ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS RESOURCES

LANGUAGE ARTS :: SECONDARY RESOURCES :: RIGHT DIRECTION 2 :: STUDENT BIOGRAPHY

STUDENT BIOGRAPHY

Planning Points

Approximate Time Needed: 3 days, not including presentations
Correlation to English I SCS: 1.01, 6.01, 6.02
Correlation to NC High School Exit Exam Competencies: C1, C2, C4

Lesson Objectives

- The primary objectives of this lesson are to:

increase student interview and presentation skills
have students become familiar with one another
help the teacher estimate student writing ability
teach students how to give and accept constructive criticism

Materials Needed:

Teacher sample of biography
Index cards

Description:

Explain the prompt and read a model biography or autobiography. (If you have written your own, it is a great idea to introduce yourself to the students as well.) If you use an autobiography, be sure to explain the difference between the model and their biography project to avoid any confusion. Following the example, ask the students for some feedback about what they noticed: Was I loud enough? Did I speak clearly? Did I make good eye contact with all areas of the room? How did I use my note cards? Was the information detailed? This modeling will enable the students to participate during feedback sessions following each speech. Explain how this constructive criticism will help improve future presentations. If the teacher can offer criticisms about himself then they can offer constructive criticisms about each other.
Then break the class into pre-selected groups of 2-3 students to have them start their interviews. Students are encouraged to ask relevant questions for this assignment, so help them brainstorm a list of possibilities, such as what is your greatest achievement to date? what is your most embarrassing moment? what is the most interesting thing you've done in your life?
On the second day, start class by discussing ways to organize information and demonstrate outlining and/or webbing for this assignment. Students should finish their interviews today and start organizing notes for speech. In this portion of the assignment, make sure students focus on organizing their facts according to related events. They start prewriting and rough drafts of the biography. As you observe the information being shared, offer suggestions for how students can elaborate on information that is unusual or interesting and suggest follow-up questions for the interviewer that may help the class better understand the subject.
On the third day, students bring their rough drafts to class and get into their groups. The students exchange papers with one another to review information to make sure it is accurate. Peers should also offer suggestions for increasing interesting aspects and perhaps minimizing repetitive information. Following the peer response and editing, students make note cards for their speeches. The final draft of the biography needs to be finished for homework.
Refer back to the model presentation and explain how memorization of information, and eye contact engage the audience more than simply reading from cards. Encourage the students to practice their speeches at home and to feel comfortable enough with the information that they read from the cards as little as possible.
On presentation days, students are chosen at random to present their biographical speech about the person they interviewed. They are only allowed to bring note cards with them to the front of the room. Try to have a podium for them to stand behind.

Assessment:

Rubric is attached.

Additional Notes:

This introductory assignment works well during the first week of school to break the ice among new classmates and get students used to speaking in front of a group. It also allows the teacher a chance to evaluate their writing skills and to put faces with names in the class register! The students are paired up and assigned the task of interviewing each other. Upon completion of gathering all information, they present their partner to the class.

Teacher's Notes:

Narrative Speech Grading Rubric:

	Content	Vocal Level	Clarity	Eye Contact	Time
4	Includes engaging, effective introduction, body, and conclusion; uses only relevant details to describe subject and factual information; focused throughout	clear throughout class; varies inflection/ shows emotion; uses comfortable pacing	properly enunciates all words; properly pronounces difficult words if applicable; no vocal pauses	utilizes eye contact throughout audience; majority of speech is memorized; shows diligent preparation	1:15-1:45
3	Includes introduction, body, and conclusion; majority of details describing subject and factual information relevant; focused throughout	clear throughout class; shows some variation in inflection/ emotion; uses comfortable pacing	properly enunciates most words; properly pronounces difficult words if applicable; less than 5 vocal pauses	utilizes eye contact throughout most of audience; shows evidence of memorization and adequate preparation	2:00-2:30
2	May have introduction, body and/or conclusion; includes some relevant details describing subject and factual information; focused through majority of speech	tends to be too quiet; shows little or no variation in inflection/ emotion; pacing may be rushed or too slow	enunciates most words clearly; occasionally stumbles with pronunciation; less than 10 vocal pauses	makes eye contact sporadically; shows some memorization and adequate preparation	1:00-1:15 or 2:30-3:00
1	May have introduction, body and/or conclusion; however, many descriptive details were irrelevant and lacked focus	barely able to be heard; no variation in inflection/ emotion; pacing is rushed or too slow	rarely enunciates words clearly; occasionally stumbles with pronunciation; less than 20 vocal pauses	makes little or no eye contact; reads predominantly from note cards; shows little preparation	under 1:00 or over 3:00
0	missing introduction, body and/or conclusion; majority of descriptive details irrelevant; focus unclear	not able to be heard; no inflection or emotion; no consistent pacing evident	rarely enunciates words clearly; stumbles frequently with pronunciation; more than 20 vocal pauses	makes no eye contact; reads verbatim from note cards; shows no preparation	under 45 seconds

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