Fourth Grade African American
Biography Scrapbook Project
Name: _______________________
Class: _______________________
Due Date: ___________________
Notes 1
Due Monday, January 30th
Things to include:
Full name: ____________________________________________________________________________
Birthday: _____________________________________________________________________________
Place of birth: _________________________________________________________________________
Their significance: (What made them famous?)
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Childhood:
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Family:
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Education:
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Career/Adult Life
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What kind of impact did he or she have on the world? Other people?
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Additional facts worth sharing!
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Notes 2
Due Friday, February 3rd
Things to include:
What types of obstacles did he or she face?
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How did he or she overcome these obstacles (persevere or keep trying)?
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What events shaped or changed this person’s life?
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Accomplishments
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What are adjectives you would use to describe this person?
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Scrapbook Details
Directions: Now that you have gathered your information, it is time to put
the research in your scrapbook. Your scrapbook must include:
 Cover
The cover must include their full name and at least one picture. Your first and last
name should be in the lower right hand corner.
 Table of Contents
This should be the first page in your scrapbook. Title it “Table of Contents” and include
the following sections and the corresponding page numbers. Pictures optional.
 Life (3 – 4 pages)
This section should include 3 - 4 pages. Each page should include at least one
paragraph and one text feature. One text feature should be a picture with a caption.
Sample ideas: Page 1-Childhood, Page 2-Family, Page 3-Education, Page 4Adulthood/Career.
 Perseverance (1 page)
This page should include the obstacles they faced in their life. Explain how they
overcame or persevered through their obstacles. You need at least one paragraph and
one text feature.
 Greatest Accomplishments (1 page)
This page should include their greatest accomplishment(s). This should be what made
them famous. You need at least one paragraph and at least one text feature about
their greatest accomplishment(s).
 Adjective Collage (1 page)
Use at least ten adjectives describing this person and their achievements. Include at
least one picture.
 Timeline (1 page)
Create a timeline of the major events in this person’s life.
 Bibliography (1 page)
Cite the sources you used during this research project.
Things to Keep in Mind
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Information can be hand written or typed.
Text features include: photos, maps, charts, tables, diagrams, sidebars (extra
information box), bold words with definitions, graphs, etc.
Writing must be in your own words!
Pictures can be drawn or printed out from the computer.
Use color to create eye-catching pages.
You can use scrapbook paper if you choose.
Bind the scrapbook together in a sturdy way!
Due Dates
These due dates are to assist you in planning
your time wisely and efficiently. Procrastination
will hurt you!
Description
Begin research
Notes 1
Notes 2
Life rough draft paragraphs
Perseverance and Greatest
Accomplishments rough draft
paragraph(s)
Final Scrapbook
Due Date
Jan. 25
Jan. 30
Feb. 3
Feb. 10
Feb. 17
Feb. 27
*Adjective collage, timeline, and bibliography do not have specific
due dates.
*Projects may be turned in before the due date.
*Late projects are deducted 10% of the final grade each day it is
late. (Example: 2 days late=20% lower than final grade)
Scrapbook Project Grading Rubric
Due Date: Monday, February 27th
Requirement
Cover
Table of Contents
Life
Perseverance
Greatest
Accomplishment
Adjective Collage
Timeline
Bibliography
Description
Cover includes the full name of the person you
researched and your name. It hooks the
reader and gets them interested.
Table of Contents is formatted properly. It
includes titles for each section of the book and
the appropriate page numbers.
Scrapbook contains at least three to four
pages about their life. Paragraphs are written
in your own words. Paragraphs contain
enough information so we learn new ideas
when reading your scrapbook. A text feature
is included on each page.
This page includes at least one obstacle they
faced. You included details on how they
persevered through their obstacle(s). Writing
is in your own words. At least one text feature
is included.
This page includes their greatest
accomplishment(s). You included what makes
them famous and why. Writing is in your own
words. At least one text feature is included.
At least ten adjectives are used to describe
your person and their accomplishments. At
least one picture is included.
Major events in your person’s life are included
on the timeline.
Student used a variety of sources and cited
them correctly on their bibliography.
Points
Possible
5
10
20
10
10
5
10
10
Spelling and
punctuation
There are no spelling errors. Punctuation is
used correctly.
10
Overall Quality
Scrapbook is organized and neat. Due dates
were met.
10
TOTAL
Points
Earned
100
FINAL GRADE: __________ COMMENTS: ________________________________________________
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How to Cite Your Sources
Author’s
last name,
Author’s
first name
(period at
the end)
Title
(underlined with
a period at the
end)
A book with one author:
Keller, Helen. Helen Keller: The Story of my
Life. New York: Watermill,1980.
Publisher, Year
book was published
(period)
City, state, or country where book is
published (followed by a colon)
Authors’ names in
the order they
appear on the title
page. Only the first
author’s name goes
last name, first
name. Put commas
between each
author’s name and a
period at the end of
the list.
A book with two or more authors:
Smith, Arnold, Steve Jones, and Ken
Anderson. Thomas Jefferson. CA: Puffin,
1993.
Encyclopedia Articles:
Author’s name:
Last name, first
name.
Title of book
(underlined
with a period
at the end)
Title of article in quotation
marks (period at the end)
Block, Judy. “George Washington.” World
Book. New York: Macmillan, 2004.
City, state, or country where book is
published (followed by a colon)
Publisher, Year
published (period)
Website:
Title of the
site
(underlined
with a period
at the end)
Date the site was
published (period at the
end)
The rest of
the citation
works the
same as a
book with one
author.
The Anthony Trial: An Account. Douglas
Linder. 2001. 18 December 2010 <http://
www.law.com/anthonytrial>.
If any of this information is
not given, simply leave it out.
The address of the
website inside of < >
(period at the end)
Date you found
the site (no
period)
Biography Research Project
Recommended Resources
1. Biography (everyone should be able to get one either from our library,
Infohio, Cleveland Public Library or Cuyahoga County Public Library)
2. Encyclopedias
 Many available in our library – World Book is great!
 World Book Online - http://www.worldbookonline.com/
 Infohio (free online encyclopedia)
3. Websites
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_African_Americans
***Reminder – For this project Wikipedia CANNOT be
used as a source for information***
African American History Selection List
A. Philip Randolph
Aaron McGruder
Alain Locke
Alain Locke
Albany Movement
Alex Haley
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha (frat)
Althea Gibson
Alvin Ailey
AME Church (origins)
Andrew “Rube” Foster, father of Black
baseball
Anna Julia Cooper
Anthony Johnson (indentured servant)
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Mitchell
Barack Obama
Baynard Rustin
Benjamin Banneker
Bessie Smith
Bill Cosby
Billie Holiday
Birmingham Bombing (1963)
Black Panther Party
Booker T. Washington
Brown vs. Board
Carter G. Woodson
Charles Drew
Charles H. Houston
Charlie Parker
Chubby Checker
Chuck Berry
Church of God in Christ
Clarence Thomas
Claude McKay
Colin Powell
Condoleezza Rice
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
Cotton Club
Count Basie
Countee Cullen
Daisy Bates
Delta Sigma Theta
Denzel Washington
Diane Nash
Dizzy Gillespie
Donna Brazile
Dorothy Dandrige
Dred Scott
Duke Ellington
Elijah Muhammad
Elizabeth Freeman
Ella Baker
Ethel Waters
Fanny Lou Hamer
Frederick Douglass
Freedman’s Bureau
Freedom Rides
Gwendolyn Brooks
H. Rap Brown
Halle Berry
Hank Aaron
Harlem Renaissance
Hattie McDaniel
Henry Highland Garnett
Howard University
Hurricane Carter
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Jackie Robinson
James Baldwin
James Forten
James Weldon Johnson
Jean Toomer
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Owens
Jim Crow Segregation
Jimi Hendrix
John Harold Johnson
Josephine Baker
Julian Bond
Kapa Alpha Psi
Katherine Dunham
Langston Hughes
Lena Horne
Lewis H. Latimer
Little Rock 9
Louis Armstrong
Louis Farrakhan
Madame C. J. Walker
Mae C. Jemison
Maggie Lena Walker
Mahalia Jackson
Malcolm X
March on Washington
Marcus Garvey
Maria W. Stewart
Marian Anderson
Marvin Gaye
Mary Church Terrell
Medgar Evers
Michael Jordan
Miles Davis
Mississippi Freedom Summer
Morehouse College
Muhammad Ali
NAACP
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Clifton
Nation of Islam
National Association of Colored
Women
Negro League Baseball
Omega Psi Phi
Oprah Winfrey
Ossawa Tanner
Ossie Davis
Paul Cuffe
Paul Roberson
Phi Beta Sigma
Phyllis Wheatley
Plessy v Ferguson
Ralph Bunche
Ralph Ellison
Ray Charles
Reverend Ralph David Abernathy
Richard Allen
Richard Wright
Roy Eldridge
Ruby Doris Smith
Sammy Davis Jr.
Scott Joplin
Scottsboro Boys
Sidney Poitier
Sigma Gamma Rho
SNCC
Sojourner Truth
Spelman College
Spike Lee
Stevie Wonder
Stokely Carmichael
Sugar Ray Leonard
Tavis Smiley
Thurgood Marshall
Tiger Woods
Toni Morrison
Tulsa, Oklahoma Race Riot
Tuskegee Airmen
Tuskegee Study
Tuskegee University
Vanessa Williams
W.E.B. Du Bois
Wally Amos
WC Handy
Whoopi Goldberg
Wilma Rudolph
Wynton Marsalis
Zeta Phi Beta
Zora Neale Hurston