2nd Grade Biography

One of my favorite projects every year is the biography project in 2nd grade. Students get to choose a famous person, an athlete, celebrity, president, author, etc... The final project is to write a report about their person and give a presentation. The presentation is my favorite part!! The students dress up as their person and present their report as if they were that person. It is so cute!!

I collaborate with the 2nd grade teachers on this project in various ways. I pull books appropriate for the reading levels of the students. This year, the teachers asked if I would help with note taking skills and citing sources.

I tried and tried to find a note taking organizer that would help the students, but I could not find one I liked. So, I made my own. 😊 You are welcome to use it however you'd like.

I wanted to model note taking to the students, so we researched Barbara Park together. Junie B. Jones is a very popular series in 2nd grade right now, so they were all excited to learn more about the author. We started with Pebble Go. I had the students read the page, and as a table group, come up with an important fact we could write in our notes. 

We talked about the importance of taking notes:

• writing down the most important information
• putting the information in our own words (don't copy from the page)
• write down the information in a short way. 

On the organizer, students have a space to take notes from each source, and a space to cite their sources. This gets them ready for upper elementary when they have to create a bibliography page with their sources. 

After we took notes from PebbleGo, using bullet points for each fact we found, students filled out their sources. Then we used a book about Barbara Park and followed the same steps. 

After modeling, students then used PebbleGo, their books, and other reliable sources that the teacher and I had looked up before hand, to begin taking their own notes. 

They will continue their research over the next two weeks, then make their presentations in class. I always love to see the students dressed up as their famous person. 

BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson

Woodson, Jacqueline.  2014. BROWN GIRL DREAMING. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books. ISBN 9780399252518


Brown Girl Dreaming is a collection of free verse poems written by the African American poet, Jacqueline Woodson. The poems are memoirs of her life as she grew up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, in both the North and the South. Each poem fits together to give the reader a glance into Woodson's childhood as she tries to find where she fits in. As a child, she spent half of her years in the North where she was teased for being a Jehovah's Witness, meaning she followed rules many of her friends didn't understand. The other half of each year was spent in the South with her grandparents, where she was teased for her funny way of speaking. Woodson was compared by teachers to her highly intelligent sister, but Woodson had trouble reading. Through the poems, the reader sees Woodson grow and become more aware of the Civil Rights Movement. She also finds support through her family and realizes her love of stories and writing.

This book, written in free verse poetry, will appeal to many ages of readers. Children, especially middle grades, will enjoy reading the story of Jacqueline and will be able to relate to her experiences. Adults, as well, will relate to the experiences in the elegant poems, and will appreciate the situation and time. Each poem stirs up emotions in the reader, and are beautifully written. Full of imagery, the reader is able to 'step' into Jacqueline's life. This true life memoir has the ability to encourage children and young adults of any race who are struggling with school, be it academics or socially.

Spotlight Poem

on paper

The first time I write my full name

Jacqueline Amanda Woodson

without anybody's help
on a clean white page in my composition notebook,
    I know

if I wanted to

I could write anything. 

Letter's becoming words, words gathering meaning, 
    becoming
thoughts outside my head

becoming sentences

written by

                      Jacqueline Amanda Woodson

Excerpt from BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson

The above poem is one of my favorites from the book because it shows the passion that Jacqueline has for writing.  There is also a poem titled "Composition Notebook" in which Woodson describes with beautiful imagery the way her first composition notebook smells, feels, and looks. "Hard not to smile as I held it, felt the breeze as I fanned the pages" (Woodson 2014, p. 154). The poets use of imagery allows the reader to experience in their minds the things that Jacqueline experienced growing up. 

The first pages of the book includes a family tree of the Woodson family and the Irby family.  The Irby family is Jacqueline's mom's side of the family, and the grandparents that she visited each summer in Greenville, South Carolina. In the conclusion of the book are actual photographs of Jacqueline's family. I found myself wanting to know more about each character at the end of the book. 

Activities for the Classroom

There are many teaching ideas and ways to share this book with your students, particularly grades 4 - 8.  During a unit over the Civil Rights Movement, this book would be a great extension. The first poem in the book, titled "February 12, 1963", has references to sit ins and marching for freedom. Begin your lesson or unit with this poem, along with some top news stories from 1963. 

Throughout the book, Jacqueline Woodson speaks of her composition notebook. This notebook is a significant object throughout the book and Woodson's childhood. Allow students to discuss a significant object in their life, and how this object impacts their life and says about themselves. 

Follow up with some of Jacqueline Woodson's pictures books that are set in the 1960s and compare them to Woodson's memoir, BROWN GIRL DREAMING.  Following is a list of Woodson's picture books that would tie in wonderfully with this book.

Woodson, Jacqueline. 2001. THE OTHER SIDE. illustrated by E.B. Lewis. New York, NY: Putnam Juvenile. ISBN 9780399231162

Woodson, Jacqueline. 2013. THIS IS THE ROPE. illustrated by James Ransome. New York, NY: Nancy Paulen Books. ISBN 9780399239861

Awards for BROWN GIRL DREAMING

National Book Award for Young People's Literature, 2014
Newbery Honor, 2015
Sibert Honor, 2015
Coretta Scott King Award for Author, 2015

Biographies in the Library

Kindergarten is learning all about biographies this week in the library. We learned that a biography is a book about a real person. It was extremely cute hearing the kinders repeat 'biography' to me. Even though they had a difficult time saying it, they understood the concept. They all now know what a biography is, where it is found in the library, and how they are arranged. 

I chose to read a biography about Martin Luther King, Jr., since MLK day is coming up next week. We had a very good conversation about what matters is how we act, not what we look like. I read Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. 

After reading the book and discussing all the great things Martin Luther King, Jr. did for all the people, the students drew a picture of Martin Luther King. They turned out great, as usual. 

Third - Fifth graders are hearing all about the upcoming Book Bytes contest for the district. This week I am focusing on the contest rules, then next week I will begin mini-lessons on how to create a book trailer. I am really hoping that one of our students wins the district contest this year!