Introduction
As a reading teacher in a fine arts magnet middle school naturally I include the fine arts in my curriculum. Many of my students transfer to my school for their fine art skills. These skills include: orchestra, band, choir, dance, gymnastics, drama and of course art. As any teacher knows, the best way to get a child interested in learning is by making it relevant to his or her life. The goal of this unit is to do just that.
Biographies are one genre that we teach in reading. I find that many of my students have never read a biography when they come to me in the sixth grade. For that matter they haven't read much non-fiction either. Their interest lies in fiction, especially fantasy. I too love these books but non-fiction is also very important. After all, the textbooks for all the other subjects are written in non-fiction. So it is here that I begin my unit.
The purpose of this unit is to introduce students to the genre of non-fiction, specifically focusing on biographies. This unit will introduce biographies by reading brief biographies of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. We will read two short biographies of Kahlo and compare how the stories vary from author to author. Comparing texts is an important skill learned in middle school. It helps students analyze text and think about it in new and different ways. The students will then read a short biography of Rivera in small groups. They will then create a timeline of his life and write a chronological paragraph summarizing what they read. By the end of the unit they will be very familiar with the lives of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. They will have read, analyzed and compared biographies by different authors. They will also be given brief biographies of various people to read and paraphrase. Finally students will create an autobiography booklet of themselves.
This unit is specifically written for sixth grade. However modifications for lower and higher grades and abilities can be used. Please feel free to use the entire unit or just parts for the needs of your classroom.
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