Biography Boxes and Bullets

During the Lucy Calkins' unit Navigating Through Nonfiction, students learned how to organize the main idea and supporting details by using the boxes and bullets method.  Students are going to be revisiting main idea as they read biographies, so I wanted to create an anchor chart specific to the genre.

 

I have some old Social Studies big books from a retired series that I often use when I need authentic text examples. You can't hang a big book on the wall and it can bulky to use without an easel.

 

So...

 

Anchor Chart!

 

Hangman

This game is an oldie, but goodie, that can be adapted to become a learning center.  I use this game as a way for students to practice drawing conclusions and spelling simultaneously.  I also link it to Science and Social Studies content by providing flash cards that have facts about the planets, presidents, geography, and animals. Students can choose either the magnetic game or the paper pad.  Plain pieces of paper can also be used. 

One student reads through the fact cards and reads it aloud. Then he selects a word from the text. Now they follow the normal directions for the game and try to get the other partner to guess the word. Students take turns so each person has a chance to guess. They record the words guessed on the record sheet.