frida kahlo - s3.amazonaws.com of two 3 20th-century artists ©2011 benchmark education company, llc...

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Reading Objectives• Comprehension: Identify cause and

effect; Compare and contrast• Tier Two Vocabulary: See book’s Glossary• Word study: Word origins• Analyze the genre• Respond to and interpret texts• Make text-to-text connections• Fluency: Read with inflection/tone: pitch

Writing Objectives• Writer’s tools: A strong lead• Write a biography using writing-process

steps

Related Resources• Comprehension Question Card• Comprehension Power Tool Flip Chart• Using Genre Models to Teach Writing• Pocahontas, Squanto (Level R/40)

Marian Anderson

Frida Kahlo

Teacher’s Guide: BioGraphy

B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y

Level R/40

Unit-at-a-Glance

Day 1 Prepare to Read

Day 2 Read “Marian Anderson”*

Day 3 Read “Frida Kahlo”*

Day 4 Reread “Frida Kahlo”*

Day 5 Literature Circle Discussion/Reinforce Skills*

Days 6–15 Write a biography using the process writing steps on page 10.

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

• Ask students to turn to pages 4–5. Say: The biographies in this book tell about the important events and people in the lives of two famous artists. Let’s take a close look at the time lines of these women’s lives.

• Have a student read aloud the information on the time lines while others follow along.

• Say: Time lines tell about events in sequence. Biographies usually tell about the events in a person’s life in the order in which they happened. What can you infer, or tell, from this? Allow responses. Prompt students to understand that time lines and biographies have similar structures. A time line can often be used to summarize the content of a biography.

Introduce the Tools Writers Use: A Strong Lead• Read aloud “Tools Writers Use” on page 5. • Say: Authors write biographies to inform and

entertain readers. Starting with a strong lead, or opening section, gets readers’ attention by announcing the subject and hinting at what is to come. Both biographies in this book have strong leads. Let’s practice identifying the characteristics of a strong lead so we can understand what makes the leads in these biographies strong.

• Distribute BLM 1 (A Strong Lead). Read the sample biography lead aloud with students.

• Model Identifying a Strong Lead: These paragraphs introduce us to an artist named Frederic Remington. The lead first gets our attention with a true story about the artist, and then it summarizes why he is important. The lead creates an expectation that we will learn about Remington’s adventures and achievements. The author uses a strong lead to make us want to read on.

• Ask students to work with a partner or in small groups to answer the questions about the lead and to write their own strong lead.

• Bring the groups together to share their findings. Point out that although this lead uses both direct and indirect techniques, not every lead will use both.

• Ask each group to read its strong lead. Use the examples to build students’ understanding of how writers create a strong lead. Remind students that a strong lead can help the reader focus on the subject, understand the subject’s importance, and predict what information the biography will contain.

• Ask groups to hand in their leads. Transfer student-written leads to chart paper, title the page “A Strong Lead,” and post it as an anchor chart.

Biographies of two 20th-Century artists

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Prepare to ReadBuild 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.” Ballroom dancing and square dancing are different genres, or kinds, of dance. Each dance genre 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 to help us comprehend. Recognizing the genre 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.

• Ask: 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 Biographies in the center circle of the web.

• Say: A biography is one example of a literary genre. Think of any biographies you know. How would you define what a biography is?

• Turn 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 a 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 biographies 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.

Day 1

©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: 978-1-4509-0018-8

3Biographies of two 20th-Century artists

©2011 Benchmark education Company, LLC

Before ReadingIntroduce “Marian Anderson”• Reread the biography anchor chart or the

web on page 3 to review the features of a biography.

• Ask students to turn to page 6. Ask: Based on the title and photographs, what do you predict this biography might be about? Allow time for students to respond.

• Invite students to scan the text and look for the boldfaced words (magnificent, segregation, sensation, declared, audience). 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.

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 characteristics of a strong lead and think about how the author’s lead makes them want to read on to learn more about the subject.

Read “Marian Anderson”• Place students in groups based on their reading

levels. Ask students to read the biography silently, whisper-read, or read with a partner.

• Confer briefly with individual students to monitor their understanding of the text and their use of fix-up strategies.

Management TipAsk students to place self-stick notes in the margins where they notice characteristics of a strong lead or features of the genre.

After ReadingBuild Comprehension: Identify Cause and Effect• Lead a student discussion using the “Analyze

the Subject” questions on page 13. Then, use the following steps to provide explicit modeling of how to identify causes and effects in a biography.

• Explain: We learned yesterday that biographies tell about the events in the life of a person. A biography explains how these events affected the person and how the person affected others. As you read a biography, notice how one event can be the cause of or the result of another event. Also pay attention

Day 2

Reflect and Review • Turn and Talk. Write one or more of the following

questions on chart paper. What is a literary genre, and how can understanding

genres help readers and writers? What did you learn about the biography genre? How can readers recognize a strong lead? 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.

to how events reveal the subject’s personality. Watch for details that help you feel connected to the person and help you understand him or her.

• Distribute copies of BLM 2 (Identify Cause and Effect) and/or draw a chart like the one below.

• Model: When I read a biography, I pay attention to the major events in the person’s life. I analyze what caused each event and how it affected the person. I also consider what the events tell me about the character of the subject. As a six-year-old girl, Marian Anderson began singing in her church choir. Because her voice was so strong and beautiful, people knew Marian had a special talent they should encourage. In spite of prejudice, Marian was able to nurture her gift, because others helped her.

• Guide Practice. Work with students to list and analyze other events in Marian Anderson’s life. Help them identify the cause of each event and the effect it had on Marian’s attitudes and actions.

• Have students keep BLM 2 in their genre studies folder.

©2011 Benchmark education Company, LLCBiographies of two 20th-Century artists

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• 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.

• Model. Read the second 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 invited and White House. On page 11, I read, “President and First Lady Roosevelt invited her to perform at the White House.” This sentence answers the question.

• Use the Flip Chart to help you develop other Find It! questions to use with students.

Focus on Vocabulary: Word Origins• Explain/Model: A word’s origin or history can

help you understand its meaning. For example, the word prejudice comes from Latin prae-, meaning “before,” and judicium, meaning “judgment.” This agrees with the current definition of prejudice, “an unfair judgment formed in advance.” Sometimes readers can learn a lot about an unfamiliar word by analyzing its origin in a dictionary.

• Practice. Ask students to find the words piano (page 7), native (page 10), and dedicated (page 12) in the biography. Guide them in finding and analyzing the origins of the words in a dictionary. Compare and discuss the words’ meanings and the meanings of their Latin precursors.

• Say: Let’s find the boldfaced words in this biography. What can you do if you don’t know what these words mean? (Allow responses.) Along with looking for clues in the text, you can look in a dictionary to learn the origin of the word. The history may help you understand the current definition of the word.

• Ask students to work with a partner to complete the “Focus on Words” activity on page 13 using BLM 3 (Focus on Word Origins). Explain that they should look in a dictionary to find the origin and meaning of each boldfaced word. They should think about the connection between the modern definition of the word and its history.

• Transfer Through Oral Language. Ask groups of students to share their findings. Then challenge students to brainstorm other words that have a connection to the history of the boldfaced word (for example, magnificent: magnify, magnificence). Encourage all students to discuss the related meanings of the sets of words.

• Ask students to save their work in their genre studies folders to continue on Days 3 and 4.

Day 2 (cont.)

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 text-dependent comprehension questions.

Marian Anderson

Event Cause of Event Effect on Person

dropped out of school to work

father died suddenly turned to music for happiness in sad time

began to doubt herself

received bad reviews from New York performance

became more determined, worked harder, and improved

became a sensation in 1924

sensational performance with NY Philharmonic Orchestra

recognition helped her rise to fame

achieved worldwide fame

successful tour throughout Europe

sang with new passion and emotion

sang at Lincoln Memorial on Easter, 1939

turned away from Constitution Hall because she wasn’t white

proved racism would not keep her from reaching the public



Reflect and Review • Turn 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 “Marian Anderson.” Ask groups to share and support their findings.

Fluency: Read with Inflection/Tone: Pitch• You may wish to have students reread the biography

with a partner during independent reading time. Have them focus on raising pitch to make important points stand out and lowering pitch to evoke more feeling in moving passages. Ask students to read the first and second paragraphs on page 8 with varied pitches to express seriousness and sadness as well as to suggest the importance of Marian’s response to her difficulties.

Before ReadingIntroduce “Frida Kahlo” • Ask students to turn to page 14. Say: Today we

are going to read “Frida Kahlo.” 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 the causes and effects of events in the artist’s life. Tomorrow, we will read this biography like a writer and think about the notes in the margin as a model for how we can write our own biography.

• Say: Let’s look at the title and photographs of this biography. What do you predict it might be about? Give students time to share their predictions.

• Ask students to scan the text and look for the boldfaced words (rebellious, fractured, mural, introspective, confined, vivid). Ask: What do you notice about these words? Why do you think they appear in boldfaced type? Allow responses. Encourage students to notice that all the words contain a root that is part of other words they may know.

• Say: As you read, try to figure out the meanings of these words. Think about other words you know that share a root or word part with the boldfaced word. Look in a dictionary to find the origin of the word and the origin’s meaning. After we read, we will talk about how you used word origins and context clues provided by the author.

Set a Purpose for Reading• Ask students to read the biography, focusing on

events in the artist’s life and their effects on her. Encourage them to notice the author’s use of a strong lead.

Read “Frida Kahlo”• Place students in groups based on their reading

levels. Ask students to read the biography silently, whisper-read, or read with a partner.

• Confer briefly with individual students to monitor their understanding of the text and their use of fix-up strategies.

After ReadingBuild Comprehension: Identify Cause and Effect• Say: Yesterday we looked at events in Marian

Anderson’s life and the way they affected her. For example, losing her father at an early age and facing racism helped make Marian more

Day 3Marian Anderson

Page Word Origin and Meaning Dictionary Definition

6 magnificent Latin magnus, “great” grand, splendid, impressive to the mind or spirit

7 segregation Latin se-, “apart” + greg-, “herd”

separation of a race, class, or ethnic group

9 sensation Latin sensatio, “understanding, idea”

a cause of excited interest

11 declared Latin de-, “from, away, down” + clarare, “to make visible”

made known publicly or officially

11 audience Latin audire, “to hear” a group of listeners or spectators


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responses.) Yes, I’m looking for what happened to Frida when she was 18. On page 16, I read that Frida was riding home from school on a bus. Her bus crashed into a streetcar. The accident shattered bones all over her body. I have found the answer in the book. I looked in several sentences to find the answer.

• Guide Practice. Use the Flip Chart to help you develop other Look Closer! questions to use with students.

Focus on Vocabulary: Word Origins• Ask students to work with a partner to complete the

“Focus on Words” activity on page 21 using BLM 3, which they started on Day 2. Have groups of students share their findings.

• Transfer Through Oral Language. Invite pairs of students to take turns telling how each word applies to Frida Kahlo. Encourage them to use the dictionary definition and the history of each word in their explanations.

Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment • Use the Comprehension Question Card with small

groups of students to practice answering text-dependent questions.

• Say: 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. Then you put the parts together to answer the question.

• Model. Read the first Look Closer! question. Say: I will show you how I answer a Look Closer! question. This question asks me to identify cause and effect. I know because it has the clue word caused. Now I need to look for other important information to find in the book. What words from the question do you think will help me? (Allow

Day 3 (cont.)

Reflect and Review • Turn and Talk. Ask partners or small groups to

discuss the following questions and report their ideas to the whole group. What do you think Frida meant when she said, “I painted my own reality”? What would you do or create to express your happiness and sadness about events in your life?


with a partner during independent reading time. Have them focus on changing their pitch as they read to show emphasis and feelings. Have students read the last paragraph on page 19, using lower pitch to express Frida’s sadness and higher pitch to emphasize her quoted explanation.

Frida Kahlo


right leg became thin and weak

got polio at the age of six

caused her to limp; did not stop her from playing sports

spent months in hospital

school bus collided with a streetcar

painted to keep from being bored

showed her work to Diego Rivera

had met a few years earlier; shared interests

fell in love and married

moved to United States in 1930

Diego invited to paint murals

became homesick for Mexico

gained recognition as artist

had developed a unique style that represented love of Mexico

expressed her own imagination and feelings through art

experienced sadness longed for Mexico; could not have a child; divorced for a year

communicated feelings through self-portraits

Frida Kahlo

Page Word Origin and Meaning Dictionary Definition

15 rebellious Latin re-, “against” + bellum, “war”

resisting established authority

16 fractured Latin fractus, “broken”

caused damage; broke

17 mural Latin murus, “wall” a painting made on a wall

20 introspective Latin intro-, “inside” + specere, “to look”

examining one’s own thoughts and feelings

determined and hardworking. What were some events that affected Frida Kahlo’s attitudes and goals? Allow responses. As students share their analyses, synthesize their responses into a whole-group chart like the one on page 6.

• Discuss Causes and Effects Across Texts. Lead a discussion using the following questions. How are the things that are important to Marian Anderson similar to the things that are important to Frida Kahlo? How are they different? Which artist’s achievements seem greater to you? Why?Why do you think each woman had such an impact on the world?How do the strong leads of these biographies help you understand the subjects?

©2011 Benchmark education Company, LLC Biographies of two 20th-Century artists

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Before ReadingSet a Purpose for Rereading• Have students turn to page 14. 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 “Frida Kahlo” and think like writers. We’re going to pay attention to the annotations in the margins. These annotations will help us understand what the author did and why she did it.

Reread “Frida Kahlo”• Ask students to reread the biography silently or

whisper-read. • Confer briefly with individual students to monitor

their understanding of the text and annotations.

After ReadingAnalyze the Mentor Text• Explain to students that the text they have just read

is a mentor text. A mentor text is a text that teaches. This text is designed to help them understand what writers do to write a biography and why they do it.

• Read and discuss each mentor annotation with students. Encourage them to comment on the writer’s organization, focus on causes and effects of important events, and use of literary techniques such as a strong lead.

Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment • Use the Comprehension Question Card with small


• Say: 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.

• Model. Read the first Prove It! question. Say: I will show you how I answer a Prove It! question. This question is about making inferences. I know because it says, “what clue supports the inference.” 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 find clues and evidence about how the people of Mexico felt. On page 20, I read that “In 1946, Mexico honored her with a national prize for her work.” I have located the clue I need to show that the Mexican people were proud of Frida and her work.

• Guide Practice. Use the Flip Chart to help you develop other Prove It! questions and support students’ text-dependent comprehension strategies.

Analyze the Writer’s Craft• Ask students to turn to page 22. Explain: In the

next few days, you will have the opportunity to write your own biography. First, let’s think about how the author wrote “Frida Kahlo.” When she developed this biography, she followed certain steps. You can follow these same steps to write your own biography.

• Read step 1. Say: When you write your biography, the first thing you’ll do is decide on a person to write about. Let’s turn back to pages 6–7 and 14–15 and reread the leads to recall why the author believed these people were important. Write the subjects’ names and the reasons students offer on chart paper. What person would you like to write about? For example, I might write a biography about Helen Keller, because she overcame incredible physical challenges and became an inspiration to others. Who else has achieved greatness against great odds and would be a good subject for a biography? Allow responses. Write down students’ ideas on chart paper.

• Read step 2. Say: In the two biographies we read, other people played important roles in the subjects’ lives. For example, Guiseppe Boghetti, a voice teacher, recognized Marian Anderson’s potential and guided her, helping to shape her future. What people or groups influenced our subject? Let’s make a list of people and the ways they affected our subject’s life. Allow responses. Write down students’ ideas on chart paper.

• Read step 3. Say: Before you’re ready to write a biography, you need to list important events in the subject’s life and when and where they took place. Marian Anderson worked hard to develop her voice in the United States, where racism held her back. Then, she sang in Europe and Russia, where she was accepted as a brilliant artist. She returned in triumph to the United States, breaking barriers of racism and promoting peace. When you write your biography, think about what events and settings best represent your subject. Choose one of the subjects and some of the influential people the class has brainstormed and work as a group to outline the important events in the subject’s life and the settings where these events occurred.

Build Comprehension: Compare and Contrast• Explain: A biography describes events

throughout a person’s life. Readers can compare and contrast the person’s characteristics and responses over time to see whether the person changed. To compare, notice ways in which the person remains the same; to contrast, notice ways

Day 4

Analyze & SynthesizePractice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment • Use the Comprehension Question Card with small


• Say: 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.

• Model. Read the first Take It Apart! question. Say: This question asks me to think about the author’s purpose. I know because the question asks why the author included certain information. 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 think about the kind of information on page 14. The paragraph tells about Frida’s strong emotions and her powerful art. I think this information is intended to get readers interested in the person they will be reading about. Thinking about the author’s purpose helped me find the answer to the question.

• Use the Flip Chart to help you develop other Take It Apart! questions to use with students.

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 details and share their ideas.

• 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 tell about important events in the life of a person. They both show how that person had an impact on the world. What else do they have in common? (Allow responses.) Today we will think about the similarities and differences in these two biographies. We will compare and contrast times and places, and we will summarize why we think people should learn about each subject’s life.

• Ask students to work individually or in small groups to complete BLM 4 (Make Connections Across Texts).

• Class 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 following prompts. What kinds of information are included in both of the biographies? In what ways are the subjects of the biographies alike? In what ways are they different?

in which the person changes. In these biographies, the author describes two artists’ personalities and tells about their experiences, the decisions they made, and the actions they took. As readers, we can observe how each subject’s attitudes and responses stay the same over time and how they change. Then we can think about what these observations reveal about the person.

• Model: Marian Anderson encountered racism and prejudice throughout her life. As a girl, she was horrified and frightened by society’s rejection and loses confidence. As a mature woman and artist, she refused to be shut out and found ways to perform until she was accepted. From this comparison and contrast, I understand that Marian was always gifted, but her experiences gave her the strength and support to overcome racism. Frida Kahlo was crippled by polio, but she remained active and mischievous. Twelve years later, she was badly injured in an accident, but she used her time in the hospital to learn to paint. The similar reaction to adversity shows that Frida had great ability to overcome pain and a strong will to live fully. Observing her reactions gives me insight into an important trait.

• Guide Practice. Invite students to work in small groups to compare and contrast events, reactions, and traits of the artist at different times in “Marian Anderson” and “Frida Kahlo.” Ask the groups to share and explain how the similarities and differences help them better understand the subjects.

Reflect and Review • Ask and discuss the following questions.

How is reading a biography different from writing a biography? How is it similar? Which events in each biography seemed to have the biggest effects on each subject’s life? What were the effects on the artists’ lives? What new word has a history that helped you understand its meaning? How does knowing the word origin help you? How can you use a strong lead and word origins to make your writing stronger?


with a partner during independent reading time. Have them focus on using pitch to add interest and emotion to the text. Ask students to discuss what the last part of Frida’s life was like and how she responded. Invite them to take turns reading the second and third paragraphs on the last page of the article, varying their pitch to emphasize ideas and to show emotion.


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Day 4 (cont.) Day 5

• The person to the right chooses a matching pair of cards and explains their connection. Continue until all students have explained how a word’s origin helps them understand its current meaning.

Reread for Fluency: Oral Reading Performance• Discuss with students how each biography includes

events that are impressive, sad, and exciting and how the subjects experienced both good and bad events in their lives.

• Say: The author describes how each subject feels, acts, and makes decisions. When you read aloud, you can use expression to show the emotion behind each event. Expressing emotions in your speech helps listeners understand the importance of events and make a connection to the subject.

• Invite individual students to read a section of one of the biographies with expression that helps listeners understand the importance of an event or the emotion behind a decision.

• Encourage students to have fun with their readings and to make them as dramatic as possible.

• As a whole class, discuss each reader’s interpretation. Think about alternate ways to express emotions and emphasize important ideas.

Review Writer’s Tools: A Strong Lead• Ask students to look for other examples of strong

leads 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 specifically to find an example of a strong lead.

• Invite students to share their examples with the class. Ask the other students whether they agree that each lead is strong and if so, why the lead gets their attention and makes them want to read what follows. Point out that students will not find strong leads in all the books they chose. A strong lead is not a tool all writers use all of the time.

With which subject do you feel a stronger connection? Why do you identify with this person? What did you learn by reading each biography?

• Tell students that at the end of their discussion, you will ask them to share their important text-to-text, text-to-world, and text-to-self connections.

• While each small group of students discusses the book, confer with individual or small groups of students. You may wish to revisit elements of the genre, take running records, or model fluent reading skills.



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 each group member to speak.• Be respectful of everyone’s ideas.

Reinforce SkillsIf time permits, choose from the following activities to reinforce vocabulary and fluency.

Reinforce Vocabulary: Word History• Place students in small groups and have them work

together to write each word from the glossary on one card and each word’s origin on a second card.

• Have students mix the cards and gather around a table. Then have them place the cards face up in rows to form a rectangular shape. Each person in the group takes a turn selecting a matching pair of a word card and a word origin card.

• The first student to choose a pair should explain how he or she knows that the word history matches the word. For example, “Murus is an old Latin word for a wall, and a mural is a painting made on a wall.” Other group members can challenge the match. If the cards match, the student keeps them. If they do not match, the student puts them back on the table.

Day 5 (cont.)

Marian Anderson Frida Kahlo

Time/Place United StatesEurope, Russia, England

MexicoUnited States

Why People Should Learn About Her Life

Recognized as a girl for strength and beauty of voice; won praise despite racism in U.S.; became very famous abroad; first performance by an African American at Lincoln Memorial and Metropolitan Opera

Overcame physical tragedies; married Diego Rivera; unique style of painting that showed her inner self; remained strong in spirit though weak in body; honored by Mexico with a national prize

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 the subject for their biography and the important people, places, and events in that person’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 22–23 of the book.

• Confer with individual students and focus on their ideas. Did students begin their biographies with a strong lead? Did they 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. • Say: 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 life experiences and accomplishments. You will have an opportunity to 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 students‘ organization and voice. Did students include important facts about the subject’s life? Does the biography make clear the person’s impact on the world? Does it 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.

Days 6–15• 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 develop a strong lead? Did they use appropriate spelling, punctuation, and grammar?

• You may want students to continue their editing and revision at home.

Days 12–13: Create Final Draft and Illustrations • Ask students to rewrite or type a final draft.• Invite students to illustrate their final drafts with

one or more drawings or photographs that depict specific events in the lives of the subjects of their biographies.

• Confer with students about their publishing plans and deadlines.

Days 14–15: Publish and Share• Explain: 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: Make a class display of students’ completed biographies. Hold a class reading in which students can read their biographies to one another and/or to parents. Create a binder.


©2011 Benchmark education Company, LLC10

Days 6–15

Days 6–15


BLm 1

Name _________________________________________________ Date ___________________

A Strong LeadDirections: Read the strong lead for a biography. Answer the questions about

the lead below.

The young man sat near the roaring campfire. It was 1881, and Frederic Remington was just 20 years old. He had left his art studies at Yale to explore the West, a place that had captured his imagination. Suddenly, an old-timer said, “There is no West.” Remington’s heart dropped. At that moment, he decided to preserve the adventure and excitement of the West.

During his career, Frederic Remington brought the Old West to life with thousands of drawings, paintings, and sculptures showing cowboys and cavalrymen, bronco busters and braves. His artworks bristled with so much energy, movement, and realism, they seemed ready to leap to life. Remington created a vision of the Wild West that still inspires Americans today.

1. Who is the subject of the biography?

________________________________________________________________

2. What important information do you learn about the subject?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

3. What do you predict the biography will tell about the subject?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

4. Which paragraph has an indirect lead? Which has a direct lead?

________________________________________________________________

Directions: Choose a person. On a separate sheet of paper, write a strong lead for a biography about him or her.



Identify Cause and Effect

Name _________________________________________________ Date ____________________

Directions: Use the chart below to identify causes and effects in a biography.

BLm 2

Marian Anderson


Frida Kahlo


Name _________________________________________________ Date ___________________

Focus on Word OriginsDirections: Use a dictionary to find the origins, meanings, and definitions of

the words from the texts.


BLm 3

Page Word Origin and Meaning

Dictionary Definition

“Marian Anderson”

6 magnificent

7 segregation

9 sensation

11 declared

11 audience

“Frida Kahlo”

15 rebellious

16 fractured

17 mural

20 introspective

20 confined

20 vivid


BLm 4

Make Connections Across Texts

Name _________________________________________________ Date ____________________

Directions: Fill in the chart. Use it to compare and contrast the two biographies.

1. Which characters in these biographies are alike? How are these characters alike?

2. How are the biography endings alike? How are they different?

Marian Anderson Frida Kahlo

Time/Place

Why People Should Learn About Her Life


©2011 Benchmark education Company, LLCBLm 5

Features of the Genre Checklist Yes No

1. My biography has a strong lead. 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. 5. My biography includes people who have influenced

the person. 6. My biography describes the person’s personality. 7. My biography quotes the person. 8. My biography quotes people who knew or know

the person. 9. My biography explains 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

Name _________________________________________________ Date _________________

Title ________________________________________________________________________ ______

Biography Checklist


©2011 Benchmark education Company, LLCBLm 6

Biography Planning Guide

Name _________________________________________________ Date _________________

Directions: Use the steps below to plan your own biography.

1. Decide on a subject to write about.

3. Brainstorm events and setting.

Person or Group Impact on Subject’s LifeFamily Members:

Friends:

Heroes:

Others:

Setting Important Events That OccurredSetting #1

Setting #2

Setting #3

2. Decide who else needs to be in the biography.

frida kahlo - s3.amazonaws.com of two 3 20th-century artists ©2011 benchmark education company, llc...

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