Biography and Autobiography

Biographies and Autobiographies




A non-fiction genre of writing is called  "Biographies and Autobiographies".

Biographies are pieces of writing that tell about someone’s life - They are usually written about famous people. It can be long or short, but it is typically written by a different author than the person the story is about. They are written in THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW, using “he or she”.

Autobiographies are stories written by the person it is about. That is, they are telling their own story of their life, including interesting facts, discussing who they are and what they have achieved, lessons they have learned and sharing what is important to them. Autobiographies are written sometimes to share important information or to motivate others to achieve what they have! (Maybe make lots of money!) They are written in FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW, using “I”.



Write your own AUTOBIOGRAPHY! Or, a BIOGRAPHY on someone else!

Here are some examples of Biography Books you can check out for inspiration!









A biography or autobiography can be a few sentences long, or a whole page!

It can also be a poem!

PART A:
You can write these poems about your friends, family, even characters in a book!

You don’t have to follow this pattern exactly - feel free to add lines, change words, and create a new ending or beginning!

Start with brainstorming a list of things you know about the person/character- likes, dislikes, words to describe him/her, and memorable things that they have done or are unique to them.

Here is a sample pattern for a BIO (short for biography) POEM:


1st Line: : First name
2nd Line: Four (4) Traits (good descriptive words about that person
3rd Line: related to _____________________________________
4th Line: who cares deeply about __________________________
5th Line: who feels _____________________________________
6th Line: who needs ____________________________________
7th Line: who gives _____________________________________
8th Line: who fears _____________________________________
9th Line: who wants ____________________________________
Last Line: now living in ___________________________________

Here is an Bio poem I have written as an example:

Harry,
Courageous, lonely, sneaky, loyal
Nephew of the Dursleys
Who cares deeply about Quidditch
Who feels misunderstood
Who needs his Nimbus 2000
Who gives his friends hope
Who fears “He who must not be named”
Who wants to find the Deathly Hallows
Who hides a secret
Now living in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

By Ms. Yacey


You can use this pattern to write a descriptive “I am” poem. You can share with others the things that are important to you, and they can get to know you better!

1st Line: Begin with the words, “I am”
2nd Line: Write three (3) nouns you feel strongly about
3rd Line: Write a complete sentence about two things you have strong
feelings about.
4th Line: Begin with three nouns describing qualities you look for in other people.
End this sentence with, “are important to me.”
5th Line: Write a sentence describing something you like about yourself
6th Line: Write a sentence describing something you dislike or something you
are not an expert at
7th Line: Start this sentence with “But....” and show how something positive can
link with the negative from line 6.
8th Line: Write a short sentence describing something you really like.
9th Line: Write a short sentence describing something that you really dislike.
Last Line: End the poem with, “This is me. I am!”

Here is an example of my AUTOBIO POEM :

I AM …............

Sunshine, good books, sandals
I like sleeping in and good coffee
Honesty, laughter and kindness are very important to me.
I like the colour of my eyes.
I get stressed out easily by silly things.
But I always help out a friend in need.
I love zebra print
I hate getting scared
Making sure I do a good job every day is very important to me.
This is me……. I AM!

                                              - By Ms. Yacey




Or, you can just write it like a story!

PART B:

How to Write a Biography

1. First, select a person you are interested in and would like to learn more about.
2. Find out the basic facts of the person's life. Searching on the internet is sometimes a good start, or if you can, prepare a list of questions to ask the person directly if it is someone you know.
3. Think about what else you would like to know about the person, and what parts of the life you want to write most about. Some questions you might want to think about include:
• What makes this person special or interesting?
• What kind of effect did he or she have on the world? other people?
• What are the adjectives you would most use to describe the person?
• What examples from their life show those qualities?
• What events changed this person's life?
• Did he or she overcome obstacles? Take risks?
• Would the world be better or worse if this person hadn't lived? How and why?

4. Do additional research at your library, on trusted Internet websites to find information that helps you answer these questions and tell an interesting story.
5. Write your biography. Start with an interesting beginning or a quote from the person. Many biographies are written in Chronological Order, which means you start at the very beginning of their life, and write about events and details in the order that they happened, right up until the present.

How to Write an Autobiography

You are the biggest expert on you! You may want to start with a timeline of your life to help you with brainstorming. Or you can just jot down things about you, ask your family what you were like as a baby/child, and mark down important dates and important events that you have experienced or participated in.

Things to consider:

• What makes you special and interesting?
• What words would you use to describe yourself?
• What things have you done in your life that represent these qualities?
• Who is important to you in your life, and what has their influence been?
• What have you learned and would like others to know?
• Where do you see your life going in the future?

Create your own timeline:
http://www.timetoast.com/

Rules for Using Quotation Marks

Rules for using Quotation marks:

1.A speaker's exact words (also called dialogue) must be surrounded by quotation marks.

"I love flowers," said Jessie.

2.Opening quotation marks (example: ") are used to mark the beginning of the speaker's words, and closing quotation marks are used the mark the end of the speaker's words (example: "). 
3.Commas and periods are always placed inside the closing quotation marks.

 "I like chips," said Milly. Jason replied, "I love pretzels."

4.Use a comma to introduce a quotation after a dialogue tag.

Tyler replied, "Blue is my favorite color."

5.If dialogue is split or separated, use quotation marks to surround each part that is spoken.

"Yes," said Bobby, "I love cheese pizza."

6.If a quotation is not split or separated, don't close the quotation until the speaker is finished. This could sometimes involve numerous sentences.

"Please write your name on your paper before you begin. Once you finish, bring your paper to the front of the room and place it on my desk," said the teacher. 


See if you can correctly add quotation marks to these examples. (You may need to print the page before completing it). 

Then you can have some fun adding dialogue to this little video. What would the gorilla and caterpillar say?! 

Name your Google Doc Name Gorilla Talk and remember to share it with me. 

What dialogue would you add to this little video? What are some of the things the bullies, bystanders or the victim might be saying? What could they be thinking?  

Name your Google Doc Bully Talk and remember to share it with me. 

 

Cheers,

Mrs. Flasha

Ms Yacey's Colour Poems

How to Write a Quick Colour Poem! 

Colour poems are good for when you have a couple minutes to write, or as a quick project that can be started and finished later.

These poems can be written by yourself or with a buddy- but they are a little more fun with a buddy!

Pick a colour, any colour........ even close your eyes, reach into your box of pencil crayons or felts, and write about the first colour you pull out!

Cut a piece of paper into about 6 - 8 strips (consider using two sheets of paper if you are working with a partner).

Write about what first comes to mind when you think of the colour on the slips of paper:

Some examples are:

Orange is a sunset

Red is the colour of love

Pink is the colour of Valentine’s Day

Green smells minty

Orange reminds me of warm pumpkin pie, fresh out of the oven

Make sure to consider items that are that colour, feelings that make you think of that colour, pictures, sounds, or smells that colour makes you think of or even tastes! Green limey Jello …....

Give some slips to your partner and have them write about the same colour.

When you are finished, rearrange the slips of paper in any order - shuffle them around until you have an order that you think sounds good, has a rhythm, makes the most sense, or can even tell a little story!

When you are done, you have just created a quick colour poem, just like that!

To complete your poetic piece, decide on a closing line (With your partner, or on your own)
It should leave your audience thinking about that colour and wanting to explore new ideas!

Here are some examples of closing lines:

What is your favourite colour?

Royal Purple, we bow down to you.

What do you think blue is?

Why oh why must I see red everywhere!

Here is an example:

Purple is royal
Purple is strange
The colour of Ms. Yacey’s favourite shirt
The colour of kings and queens’ robes
Always missing from my felt box
Mixture of red and green
Purple, why must you be such a mystery!

Feel free to leave your colour poems as a comment on the blog for others to read. Simply copy and paste your poem in from a Word Doc or Google Doc.

From,
Ms Yacey

Mrs. Flasha's 5 Sentence Stories

5 Sentence Stories! Really?

Can a story really be written using only 5 sentences? Yes! Click here to learn how author Tyler Enfield teaches 5 sentence stories. 

Before you start writing stories here are a few tips:

1. On a blank piece of paper, make a list of all the CHARACTERS you can think of:  king, queen, princess, ogre, evil villain, mom, dad...

              Note:  Never use the name of a real person in your stories. 
                        They may get offended!

2. On another blank piece of paper, make a list of all the SETTINGS you can think of:  farm, castle, woods...

3. On another blank piece of paper, make a list of MOTIVATIONS (things a character may want):  money, power, a golden ring, a friend...

Keep these pages in your writing binder and use them when you are stuck for a creative idea. Add to the lists whenever you think of another idea. Share your list with a peer and add to each other's ideas! Add ideas you find in books, cartoons or movies. 

Some ways to write 5 sentence stories:

All by yourself -  Write as many 5 sentence stories you can as often as you can, or write one a day. Keep all the stories you write. You may like one so much you decide to turn it into a longer piece of writing. Re-write a story with a new setting, character, problem or solution. Where does this change take the story?

With a partner -  Each person starts the first sentence of a story, swap papers and add the next sentence. Continue until the stories are done. Be sure to swap back and see how your original story concluded. You never know what will happen next! Decide which is the best story. 

Write-a-round! - Get a group of people to sit in a circle. Each person starts a five sentence story on a piece of paper. Pass the paper to the right and continue the next sentence. Once the story is complete, start another 5 sentence story on the same page. Continue until the agreed upon time limit is up (usually 10 minutes). Read the best story from your page to the group. 

How to play our 5 Sentence Story Game

STEP 1. Type the first sentence of your story in the comment box, hit submit. Remember - do NOT use your real name when you comment on our blog. 

STEP 2. Click on the reply button to add the next sentence in someone else's story. You can only add 1 sentence to each story - no more!

STEP 3. Which stories are your favourite? Can you turn one into a full story? Here is a wealth of creative ideas to help you write a full story... Or part of a story... Or another 5 sentence story... Just keep writing!

WARNING!

Whenever writing be sure to KEEP IT CLEAN! No toilet humour please! No foul language! Our principal and parents read this blog. Always remember to be safe and appropriate when you are working online. 

Happy writing,
Mrs. Flasha