Jeanna Edge FRIT 8530

Title of Unit

Storytelling

Grade Level

5th grade
(can be used in higher grades as
well)

Standard: Content Standards:

NCTE/IRA NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and
questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data
from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to
communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g.,
libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize
information and to create and communicate knowledge.
12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own
purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of
information).

Understandings:
Students will understand that:
Big Ideas:
Understand that biographies give an account of a person's life and achievements.
Understand that there are a variety of research resources and not all provide
factual information.
Understand that there is a connection between being famous and hard work and
dedication.
Understand that organized research techniques allow for a simple,
straightforward writing process.
6 Facets:
Can EXPLAIN what a biography is.
Can INTERPRET facts about a person they have discovered through their research
and use it to tell a meaningful story.
Can APPLY the research techniques to discovering information about their
interests adding to knowledge in other areas.
Have PERSPECTIVE through their research getting the big picture and using a
critical eye to judge a resources information.
Can EMPATHIZE with the subject of their biography and find commonality in their
experiences.
Have self-knowledge by evaluating the strategies of research that worked well for
them and areas of improvement.

Essential Questions
Overarching Questions:

Topical Questions:

What does the reader gain in reading

a biography?

What are important characteristics about

this person?

What do you want your audience to

remember about your work?

What do you admire about this person?

Why do authors write biographies?

Why is this person famous?

What is unique about the biography genre?

What should we do when primary
resources in our research disagree?

How do you narrow the subject down to

main points and facts about the person?

How am I connected with the person

in the biography?
What is the connection between hard
work/ dedication and being famous?

Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences

Week 1
Introduction to Biographies (Standards 7, 8, 12)
1. HOOK Play Famous Person Trivia with the class; divide the groups into
teams and use some popular as well as scholarly figures to get them
interested in facts about people. Tie in the game with a question if we
wanted to know more about _________ (person from the game) how
could we find that information? Where? Which type of books would we
look for? - Try to steer class toward the answer of A Biography
2. EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE Provide a pre-test to students about
biographies. Each student will be asked to write in their writing journal
what a biography is.
3. ORGANIZED/EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE - Ask students as a group what they
know about biographies and record their answers on flip chart or white
board. Have students brainstorm which type of people can be found in
biographies and common characteristics that biography subjects share.
(This can be done as a class or in the groups from the trivia game.)
4. EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE/RETHINK Keep the discussion going with some
essential questions from the list above.
5. WHERE/WHY/WHAT Introduce the assignment using the video podcast
to explain the assignment. The video covers that for the next three
weeks, their role will be biography writers and they will be writing short
essays about a person of their choice the goal is to be able to present
information about their selection to the class through a Digital

PhotoStory. They will be working in assigned groups for this activity.

The teacher can choose to give each group a category like a famous
singer, a sports player, an influential American, etc.
6. WHERE/WHY/WHAT - The students will be presented with the student
goals, understandings, and skills of the assignment.
7. EQUIP/HOLD A predesigned Digital story of a celebrity from a previous
student group or developed by the teacher will be shown as an
example.
8. EQUIP/WHERE/WHY/WHAT Go over ground rules for working in a group
all members must actively participate in cooperative learning.
Teacher may assign group roles depending on class dynamic and
learning styles.
9. EQUIP Provide them with the rubric and ensure everyone is clear on
the assignment.
10.
EQUIP/EVALUATE/REFLECT/EXPLORE The teacher and students
can briefly discuss how to select a person are they interested in
him/her, a person that their audience will find intriguing, a person who
is unique, etc.
11.
EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE/RETHINK Allow groups to start
brainstorming which person they want to research. Names will be
submitted on paper to the teacher for review.
Modifications: (EQUIP/TAILORED)
The teacher will try to evenly distribute the groups in regard to reading levels
to allow for peer to peer learning and avoid having a group of students who
have difficulty in reading comprehension. The groups will also be assigned to
distribute learning styles among the groups.
Review of Resources (Standards 7, 12)
1. RETHINK/REFLECT/EVALUATE Ask groups which person they selected
to research and have them share with the class will allow for the
groups to evaluate the audiences interest. Teacher can help group
evaluate their choice by asking the class if they are looking forward to
learning about that person?
2. EQUIP Conduct a brief overview of reliable resources, ensuring that
everyone understands that not all information on the internet is true
and accurate introduce checking resources against others as a way to
determine the reliability. Provide an example of a site with
misinformation.
3. EQUIP Make a list as a class of all the different resources students can
find at their school to help them with their assignment.
4. EQUIP Review the rubric again paying close attention to the Research
Sources section.
Modifications: (EQUIP/TAILORED)
Depending on group make up, a list of kid friendly websites will be given to
each group. List can include such resources as: gardenofpraise.com, the ALA
biography resource site for kids, the Chicago Public Library Biography for Kids
Section, etc. This will allow for those students who arent familiar with the
use of search engines on the internet.

Project Research (Standards 7, 12)

1. WHERE/WHY/REFLECT- Have students review the list of available
sources and make a plan together as a group for how they will go about
their research
2. EQUIP/HOLD Present the students with the graphic organizer tool and
discuss how using an outline can help with their writing group
discussion with whole group. Another tool as an option to keep student
interest is to use the Bio-Cube Tool on readwritethink.org. A sample
Bio-Cube will need to be completed (if using) to go along with the
example that was shown to the class earlier.
3. EQUIP/WHERE/WHAT Remind students of the timeline and show them
what times the class will be sent to the Media Center; students may
also use the flexible scheduling of the MC to visit as a group if they
have extra time throughout the week

Week 2
Project Research cont. (Standards 7, 8, 12)
1. EXPERIENCE/EXPLORE Students will officially start their research on
the person selected by the group. During scheduled time, the class will
go to the MC for their research. Students will review with the teacher
what they have accomplished so far and compare their progress to the
goals.
2. RETHINK/REHEARSE Students will be asked to recall the resources
previously identified in Week One as a refresher.
3. EQUIP Students will be provided ample time to conduct research; the
teacher and if possible the media specialist will be on hand to help
guide the students along
4. WHERE/EQUIP/REFLECT The teacher will once again introduce the
outlining tools available and use this time to have students identify
what they want to know what questions do they want their research
and biography to answer?
Writing Practice Outlining (Standards 7, 8, 12)
1. REFLECT/EVALUATE/EXPLORE/ORGANIZE Students will verify reliable
sources and will conduct their research with the graphic organizer or
Bio-Cube format in mind both tools teach students to pull out
information that is appropriate for their biography. For example, the
Bio-Cube asks students to submit information regarding obstacles
faces, personality, persons significance, and general background. The
graphic organizer asks students to identify reasons why this person is
famous, characteristics, experiences that made this person important,
important contributions, and things they admire about this person.
2. EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE Students will continue researching as teacher
makes observations and evaluates the layout of the lesson.
3. REFLECT/RETHINK/REHEARSE/EVALUATE Once the Bio-Cube or Graphic
Organizers are complete, they will be discussed individually with each

group and the teacher. The teacher will pose some essential questions
from the list above during this discussion.
4. WHERE/WHY/EVALUATE Teacher will review the research process and
ask how the tools such as the Graphic Organizer or the Bio-Cube were
helpful. Teacher will move discussion to have students understand the
importance of outlining thoughts before writing is preferred and to have
students understand how important it is to take notes about a subject
and then write from the notes rather than copying word for word details
about a subject.
5. EXPERIENCE/RETHINK/REVISE The students will work in groups to
identify the order of their presentation questions posed from the
teacher during this time will have students think about the audience,
how to hook the other groups interest, how to be clear and highlight the
main ideas, providing interesting and relevant information.
6. REVISE/RETHINK/EVALUATE Students will be reminded that the tools
provided were guides and not all information has to be used for
example, if using the graphic organizer they identified five things they
admire about this person, they may choose to only present two.
7. EQUIP/HOLD The PhotoStory example will be shown again teacher
will note that pictures were used to convey the information as well as
narration.
8. EXPERIENCE The students, once they have identified the main points
they want to share about the person will then start drafting a script to
use that will allow each student a chance to narrate a portion of the
biography.
9. RETHINK/REVISE/REHEARSE/EVALUATE The students will compare
their draft using their graphic organizer or Bio-Cube and evaluate their
script by also answering questions that will be written on the white
board: Questions will include:
Will the audience think this biography is interesting? / Does my
information make sense in the order in which it was written? / Can I
think of pictures or images to illustrate the script?/ Have I learned
something fun about this person? Is that fun fact a part of my script? /
Are my facts accurate? / Does my script tell why this person is famous,
give some background on the person, and identify some characteristics
about this person?
10.
REVISE/REFLECT/EVALUATE/RETHINK Students will discuss the
results of the evaluation of the script and revise if necessary.
11.
EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE Students will then begin looking for
pictures or images they think would best describe the information.
Students will also write the script for each person to be able to narrate
different slides in the presentation.
Modifications: (EQUIP/TAILORED)
Depending on teacher observations about the students understanding of the
lesson, the teacher may want to model drafting a script to go along with the
example graphic organizer or Bio-Cube the teacher would think aloud while
writing on a whiteboard taking note of any changes to the script she/he
makes and why. Reasons for making change can include:
--forgetting an important point, thinking of a better word to use, using

information the audience would want to know, deleting a piece of information

that is not really interesting, making a mistake with a fact, etc.

Week 3
Presentation Development (Standards 7, 8, 12)
1. EXPLORE/ORGANIZE/EXPERIENCE After the students have completed
their revised scripts they will select and save photos, pictures, and
images to a file on the desktop at their assigned computer, they will be
allowed to start to develop the PhotoStory.
2. EQUIP/WHERE The teacher or media specialist will project the
PhotoStory program and will go through the basic directions of how to
use the program how to import images, arrange slides, narrate, and
save their work.
3. EQUIP Students will be given ample time to complete their project.
4. ORGANIZE/EQUIP/REVISE The teacher will observe and walk among
the students as they design their presentation helping as needed.
Modifications: (EQUIP/TAILORED)
A pre-written tool will be provided if needed for students who do not have a
lot of experience using PhotoStory. Basic instructions will be provided as an
extra tool to troubleshoot issues.
Presentation / Evaluation (Standards 7, 8, 12)
1. HOOK/HOLD/WHERE/WHAT The teacher will start off the day of
presentations by celebrating the work she/he has seen in the groups.
2. HOOK/HOLD The atmosphere can be created to be one of a movie
theater with popcorn and dimmed lights if needed.
3. WHERE/WHAT The teacher will let the audience know that they will be
able to ask questions of the group and will also fill out an evaluation of
the presentation in order to provide feedback questions will include:
Was this presentation interesting? Why? / Did you learn something new
about this person? / Did their presentation make you want to learn more
about the person? Why? / Was their presentation easy to understand?
4. EXPLORE/EXPERIENCE/REHEARSE/REFLECT The students will play their
PhotoStory and then go up to the class as a group to answer any
questions posed by the students or teacher. The teacher will ask some
essential questions from the list above.
5. REFLECT The evaluations of all the presentations will be given to the
teacher and the teacher will have the students review the feedback in
groups.
6. RETHINK/REVISE/EVALUATE The teacher will then ask each group,
based on the feedback would they make any revisions to their project?
If so, what changes would they make.
Self-Reflection (Standards 7, 12)
1. EVALUATE/RETHINK/WHY Students will complete a self-refection and
assessment questionnaire at the end of the lesson, after all the

presentations have been presented. This questionnaire will include

some of the following questions:
Can you explain what a biography is to your parents?
Did you learn anything new about the person you chose to research?
Can you write a well organized biography?
How did your biography compare with the other classmates?
Was it easy to organize the information you collected?
What strategies did you find most helpful in your research?
Were there any sources you wish you had or had not included?
How well did you work as a team with your partners? Were you fair?
Did you listen to their ideas? Can you say that you are certain you did
your part to help your team?
If the teacher asked you to complete research on your favorite animal
and write a report, how would what you did in this assignment help you
with the report?
What surprised you about the person you chose to research?
What surprised you about working with your partners?
Did you learn anything new by doing this assignment?
How will what you have learned about the person you researched
change about your life?
Did you have fun learning about the person? Did you think this
assignment would be fun when you began?

Final Review (Standard 12)

1. RETHINK/REVISE/EVALUATE/EXPERIENCE The teacher will end the
lesson by going back to the first list made at the introduction and
asking if the students can add anything to the previous list what more
can they say about what a biography is.
2. EXPERIENCE/RETHINK The teacher will ask some of the Overarching
Questions as identified above.
3. WHAT/WHY/EVALUATE The teacher will end the lesson by reviewing
the goals and what the students achieved.
4. WHAT/EVALUATE The teacher will evaluate the childrens work
according to the rubric.
5. RETHINK/REVISE/EVALUATE The teacher will ask for feedback
individually from students about the lesson plan as well as ask for
feedback from the media specialist if collaboration took place.