5 Ways to Make a Biography Report Fun

Orange County English Tutoring Tips: 5 ways to make a biography report fun

Most elementary school kids will write a biography of a historical figure at some point during the year. This is an important assignment that teaches kids many lessons including the difference between fiction and non-fiction reading, history, political science, civil rights movements, and so on. However, some biography reports can be dry in that kids are reading about facts and dates rather than immersing themselves in a fiction story about intrigue an adventure. However, there are some ways to make a biography report fun and exciting and also help a student learn about the importance of the figure assigned to them – get a high grade on your biography report with the help of Orange County English tutoring from TutorNerds.

1.  Choose a person you’re interested in

Usually, students get to choose from a few different historical figures when writing a biography. Most students won’t know too much about their choices until they pick one and get started. Unfortunately, sometimes the person they chose is not especially interesting to them for one reason or another, and they lose interest in the assignment altogether. It’s worth it to help kids do a little bit of preliminary research on their different choices so they can choose to write about someone they think is cool. This can make the assignment more fun overall and help encourage the student to be independent and research on their own.

2. Gather age-appropriate resources

There are several resources available geared especially towards elementary school students that use language and vocabulary they can understand. Also, these resources often condense complicated information into smaller paragraphs. When researching, students often find material that is meant for an older audience, which can make it harder to understand. School libraries and websites recommended by the classroom teacher can be helpful for these types of assignments. Parents can also help kids look for visual resources that give them an idea of what it was like to live in the period and country of the subject.

3. Add a creative element

Most teachers will allow students to draw a picture of the subject of their biography or even of an imaginary setting from the time the person lived. Sometimes this is a required part of the assignment, but more often than not it’s extra credit, which is why many students don’t do it. However, adding a creative element can help maintain the interest of a younger student and give them a well-rounded educational experience. Additionally, a little bit of extra credit can always be helpful to keep a student’s GPA high at any age.

4. Ask why

Most students already know about the five W’s – who, what, when, where, and why – but the most important one to focus on is the last. Students should be asking themselves why a person did what they did, why did they react in a certain way, why did they become famous or infamous? When students ask why it sparks their mind to dig deeper and think about the situation at hand (READ: 5 Tips for Success in English).

5. Understand the context

If a student is writing about somebody who lived a long time ago, they might not yet understand the context in which the person lived. Something that’s not a big deal today might have been a really important contribution 100 or 200 years ago. What is commonplace in modern times might have been unique when the person was living. It’s helpful if students at this age can learn context from a parent or tutor before they get into all of the details of a biography assignment.

Whether you’re in high school or college, do well in your English classes with the help of private Orange County English tutoring from TutorNerds.

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