Irina Marra
EDE 302- ELA Unit Plan
Title: Biographies
Grade 4
Background Information: Biography is a genre in literature that provides a complete account
of someone’s life. Biography includes specific dates, important events in person’s life, education,
work and family. A biography can also describe subject’s feelings, experiences and attitudes
throughout his or her life. Biographies are commonly written about famous people or people who
made a difference in history.
Discussion of the main theme and concepts: The students will learn how to obtain a better
understanding of the text by making inferences, discussing the topic in depth and doing research.
They will learn how to identify themes in literature and to interpret the author’s messages. The
students will incorporate all that knowledge into their own writing pieces.
Unit Rationale: I am teaching this genre so the students could become introduced to important
people in our history as well as in current times. The students will also learn how to research
information about particular person they are interested in. They will understand the purposes and
goals of biographies. By becoming familiar with the variety of biographies, the students will also
practice reading and writing skills.
Unit Objectives:
The students will be able to:

Name the features of biography

Collect all the necessary information to write a biography

Write a biography using all the elements of the genre

Make inferences and identify themes through reading a variety of biographies.
Outline of content:
Day 1: Learn how to use context clues to identify the meanings of unfamiliar words
Day 2: Use the main idea to identify the theme in the text.
Day 3: Make inferences from the text to gain further understandings of the narrative.
Day 4: Use the information obtained through the interview to draft a biography.
Day 5: Create a better developed biographical piece by adding details.
Classroom environment:
During the read aloud the students will be asked to sit closer to the teacher so that they will be
able to hear the story better and to see the illustrations.
Teaching Materials:

Book- Lives of the Athletes by Kathleen Krull.

Book -Albert Einstein a Biography by Milton Meltzer

Book- Black Stars of Colonial and Revolutionary Times African Americans Who
Lived Their Dreams by Jim Haskins

Website -http://gardenofpraise.com

Self-made worksheets.
Evaluation:

Classroom discussions

Worksheets

Graphic organizers

Biographical piece written by the students at the end of the unit
Bibliographies:

Wikipedia.org

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/introducing-biographies-getting-knowyou
Technology:

The students could use internet to find articles for their homework assignments.

The students could use online dictionaries to find definitions of unfamiliar words.
Special Education:

The reading materials will be given according to the students’ reading levels.

The teacher will read the text to the struggling readers.

The teacher can ask the students to answer the questions about the text rather than write
them down.
Lesson 1
Vocabulary
Focus: The students will learn how to use context clues to figure out meaning of unfamiliar
words by reading the story “Thanks, King” Jim Thorpe from the book Lives of the Athletes by
Kathleen Krull.
Attention-grabber:
“Today Chabarubas were supposed to perform in our school. However, their drummer got a very
nasty cold, and they had to reschedule.”
Who are Chabarubas? What can you tell about them from the context?
Mini-lesson:

I will explain to the student that sometimes we could use the context to figure out the
meaning of unfamiliar words.

I will demonstrate or read the following example from the blurb of the book.
“Babe Didrikson Zaharias won eighty-two golf tournaments- and when she beat a man, she
_____________________, “And me just a little old gal!””

What word fits best here? ( expected answers -said, screamed, yelled)

I will record the answers on the board.

I will inform the students that the word the author had used in this sentence is gloated.

I will ask the children to think about what Babe Didrikson might have felt when she was
the first woman to beat a man.

I will ask them to come up with a definition for the word gloat based on the context.
I will define the word gloat.
Objective:
1. The students will learn how to use context, surrounding words and sentences to figure out
the meaning of unfamiliar words.
2. The students will learn new vocabulary words and write sentences with those words.
3. The student will identify the genre of the book.
Materials:
1. Book- Lives of the Athletes by Kathleen Krull
2. Worksheets
Procedure:

I will give out worksheets and ask the students to look through it before they start
reading.

I will give out copies of the story and ask the students to read silently (or the students
could take turns reading out loud)

I will ask the students to fill out the worksheet as they read the story.

The students will share their definitions with the rest of the class and will explain why
they came to such conclusions.

I will give the actual definitions, and the students will write them down in their
worksheets.
Assessment:

I will walk around the room and look at students’ responses.

During the discussion I will be able to tell how many students participate and how many
students seem confused. If students don’t actively participate, I will go over the
worksheet with the whole class.

For homework, the students will be asked to write sentences using the vocabulary words
from the worksheet.
Worksheet
1. The word spectators most likely
means________________________________________________
__________________Which context clues did you use?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
________________________________________
Definition:
__________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
2. The word campaigned most likely means
_____________________________________________________
How can you
tell?__________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
____________________________________
Definition:
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
3. The words fabled most likely
means________________________________________________
Why do you think
so?___________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
____________________________________
Definition:
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
4. The word prejudice most likely
means______________________________________________
How did you figure that out?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
____________________________________
Definition:
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
5. The word petition most likely means
______________________________________________________
__________________
Why?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Definition:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Lesson 2
Identifying the Themes
State standard:
Focus: The students will learn how to use the main idea to identify the theme through reading
the book Albert Einstein a Biography by Milton Meltzer.
Attention –grabber:
“If you were to write a book, what lesson would you teach your readers about life?”
Mini-lesson:

I will explain that writers write books for different purposes. One of such purposes is to
share an opinion about life and teach their readers a certain lesson.

I will define the word theme.

I will explain that every piece of literature has a theme or multiple themes.

I will remind the students how to find the main idea and inform them that we could use
the main idea to identify the theme.

I will make an example using the story The Three Little Pigs. I will explain that one of
the main ideas in that story is that the pig who built the strongest house survived the wolf.
I will then ask the students what kind of lesson it might teach us. I will record the
students’ answers on the board.

I will then explain that those are the themes of the story.
Objectives:
The students will be able to:

Define the term theme.

Explain how the main idea is different from the theme.

Identify the theme using the main idea

Identify the main idea using the theme
Materials:

Book – Albert Einstein a Biography by Milton Meltzer

Notebooks

Worksheets
Procedure:

I will give out worksheets and ask the students to read the story.

I will explain that the students will have to refer to the main ideas in the story to
identify the themes.

The students will work in groups and will discuss their answers before writing them
in their worksheets.
Assessment:

As the students discuss the theme of the story of the Three Little Pigs, I will be able to
tell if they understand the difference between the main idea and the theme.

I will walk around the room as they students work in groups and make sure that their
answers are correct.
Follow-up:
For homework I will ask the students to read an article from newspapers and to identify at least
one theme.
Worksheet
Main Idea
Albert Einstein worked hard all
his life to become a great
scientist.
Albert’s teachers and even his
own parents did not believe in
Theme
him, but he proved them all
wrong.
Lesson 3
Topic: Making Inferences
Grade: 4
Focus: The students will learn how to make inferences from the text through reading the
biography of Benjamin Banneker from the book Black Stars of Colonial and Revolutionary
Times African Americans Who Lived Their Dreams by Jim Haskins.
Attention-grabber:
“I should have never given my dog a chicken bone. They charged me $850 at the animal hospital
that night!”

What do you think happen to the dog?

Are chicken bones bad for dogs?

Do you think I will ever let my dog eat a chicken bone again?
Mini-lesson:

I will explain to the students that, even though I did not mention anything about my dog
getting sick, we were able to figure that out based on what was said. That means we made
an inference.

I will record on the board the definition of the verb “infer”.

I will explain that making inferences is making logical guesses using clues from the text.
Making inferences helps us understand what we read better and to read beyond the text.

I will explain that making inferences is a very important skill because it develops our
thinking and common sense.
Objectives:
The students will be able to:

Define the skill “making inferences”

Explain why it is important to make inferences.

Make inferences from the text
Materials:

Book – Black Stars of Colonial and Revolutionary Times African American who Lived
Their Dreams by Jim Haskins

Notebooks

Worksheets
Procedure:

I will give out the worksheets.

I will read the story of Benjamin Banneker to the students.

I will stop reading occasionally and ask the students to answer the questions on their
worksheets.
Assessment:

The worksheets will demonstrate if the students understand the concept of making
inferences.
Follow-up:
The students will be given graphic organizers where they would have to make inferences from
the books they are currently reading.
Worksheet:
1. Why do you think there were strict laws against interracial
marriages?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2. What can you infer about colonial schools?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
3. Why do you think only few books were available at the time?
What can that tell you about education during colonial times?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
4. What kind of person do you think George Ellicott was?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
5. Why do you think Benjamin Banneker sent a copy of his
calendar to Thomas Jefferson?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Lesson 4
Topic: Writing a Biography
Focus: The students will learn how to write a biography by interviewing a family
member.
Attention-grabber:
Do you have a role model in your family? Why do you look up to that person? Why is
that person important to you?
Mini-lesson:
I will read a biography of Barack Obama. I will point out how the author included all the
features of biography in the biography of Barack Obama such as specific dates,
significant events, background information and names of family members. I will explain
that those are all important elements of biographies that the students would have to
incorporate in their writing pieces.
Objectives:
The students will be able to:

List all the features of biography.

Collect necessary information for the biographical piece through an interview.

Write a well-developed biography.
Materials:

Biography of Barack Obama from the website http://gardenofpraise.com

Graphic organizers

Notebooks
Procedure:
Prior to this lesson, I will give out these graphic organizers and ask the students to
interview a family member.
Person’s name, date
of birth and place.
Personal
background (
important dates,
education,
occupation)
Personal traits
Important events
Current situation

I will ask the students to write the first draft of the biography listing all the events
in sequence.

1.
For the second draft I will ask the students to add:
More adjectives to describe the person and make examples.
2. The feelings that the person had when certain events took place.
3. Interesting and surprising facts that will make the reader interested.
4. What you admire about the character.
5. A lesson that the reader can learn from the person you writing about.

The students will revise their biographical pieces.
Assessment:
I will use the rubric to grade the biographies.
Follow-up:
For homework the students will have to compare and contrast biography to fiction.