Biography Written Report and Speech
Part 1: Book Report: You are going to write a book report about
your famous person’s life and accomplishments.
Select someone of interest to read about. While reading, complete
the graphic organizer using your notes and the book as a resource.
Make sure to use specific textual evidence.
Write a rough draft. Revise your rough draft using Biography
Teacher Rubric (see rubric below). Edit your rough draft using
revision checklist. Lastly, type up your report on Google Docs and
share with Mrs. Thyken.
REVISION CHECKLIST
IDEAS writing skill:
o My introduction paragraph states the person’s name and grabs
readers’ attention.
o My paper has three body paragraphs.
o Each paragraph is about a main event in the person’s
life.
o Each main event has two supporting details.
o Each main event and detail sentence is in my own words.
o My conclusion sums up or shares a feeling about the person.
SENTENCE FLUENCY writing skill:
o Each sentence is complete and makes sense.
o A variety of different transition words are used in the
writing.
Part 2: Book Report Speech: You will use your book report to write
a speech about your famous person’s life. The speech should be
about two minutes in length.
Decide on what you would like to include in your speech. Using the
following as a guide:
 Early life/childhood (date of birth, place of birth, etc.)
 Family (siblings, names of parents, etc.)
 Educational background (schools, college, etc.)
 Role Models (who inspired and believed)
 Challenges (what obstacles were faced)
 Accomplishments/Achievements (give a few examples)
Write you speech. Use the attached Graphic Organizer to help you
plan and prepare.
Practice your speech in front of your family. Here are some tips
for your presentation:
 Use first person tense (the word “I”) because you are
pretending to be the famous person.
 Write your speech on notecards/index cards.
 Time yourself to make sure your speech is close to 2 minutes
in length.
 Speak loud enough for everyone to hear you, even in the back
of the classroom.
 Try to memorize small parts of your speech so you can maintain
eye contact with your audience.
 Act believable by speaking confidently.
If desired, decide and gather items/objects to present that relate
to your person. Practice your speech again.
Here is a calendar of DUE dates and weekly Library focus . I will
provide time in class for you to work on the report writing and
speech practice time. You will have limited time in class to work
on reading the book and completing the graphic organizer.
Monday
Tuesday
Jan 4th
Project
Handed Out
Jan 11th
Jan 18th
Jan 25th
Feb 1st
Wednesday
Thursday
Get Book at Library
if needed.
Library Time to work
on reading and taking
notes.
Library Time to work
on reading and taking
notes.
Work on Rough Draft
of 5 paragraph paper
in library
Edit 5 paragraph
paper in library
Friday
Jan 8th
Book
Approval
Weekend
Start
Reading!!
Jan 22nd
Book
Finished
Start
Paper
Report
Start
Paper Due! Speech
Feb 8th
Work on Speech in
Library
Feb 15th
Present Speech Feb 17-19th
Biography Report: Teacher Rubric
Students will receive a score for each writing category.
Total points out of _____/15
Introduction
3. Developed introduction in paragraph form-catches reader
2. Simple beginning paragraph
1. Simple beginning sentence
0. Missing a beginning/introduction
Body: Organizes main ideas
3. Three or more developed main events; each event
organized into a paragraph
2. More than one main event organized into a paragraph;
events are somewhat developed
1. Events organized into simple sentences; no paragraphs
0. No organization of main events; random words and/or
phrases
Sentence Fluency
3. Uses three or more transition words in report
2. Uses two transition words in report
1. Uses one transition word in report
0. No transition words were used
Includes supportive details
3. Three or more supportive details in each main event
paragraph.
2. Two supportive details in each main event paragraph
1. Basic detail included about some events
0. No details included
Conclusion
3. Developed conclusion in paragraph form
2. Simple ending paragraph
1. Simple ending sentence
0. Missing an ending/conclusion