The Biography Unit An Online Learning Experience

The Biography Unit’s Purpose The purpose of this unit is to discover the numerous possibilities of both the genre of biography as well as prospective internet resources. This unit will be conducted as an online learning environment to further your technological capabilities and deepen your understanding through a collaborative learning environment.

Unit Objectives and Outcomes Throughout the biography unit students will be able to: Skills –Read and understand a biography of their choice –Participate in weekly discussions to enhance their reading experience –Create a multi-media presentation created on MovieMaker to inform others about the life of the person chosen in the biography –Research the life history of a community member through an interview –Write a biography of a community member –Use selected online sites and resources to deepen the learning process Knowledge –Recognize the biography genre using its features –Gain an understanding about many different people and their contributions or accomplishments –Understand and use the writing process –Identify and understand ways biographies are researched and written Dispositions –Gain an appreciation of the biography genre –Recognize the importance of the biography genre

Phase 1: The first phase of the biography unit consists of each of you choosing a biography to read on your own. No two people may read the same book. Really take into consideration who and what you are interested in because you do not want to get bored with a book of your own choosing! Please make sure that your choice is school appropriate.

Phase 1 Continued: You will be reading your biography both in class and on your own time. When classroom time is given you must use it appropriately. You will be allotted four weeks to read your selected biography. You will create a biography notebook that will be checked on a regular basis to track important events and details from your chosen biography. You will participate in weekly online discussions about your biography. These discussions will take place on the class wikispace at You must follow proper discussion protocol that is located and outlined in this presentation as well as on the wikispace. You will be required to post your individual response as well as respond to at least two of your classmates.

Weekly Discussions: Each Monday you will be assigned a new weekly discussion. You are required to post your initial response by Wednesday at 5:00 pm Your responses to at least two of your classmates will be due on Friday by 5:00 pm.

Weekly Discussions Continued: Discussion Protocol Post your response to the discussion question(s) no later than 5:00 on the due day posted for each part of the discussion. Please respond to at least two classmates. Ask reflective questions and comment critically on their ideas to extend the conversation. In addition, respond to any comments or questions classmates provide to your post. Your post should be no more than 200 words. See the rubric for specific requirements for every post.

Discussion Rubric: Discussion Rubric: The Biography The response to the discussion question represents the week’s reading 10 points. The quality of the initial post demonstrates reflection and critical thinking about the question(s) asked 10 points. Initial post demonstrates that the reader is actively reading their selected biography 10 points. Responses to a minimum of two classmates’ posts are reflective and ask questions that extend the discussion 10 points. Responses to classmates are thoughtful, thought provoking, and no less than 75 words 10 points. Total points possible for each discussion: 50 points

The Biography Notebook: The next part of phase 1 is the Biography Notebook. You will need to get a spiral notebook that will ONLY be used for this project. In this notebook you will be required to record quotes, events, facts and details from your weekly readings. Each week you will need to have 10 new entries written in complete sentences that detail the events, situations, and important facts from your readings. Your Biography Notebook will be due on Friday’s at the beginning of class. Each notebook check will be for 100 points. It is important that you take very detailed notes on your book for an upcoming project. DO NOT fall behind on this notebook because it is key for your final project!

Phase 2: Online Resources Now that you have finished reading your selected biography it is time to put your Biography Notebook to work! You will be creating two online projects that will be extremely important in helping you create your final project for the first part of the biography unit.

Webspiration Mind Map: The first online project is to create a webspiration mind map of the person from your biography. This mind map should include all of the facts, details, events and quotes from your Biography Notebook. This project is worth 300 points, so take your time and make it amazing! I will show you how to use webspiration to create your mind map.

The Life Timeline: The next online project is to create a life timeline for the subject of your biography. You will be using xtimeline to create your timeline. Your timeline should include at least thirty events that affected your subject. Your timeline is worth 200 points, so be thorough and specific and make sure you have at least thirty events!

Phase 3: Presenting your Biography The next phase in the biography unit is for you to create a multi-media presentation using MovieMaker, Showbeyond.com, Prezi.com, (etc.) on the subject of the biography that you have read. Your presentation needs to be at least 5 minutes in length, but no more than 8 minutes. You will receive a detailed assignment sheet for your presentation that outlines all of the information and media that needs to be included. Your final presentation will be worth 400 points! This is a huge part of your grade!