Biography crafts engage kids in learning. Let’s look at five possibilities. First, to focus on character traits, try a foldable. If you’d like kids to refer to events in the person’s life, create social media posts or build biography cubes. To bring in history, use double timelines. And lastly, if you’re pinched for time, make cute little tube characters.
Ms. Sneed Explains 5 Biography Crafts
Our favorite fourth grade teacher, Ms. Sneed, sat at the back table with her student teacher. “Let’s continue planning our ELA block,” she said. “Today, we’ll work on our biography unit.”
She pulled a thick file folder from her teaching bag. From it, she pulled out a set of typed lesson plans.
“As you can see, we’ll start the genre study with picture books. Then kids will read full-length biographies. Instead of boring book reports, I’d like them to do some crafts.”
“Fun!” Mr. Grow exclaimed.
Ms. Sneed smiled and set some sample projects in front of him. “We’ll look through these and see what interests you.”
Simple Foldable Biography Crafts
Ms. Sneed picked up the first sample. “For this project,” explained Ms. Sneed, “kids fold the paper in thirds. Then they draw the person’s face on the front.” She opened the front flap. “Inside, students write about the person.”
Social Media Post
“Maybe they’d like they’d like this one,” said Mr. Grow. He pulled out a shaded piece of paper.
“I love that one even more!” Ms. Sneed exclaimed. “The student creates a social media post – sort of like Facebook – for the person they’re studying. Notice how they create a conversation about a compelling event. Kids eat it up.”
Biography Cube
She picked up another paper. “Now check out these biography crafts. I think our class would enjoy this. When finished, each side of this biography cube would feature an event from the person’s life.” Ms. Sneed stopped and quickly folded the sample. “See? Kids simply color, fold, and tape.”
Double Timeline
Next, Ms. Sneed handed Mr. Grow a double timeline. “These aren’t really biography crafts. Instead, they’re more serious projects. Kids list events in the person’s life on one side and events in history on the other. Above all, this project shows how history affected the person. In addition, kids can clearly see how the person changed history.”
Character Tube Biography Crafts
Ms. Sneed walked over to the cabinet. She rummaged around for a while. “Here it is,” she said.
Mr. Grow could see that she held a toilet paper tube in her hand. “If we’re in a time pinch,” Ms. Sneed said, “these are great little biography crafts. Kids can usually finish these in ten or fifteen minutes. When they’re done, you have an entire set of figures to display.”
Mr. Grow studied the sample project. “I see. They just cut strips of construction paper for the head, body, and legs. Then they cut more pieces for hair and headdresses, as well as other props – like this hatchet for Tecumseh.”
Enjoy Teaching Biography
Mr. Grow sighed. “It’s hard to choose just one! I can see that biography crafts come in many shapes and sizes. No matter what, though, they helped engage kids in the study of famous people.”
“Yep, and they will add some pizzazz to our unit. Don’t worry, though. We can choose a few – and maybe even use one of them when we celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday. Now let’s talk about the culmination of our genre study: a wax museum project.”
Mr. Grow’s eyes glowed. “Really? Great! I did that when I was in elementary school and loved it.”
