Student resources context biography

Constitution and its importance. Ask students to work in pairs and list three ways to create an engaging slideshow presentation. Compile these ideas on chart paper or a smartboard for reference. Note: Consider providing students with specific criteria and a rubric aligned to your desired learning outcomes to guide this process. For the slideshow, emphasize using bullet points for concise information.

Encourage students to incorporate images, slide transitions, larger fonts, and other text features to make their presentations more visually appealing. For the presentation itself, stress using a strong and clear speaking voice, speaking conversationally, and including interesting information to engage the audience. Model these presentation skills for the class.

Create a class list of key figures who contributed to the U. Examples may include the following:. Display the Founding Fathers article and read it aloud, or invite students to read sections along with you. Following the reading, show students some of the additional embedded resources, modeling how these resources can provide additional information to the article.

Guide a brief class discussion about what they learned from the article. Have students choose or assign people to research. Then, invite them to gather and organize relevant information about their person using the Mini Biography graphic organizer. Distribute a Mini Biography graphic organizer to each student. Explain that this tool will serve as both their research organizer and presentation outline.

Walk them through each part of the organizer. Model filling out the organizer using a well-known figure presented in the Founding Fathers article, or another article of your choosing. Provide time for students to ask questions about the organizer. Once students have completed their research and filled out their organizers, introduce the slideshow-creation tool they will be using e.

Provide time for them to create their slideshows. Tell students that their slideshows should have appropriate facts and relevant descriptive details that teach their classmates about their person. Emphasize that if an important detail is left out, it can confuse the audience. Direct students to work on their slideshows using their graphic organizers as a guide for specific information to include in their presentations.

Remind students to include a bibliography on the last slide of the presentation. Once slideshows are complete, provide time for students to practice their presentations in pairs or small groups. Classmates should offer constructive feedback based on the presentation techniques discussed earlier. Review the elements that make for an impressive oral presentation.

Then, discuss appropriate behavior for students serving as the audience. Consider having a few volunteers present to the whole class. To wrap up, student resources context biography a discussion on how these historical figures inspired civic engagement. Emphasize how their actions relate to modern citizenship, highlighting the various ways to participate in government at local and federal levels e.

Have students write or share a brief reflection on how they can apply activities from these historical figures to their own lives. Technology Scaffold: To support students with limited technological experience, create a slideshow template that mirrors the structure of the graphic organizer. Include placeholders for key information, primary-source images, and a bibliography slide.

Demonstrate how to input information into the template, focusing on content rather than design. Encourage students to concentrate on biographical content, minimizing technology-related stress. As students gain confidence, gradually introduce basic design elements they can easily incorporate. This scaffold allows all students to participate fully in the project, regardless of their initial tech proficiency, while still developing essential digital skills.

Enlightenment Influence on the U. Constitution: To challenge students further, expand beyond the Founding Fathers and include Enlightenment political philosophers that heavily influenced constitutional thought. These philosophers can include John Locke natural rights ; Baron de Montesquieu separation of powers, checks and balances ; Jean-Jacques Rousseau direct democracyVoltaire freedom of speech and religion ; and Thomas Hobbes social contract.

Exploring historical figures such as these will show students that the ideas of others heavily influenced the Founding Fathers and they used these ideas to create what they believed was the optimal combination of these philosophies. Presentation Alternatives: The student resources context biography presentation alternatives are meant to accommodate different learning styles and class sizes.

Consider these presentation variations to offer flexibility in presentation format and assessment methods. Digital Presentations: Instead of in-person delivery, students should be allowed to create narrated slideshows or video presentations. This enables teachers to assess presentations outside of class time and provides students with opportunities to refine their work.

Pair Projects: Have students work in pairs for larger classes or more in-depth research. This allows for more comprehensive presentations on fewer historical figures. Guide students in equitably dividing research and presentation responsibilities. Gallery Walk: Set up presentation stations around the classroom. Virtual Showcase: Create an online exhibition of student work using a digital platform, allowing for peer review and extended viewing time.

One Teaching, One Assisting : For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a One Teaching, One Assisting strategy. In this model, one teacher leads the activity while the other circulates, providing assistance to individual students as needed. This ensures that when students encounter difficulties, they receive immediate help in the form of personalized support.

Studies indicate that immediate feedback and individualized attention can significantly enhance student understanding and retention of material. Introduction and Constitution Overview: Teacher A introduces the activity and provides a brief overview of the U. Teacher B circulates, helping pairs of students as they list ways to create engaging slideshows.

Founding Fathers Discussion: Teacher A leads the class in creating a list of key Constitution contributors and explains their roles. Teacher B assists students who need additional clarification or support. Article Reading and Discussion: Teacher A displays and reads the Founding Fathers article, demonstrating how to use embedded resources.

Teacher B supports students during the follow-up class discussion, encouraging participation from all students. Teacher B circulates, assisting students as they choose people to research and how to use Britannica School effectively. Slideshow Creation: Teacher A introduces the slideshow tool and demonstrates its basic functions. Teacher B provides one-on-one support to students who need extra help with the technology or organizing their information.

Presentation Practice: Teacher A oversees the general practice session, reviewing key presentation skills. Teacher B circulates, offering specific feedback on content delivery and presentation techniques. Presentations: Both teachers circulate as students present in small groups, providing support and encouragement as needed. Activity Wrap-Up: Teacher A leads the discussion on civic engagement and modern citizenship.

Teacher B facilitates the reflection activity, ensuring all students participate and understand the connections to their own lives. State Pioneer Biographies. By the end of the activity, students will research a state pioneer using reliable sources to construct a presentation for their classmates. Begin by defining state pioneer and explaining its importance in state history.

Introduce the activity by explaining that students will use the Britannica School database to research and create a biography about a state pioneer and present their findings in one of four formats: a biographical poem, a visual timeline, a biographical booklet, or an interview. Show grade-appropriate examples of each format. Discuss what a state pioneer might have done to make a significant impact on their state.

Demonstrate how to use Britannica School to find state pioneers. Model how to navigate the database and locate relevant information. Introduce the Mini Biography graphic organizer. Briefly review primary and secondary sources, showing how to identify them on Britannica School pages. Use the following definitions and provide examples of each:.

Guide students in choosing a person to research. Provide a list of suggested pioneers if students struggle to choose. Allow time for students to conduct their research and complete their Mini Biography graphic organizers. Circulate to provide assistance as needed. Once the research is complete, review the four presentation options a biographical poem, a visual timeline, a biographical booklet, or an interview in detail, discussing what each should include.

Provide a checklist for each presentation format to guide students. Conduct a brief discussion on effective presentation techniques, emphasizing the use of relevant facts and descriptive details to engage the audience. He even assigned humans their scientific name: Homo sapiens. Linnaeus was often distracted in school by his love of gardening.

However, his high school master recognized his genius and tutored him privately in botany. After attending university and earning a medical degree, he became a beloved teacher, instructing students in everything from botany to natural history to zoology to pharmacy. Born to a wealthy family in Florence, Italy, Florence Nightingale could have chosen a life of luxury.

Instead, she dedicated herself to training in health care and catalyzed significant advancement in the nursing field. She brought much-needed funding and medical insight to the battlefront, and the death rate among wounded patients decreased by two-thirds. Her careful observations and teachings, notably around sanitation and organizational protocols, are vital to modern medicine.

Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman pen name Nellie Bly worked undercover as a journalist to expose the injustice and abuse that working-class people experienced in U. Bly, a below-average student, nonetheless had a real writing talent.

Student resources context biography

Hardworking and ambitious, she broke the traditional female career expectations of the period to make her student resources context biography as a writer. Her bold style and unique perspective landed her a job as a reporter by the time she was 21 years old. From unsafe factory work and insane asylum conditions to a race around the world, Bly never backed down from a challenging story.

She fought for credibility as a reporter in an otherwise male-dominated field and helped pave a path for other aspiring female journalists. Free newspaper templates can be found at Canva. Here are some others:. Biography Newspaper Template. Simple Newspaper Printable. Read these biographies online for free or download as PDFs:.

These books present the stories of influential figures from history, science, and the arts in a comic book style format, generally considered to be more accessible for struggling readers. They are aligned with educational standards and can be used to help students with comprehension, inference, and critical thinking skills. Martin Luther King Easy Reader.

Here are some essay writing prompts and instructions created with Copilot AI, and based on Amelia Earhart biographies:. After reading the bios of famous scientists, inventors, and naturalists, you can do simple experiment recreations and activities with your kids. The Science Sparks site has a number of f amous scientist experiments you can try.

Here are some free biographies with suggested related science activities at the end of books:. Rachel Carson : Coastal Habitats. How do biographies help us understand people from different times or places? If you were to write a biography, who would you choose as your subject, and why? Step-by-Step Support: For younger or struggling students, consider having the small groups complete one section of the 5Ws and 1H graphic organizer at a time before reporting back to the class.

This allows for real-time corrections and prevents students from becoming overwhelmed. Extended Research: For older or more advanced students, provide additional resources from Britannica School for their assigned figure. Encourage them to incorporate this extra information into their 5Ws and 1H graphic organizer for a more comprehensive biography.

Biography Presentation Project: Have students create and present a digital or nondigital visual presentation about their assigned historical figure using the 5Ws and 1H graphic organizer. This reinforces understanding of biographical details, practices presentation skills, and allows for peer learning. Parallel Teaching: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well-suited to a Parallel Teaching strategy.

In this model, the class is divided into two groups, and each teacher delivers the same activity simultaneously to their group. This reduces the student-teacher ratio, allowing for more interaction and individualized attention. With smaller groups, students are more likely to participate actively and receive immediate feedback, which fosters a deeper understanding of the content and promotes a more engaging learning experience.

Evidence suggests that small-group instruction leads to increased student engagement and improved academic outcomes. They can take turns demonstrating how to use the organizer with a simple example. Group Work: Each teacher guides their group in reading their assigned biographies from Britannica School and completing the 5Ws and 1H graphic organizer.

They provide support and clarification as needed. Presentation Practice: Teachers help their groups prepare to present their findings, offering guidance on public speaking and how to effectively share biographical information. Wrap-Up: Bring the class back together for group presentations. Both teachers facilitate the final discussion on the importance of biographical details and how they reveal life stories.

Biography Note-Taking. By the end of the activity, students will be able to take notes on a biography they read. Preselected examples of biographies. Biography Note Catcher handout one per student and one for teacher display. Show students the covers of several biographies. What do all of these books have in common? Have students brainstorm as a class what elements they would expect a biography to include.

Write their ideas on the board. Display the Jane Addams articleor a preferred text of your choosing, and tell students they will learn about her role as an important historical figure.