6 Elements in Reading With a Purpose

With so many important events in January and February, I want students know about important people in history. This is also a time for students to learn about tolerance and how people have overcome handicaps or obstacles to reach goals or notoriety. But, students need to know how to read these biographies with a purpose. They need to understand and interpret what they are reading.

Before students actually read the text of a biography, they need to understand the all the text features of the biography such as titles, subtitles, charts, maps, etc.. By studying the text features, they naturally make predictions of what they may read and gather facts about the time period and what was going on in the world. As students begin to read the information, they gain a better understanding of the information. Today, I'm going to share 6 points students need to look for as they read biographies.

Text Elements of a Biography:

1. What special characteristics does the person have? ex. Martin Luther King - brave, caring, leader, persistent...

2. What makes the person special or interesting? And, what do I already know about this person that I feel are worthwhile? I know that President Lincoln was the assassinated while in office.

3. What events shaped or changed this person's life? Ruby Bridges - Was sent to an all white school and was the only black student in the school. This event or "cause" lead to her being a civil rights activist (effect).

4. Did this person overcome obstacles or take risks? Many inventors have to overcome struggles and take risks in order to invent a product that can solve a problems.

5. Did this person have an effect on the world or other people? Benjamin Franklin had an impact on the world through his life as a politician and inventor.