How to Teach Biographies Using Puppets

Teaching elementary and middle school students about the concept of biography can be fun and exciting with this project. It gives students a chance to be creative while writing and makes connections between students and their family members. Lastly, students have an opportunity to practice their oral presentation skills when it comes time to "introduce" their puppets. Read on to learn how to teach biographies using puppets.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper lunch bags
• Art supplies (markers, pens, glue, scissors, colored paper)
• Any sort of decorative item that can be glued on
• Lined paper cut to the size of the paper bag

1. Explain to students that they will be learning about biographies, which are stories about other people, written by someone else. Make the distinction clearer by explaining that autobiographies are stories about people that are written by those exact same people.

2. Ask students to create a list of five questions they want to ask a family member who will be the subject of their mini-biography.

3. For homework, students are to interview family member and write responses down.

4. In class the next day, students will take questions and answers and use the information to write a brief, informative paragraph about that family member. They will write this on the lined paper cut to fit the paper lunch bag.

5. After writing the mini-biography paragraph, students will have time to decorate the front (with the flap) of the bag so that their puppets resemble (somewhat) the family member they interviewed.

6. When students are finished, schedule a chunk of class time to do presentations and ask each student to introduce their family member puppet and read the mini-biography out loud.

7. To lengthen the fun, tape all presentable puppets up in the classroom with the words "We are family!" to emphasize the community feel of the project.