When choosing someone to research, students often pick someone who they look up to, admire, or want to be like. Perhaps a young soccer player wants to be a professional and chooses Alex Morgan, or a child who is interested in the piano chooses Mozart. Whenever a biography is written, it usually focuses on a theme, or a recurring idea, that centers around the person’s fame and/or importance. Some themes that are commonly seen in biographies are: rising above challenges, always being yourself, never giving up, and resilience in the face of adversity.
For this activity, the student will choose a biographical theme that pertains to the person they are researching and create a spider map showing examples of this theme. Alternatively, the student may choose more than one theme and make a cell representing each.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Due Date:
Objective: Create a 3 cell spider map detailing examples of a biographical theme in your person's life.
Student Instructions:
To help students understand theme, start with a story that everyone knows, such as one you have read together. Lead the class in a discussion of what a reader can learn about life after reading the story. This is the theme.
Some students will be able to find the theme of their biography themselves, so they should. If students are struggling, offering them a list of common themes such as "never giving up" or "you can count on your family and friends" is a good way to differentiate instruction.
If students need even more help, you can offer specific moments of the biography that point to one of the themes and help them pull these details out of the story.
Although you might think that themes are found only in fiction, there are recurring themes or ideas found in non-fiction such as biographies. Look for the lesson in the story, or what you learn about life after reading about someone else's life.
There are several recurring or typical themes found in biographies. Many biographies show people struggling to be themselves and find their own voices, people rising above challenges, people living through difficulties, and people finding success after a lot of hard work.
Finding the theme of a biography can be a very personal experience. Use clues from the story to see what you learn about life after reading the story. Themes are universal and can be applied to many people.