Teacher’s Guide: Biography
™
Reading Objectives
•C
omprehension: Compare and contrast;
Summarize or paraphrase information
• Tier Two Vocabulary: See book’s Glossary
• Word study: Emotion words
• Analyze the genre
• Respond to and interpret texts
• Make text-to-text connections
• Fluency: Read with prosody: phrasing
John Adams
Abigail Adams
Level U/50
Writing Objectives
• Writer’s tools: Direct quotes
• Write a biography using writingprocess steps
Related Resources
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Comprehension Question Card
Comprehension Power Tool Flip Chart
Using Genre Models to Teach Writing
F rederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth
(Level U/50)
Unit-at-a-Glance
Day 1
Prepare to Read
Day 2
Read “John Adams”*
Day 3
Read “Abigail Adams”*
Day 4
Reread “Abigail Adams”*
Day 5
Literature Circle Discussion/Reinforce Skills*
Days 6–15
®
B
While you are meeting with small groups, other
students can:
• read independently from your classroom library
• reflect on their learning in reading response
journals
• engage in literacy workstations
Write a biography using the process writing
steps on page 10.
e n c h m a r k
E
d u c a t i o n
C
o m p a n y
Day 1
Prepare to Read
Build Genre Background
• Write the word genre on chart paper. Ask: Who
can explain what the word genre means? (Allow
responses.) The word genre means “a kind of
something.” Would you rather listen to a blues song
or a rap song? Blues and rap are different genres,
or kinds, of music. Each has its own characteristics
that we can use to identify it. In the same way, we
can identify literary genres by their characteristics.
As readers, we pay attention to the genre because it
helps us anticipate what will happen or what we will
learn. As writers, we use our knowledge of genre to
help us develop and organize our ideas.
•A
sk: Who can name some literary genres? Let’s make
a list. Allow responses. Post the list on the classroom
wall as an anchor chart.
• Draw a concept web on chart paper or the chalkboard.
Write Biography in the center circle of the web.
•S
ay: A biography is one example of a literary genre.
Think of any biographies you know. How would you
define what a biography is?
•T
urn and Talk. Ask students to turn and talk to a
classmate and jot down any features of a biography
they can think of. Then bring students together
and ask them to share their ideas. Record them
on the group web. Reinforce the concept that all
biographies have certain common features.
Introduce the Book
• Distribute the book to each student. Read the title
aloud. Ask students to tell what they see on the
cover and table of contents.
• Ask students to turn to pages 2–3. Say: This week
we are going to read biographies that will help us
learn about this genre. First we’re going to focus
on this genre as readers. Then we’re going to study
biographies from a writer’s perspective. Our goal this
week is to really understand this genre.
• Ask a student to read aloud the text on pages 2–3
while others follow along. Invite a different student
to read the web on page 3.
• Point to your biographies web on chart paper. Say:
Let’s compare our initial ideas about biographies
with what we just read. What new features of this
genre did you learn? Allow responses. Add new
information to the class web.
• Post this chart in your classroom during your
Biography unit. Say: As we read biographies this
week, we will come back to this anchor chart. We
will look for how these features appear in each
biography we read.
2
• Ask students to turn to pages 4–5. Say: This book
presents important events and people in the lives of
John and Abigail Adams. Let’s read a few facts about
these two historic figures.
• Have a student read aloud the background
information while others follow along.
•S
ay: John and Abigail Adams both lived long, active
lives. They were vital to the success of the founding
of the United States. What can you infer, or tell, from
this? Allow responses. Prompt students to understand
that the couple loved their country, utilized their
leadership abilities to help others, and were devoted
to the cause of independence for the colonies.
Introduce the Tools for Readers and Writers:
Direct Quotes
• Read aloud “Direct Quotes” on page 4.
•S
ay: Many writers use direct quotes, or the exact
words people have said. Using this technique helps
writers bring scenes to life. Sometimes we get to hear
the subject speak for himself or herself, and other
times we get to hear what other people have said
to or about the subject. The biographies in this book
have many examples of direct quotes. Let’s practice
identifying direct quotes so we can recognize them
when we read the biographies.
• Distribute BLM 1 (Direct Quotes). Read aloud
sentence 1 with students.
•M
odel Identifying Direct Quotes: The first
sentence introduces the direct quote by explaining
that it comes from a letter Mark Twain wrote
home from a mining camp. Twain’s exact words are
enclosed in quotation marks and set off from the
rest of the sentence by a comma. By using a direct
quote, the author shows Twain’s voice, experience,
and humor.
• Ask students to work with a partner or in small
groups to identify the direct quotes in the remaining
sentences, name the source of each direct quote, and
write their own paragraphs using direct quotes.
• Bring the groups together to share their findings.
• Ask each group to read one of the paragraphs
they completed. Use the examples to build their
understanding of how and why writers use direct
quotes. Remind students that direct quotes can help
readers understand and make inferences about the
subject in a biography.
• Ask the groups to hand in their sentences. Transfer
student-completed and student-written sentences to
chart paper, title the page “Direct Quotes,” and post
it as an anchor chart in your classroom.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of the
guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-4509-2976-9
two biographies
Day 2
Before Reading
Direct Quotes
Introduce “John Adams”
Directions: Read each sentence. Underline each direct quote. Then write speech,
letter, or interview to identify the source of the quote.
1. Writing home from the mining camp, author Mark Twain said,
“It is true, all that glitters is not gold.”
letter
_________________________________________________________________
2. “Finishing it was the most remarkable feeling I’ve ever had,”
Rowling said when asked about the last book in the series, Harry
Potter and the Deadly Hallows.”
interview
_________________________________________________________________
3. The new President’s words rang out across the Mall in Washington,
D.C., “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can
do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
speech
_________________________________________________________________
Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph about a recent
experience at school using at least two direct quotes.
BLM 1
Set a Purpose for Reading
• Ask students to read the biography, focusing on
the genre elements they noted on the anchor
chart. They should also look for examples of
direct quotes and think about how the author’s
use of direct quotes helps them understand the
character of John Adams.
Reflect and Review
TWO BIOGRAPHIES
• Reread the biographies anchor chart or the web
on page 3 to review features of a biography.
• Ask students to turn to page 8. Ask: Based on
the title, photographs, and artworks, who do
you predict this biography will be about? Allow
students to respond.
• Invite students to scan the text and look for
the boldfaced words (irritable, enraged,
dismayed, somber, frustrated). Say: As you
read, pay attention to these words. If you don’t
know what they mean, try to use clues in the
surrounding text to help you define them.
We’ll come back to these words after we read
the biography.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
•T
urn and Talk. Write one or more of the following
questions on chart paper.
Name other literary genres besides biographies.
How can you recognize these genres?
What did you learn today about biographies?
What are direct quotes? How can writers use them
to communicate ideas to their readers?
Ask partners or small groups to discuss their ideas
and report them back to the whole group as a way
to summarize the day’s learning.
Management Tips
• Throughout the week, you may wish to use
some of the reflect and review questions as
prompts for reader response journal entries in
addition to turn and talk activities.
• Have students create genre study folders. Keep
blackline masters, notes, small-group writing,
and checklists in the folders.
• Create anchor charts by writing whole-group
discussion notes and mini-lessons on chart
paper. Hang charts in the room where students
can see them.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Read “John Adams”
• Place students in groups based on their reading
levels. Ask students to read the biography
silently, whisper-read, or read with partners.
• Confer briefly with individual students to
monitor their understanding of the text and their
use of fix-up strategies.
Management Tip
sk students to place self-stick notes in the
A
margins where they notice examples of direct
quotes or features of the genre.
After Reading
Build Comprehension: Compare
and Contrast
• Lead a student discussion using the “Analyze
the Subject” and “Focus on Comprehension”
questions on page 16. Then, use the following
steps to explicitly model how to compare and
contrast information in a biography.
•E
xplain: We learned yesterday that a biography
tells about the important people, places, times,
and events in a person’s life. Readers get a
chance to learn about the subject’s family,
childhood, and personality. When you read a
biography, you can compare and contrast the
two biographies
3
Day 2 (cont.)
subject’s actions over time to analyze his or her
character and better understand what made the
person great.
• Distribute copies of BLM 2 (Compare and Contrast)
and/or draw a chart like the one below.
•M
odel: When I analyze the subject of a biography,
I read about each stage in the person’s life and
ways the person stays the same or changes. Do the
subject’s circumstances change? Does the subject
become wealthier or more powerful? Do his or her
views change? These changes may reveal traits of the
biography’s subject.
•G
uide Practice: Work with students to compare and
contrast the subject’s traits, actions, and views. Help
them identify things the subject did and said that
reveal character and attitude. Ask students to think
about how the subject’s words and deeds create a
dynamic picture of a leader.
• Have students keep BLM 2 in their genre studies folder.
John Adams
As a Boy/
Young Man
As an Adult/
Elderly Man
Likes and
Dislikes
loved to read; planned to
be farmer; disliked grouchy
teacher; loved discussing
politics
delighted in rebellious acts of
colonists—except for attacks
on British officials
Personality
Traits
independent; intelligent;
fair-minded; willing to
sacrifice for country
realistic about difficulties of
fighting Britain; unwilling to
bend principles; opinionated
and argumentative; devoted
to wife
Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for
ELA Assessment
• Remind students that when they answer questions
on standardized assessments, they must be able
to support their answers with facts or clues and
evidence directly from the text.
• Use the Comprehension Question Card with small
groups of students to practice answering textdependent comprehension questions.
• Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Find
It! questions. The answer to a Find It! question is
right in the book. You can find the answer in one
place in the text.
4
two biographies
•M
odel. Read the first Find It! question. Say: When
I read the question, I look for important words that
tell me what to look for in the book. What words
in this question do you think will help me? (Allow
responses.) Yes, I’m looking for the words marry and
Abigail Smith. On page 8, I read, “In October 1764,
John married Abigail Smith.” This sentence answers
the question.
• Use the Flip Chart to help you develop other Find It!
questions for students.
Focus on Vocabulary: Emotion Words
•E
xplain/Model. Read aloud “Emotion Words”
on page 4. Say: Emotion words reveal people’s
personalities and their feelings about themselves,
other people, or events. For example, I might say,
“I was scared but determined when I went
whitewater rafting for the first time.” The words
scared and determined are emotion words that
explain how I feel about a particular event and show
something about my personality. Paying attention to
emotion words helps readers better understand the
people they read about.
•P
ractice. Ask students to think of emotion words
they already know. List the words and discuss the
emotions they describe. (For example: lonely,
ashamed, honorable, cooperative)
•S
ay: Let’s find the boldfaced words in this
biography. What can you do if you don’t know
what one of these words means? (Allow responses.)
Besides looking in the glossary or a dictionary, you
can look for clues in the text to help you figure out
the meaning of the unfamiliar word. You can also
think about the emotions the word stirs up and how
those emotions apply to the event at hand.
•A
sk students to work with a partner to complete
the “Focus on Words” activity on page 17 using
BLM 3 (Focus on Emotion Words). Explain that they
should read the sentences around the boldfaced
word to find context clues that help define the word.
Then they should check the glossary to see if their
predictions were correct. Finally, they should think
about how the emotions that go with the word
affect their view of the person or people the
word describes.
•T
ransfer Through Oral Language. Ask groups
of students to share their findings. Then challenge
individual students to say an original sentence using
each word in context and act out the meaning of
the sentence. Ask other students to listen, observe,
and explain how the actions help them understand
the word.
• Ask students to save their work in their genre studies
folders to continue on Days 3 and 4.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Day 3
Page
Word
Dictionary
Definition
Who the Word Is
Describing
7
irritable
short-tempered
young John’s teacher
8
enraged
filled with anger
colonists
9
dismayed
disappointed and
confused
people (colonists)
11
somber
serious
John Adams
13
frustrated
discouraged and upset
John Adams
Reflect and Review
•T
urn and Talk. Ask partners or small groups to
reread the “Features of a Biography” web on page 3
and decide whether all of these features are present
in “John Adams.” Ask groups to share their findings
with evidence from the text.
Fluency: Read with Prosody: Phrasing
• You may wish to have students reread the biography
with partners during independent reading time. Have
them focus on reading with phrasing. Explain that
when we talk, we say words in groups, or phrases, so
we should do the same thing when we read. Read
aloud the section “Farm Boy” on page 7
and show how you pause between phrases using
meaning and structure to guide you. Invite students
to choose a section to read aloud with phrasing.
Afterward, discuss how they decided where to pause.
Note Regarding This Teacher’s Guide
Each book provides an opportunity for students
to focus on an additional comprehension strategy
that is typically assessed on state standards. The
strategy is introduced on page 4 (the third item
in the “Tools for Readers and Writers” section)
with text-specific follow-up questions found on
the Reread pages. Some Reread sections also
introduce an advanced language arts concept
or comprehension strategy, such as protagonist/
antagonist, perspective, or subtitles, because
students at this level should be able to consider
more than one comprehension strategy per text.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Before Reading
Introduce “Abigail Adams”
• Ask students to turn to page 18. Say: Today
we are going to read “Abigail Adams.” This
biography is written in a different format
from the other biography we read. Notice
how in the margins there are notes to you, the
reader. The first time we read the text, we will
read to understand the biography, focusing on
details about the subject and her life. Tomorrow,
we will read this biography like a writer and use
it as a model for writing.
•S
ay: Let’s look at the title, artworks, and
photographs of this biography. What information
do you predict it will include? Give students time
to share their predictions.
• Ask students to scan the text and look for
the boldfaced words (suffered, longed,
stubbornly, brokenhearted, endured).
Ask: What do you notice about these words?
Point out that the words express or convey
strong emotions.
•S
ay: As you read, try to figure out the meanings
of these words. Look for context clues in the
text. After we read, we will talk about how you
used context clues and your own experiences to
understand the words.
Set a Purpose for Reading
• Ask students to read the biography, focusing on
Abigail Adams’ changes and what they reveal
about her character. Encourage them to notice
the author’s use of direct quotes.
Read “Abigail Adams”
• Place students in groups based on their reading
levels. Ask students to read the biography
silently, whisper-read, or read with partners.
• Confer briefly with individuals to monitor their
understanding use of fix-up strategies.
After Reading
Build Comprehension: Compare
and Contrast
•S
ay: Yesterday we compared and contrasted
the early and later life of John Adams. We
noted how Adams’s traits and actions changed
or stayed the same over time. How did Abigail
Adams change over time? What traits and actions
stayed the same? What was her impact on the
world as a young woman and older woman?
Allow responses. Synthesize students’ responses
into a chart.
two biographies
5
Day 3 (cont.)
Abigail Adams
As a Girl/
Young Woman
As an Adult/
Elderly Woman
longed to go to school; liked
expressing and defending
strong opinions; liked
Boston but disliked British
troops in city; happy in
marriage and family life
feared for safety of husband,
children, country; disliked
British control; missed husband
terribly; wanted to go home;
hated slavery
Personality
Traits
stubborn, opinionated, hard
working; devoted to family;
dutiful
excellent farm manager;
thought like a stateswoman
Actions and
Reactions
educated at home; married
at 20; ran home and farm
while husband was away;
five children, heartbroken
when 2nd daughter died
boycotted British tea; wrote
many letters to husband; ran
farm; helped others; spoke
up for women’s rights; joined
husband in France, England;
hosted formal dinners as wife
of Vice President, President
Likes and
Dislikes
•D
iscuss Subjects Across Texts: Lead a discussion
using the following questions.
How are Abigail and John Adams similar in
character? How are they different?
What events most influenced Abigail and John?
What do you think accounts for the different ways in
which Abigail and John Adams spent their lives?
Where has the author used direct quotes? How do
these help you better understand Abigail and John?
Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for
ELA Assessment
• Use the Comprehension Question Card with
small groups of students to practice answering
text-dependent questions.
•S
ay: Today I will help you learn how to answer
Look Closer! questions. The answer to a Look Closer!
question is in the book. You have to look in more
than one place, though. You find the different parts
of the answer and put them together.
•M
odel. Read the first Look Closer! question. Say:
I will show you how I answer a Look Closer! question.
This question asks me to identify the stated main
idea. I know because it says, “What sentence tells the
main idea?” Now I need to look for other important
information to find in the book. What information
do you think will help me? (Allow responses.) Yes,
I’m looking for the stated main idea of the last
paragraph on page 26. The first sentence says that
Abigail’s final job as first lady was to make the White
House into a home. The other sentences give details
about the house and how Abigail adapted to living
6
two biographies
in it, so the first sentence tells the main idea. I have
found the answer in the book. I looked in several
sentences to find the answer.
•G
uide Practice. Use the Flip Chart to help you
develop other Look Closer! questions.
Focus on Vocabulary: Emotion Words
• Ask students to work with a partner to complete the
“Focus on Words” activity on page 29 using BLM 3.
Have students share their findings.
•T
ransfer Through Oral Language. Invite pairs of
students to act out a situation in which someone
experiences one of the emotions using dialogue,
gestures, and facial expressions.
Dictionary
Definition
Who the Word Is
Describing
suffered
had to put up
with difficult
circumstances
Abigail Adams
19
longed
wanted strongly
Abigail Adams
19
stubbornly
obstinately
unyielding
Abigail Adams
21
brokenhearted
extremely sad
Abigail and John Adams
26
endured
experienced
the hardship of
something
Abigail Adams
Page
Word
18
Reflect and Review
• Turn
and Talk. Ask partners or small groups to
discuss the following questions.
Do you agree that Abigail Adams was stubborn and
dutiful? Explain why or why not.
What actions or words show that Abigail was
intelligent and patriotic?
List some facts about Abigail Adams that
demonstrate her impact on the world.
Fluency: Read with Prosody: Phrasing
• You may wish to have students reread the biography
with partners during independent reading time.
Have them focus on reading with phrasing. Remind
them to pause between phrases, using meaning and
structure as a guide, to help listeners understand
what they are saying.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Day 4
Before Reading
Set a Purpose for Rereading
• Have students turn to page 30. Say: Until now, we
have been thinking about biographies from the
perspective of the reader. Learning the features of
biographies has helped us be critical readers. Now we
are going to put on a different hat. We are going to
reread “Abigail Adams” and think like writers. We’re
going to read the annotations in the margins to
understand what the author did and why she did it.
Reread “Abigail Adams”
• Place students in groups based on their reading
levels. Ask students to read the biography silently,
whisper-read, or read with partners.
• Confer briefly with individuals to monitor their
understanding of the text and annotations.
After Reading
Analyze the Mentor Text
•E
xplain to students that the text they have just read
is a mentor text, a text that teaches. This text is
designed to help them understand what writers do
to write a biography and why.
• Read and discuss each mentor annotation with
students. Focus on the writer’s style, development of
character and events, and use of literary techniques
such as direct quotes.
Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for
ELA Assessment
• Use the Comprehension Question Card with
small groups of students to practice answering
text-dependent questions.
•S
ay: Today I will help you learn how to answer Prove
It! questions. The answer to a Prove It! question is
not stated in the book. You have to look for clues
and evidence to prove the answer.
•M
odel. Read the second Prove It! question. Say:
I will show you how I answer a Prove It! question.
This question asks me to analyze a character. I
know because I must find clues that support one
of Abigail’s character traits. Now I need to look for
other important information in the question. What
information do you think will help me? (Allow
responses.) Yes, I need to look on page 19 to find
evidence that Abigail was willing to let others know
how she felt.
I read that Abigail freely shared her strong opinions
and stubbornly defended them. I have located the
clues I need.
•G
uide Practice. Use the Flip Chart to help you
develop other Prove It! questions and support
students’ text-dependent comprehension strategies.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Analyze the Writer’s Craft
• Ask students to turn to page 30. Explain: In
the next few days, you will write your own
biography. First, let’s think about how the
author wrote “Abigail Adams.” When she
developed this biography, she followed certain
steps. You can follow these same steps.
• Read step 1. Say: When you write your
biography, you’ll first decide on a person to
write about. Let’s turn back to pages 6 and
18–19 and reread the opening paragraphs of
the biographies to see why the author chose to
write about these people. (Write the subjects’
names and the reasons students offer on chart
paper.) I might write a biography about Sally
Ride, an astronaut and author. What other
people would be good subjects for a biography?
Why? Capture ideas on chart paper.
• Read step 2. Say: In each biography we read, the
author included information about the subject’s
parents and other people who were important
in the subject’s life. These people helped form
the subject’s character. For example, Thomas
Jefferson often argued with John Adams about
how to govern the new country. Let’s list people
who were important in our subject’s life and how
they were important. Write students’ ideas on
chart paper.
• Read step 3. Say: Before you write, list the
important events in the subject’s life and the
times and places they happened. Think about
how the settings and events are connected.
What important issues or problems are
highlighted through events in the subject’s life?
Choose one of the subjects and some of the
significant people the class has brainstormed.
Work as a group to outline important events
in the subject’s life and times and places
they occurred.
Build Comprehension: Summarize or
Paraphrase Information
•E
xplain: When authors write biographies, they
generally devote a section to each major event
or period in the subject’s life. Readers need to be
able to pick out the most important ideas in each
section and state them in their own words. For
example, here is one way we could summarize
the section called “A Smart and Stubborn
Girl”: Abigail Adams had a busy childhood as
she worked and learned at home. Her parents
encouraged her to think for herself. Figuring out
the important ideas and putting them in our own
words helps us better understand and remember
what we learn about the subject.
two biographies
7
Day 4 (cont.)
Day 5
•M
odel: In the section “Farm Boy,” the author tells
about John’s birthplace, his family, and his interests
as a boy. I can sum up these details: John Adams was
born in 1735 into a humble farming family. His love
of learning and admiration for his father led him to
Harvard College at the age of fifteen. Summarizing
this section helps me remember its important ideas.
•G
uide Practice. Invite students to work in small
groups to summarize and paraphrase at least one
section of “John Adams” and “Abigail Adams.” Ask
the groups to share their summaries and explain how
they help them better understand the biographies.
Analyze & Synthesize
Reflect and Review
• Ask and discuss the following questions.
How is reading a biography similar to and different
from writing a biography?
Which of the emotion words you added to your
vocabulary this week do you think is most powerful?
Which biographical subject do you find most
interesting? Why?
How can you use emotion words and direct quotes to
improve your writing?
Fluency: Read with Prosody: Phrasing
• You may wish to have students reread the biography
with partners during independent reading time. Have
them focus on phrasing. Ask each pair to choose
and copy a section from one of the biographies and
prepare to read it aloud by marking the phrases.
Remind students that we group words in ways that
make sense, sound right, and follow how the author
has structured the sentences. Demonstrate how you
would read the second section on page 7. Then invite
pairs to take turns reading their sections aloud.
8
two biographies
Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for
ELA Assessment
• Use the Comprehension Question Card with
small groups of students to practice answering
text-dependent questions.
•S
ay: Today I will help you learn how to answer Take
It Apart! questions. To figure out the answer to a
Take It Apart! question, think like the author.
•M
odel. Read the first Take It Apart! question.
Say: This question asks me to think about the
author’s purpose. I know because it asks me to
decide why the author began the biography with
a specific quote. Now I need to look for other
important information in the question. What
information do you think will help me? (Allow
responses.) Yes, I need to look on page 18, read
the direct quote, and think about what it shows.
I read that Abigail is writing to her husband. She
says it is better to be herself and an American
than to be a queen. This quote gives a strong
impression of a proud American. I think the author
included this quote to help readers understand the
person they will be reading about. Considering
what the quote shows about Abigail helped me to
answer the question.
• Use the Flip Chart to help you develop other Take It
Apart! questions.
Summarize & Make Connections Across Texts
• Engage students in a discussion about the two
biographies in this book. Invite a different student to
summarize each biography. Encourage other students
to add their ideas and details.
• Ask students to turn to the inside back cover of
the book. Say: Good readers think about how
literary works are related. We know, for example,
that both of these biographies share certain
features. They both include information about the
subject’s early life and family. They both include
quotes that reveal information about the subject’s
personality and feelings. What else do they have in
common? (Allow responses.) Today we will think
about how the subjects in these two biographies
are alike and different and the impact each made
on history.
• Ask students to work individually or in small groups
to complete BLM 4 (Make Connections Across Texts).
•C
lass Discussion or Literature Circles. Facilitate
a whole-class discussion or keep students in their
small groups for a literature circle discussion. If you
choose to conduct literature circles, share the rules
for good discussion. Each group should discuss and
be prepared to share its ideas about the prompts.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Day 5 (cont.)
Which details in the biographies taught you the most
about each subject? Why?
How are both biography subjects important to
American history?
Which subject do you admire more? Why?
• Tell students that at the end of their discussion, you
will ask them to share the important text-to-text,
text-to-world, and text-to-self connections they
have made.
• While each small group of students discusses the
book, confer with individuals or small groups. You
may wish to revisit elements of the genre, take
running records, or model fluent reading skills.
John Adams
Abigail Adams
Attributes
loved learning, fair-minded,
argumentative, patriotic,
enduring, hot-tempered
smart, stubborn,
opinionated, devoted, selfsacrificing, independent,
skilled, resilient, patriotic
Important
Influences
father, Boston lawyer who
argued against British
intrusion, Jefferson
father, mother,
grandmother, husband
Challenges
forming government,
persuading Europe to support
new country, political
disagreements, losing daughter
running farm without
help, being separated from
husband, making home in
unfinished White House,
losing daughter
Historical
Importance
key role in going to war with
Britain, forming United States,
first vice president, second
president
strong, independent woman
who spoke for women’s
rights; indirectly shaped
United States
Rules for Good Discussion
• Pay attention to the person who is talking and do
not interrupt him or her.
• Think about what others are saying so you can
respond and add to their ideas.
• Allow and encourage everyone to speak.
• Be respectful of everyone’s ideas.
Reinforce Skills
If time permits, choose from the following activities to
reinforce vocabulary and fluency.
Reinforce Vocabulary: I Have a Feeling
• Place students in small groups and have the members
of each group sit in a circle.
• Have group members write each word from the
book’s glossary on a scrap of paper, put the words in
a box or pile, and take turns choosing one randomly.
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
• The first student to choose a word does a dance,
pantomime, or skit that expresses the emotion
behind the word without using the word. For
example, for irritable, the student might do a
dance that incorporates stomping feet, frowning,
sighing, and placing hands on hips.
• The person to the student’s right says the
word that the dance, pantomime, or skit
expresses. That person then chooses the next
word to present.
• Continue until all students have had a chance to
present an emotion word.
Reread for Fluency: Oral Reading
Performance
• Discuss with students the various emotions shown
by the subjects in the biographies.
•S
ay: John and Abigail Adams felt sadness, anger,
loyalty, frustration, and happiness as well as
other emotions at different times in their lives.
When you read the biographies aloud, you
can demonstrate your understanding of these
emotions through your expression. This helps your
listeners appreciate the subjects more and better
understand their life stories.
• Invite individual students to read a section of one
of the biographies with expression that helps
listeners understand the subject’s emotion.
• Encourage students to have fun with their
readings and to make them as dramatic
as possible.
• Invite the class to comment on each reader’s
interpretation. Encourage students to offer
alternate ways to express the emotions.
Review Writer’s Tools: Direct Quotes
• Ask students to look for other examples of direct
quotes in books from your classroom library or
the school’s library. Each student should select
one book at his or her independent reading level.
Ask students to read to find an example of a
direct quote.
• Invite students to share their examples with the
class. Encourage them to discuss how the direct
quotes help them better visualize or understand
people or characters. Point out that not all
students will have found examples in the books
they chose. Direct quotes are not used by all
writers in all genres.
two biographies
9
Days 6–15
Write a Biography
• Use the suggested daily schedule to guide students
through the steps of process writing. Allow
approximately 45 to 60 minutes per day. As students
work independently, circulate around the room and
monitor student progress. Confer with individual
students to discuss their ideas and help them move
forward. Use the explicit mini-lessons, conferencing
strategies, and assessment rubrics in Using Genre
Models to Teach Writing for additional support.
• Before students begin planning their biographies,
pass out copies of BLM 5 (Biography Checklist).
Review the characteristics and conventions of writing
that will be assessed. Tell students that they will use
this checklist when they complete their drafts.
• This daily plan incorporates the generally accepted
six traits of writing as they pertain to biographies.
Days 6–7: Plan
• Ask students to use BLM 6 (Biography Planning
Guide) to brainstorm who they could write about in
their biography and the important people, places,
and events in the subject’s life.
• Encourage students to refer to the “Features of a
Biography” web on page 3 and to the steps in “The
Writer’s Craft” on pages 30–31 of the book.
• Confer with individual students and focus on their
ideas. Did students begin their biographies with a
strong “hook”? Did students include facts about the
subject and quotes from or about the subject?
Days 8–9: Draft
• Tell students that they will be using their completed
Biography Planning Guides to begin drafting
their biographies.
•S
ay: Remember that when writers draft their ideas,
they focus on getting their ideas on paper. They can
cross things out. They can make mistakes in spelling.
What’s important is to focus on the person’s early
life and his or her accomplishments. You can make
corrections and improvements later.
• Confer with students as they complete their drafts.
Use the Biography Checklist to draw students’
attention to characteristics of the biography genre
that they may have overlooked. Focus on how
students have organized their ideas and the voice of
the writer. Did students give the subject’s date and
place of birth at the beginning of the biography?
Did they include all the significant people and events
in the subject’s life? Does the biography have a
strong voice? Will the voice keep readers interested?
• Pair students for peer conferencing.
Days 10–11: Edit and Revise
• Based on your observations of students’ writing,
select appropriate mini-lessons from Using Genre
Models to Teach Writing.
• Remind students to use the Biography Checklist as
they edit and revise their biographies independently.
• Confer with students, focusing on sentence fluency,
word choice, and conventions. Did students include
both long and short sentences? Do the sentences
read smoothly? Have students used interesting words
and phrases? Did they use direct quotes? Did they
use appropriate spelling, punctuation, and grammar?
• Students can continue editing and revising at home.
Days 12–13: Create Final Draft
and Illustrations
• Ask students to rewrite or type final drafts.
• Invite students to illustrate their final drafts to
depict specific people or events in the lives of their
biographies’ subjects.
• Confer with students about their publishing plans
and deadlines.
Days 14–15: Publish and Share
•E
xplain: One of the great joys of writing is sharing
it with others. Authors do this in many ways. They
publish their books so that people can buy them.
They make their work available on the Internet. They
hold readings. We can share our writing, too.
• Use one or more of the ideas below for sharing
students’ work:
Display students’ completed biographies.
Hold a class reading in which students can read their
biographies for an audience.
Create a binder of all the biographies for your school
or classroom library.
Biography Checklist
Features of the Genre Checklist
Yes
No
2. My biography is logically sequenced.




3. My biography includes the person’s date and
place of birth.


4. My biography includes important events from
the person’s life.


1. My biography has a strong lead.
5. My biography includes people who have influenced
the subject of the biography.
Directions:
 Use the steps below to plan your own biography.
7. My biography quotes the person.


8. My biography quotes people who knew or know the
person.

6. My biography describes the person’s personality.
9. My biography explains or shows why the person
is worthy of a biography.
10. My biography has a strong ending.
Quality Writing Checklist


Yes
I looked for and corrected . . .
• run-on sentences
• sentence fragments
• subject/verb agreement
• verb tense
• punctuation
• capitalization
• spelling
• indented paragraphs
Biography Planning Guide










1. Decide on someone to write about.


2. Decide who else needs to be in the biography.
 or Group
Person
Impact on Subject’s Life
Family Members:
No
_______________
Friends:
_______________

Heroes:

_______________

Others:
_______________



Setting

 #1
Setting
3. Recall events and settings.
Important Events That Occurred
_______________
Setting #2
_______________
Setting #3
_______________
10
two biographies
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Name _________________________________________________
Date ___________________
Direct Quotes
Directions: R
ead each sentence. Underline each direct quote. Then write speech,
letter, or interview to identify the source of the quote.
1. Writing home from the mining camp, author Mark Twain said, “It is true, all that glitters is not gold.”
_________________________________________________________________
2. “Finishing it was the most remarkable feeling I’ve ever had,”
Rowling said when asked about the last book in the series, Harry
Potter and the Deadly Hallows.”
_________________________________________________________________
3. The new President’s words rang out across the Mall in Washington,
D.C., “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can
do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
_________________________________________________________________
Directions: O
n a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph about a recent
experience at school using at least two direct quotes.
two biographies
blm 1
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Name _________________________________________________
Date ____________________
Compare and Contrast
Directions: U
se the chart below to compare and contrast the subjects at different
times in their lives. Then summarize the ways each person stayed the same
and ways he or she changed.
John Adams
As a Boy/Young Man
As an Adult/Elderly Man
Likes and
Dislikes
Personality
Traits
Actions and
Reactions
Abigail Adams
As a Girl/
Young Woman
As an Adult/
Elderly Woman
Likes and
Dislikes
Personality
Traits
Actions and
Reactions
two biographies
blm 2
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Name _________________________________________________
Date ___________________
Focus on Emotion Words
Directions: R
eread each biography. Use context clues and the dictionary to find the
definitions of the words. Then tell who the emotion word is describing.
Page Word
John
Adams
7
irritable
8
enraged
9
dismayed
11
somber
13
frustrated
Page Word
Abigail
Adams
two biographies
18
suffered
19
longed
19
stubbornly
21
brokenhearted
26
endured
Dictionary
Definition
Who the Word
Is Describing
Dictionary
Definition
Who the Word
Is Describing
blm 3
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Name _________________________________________________
Date ____________________
Make Connections Across Texts
Directions: F ill in the chart. Use it to compare and contrast the two biographies.
John Adams
Abigail Adams
Attributes
Important
Influences
Challenges
Historical
Importance
two biographies
blm 4
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Name _________________________________________________
Date _________________
Title ________________________________________________________________________­______
Biography Checklist
Features of the Genre Checklist
Yes No
2. My biography is logically sequenced.




3. My biography includes the person’s date and place of birth.


4. My biography includes important events from the person’s life.


7. My biography quotes the person.






8. My biography quotes people who knew or know the person.






1. My biography has a strong lead.
5. My biography includes people who have influenced the subject of the biography.
6. My biography describes the person’s personality.
9. My biography explains or shows why the person is worthy of a biography.
10. My biography has a strong ending.
Quality Writing Checklist
Yes No
I looked for and corrected . . .








• run-on sentences
• sentence fragments
• subject/verb agreement
• verb tense • punctuation
• capitalization
• spelling
• indented paragraphs
two biographies
blm 5








©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Name _________________________________________________
Date ____________________
Biography Planning Guide
Directions: U
se the steps below to plan your own biography.
1. Decide on someone to write about.
2. Decide who else needs to be in the biography.
Person or Group
Impact on Subject’s Life
Family Members:
_______________
Friends:
_______________
Heroes:
_______________
3. Recall events and settings.
Setting
Important Events That Occurred
Setting #1
_______________
Setting #2
_______________
Setting #3
_______________
two biographies
blm 6
©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC