Bio-graph: Graphing Life Events
Author
Susan Spangler
Fredonia, New York
Grade Band
9-12
Estimated Lesson Time
Four 50-minute sessions
Overview
This interdisciplinary lesson combines the precision
of a graph with the subject matter of personal
experience. Students will interview others in an
attempt to choose life events that hold significance
(for whatever reason) for them and then use a
rating system to communicate their importance to
others. Students can then use this document to
motivate and inspire writing for personal narratives
and essays, and the lesson can be a resource for writing ideas that the
students come back to repeatedly throughout the school year.
From Theory to Practice
Donald Graves said that to teach writing well, teachers should know at least
five details about the lives and interests of each child they teach. This lesson
helps teachers do that, and it also helps students get to know each other. In
this lesson, students also employ multiple intelligences when they use graphs
to express their feelings about the incidents they will write about.
Further Reading
Anderson, Carl. How’s It Going: A Practical Guide to Conferring with Student
Writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000
Gazin, Ann. “Reading and Writing Workshop: Focus on Autobiography.”
Instructor 109.5 (Jan/Feb 2000): 47-52.
Holmes, Leigh H. “Linkages of Nonfiction and Selfhood: The Places of Personal
Essays.” English Journal 91.4 (March 2002): 64-68.
Leggo, Carl. “The Story Always Ends with Etc.: Autobiography and Poetry.”
English Quarterly 29.3-4 (1997): 67-86.
Student Objectives
Students will
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Interview each other to determine significant life events.
Reflect on significant events in their lives and consider their influence.
Graphically represent important life events.
Describe these events and explain their importance through writing.
Resources
 Bio-graph Rubric
 Partner Checklist
 Possible Interview Questions
 Graphic Map
 Graph paper, rulers, pencils, pens, and construction paper
Instructional Plan
Resources
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Graph paper
Rulers
Pencils and pens
Construction paper
Possible Interview Questions
Partner Checklist
Bio-graph Rubric
Graphic Map
Preparation
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Gather graph paper, rulers, pencils/pens, and construction paper if you
don’t have Internet access.
Prepare enough copies of the Possible Interview Questions, Partner
Checklist, and Bio-graph Rubric handouts for each of your students.
Test the ReadWriteThink Graphic Map on your computers to familiarize
yourself with the tool and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in
installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.
Instruction and Activities
Session One
1. Have students work in pairs to interview other students whom they do
not know well. These interviews may last 30 minutes or longer.
2. Ask students to listen for significant life events that they can later
incorporate into biographical pieces on the student they interview.
Emphasize that detail is important at this stage.
3. Have students use the Possible Interview Questions handout as a guide
for the interviews, but prompt them to follow up on interesting answers
with probing questions.
Session Two
1. Ask students to make list of the most important/influential events in their
partner’s life so far. These can be happy, sad, or even traumatic times.
Encourage students to concentrate on variety. Along with each event,
have students list the year that the event occurred.
2. Have the students choose 10 of the events and give each one a rating
from –3 (extremely negative) to +3 (extremely positive).
3. Next, have students use the Graphic Map to create a visual
representation of the information. Demonstrate the process that students
should follow as they graph the information:
a. Enter a title and names on the first screen.
b. Click the Next link at the top right of the screen.
c. Select Other on screen 2, and type an appropriate label, such as
“life events.”
d. Click the Next link at the top right of the screen.
e. On the next screen, select the “3, 2, 1/ –1, –2, –3” option for
rating events.
f. Click the Next link at the top right of the screen.
g. On the subsequent screens, describe each of the 10 events they
selected in step 2 of the session.
h. Select a picture to represent the event, and select the appropriate
rating (–3 to +3).
4. (Alternative option) If you do not have access to the Internet in your
classroom or a computer lab, follow this procedure instead:
a. Give each student a piece of graph paper, and have them graph
the 10 events, with the rating going on the vertical axis and the
year going on the horizontal axis.
b. Students should join the 10 dots with straight lines.
c. Have students transfer the rough graph onto construction paper.
d. Beside each graphed event, have students write a short description
and add illustrations.
5. When the graph is finished, have each student confer with the interview
partner and choose two of the events to write about.
6. Have students write short descriptions of those events (about one
paragraph) and describe how those events have been influential in their
partner’s life. Students may need to get additional information in order to
expand on the incident for a lengthier piece in session three.
Session Three
1. Have students expand on one of the descriptions they wrote during
session two.
2. Emphasize that students should be sure to describe how the event they
write about has influenced the lives of their partners, using information
they gathered during the interview process.
3. If necessary, have students can continue their writing at home. Indicate
that students should have finished drafts of their descriptions at the
beginning of the next session.
Session Four
1. After students have finished their biographical pieces, they should
exchange them with their partners for peer review.
2. Have each student use the Partner Checklist handout to assess their
partner’s draft for accuracy, mood, and significance.
3. Emphasize that students should offer specific suggestions for
improvement.
4. During the remaining class time, have students begin the process of
revising their work, using the Partner Checklist as a guide. Additional
peer review can be added to create polished pieces for portfolios.
5. Ask students to submit their work at the beginning of the next class
session.
Extensions
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If computers and the appropriate software are available,students can use
Microsoft Excel to graph the events. Students could also use the Timeline
Tool, adding a rating to each event’s description. Students should save
the graph or timeline and list of events so that they have ready ideas
throughout the rest of the school year.
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As a book report alternative, students can create bio-graphs for specific
literary characters and plot events.
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Biographies of famous people (politicians, entertainers, sports figures)
are available on the Academy of Achievement Web site. Students could
complete a Bio-graph of a famous person from history, entertainment,
sports, or popular culture.
Web Resources
Academy of Achievement
http://www.achievement.org
This site provides biographies of world politicians, celebrities, and sports
figures. It can be used for an extended lesson or for examples of
biographic writing.
Graphic Life Map
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=74
This 6–8 ReadWriteThink lesson focuses on a similar activity, but has
students write autobiographies.
Student Assessment/Reflections
1. Students will obviously be reflecting on how the chosen events have
influenced the lives of their partners through writing. They could also
reflect on the effect that the graph had on their perceptions of the
events. Did making a graph of the life events show them a pattern of
incidents? For the partner, did seeing the events on a graph made by
someone else change their perception of the incidents? Did the graphing
partner rate the event the same way the other partner would have?
2. Students will also have a chance to reflect on their partner’s piece during
drafting. Ask them to consider whether the partners effectively captured
the feelings they had about the event. If not, they should suggest
revisions during drafting for a more accurate result. Writers can also
reflect on how the graphing affected their writing process and the
difficulty (or ease) of recounting someone else’s life events in interesting
and appropriate ways.
3. In assessing this piece, use the Bio-graph Rubric to consider drafting
processes (including interviewing and graphing), the finished piece, and
student reflections on their writing.
NCTE/IRA Standards
5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use
different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with
different audiences for a variety of purposes.
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).