Planning for Guided Reading Lessons Using Biography
Thinking within the Text / Demonstration(Show evidence in text) / Probing
(Show evidence in the text)
*Follow and understand the events in the subject’s life.
*Gather important information about the subject and the setting.
*Notice the important decisions the subject makes over his/her life.
*Notice how the subject changes over time.
*Identify the challenging circumstances in the subject’s life.
*Solve words that take on new vocabulary related to the subject’s life. / *This biography tells about ___’s life.
It starts when he was_____.
*Then______.
*When ___ was born, ______.
*This person lived in __, which was important because_____.
*This person lived at a time when__.
*___decided to ___, and that made a difference in his life because___.
*___made some important decisions in his/her life, for example____.
*When she/he was young, ___was __.
But ___changed in this way: ____. (provide example)
*This person had many obstacles to overcome. Some were____.
*This person met some challenges, for example, ____.
*There are some new words in this book that you need to know to understand ___’s life. / *This biography is about ___’s life. Look at page ___. What did the writer begin by telling us?
*What did you learn about ___’s life?
*What was important about where ___lived?
*What did you learn about the times in which ____lived?
*What are some of the important decisions that ____had to make?
*What was ___when he/she was young?
*How did ___change during his/her life?
*What obstacles did ___have to overcome to succeed?
*What challenges did ___have to meet to succeed?
*What does ___mean? How is this word important to the story of ___’s life?
Thinking beyond the Text / Demonstration
(Show evidence in text) / Probing
(Show evidence in the text)
*Infer the subject’s feelings and motivations.
*Infer how life circumstances were related to the subject’s decisions.
*Infer which decisions made the critical differences in the subject’s life.
*Connect the text to other texts, to background knowledge and to personal experience.
*Make predictions as to what the subject will decide and do.
*Understand the prominent theme of the text or what is to be learned from the subject’s life.
*Relate the overall lesson of the subject’s life to one’s own life.
*Notice new ideas or information and revise previously held ideas. / *When this happened, the writer is helping readers know that___ felt ___.
*The writer is telling readers that ___made this decision because____.
.*Think about the most important decision ____made.
*I think that one very important decision was____.
*This person’s life may remind you of ____.
*This biography may remind you of some other biographies and stories, for example,______.
*When you read, think about what might happen.
*Think about what you can learn from this biography.
*In writing this biography, the writer wanted us to learn that______.
*The story of this person’s life helped me understand ____in my own life.
*I think the writer of this biography wanted to help readers understand ___in our own lives.
*From reading this biography, you can learn____.
*Some new information that not many people know is included in this biography, for example___. / *How do you think___ felt when ___?
*Why do you think ___made that decision?
*What do you think the most important decision(s) were that ___ made in his life?
*Does this person’s life remind you of anything in your own life?
*Does this person’s life remind you of anything you know?
*Does this biography remind you of other books or stories?
*What do you think will happen in ___’s life?
*What did you learn from reading about ___’s life?
*What do you think the writer wanted us to learn from reading about ___’s life?
*What can you learn from __that will help you in your own life?
*What do you think the writer wanted you to understand about your own life?
*Did you learn something new from reading this biography? What?
*Did you learn something about ____ that you didn’t know before? What?
Thinking about
the Text / Demonstration
(Show evidence in text) / Probing
(Show evidence in the text)
*Evaluate the authenticity of the biography.
*Hypothesize why the writer selected the subject.
*Notice what the writer has done to make the subject seem interesting.
*Notice how the writer has chosen to present the subject’s life—chronological order or other.
*Hypothesize why the writer selected these life events to describe.
*Evaluate whether the biography is accurate or well written.
*Evaluate whether the biographer has been objective or fair to the subject. / *This biography is true because___.
*This writer did ____ to be sure that the biography would be factual.
*I think the writer might have wanted to write this biography because_____.
*The writer says that she wanted to write about____because_____.
*The writer really made ____’s life seem interesting by ______.
*I became interested in the biography because the writer _____.
*The writer might have chosen to present ____’s life in this order because_____.
*Think about why the writer selected these events in ______’s life.
*I think that this biography is well written, for example, ______.
*I think the information is accurate because______.
*I think this biographer has presented a fair picture of _____’s life because ____. / *Do you think this biography is true?
What makes you think that?
*How do you know that the writer got true information about _____?
*Why do you think the writer chose to write about___?
*Was there anything in the book that helped you realize why ____wrote it?
What?
*How did the writer make _____’s life seem interesting to you. Give an example.
*Why do you think the writer chose to present this part of ____’s life first? Last?
*Why do you think the writer told us ____about ____’s life?
*Do you like the way this writer described ___’s life? Why? Give an example.
*Do you think that the writer was fair in reporting ____’s life?
*What is the writer’s attitude toward ___?
Fountas, Irene C., and Gay Su. Pinnell. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency: Thinking, Talking, and Writing about Reading, K-8. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2006. Print.