Biography Project Information

Biography Project:  Drawing Conclusions

What: 

You will use the following questions to summarize your research and draw conclusions about the person’s life that you studied. 

You will then present your findings to the class.  Each presentation will last 5-10 minutes.  

When:

Week one- February 25^th to March 1^st (Planning and Presentation Sign up)

Completed questionnaires will be due on Thursday.  Students will get the questionnaires back on Friday, and they will be able to sign up for a presentation day.

Week two- March 4^th to March 8^th (Presentations)

Week three- March 11^th to March 15^th (Presentations)

During presentation days, a small portion of the workshop will be devoted to our biography presentations.  This will prevent our audience from tiring and allow for closer attention to our speakers.  The rest of the workshop will be devoted to an exploration of figurative language.  This will help us in our next writing unit, where we will review narrative writing and take it deeper.  Look for more specific information in upcoming newsletters.

Where: 

Your child should prepare the answers to the questionnaire at school, but they may need to review the information at home.  If they choose to dress in costume (see “How” section), they will need to prepare their costume at home.

Why: 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.2d Provide a concluding statement or section.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.6 Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.

How: 

Your presentation will be in the form of an interview show, hosted by your teachers.  Presenting the information is not optional, but how you choose to present the information is optional.  What does that mean?  You can choose to present as yourself, a student who did some research about the person, or you can choose to become the person you studied.  You can talk in a different voice, style your hair, wear a wig, dress up in a costume, and so forth.  (Please do not change the color of your actual hair or skin with dye or make up.)  Dressing up can earn you extra credit points on your project grade.

Questionnaire:

1.     Where did you grow up and what was it like there?

2.     Describe a memory you have of your childhood that involves one of your family members.

3.     What did you enjoy doing as a child?

4.     What were some of your first jobs?

5.     What did you do in your free time as a young adult? 

6.     What were your family finances like as you grew up and how did they compare to your finances as an adult?

7.     Did you have a strong family life with a spouse and/or children as a grown up?  Why or why not?

8.     Is there something you wish you could do over again?  Explain why.

9.     Tell about a memorable moment in your adult life…a time you will never forget.

10.  Tell about a historical event you experienced in your lifetime?  How did you feel about it?

11.  What is one thing you are really proud of doing?  Explain why.

12.  When people look back at your life, how do you want to be remembered?

Oral Presentation Rubric

Student Name:                                                              Bio Topic:                                                                     Costume:  Y or N

Category	4	3	2	1
Content	Shows a full understanding of the topic and can accurately answer questions	Shows a good understanding of the topic and can answer most questions	Shows a good understanding of parts of the topic and can answer a few questions	Does not seem to understand the topic very well and is unable to answer questions
Vocabulary	Uses vocabulary appropriate for the purpose  (i.e. Knows the names of important people, places, and events involving the topic)	Uses vocabulary that is mostly appropriate for the purpose (i.e. Knows the names of most important people, places, and events involving the topic)	Uses vocabulary which is not very appropriate for the purpose (i.e. Knows the names of few important people, places, and events involving the topic)	Uses vocabulary which is not appropriate for the purpose (i.e. Does not know the names of important people, places, and events involving the topic)
Drawing Conclusions	Uses accurately researched information to make logical conclusions	Uses accurately researched information to make mostly logical conclusions	Uses information that may or may not be accurate to make some logical conclusions	Uses incorrect information and does not make logical conclusions
Complete Sentences	Always speaks in complete sentences	Mostly speaks in complete sentences	Sometimes speaks in complete sentences	Rarely speaks in complete sentences
Presentation Skills: Time Voice Eye Contact	*5-10 minutes *Loud and clear voice *Strong eye contact with audience/no notes used	*5 minutes *Mostly loud/clear voice *Mostly strong eye contact but sometimes refers to notes	*5 minutes or less *Voice is sometimes loud and clear *Little eye contact/heavy dependence on notes	*Less than 5 minutes *Voice is never loud and is difficult to hear *No eye contact/reads directly from notes