Biography bags are a favorite activity of mine! The kids love them too! You can put as much effort and time into these as you have available! They are so worth it! They're very fun to show off to parents at a museum day or invite another class over to see them! This PBL project is interdisciplinary.
Components
Writing: After researching their historical figure, students write a grade appropriate biography about their historical figure.
Math: Students create a timeline of his/her important life events. We used an app called Timeline. Students created a booklet ahead of time with dates & illustrations to add to their app creations.
Social Studies: Students identify character traits that made his/her historical figure a good leader. We focused on Jackie Robinson's patience and Martin Luther King Jr's determination. But we branched out to other figures not in our second grade standards.
Other: Students learn research and note-taking skills, students artistically transform a paper bag into their historical figure, students learn cooperation as they complete this with partners or small groups, & students can complete self assessments at the end.
Artifacts: Students might include 2-3 representative artifacts inside the bag. These can be items brought from home or made in class. For example, a trophy to represent Jackie Robinson's induction into the Hall of Fame or a kite to represent Ben Franklin's discovery.
What a fun idea - we’re definitely going to try this at home. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI love this! I definitely want to try this with my students. Do you have any resources you used you’d be will to share to help me get started?
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