Fifth+Grade+Biography+Project

Fifth Grade Biography Project

Student Packet

Table of Contents:

1. Parent Note

2. Itinerary and Due Dates

3. How to Write a Biography

4. Note Card Example Sheet

5. How to Cite your Sources

6. Copies of Graphic Organizers

7. Editing Checklist

8. Biography Rubric (how you will be graded)

9. Visual Aid Guidelines

10. Speech Guidelines

11. Speech Rubric (how you will be graded)

Parent Note

Parents,

Our fifth grade class will write a biography paper and give a speech on a person of their

choosing. In our class, each student must choose a historical figure (President, inventor,

leader, etc.) from U.S. history to research for their paper and speech. Both the speech and

the paper, which will be in the form of a five paragraph Expository Essay, will be graded.

Although some time will be dedicated to working on this project in class, I will also schedule

some of it for homework. In order for students to be successful on this project, I have found

that it is imperative that parents be involved by helping their child stay on track with the

deadlines, asking them questions about what they’re doing, and supervising during the

paper writing, visual aid creating, and speech writing processes. Before each step of the

project, we will spend time discussing suggestions and expectations in class. Finally, a fun

twist: your child will be expected to dress like his/her person. If it is too costly, however, then

your child will need to dress nicely for the speech. Thank you, in advance, for your help!

Here is a timeline of due dates. The expectations for each phase of the project are listed in

more detail on the next page.

! Brainstorming – 12/2/14 – 12/5/14

! Research and Note Taking – 12/4/14 – 12/10/14

! Biography Outline – Homework - Week of 12-8-14

! Paper Rough Draft - Homework - Week of 12-8-14

! Editing and Revising – Week of 12-8-14 (done partially in class and partially at home)

! Final Draft – 12/11/14 – 12/15/14 (done at home)

! Speech – practice at home

! Visual Aid for Speech – completed at home

! Speeches will be given – 12/17/14 and 12/18/14 (Final Project Due 12/17/14)

It is very important that students stay on track with the deadlines above. In order to

complete the entire project within the nine weeks, it is necessary for us to keep a fairly rapid

pace. Thank you again for your help and support from home.

The above information is yours to keep but please detach and return this slip:

I have seen the timeline and expectations for the biography paper and speech:

______________________________ ______________________________

Parent/Guardian’s signature Student’s name

Itinerary and Due Dates

1. Brainstorming List – DUE 12/5/14

Here you will brainstorm a list of at least 5 people you think you might like to research for this

project. You are free to research any U.S. historical figure who has made a positive,

significant contribution to society. Please turn in your list to me on the date above.

2. Finalize Topic – DUE 12/8/14

Your next step is to narrow down your brainstorming list to one person and to do some quick

research on him/her (either online or from books) to see if there will be enough information

on that person to guide you through your research. Then, you will finalize your choice. On

December 8, I will ask you to turn in a piece of paper with one person’s name on it for me to

approve.

3. Researching and Taking Notes – Week of 12/8/14

You will begin researching your chosen person. You may use books, websites, magazines, or

any other appropriate source. If you do not have internet access at home and need to use

the internet at school, let me know. You will need to use 3 sources for your research (they

can be any combination of internet, book, etc.) You must use at least one book. On

December 11, you will need to turn in your three sources to me on note cards. There is an

example of a bibliography note card in this packet, and we will also go over the procedure

in class. You will also need to turn in the notes you’ve taken (which will be formatted on note

cards). Your notes should be taken on 3 categories:

1. Childhood

2. Adulthood

3. Greatest accomplishments

4. Biography Outline – DUE 12/12/14

You will turn in a biography outline to me as a pre-writing exercise for your paper. I have

included copies of the biography outline in this packet.

5. Rough Draft – You will begin this process in class and complete at home. You do not have

to submit your rough draft. However, it is a useful piece as you compose your final paper.

Using your biography outline, you will write a rough draft for your paper. Your paper must be

a 5 paragraph Expository Essay.

6. Editing and Revising - (done in class and at home) –

We will spend time in class editing and revising your paper. You will also have someone at

home edit it for homework.

7. Final Draft – DUE 12/17/14

You will write a final draft of your paper. Your paper must be a 5 paragraph Expository Essay.

The paper may be typed or handwritten (in blue or black ink). You will also have a

bibliography page (MLA style).

8. Speech – In Class: 12/17/14 and 12/18/14 (I will assign you a day to present)

You will not have to do any new research for your speech. You will need to complete your

speech before working on your visual aid.

9. Visual Aid for Speech – Needs to be completed (at home) for presentation

Your visual aid can be a poster, slide show, Wordle, or any other creative idea. If you do not

have access to poster board, let me know. We will talk in class about what makes a good

visual aid, but keep in mind the following:

a. Your audience should be able to read your information from a distance

b. Your visual aid should be directly related to what you will say in your speech

c. This should be of professional quality (no misspelled words, no cross-outs, no big

smudges or mistakes).

9. Speeches will be given on 12/17/14 and 12/18/14. I will assign you a day to present. You

may memorize your speech but are certainly not expected to. If you do not memorize it,

you need to have your notes put on note cards (we have note cards in our classroom for

you to use). Your speech should not be simply reading your essay, but should include the

same content. You should not read off of your visual aid because you will not be able to look

at the audience if you do so. For your speech, you will be graded on:

a. having an attention-grabbing introduction

b. your eye contact

c. posture

d. good voice rate (not talking too fast or too slow)

e. good volume

f. how well your audience can understand you

g. the quality of your visual aid

h. how well you use your visual aid (without reading off of it)

i. having an effective conclusion

j. how well you can answer a question posed by your teacher

Biography Essays: Getting Started

1. Where do I start? You must have at least 3 sources to get your information from. Here is a

list of some things you can use as a resource:

! Encyclopedias

! Books from libraries

! Magazine articles

! Newspaper articles

! Websites

! Any other factual publications you come across

2. Learning about the person: Although you may find numerous books and countless

websites on the person you are researching, you do not need to read every part of every

source. Instead, look at all the resources you’ve found and sort through bits and pieces of

each. If you look at a source you’ve found more closely and realize it will not be helpful to

you, then you should not list it as a source on a bibliography card. Pick the best parts from

each resource.

3. Make a Bibliography Card for EACH resource you use (see the example in this packet).

Each source needs to be labeled as A, B, C, D, etc..

4. Taking Notes: You will take notes on 3 major areas of your person’s life: Their early life

(childhood and adolescence), their later life (their adulthood), and their accomplishments or

how they overcame obstacles. Try to look for an overarching theme about your person

because this will help your paper flow. Was your person curious from a young age? Did your

person always have a heart that loved to serve others? When you find an interesting fact,

put it on a note card (see the example in this packet on how to format it). You should only

put one fact on each note card. You will be striping the note card with a color to indicate

which of the three major topics (early life, later life, or accomplishments) your note card

relates to. You will also include the letter of the resource you got the information from. You

will NOT need to use every fact you write down on a note card in your paper.

5. Putting it together: You will sort your note cards into piles (one for early life, one for later

life, and one for accomplishments). Then you will want to look at each pile to see if any of

your facts are related. You’ll then put your note cards into some sort of order (leaving out

but NOT throwing away the ones you’re not using). Once you’ve got that done, you’re

ready to start filling out your biography outline.

6. What will your paper look like? Your paper will be a 5 paragraph Expository Essay. You will

have an introduction paragraph, a conclusion paragraph, and 3 body paragraphs (one will

talk about your person’s early life, one his later life, and one his accomplishments and how

he overcame obstacles in his life). You will also have a bibliography page (MLA style).

Taking Notes and Citing Sources

Note Taking Card

Bibliography Card

D

Jefferson was the first President inaugurated in Washington.

Keller, Helen. Helen Keller: The Story of my Life. New

York: Watermill, 1980.

Career

You will stripe the top left corner of

each of your cards. You’ll use three

colors: one for early life, one for

later life, and one for

accomplishments

If this card is

about

Jefferson’s later

life, I am going

to give it a sub

heading to be

more specific

This letter tells

you what source

you found the

fact in.

One fact per

card.

Cite your resource

here. See the attached

sheet on how to cite

resources.

C

Label each bibliography

card with a different

letter (starting with A).

How to Cite Your Sources in MLA Format

A book with one author:

Keller, Helen. Helen Keller: The Story of my

Life. New York: Watermill,1980.

A book with two or more authors:

Smith, Arnold, Steve Jones, and Ken

Anderson. Thomas Jefferson. CA: Puffin,

1993.

Encyclopedia Articles:

Block, Judy. “George Washington.” World

Book. New York: Macmillan, 2004.

Website:

The Anthony Trial: An Account. Douglas

Linder. 2001. 18 January 2007

<http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials

/anthony/sbahome.html>.

Indent five

spaces

Author’s

last name,

Author’s

first name

(period at

the end)

Title

(underlined with

a period at the

end)

City, state, or country where book is

published (followed by a colon)

Publisher, Year

book was published

(period)

Authors’ names in

the order they

appear on the title

page. Only the first

author’s name goes

last name, first

name. Put commas

between each

author’s name and a

period at the end of

the list.

The rest of

the citation

works the

same as a

book with one

author.

Author’s name:

Last name, first

name.

Title of article in quotation

marks (period at the end)

Title of book

(underlined

with a period

at the end)

City of

publication:

Publisher, Year

published (period)

Title of the

site

(underlined

with a period

at the end)

Author or

Editor of

the site

(period at

the end)

Date the site was

published (period at the

end)

Date you found the site

(no period)

The address of the

website inside of < >

(period at the end)

If any of this information is

not given, simply leave it out.

Name: _______________________________________________________

Date: __________________________

Biography Outline

I. Introduction Paragraph: Briefly describe who the person was and what notable thing he/she

did. Remember . . . your lead needs to grab the reader’s attention!!

• _____________________________________________________________________________________

II. Early Life:

A. Birth date and birthplace:

______________________________________________________________

B. Family Life (What did his/her parents do for work? Siblings?):

• _____________________________________________________________________________________

III. Significant events that led to achievement (Education, Occupation, Experiences):

• _____________________________________________________________________________________

IV. Major Contributions/Accomplishments (Why is he/she famous?):

• _____________________________________________________________________________________

V. Character Traits/Qualities that made he/she worth researching (include evidence to support

each trait)

• _____________________________________________________________________________________

VI. Conclusion:

A. Is he/she still living? If not, include date of death and cause of death.

• _____________________________________________________________________________________

B. How did he/she make a difference in the world?

• _____________________________________________________________________________________

C. How would our lives be different if he/she did not achieve his/her goals?

• _____________________________________________________________________________________

D. Why should he/she be remembered?

• _____________________________________________________________________________________

VII. Author’s Note: Would you like to be like him/her? Why/Why not? Has he/she influenced your

life?

• _____________________________________________________________________________________

VIII. Bibliography: List below all the books, Web sites, etc. where you found your information. For

online resources, do NOT list search engines (Google, Yahooligans, Ask Jeeves, etc.) . . .

instead, list specific sites where you found your information. You will be given a specific

format for your bibliography, so be sure to follow it!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Editing Checklist

This will be done at home with a parent, some other adult, or a much older sibling (after our

rough drafts are finished). Please see the key on the back for what marks to make on the

rough draft while proofreading.

Student’s Name: __________________ Date: ____________________________

Editor’s Name: ____________________ Title of Paper: ____________________

The editor should check items that need attention before the final

draft

Checked by

editor if item

needs

attention

Student

checks when

corrections

have been

made

Capitalization

! Sentences start with capital letters

! Names and proper nouns (cities, states, etc.) begin with

capitals

! Each important word in the title begins with a capital

Punctuation

! Each sentence ends with a period or other appropriate

punctuation

! Commas are used appropriately

! Quotation marks are used when someone talks or if you

quote directly from a book

General

! Words are spelled correctly

! There are five paragraphs

! There are no run-on sentences

! There are no fragment sentences

! Transitions are used at the beginning of a paragraph

! A lot and all right are both separate words

! Sentences do not begin with numbers (use two instead of

2)

! Its (shows ownership) / It’s (means it is)

! Their (ownership) / There (a location) / They’re (they are)

! Boring words are not used (good, really, very, bad, little,

big, stuff, things, sad, nice, etc.)

Other items that need attention

!

Tips for Creating Your Visual Aid

! You visual aid will accompany your speech.

! You should not read off of your visual aid during your speech.

! All text on your visual aid should be big enough so that someone on the other

side of the room can still see it.

! You should not put an excessive amount of text on your visual aid because

people will be reading your poster instead of listening to your words.

! Your visual aid should not be a random jumble of words and pictures. Your

speech will be organized into three parts (early life, later life, and major

accomplishments) so your poster should be designed to match your speech.

! You should not (before your speech, during your speech OR after your speech)

go over your whole visual aid at once. Instead, you’ll pause at different parts of

your speech, turn your audience’s attention toward your visual aid and say

something like, “As you can see from this graph, Roosevelt got significantly more

votes during the presidential election that year.” You will pause, let the

audience soak in what you just said, and continue with your speech. Each time

your speech mentions something that you’ve included on your visual aid, you

will pause and reference it.

! Do not put anything on your visual aid that is not mentioned in your speech.

! Do not try to put everything in your speech on your visual aid.

! Avoid just putting a lot of pictures of the person you researched on your visual

aid (pictures of him or her doing something specific or at a specific time are OK

but avoid just using random portraits).

! Use colors that are bright but not obnoxious.

! If you are able to access a computer, feel free to type parts of your visual aid

and then glue them onto your poster.

! There should be no misspellings, smudges, smears, or obvious mistakes on your

poster. You should definitely not have words that are crossed or scribbled out.

! There should be no pencil on your visual aid (although I would recommend

writing out anything you’re going to put on your visual aid in pencil first before

going over it in marker).

Tips for Preparing Your Speech

! Put everything you’re going to say onto note cards (we have plenty available

for you in the classroom).

! Your speech will not be the same thing as simply reading your five paragraph

essay to the class. However, it will be similar in that you will still cover the

person’s early life, later life, and major accomplishments/obstacles that were

overcome. You do not need to do any additional research for your speech.

! You should not fidget while speaking (have someone watch you or practice in

front of a mirror).

! Make sure that even people in the back of the room can hear you clearly.

! Make sure you’ve read through your speech enough times that you do not

need to read directly off of your note cards. You should be looking people in

the eyes while speaking and only glancing down at your note cards when

necessary.

! Include a mark or note on your note cards for when you want to pause and

draw your audience’s attention to your visual aid.

! Make sure you do not talk too fast or too slow. If you’re naturally a fast talker,

slowing down might feel silly to you but it sounds good to your audience.

! Definitely practice in front of family and ask them to comment on your volume,

rate of speaking, eye contact, and posture before speaking in front of the class.

! Remember to try to make your speech interesting. What kind of information

would you want to hear about the person you researched if you were in the

audience?

! Avoid “ummms,” “uhhhs,” and “likes” while speaking.

! Be prepared for a question from your teacher when you’re done. Have a

response prepared in case you don’t know the answer. (Instead of, “Uh….I

don’t know…” or making something up, try saying something like, “I didn’t

encounter that during my research. Is there anything else you’d like to know?”)

! As usual, once you’ve finished preparing your speech, look over the rubric and

see what you think you’ll receive for a grade. Are you happy with that?

! Have fun and relax! "