Biography Bottles
From this…
To this…
Due: November 6th to the Media Center
Each year I enjoy offering opportunities for the students to be creative in showing
their knowledge gained from a book. For the past several years, we have had a
Storybook Character Pumpkin Contest. Sadly, last year we had a pumpkin rot in our
library and the smell lingered for awhile. Therefore, I have decided to try something
different this year.
Students enjoy reading biographies, but this year they haven’t been as popular as in the
past. To encourage students to read more biographies, I am providing a contest for
the best Bottle Biography.
What is a Bottle Biography?
A Bottle Biography is a bottle made to look like a person from the past or present who
has made an important contribution. Students will select a biography from the media
center, MyOn, Pebble Go, or a website from the attached list to read. After reading
about the person, students will use supplies to create a Bottle Biography. Finally,
students will record a few facts about the selected person on an index card that will
be displayed in the media center with the bottle.
Supplies:
*A water bottle or 2-liter bottle for the body of your person
*Styrofoam ball or a round object to create a head on top of your bottle
*art supplies (markers, paint, glue, yarn, fabric, construction paper, etc.) to create
face, hair, clothing, glasses, etc. (anything your person was known for)
Tips:
Remove any stickers that are on the bottle, Empty & clean your bottle using warm water and
soap, Place sand/ pebbles in the bottom of the bottle to help it stand
Websites to find biographies:
http://www.pebblego.com/
(Username: cherokeees, Password: school)
www.biography.com/
www.infoplease.com/people.html
www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0855207.html
Suggestions of important people:
In social studies, each grade level is required by the GPS to cover specific people from history. I am listing these
people as suggestions because this activity will provide students with an additional opportunity to connect reading
and social studies. Your child does not have to choose one of these people, but I encourage it to increase academic
success in the classroom.
1st grade: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Sacagawea, Harriet Tubman,
Theodore Roosevelt, George Washington Carver
2nd grade: James Oglethorpe, Tomochichi, Mary Musgrove, Sequoyah, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Jimmy Carter
3rd grade: Paul Revere, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Mary McLeod Bethune, Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Eleanor Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall, Lyndon B. Johnson, César Chávez
4th grade: John Cabot, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Juan Ponce de León, Christopher Columbus, Henry Hudson, and
Jacques Cartier, King George III, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Benedict Arnold,
Patrick Henry, John Adams, Harriet Tubman,
5th grade: Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson,
Wright brothers, George Washington Carver, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, William McKinley, Theodore
Roosevelt
*This project is completely optional, but prizes will
be awarded for each grade level winner.