TPA Lesson 1 All About Biographies

​The learning objective of today's lesson is to understand the elements of a biography.

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Can anyone explain what a biography is?​

​Objective

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​Prior Knowledge

Can you think of someone that you would be interested in interviewing or learning about?

Why would you choose this person?​

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​-is non-fiction, informational text

-is written about a real person by someone else.

-is always written in third person point-of-view: he, she, it.

-is usually told in chronological order: birth, family, school, adult life, death.

-may include headings to help the reader understand the topic of each paragraph.

​A biography...

​Narrator's Point-of-View

​Knowledge Check:

How do biographies differ from other informational text you have read?

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Multiple Choice

Which point-of-view is a biography written in?

• 2nd person

• 1st person

• 3rd person

• from the narrator's point-of-view

​What is chronological order?

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​Let’s look at the Lou Gehrig biography together. We are going to analyze the structure and elements of this text first.

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We learned that one of the elements of a biography includes the use of headings. Why do writers include headings?

Look back at the introduction and first paragraph: I want you to work with a partner to discuss the following question:

What point of view does the writer use to tell Lou Gehrig’s story in this text? Highlight two word clues in the text that helped you to figure this out?

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Skim through the text again what information, details, or phrases did the writer include that show the text is organized in chronological order? Discuss with your partner and highlight two pieces of information that show chronological order.

​Now let's talk about what biographies TELL us!

​Biographies...

• tell why the person is special.

• tell what the world learned from the person.

• help us understand history and experiences through another persons eyes.

• let us see how one person can change the world (for good or bad).​

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​Close-Reading

Work with your partner to skim through the text again.

Highlight TWO details that tell why Lou Gehrig was special.

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Multiple Choice

Independent Practice

Analyze the conclusion paragraph and choose the best answer:

What important LESSONS can people learn from Lou Gehrig's life?

• Lou Gehrig had a great career and he was the first person to suffer publicly from ALS.

• Lou Gehrig passed away from ALS only two years after he gave a speech.

• Lou Gehrig will always be remembered as a great baseball player who showed strength and gratitude even when he faced a terrible disease.

Multiple Choice

A biography is…

• Fiction, informational text

• Non-fiction, informational text

• Historical fiction

Multiple Choice

A biography is…..

• Text from a famous person’s diary.

• Is written about a person by someone else

• A fictional story

Multiple Choice

3rd Person Point-of-View means:

• The narrator talks about other people

• The narrator talks about themselves

• The narrator talks to the reader directly.

Multiple Choice

In 3rd Person Point-of-View, the narrator uses words, such as:

• You, your, yourself

• I, me, my, we, our, us, mine

• He, she, it, they, their

Multiple Choice

Biographies are usually written in _________order: birth, family, school, adult life, death.

• Random

• Organized

• Chronological

​What do biographies TELL us?