Genre Unit

Genre: Biography Grade Level:​ 2​nd​ Grade

Common Core Standards:

W.2.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and
definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

W.2.5 With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing
as needed by revising and editing.

Resources:

Mentor Texts (Dorfman & Cappelli)

Using Biographies in Your Classroom (Sundem)

Mentor Texts
Shark Lady Jess Keating
The Girl Who Thought in Pictures Julia Finley Mosca
Anne Frank Josephine Poole
The Boy Who Loved Math Deborah Heiligman
Imagine That! How Dr. Seuss Wrote The Cat Judy Sierra
in the Hat
Fab Four Friends: The Boys Who Became the Susanna Reich
Beatles
Elizabeth Warren: Nevertheless, She Persisted Susan Wood
Who Says Girls Can’t be Doctors? Tanya Lee Stone
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Doreen Rappaport
Luther King, Jr.
Michelle Deborah Hopkinson
Mini-Lesson 1: Immersion/ Close Study/ Articulating Our Learning

Learning Target: ​I can notice characteristics of biographies and what makes them interesting.

Preparation: ​Create an anchor chart to record characteristics of biographies. Gather mentor

texts.

Explanation: ​Students will explore multiple biographies in order to begin understanding this
genre. They will be able to find characteristics of biographies.

Demonstration: ​Read and discuss mentor texts. Record students’ noticing’s on anchor chart.
Ask questions to guide discussion. Highlight the characteristics of biography books.

Invitation: ​N/A

Student Work: ​N/A

Class definition: Writing that tells about a real person’s life.
Title and Author
Shark Lady​ by Jess Keating
The Girl Who Thought in
Pictures​ by Julia Finley Mosca
Biography Books
Our Noticing’s
● Written in chronological order.
● Written in 3​rd​ person.
● Talks about childhood and adulthood.
● Talks about impact made.
● Talks about character traits.
● Shares facts.
● Shares a challenge.
● Has a timeline in the back.
● Has an author’s note.
● Written in chronological order.
● Written in 3​rd​ person.
● Talks about childhood and adulthood.
● Talks about impact made.
● Talks about character traits.
● Shares facts.
● Shares a challenge
● Has a theme/ message.
● Haas a timeline in the back.
● Has an author’s note.

Anne Frank ​by Josephine Poole
The Boy Who Loved Math b​ y
Deborah Heiligman
Imagine That!​ ​How Dr. Seuss
Wrote The Cat in the Hat b​ y
Judy Sierra
● Has actual quotes.
● Describes appearance.
● Talks about character traits.
● Shares birth information.
● Talks about family.
● Shares facts.
● Written in chronological order.
● Written in third person
● Written in chronological order.
● Written in third person.
● Talks about childhood and adulthood.
● Talks about character traits.
● Shares facts.
● Has an author’s note.
● Written in chronological order.
● Tells of one milestone event.
● Shares a challenge.
● Shares a big moment.
● Written in third person.
● Shares facts.
● Has an author’s note.
Mini-Lesson 2: Choosing a subject & creating interview questions

Learning Target: ​I can choose a person to write my biography about and brainstorm questions I
want to ask them.

Preparation: ​Create an anchor chart to write down interview questions.

Explanation: ​Students will find a subject to write their biography on and also think of proper
interview questions.

Demonstration: ​Model how to think of a good subject and brainstorming interview questions.
(Birth information, family, friends, favorites, fun facts.)

Invitation: “​Writers, today we will brainstorm good subjects for our biographies. For this
biography we will choose one of our classmates. We will also talk about how we come up with
interview questions.”

Student Work: ​Students will brainstorm who they would like to interview and think of
questions they would like to ask.

Mini-Lesson 3: Interviewing

Learning Target: ​I can interview my subject.

Preparation: ​Ask another adult (principal, secretary, etc.) from the school to come in for the
practice interview. Have questions from yesterday prepared.

Explanation: ​Students will learn the proper way to ask interview questions and record them.

Demonstration: ​Model asking the interview questions and writing down the answers on the
Elmo.

Invitation: ​“Writers, now you are able to conduct interviews of your own to get information
from your subject for your biography.”

Student Work:​ Students will interview their subject and record answers.
Mini-Lesson 4: How to turn our interviews into sentences

Learning Target: ​I can turn my interview responses into sentences.

Preparation: ​Have interview questions ready.

Explanation: ​The purpose of this lesson is to show students how they can turn their subject’s
response to the interview question into sentences useful to their biography.

Demonstration: ​Model how to change subject’s responses into sentences for the biography (ie.
third person).

Invitation: ​“Writers, today you can transcribe your subject’s interview responses into third
person statements that can be used in our biographies.”

Student Work:​ Students will work on transcribing their subject’s interview responses into
statements that can be used in their biographies.

Mini-Lesson 5: Organizing our information

Learning Target: ​I can organize information into chronological order for my biography.

Preparation: ​Have transcribed interview responses ready, graphic organizer.

Explanation: ​The purpose of this lesson is to help students organize their information into
chronological order.

Demonstration: ​Model looking at the information given by my subject and ordering it into an
appropriate order using a graphic organizer

Invitation: ​“Writers, when we were reading and looking at biographies, we noticed they were all
written in chronological order. Today, you can work on making sure all your information for
your subject is ordered appropriately.”

Student Work:​ Students will work on ordering their information appropriately using a graphic
organizer.
Mini-Lesson 6: Beginning our biographies

Learning Target: ​I can write an appropriate beginning for my biography.

Preparation: ​Organized information on graphic organizer.

Explanation: ​The purpose of this lesson is to help students create interesting beginnings that
capture their readers attention for their biography.

Demonstration: ​Do a write aloud in front of students showing them the process of writing a
beginning and moving on from there.

Invitation: ​“Writers, let’s work on creating an interesting beginning to our biography that really
captures our reader’s attention. If needed, you can look back at some of our mentor texts to spark
some ideas.”

Student Work:​ Students will create interesting and captivating beginnings for their biographies.
Students can continue working on their writing.

Mini-Lesson 7: Revising/ editing/ grammar

Learning Target: ​I can revise my writing.

Preparation: ​Have a beginning paragraph written.

Explanation: ​The purpose of this lesson is to show students that they can go back and revise/
edit their writing to look for grammatical mistakes.

Demonstration: ​Model how you go back and revise and edit writing. Make changes to
sentences, correct proper nouns, initials, abbreviations, etc.

Invitation: “​Writers, I invite you to go back and revise your writing so far.”

Student Work:​ Students will edit their work to find any grammatical errors and make changes.
Students may work in partners to share ideas.