Name: __________________________________________________ Date Received: _____________________
Biography Scrapbook Book Report
Due on _________________
Objective: The students will be able to discuss the elements of a biography in relation to their own biography.
Students will take notes on the life of a famous individual using a timeline. Lastly, students will write a paragraph on
each memento so that they may be able to do an oral presentation on the life of the person which they read about.
Description:
A scrapbook is a book that is a collection of pictures and mementos that serve as a memory bank
for a particular person. It tells things this person did and things that were important to him or
her. The scrapbook you will make will be a representation of the events in the life of the person
you are reading about. You will want to put yourself in this person’s shoes and think about
what he or she would find important enough to save in a scrapbook.
Technology Use:
The following website may be used in the creation of the timeline and may also be
a good place to jot down notes on each date or event in the person’s life:
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroomresources/student-interactives/timeline-30007.html
Directions:
 As you read, take notes of things that happened in the person’s life, what he or she thinks
is important, friends, interests or hobbies, and events that he or she might have recorded
with photographs. (Use the timeline provided or post-it notes.)
 Plan what things will be in the scrapbook using the organizer provided to you. You will
have to make or collect at least 10 mementos (things) from their life. You are not limited
to the things mentioned below, these are just examples of what you might want to
include:
 You can draw pictures to represent photographs of childhood memories up to the
present or time of death
 Make ticket stubs to represent entrance to events
 Write letters from other people in his/her life
 Make trophies, ribbons, or awards earned
 Birth of children announcements
 College certificates
 Marriage announcement
 Make mementos you will put in the scrapbook.
 Photocopy pictures, create your own mementos, color, paint, glitter, crafts, etc.
 Construct your scrapbook.
 You may want to use a marble notebook, a binder, or create a scrapbook with
construction paper and yarn. Be creative!
 Write a summary for each memento.
 Each memento must have a written paragraph, 6-10 sentences, explaining why
this was important in the person’s life.
 You can put more than one memento per page if you choose.
Be prepared to present an oral book report using your scrapbook as your visual to explain about
the life of the person that you chose.
If you have any questions or concerns, please discuss them with me prior to the night before the
book report is due. Remember you have several weeks to work on this.
Think About/Criteria for Grading:
Content: Did you represent at least 10 events from the life of the person
whose biography you read?
Content/Explanatory Paragraphs: Did you write a summary for the
mementos explaining their importance in the life of the person?
Content: Did you write captions of at least 3 sentences for pictures you
drew or created?
Mechanics: Are the spelling, punctuation, and grammar correct on the
scrapbook page?
Oral Presentation: Did you select the more important details of your
person’s life to share aloud?
SCRAPBOOK PAGE PROJECT RUBRIC
Title: ___________________________________
EXCEPTIONAL
(4=A)
ADMIRABLE
(3=B)
Covers life events
in-depth with
details.
Knowledge of
person is
excellent.
Shows a deep
understanding of
the elements of a
biography.
Includes essential
biographical
information.
Knowledge of
person is good.
Includes some
biographical
information but
there are factual
errors.
Shows that the
reader has a good
understanding of
the elements of a
biography.
Memento
Explanatory
Summaries
Memento
summaries greatly
contribute to the
overall
effectiveness and
importance of the
project.
Mechanics
No misspellings or
grammatical errors
are noticeable.
Memento
summaries are
somewhat
contribute to the
overall
effectiveness and
importance of the
project.
A few misspellings
or mechanical
errors.
The reader shows
some
understanding of
the elements of a
biography but
more work is
needed.
Memento
summaries
attempt to
contribute to the
effectiveness of the
project, but to lack
some detail.
CATEGORY
Content
Elements of a
Biography
Grading Score:
Comments:
DEVELOPING
(2=C)
Grammatical or
spelling errors
somewhat
interfere with
reader’s
understanding.
/16
NEEDS
IMPROVEMENT
(1=D)
Biographical
information is
weak OR there are
several factual
errors.
The reader shows
only minimal
understanding of
the elements of a
biography.
Memento
summaries
significantly lack
depth and detail.
Grammatical or
spelling errors
greatly interfere
with reader’s
understanding.