Teacher's Guide

 

 Real People
Real Lives

 


 Scenario

 Famous people become famous for a wide variety of reasons, some of them positive and some not so positive. Imagine that you work for a company that is developing a new interactive infotainment center seeking to capitalize on the public's continuing interest in famous people. The plans include an exhibit of individual interactive displays depicting a wide variety of influential people. Each member of your group (class) has been asked to choose a famous person who interests him/her and to develop an interactive display about that influential person. The directors have requested that each display include life lesson(s) that can be learned from studying that individual's life.

What life lessons can we learn from reading about the lives of others?

Task and Product

 

The lives of famous people interest the general public, and that interest is often captured and sustained through the reading of biographies and autobiographies, as well as through magazines, newspapers, etc. Television and the Internet have also provided a wealth of information about famous people. In fact, the Internet has provided a proliferation of fan sites. However, all of the information available on these sites is not necessarily factual or reliable.

Your task is to read a biography or autobiography about a person of your choice. Your teacher will provide the requirements for that book choice. After completing the reading of your book, you will then gather additional information about your famous person by examining a variety of print and nonprint media, being careful to select and use credible and reliable sources.

You will then develop a display about your selected person and share that display with your group (class) in preparation for a presentation to your company's board of directors. Your display may take the form of any of the following products:

  • Oral report with visuals (display, poster, overhead transparencies, slides, etc.)
  • PowerPoint presentation
  • Video
  • Other products as directed by your teacher

An important part of designing your display will be to incorporate life lessons that can be learned from studying that famous person's life.

Assessments

You will be graded on your daily work on the research process as well as on your final product(s). In addition, you may receive additional grades on various components/activities in the reading/research process.

Outside reading biography/autobiography assessment:

Research process assessments:

Final product (display) assessment:

Question

Essential Question:

What life lessons can we learn from reading about the lives of others?

Subsidiary questions

  • How can we determine which sources will provide credible information about famous people?
  • What are the details about this person's life?
  • What major events transpired that affected this person's life and how?
  • Did this person affect any national or world events? In what ways?
  • What specific contributions has this person made that give him or her special status?
  • What personality traits helped this person achieve success and/or notoriety?
  • What obstacles did this person have to overcome in his/her life?
  • What aspect of this person's life would have the greatest visual appeal to an audience? Would an audio component be an important part of a display about him/her?

Gather and Sort

Complete activities to help you distinguish between fact and opinion and to identify reliable information about your topic:

Research! Gather biographical information about your famous person from a variety of sources.

Record your research findings using a graphic organizer or note cards. Be sure to avoid plagiarism and keep track of your resources for a bibliography.

Organize

Revisit the essential question:

What life lessons can we learn from reading about the lives of others?

Evaluate the effectiveness of your research for the task. Analyze your research notes to determine if you have enough information about your famous person and if you can answer the essential question.

Synthesize your findings by deciding:

  • which information about your famous person you would most like to include in your display. (This information will come both from your biography book and from your research.)
  • which facts or details about your famous person's life relate to the life lesson(s) you plan to portray in your display
  • which facts or details are the most compelling and would have the greatest impact on your audience
  • which facts or details are unnecessary or repetitive and therefore should be left out.

Create your final product:

Develop a display about your famous person using information from both your outside reading biography book as well as the research you have conducted. Your display may take the form of any of the following products. Click on the links below to see checklists covering the requirements for each.

Remember that an important part of designing your display will be to incorporate life lessons that can be learned from studying your famous person's life.

In addition, synthesize your findings by discussing biographical information that you found across multiple sources. Write a sourcebook entry. Click here for directions.

Conclusion

Present Displays

Your teacher will decide the time and place for the presentation of your display. He/she may decide to use one of the following formats:

  • Format #1: You are presenting your display before the company's board of directors (your class) for consideration for use in the new infotainment center. Each class member will present his/her display individually to the class. As you listen to the class presentations, use the Listening for Details sheet to jot down each of the famous people proposed for the center and important details about the lessons to be learned from their lives.
  • Format #2: It is the grand opening of the infotainment center, and all displays will be set up simultaneously in a large room to be shared in a Gallery Walk type of set-up. Class members will visit displays and jot down information about famous people as they visit each display. Use the Looking for Details sheet to jot down your choice of the top five famous people you think should be included in the center and important details about the lessons to be learned from their lives.

Reflection Activity

Based on your notes and the insights you gained from your classmates' presentations, which famous person's life made the biggest impression on you? In a brief essay, choose one famous person (one whom you did not personally research), and explain why the life lessons from that famous person had the most meaning for you.

Extension Activities

Your teacher may decide to use one of the following extension activities.

  • Participate in a Biography Bash! Each class member will dress up as the famous person they researched and "become" that person for a biography bash event. At the biography bash, each class member will interview at least three other "famous people" class members and record answers to their interview questions. Use this link for ideas on how to develop good interview questions. Then use this form to create your own questions. Finally, conduct the actual interview, and use this form to record the answers.
  • Participate in a Talk Show. Have one class member act as the talk show host introducing either a panel of famous people or a few selected ones as guests. The class (as the audience) should provide the questions to be asked to the famous person. Use this link for interview question ideas. Then use this form to create your own questions. Finally, participate in the talk show by asking one or more of your questions to the guest, and then use this form to record the answers to your questions.