The Biographies

We're reading picture book biographies in Room 200.  We're writing about a great person and we're also comparing the resources we've read about the person.  I started off reading 2 picture book biographies about a personal hero, Eleanor Roosevelt, to the Thirdlanders.  We created flow maps of her life using one book, then the other.  After the flow maps, we made a double bubble map, comparing the two texts.  One text by the incredible Barbara Cooney focused only on Eleanor's childhood and had zoomed way out illustrations.  Doreen Rappaport's text covered the whole range of Eleanor's life, had close up illustrations and included many inspiring Eleanor quotes throughout the book.  They both contained information about her family's wealth as well as their interest in philanthropy.

After the double bubble demonstration, I wrote a short piece about Eleanor, projecting the text on to our big screen.  I inserted a photo of her, from late in her life.  A Thirdlander said, "You look a lot like her."  And then others chimed in agreeing that I bear a strong resemblance to Eleanor Roosevelt.  At first I was a little bummed out, but then I said, "You know, I guess I do look a little like Eleanor. That's kind of cool because she was a great person and I truly admire her so much."

A Thirdlander said, "You're a great person too."  Another added, "I'd like to write my biography project about you!"  Others joined in, telling me of my greatness.

I said, "Well, you all crack me up, and you're very kind people." After that, it was back to writing time for the amazing Thirdlanders of Room 200. Looking forward to reading their pieces about some great people.