography writers and they will be writing short essays about a person of their
choice – the goal is to be able to present information about their selection to the class
through a Digital PhotoStory. They will be working in assigned groups for this
activity. The teacher can choose to give each group a category like a famous singer, a
sports player, an influential American, etc.
6. WHERE/WHY/WHAT - The students will be presented with the student goals,
understandings, and skills of the assignment.

3. 7. EQUIP/HOLD – A predesigned Digital story of a celebrity from a previous student
group or developed by the teacher will be shown as an example.
8. EQUIP/WHERE/WHY/WHAT – Go over ground rules for working in a group – all
members must actively participate in cooperative learning. Teacher may assign
group roles depending on class dynamic and learning styles.
9. EQUIP – Provide them with the rubric and ensure everyone is clear on the
assignment.
10. EQUIP/EVALUATE/REFLECT/EXPLORE – The teacher and students can briefly
discuss how to select a person – are they interested in him/her, a person that their
audience will find intriguing, a person who is unique, etc.
11. EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE/RETHINK– Allow groups to start brainstorming which
person they want to research. Names will be submitted on paper to the teacher for
review.
Modifications: (EQUIP/TAILORED)
The teacher will try to evenly distribute the groups in regard to reading levels to allow for
peer to peer learning and avoid having a group of students who have difficulty in reading
comprehension. The groups will also be assigned to distribute learning styles among the
groups.
Review of Resources (Standards 7, 12)
1. RETHINK/REFLECT/EVALUATE – Ask groups which person they selected to research
and have them share with the class – will allow for the groups to evaluate the
audience’s interest. Teacher can help group evaluate their choice by asking the class
if they are looking forward to learning about that person?
2. EQUIP – Conduct a brief overview of reliable resources, ensuring that everyone
understands that not all information on the internet is true and accurate – introduce
checking resources against others as a way to determine the reliability. Provide an
example of a site with misinformation.
3. EQUIP – Make a list as a class of all the different resources students can find at their
school to help them with their assignment.
4. EQUIP – Review the rubric again paying close attention to the Research Sources
section.
Modifications: (EQUIP/TAILORED)
Depending on group make up, a list of kid friendly websites will be given to each group. List
can include such resources as: gardenofpraise.com, the ALA biography resource site for
kids, the Chicago Public Library Biography for Kids Section, etc. This will allow for those
students who aren’t familiar with the use of search engines on the internet.
Project Research (Standards 7, 12)
1. WHERE/WHY/REFLECT- Have students review the list of available sources and make
a plan together as a group for how they will go about their research
2. EQUIP/HOLD – Present the students with the graphic organizer tool and discuss how
using an outline can help with their writing – group discussion with whole group.
Another tool as an option to keep student interest is to use the Bio-Cube Tool on
readwritethink.org. A sample Bio-Cube will need to be completed (if using) to go
along with the example that was shown to the class earlier.
3. EQUIP/WHERE/WHAT – Remind students of the timeline and show them what times
the class will be sent to the Media Center; students may also use the flexible
scheduling of the MC to visit as a group if they have extra time throughout the week

4. Week 2
Project Research – cont. (Standards 7, 8, 12)
1. EXPERIENCE/EXPLORE – Students will officially start their research on the person
selected by the group. During scheduled time, the class will go to the MC for their
research. Students will review with the teacher what they have accomplished so far
and compare their progress to the goals.
2. RETHINK/REHEARSE – Students will be asked to recall the resources previously
identified in Week One as a refresher.
3. EQUIP – Students will be provided ample time to conduct research; the teacher and if
possible the media specialist will be on hand to help guide the students along
4. WHERE/EQUIP/REFLECT – The teacher will once again introduce the outlining tools
available and use this time to have students identify what they want to know – what
questions do they want their research and biography to answer?
Writing Practice – Outlining (Standards 7, 8, 12)
1. REFLECT/EVALUATE/EXPLORE/ORGANIZE – Students will verify reliable sources
and will conduct their research with the graphic organizer or Bio-Cube format in
mind – both tools teach students to pull out information that is appropriate for their
biography. For example, the Bio-Cube asks students to submit information regarding
obstacles faces, personality, person’s significance, and general background. The
graphic organizer asks students to identify reasons why this person is famous,
characteristics, experiences that made this person important, important
contributions, and things they admire about this person.
2. EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE – Students will continue researching as teacher makes
observations and evaluates the layout of the lesson.
3. REFLECT/RETHINK/REHEARSE/EVALUATE – Once the Bio-Cube or Graphic
Organizers are complete, they will be discussed individually with each group and the
teacher. The teacher will pose some essential questions from the list above during
this discussion.
4. WHERE/WHY/EVALUATE– Teacher will review the research process and ask how the
tools such as the Graphic Organizer or the Bio-Cube were helpful. Teacher will move
discussion to have students understand the importance of outlining thoughts before
writing is preferred and to have students understand how important it is to take
notes about a subject and then write from the notes rather than copying word for
word details about a subject.
5. EXPERIENCE/RETHINK/REVISE – The students will work in groups to identify the
order of their presentation – questions posed from the teacher during this time will
have students think about the audience, how to hook the other groups interest, how
to be clear and highlight the main ideas, providing interesting and relevant
information.
6. REVISE/RETHINK/EVALUATE – Students will be reminded that the tools provided
were guides and not all information has to be used – for example, if using the graphic
organizer they identified five things they admire about this person, they may choose
to only present two.
7. EQUIP/HOLD – The PhotoStory example will be shown again – teacher will note that

5. pictures were used to convey the information as well as narration.
8. EXPERIENCE – The students, once they have identified the main points they want to
share about the person will then start drafting a script to use that will allow each
student a chance to narrate a portion of the biography.
9. RETHINK/REVISE/REHEARSE/EVALUATE – The students will compare their draft
using their graphic organizer or Bio-Cube and evaluate their script by also answering
questions that will be written on the white board: Questions will include:
Will the audience think this biography is interesting? / Does my information make
sense in the order in which it was written? / Can I think of pictures or images to
illustrate the script?/ Have I learned something fun about this person? Is that fun fact
a part of my script? / Are my facts accurate? / Does my script tell why this person is
famous, give some background on the person, and identify some characteristics
about this person?
10. REVISE/REFLECT/EVALUATE/RETHINK – Students will discuss the results of the
evaluation of the script and revise if necessary.
11. EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE – Students will then begin looking for pictures or images they
think would best describe the information. Students will also write the script for
each person to be able to narrate different slides in the presentation.
Modifications: (EQUIP/TAILORED)
Depending on teacher observations about the student’s understanding of the lesson, the
teacher may want to model drafting a script to go along with the example graphic organizer
or Bio-Cube – the teacher would think aloud while writing on a whiteboard taking note of
any changes to the script she/he makes and why. Reasons for making change can include:
--forgetting an important point, thinking of a better word to use, using information the
audience would want to know, deleting a piece of information that is not really interesting,
making a mistake with a fact, etc.
Week 3
Presentation Development (Standards 7, 8, 12)
1. EXPLORE/ORGANIZE/EXPERIENCE – After the students have completed their revised
scripts they will select and save photos, pictures, and images to a file on the desktop
at their assigned computer, they will be allowed to start to develop the PhotoStory.
2. EQUIP/WHERE – The teacher or media specialist will project the PhotoStory program
and will go through the basic directions of how to use the program – how to import
images, arrange slides, narrate, and save their work.
3. EQUIP – Students will be given ample time to complete their project.
4. ORGANIZE/EQUIP/REVISE – The teacher will observe and walk among the students
as they design their presentation helping as needed.
Modifications: (EQUIP/TAILORED)
A pre-written tool will be provided if needed for students who do not have a lot of
experience using PhotoStory. Basic instructions will be provided as an extra tool to
troubleshoot issues.
Presentation / Evaluation (Standards 7, 8, 12)
1. HOOK/HOLD/WHERE/WHAT – The teacher will start off the day of presentations by
celebrating the work she/he has seen in the groups.
2. HOOK/HOLD – The atmosphere can be created to be one of a movie theater with
popcorn and dimmed lights if needed.

6. 3. WHERE/WHAT – The teacher will let the audience know that they will be able to ask
questions of the group and will also fill out an evaluation of the presentation in order
to provide feedback – questions will include: Was this presentation interesting?
Why? / Did you learn something new about this person? / Did their presentation
make you want to learn more about the person? Why? / Was their presentation easy
to understand?
4. EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE/REHEARSE/REFLECT – The students will play their
PhotoStory and then go up to the class as a group to answer any questions posed by
the students or teacher. The teacher will ask some essential questions from the list
above.
5. REFLECT – The evaluations of all the presentations will be given to the teacher and
the teacher will have the students review the feedback in groups.
6. RETHINK/REVISE/EVALUATE – The teacher will then ask each group, based on the
feedback would they make any revisions to their project? If so, what changes would
they make.
Self-Reflection (Standards 7, 12)
1. EVALUATE/RETHINK/WHY – Students will complete a self-refection and assessment
questionnaire at the end of the lesson, after all the presentations have been
presented. This questionnaire will include some of the following questions:
• Can you explain what a biography is to your parents?
• Did you learn anything new about the person you chose to research?
• Can you write a well organized biography?
• How did your biography compare with the other classmates?
• Was it easy to organize the information you collected?
• What strategies did you find most helpful in your research?
• Were there any sources you wish you had or had not included?
• How well did you work as a team with your partners? Were you fair? Did you listen
to their ideas? Can you say that you are certain you did your part to help your team?
• If the teacher asked you to complete research on your favorite animal and write a
report, how would what you did in this assignment help you with the report?
• What surprised you about the person you chose to research?
• What surprised you about working with your partners?
• Did you learn anything new by doing this assignment?
• How will what you have learned about the person you researched change about your
life?
• Did you have fun learning about the person? Did you think this assignment would be
fun when you began?
Final Review (Standard 12)
1. RETHINK/REVISE/EVALUATE/EXPERIENCE – The teacher will end the lesson by
going back to the first list made at the introduction and asking if the students can add
anything to the previous list – what more can they say about what a biography is.
2. EXPERIENCE/RETHINK – The teacher will ask some of the Overarching Questions as
identified above.
3. WHAT/WHY/EVALUATE – The teacher will end the lesson by reviewing the goals and
what the students achieved.

7. 4. WHAT/EVALUATE – The teacher will evaluate the children’s work according to the
rubric.
5. RETHINK/REVISE/EVALUATE – The teacher will ask for feedback individually from
students about the lesson plan as well as ask for feedback from the media specialist if
collaboration took place.