121. Best Practices for Teaching Biographies

Teaching literacy is often surrounded by the genre of fiction. Students understand the characteristics and plot elements, which results in them independently reading fictional books on their own. But there’s another type of genre, nonfiction, and more specifically biographies, which they’re less familiar with. February is the perfect time for teaching biographies by incorporating Black History Month. But even without that, incorporating biographies into your classroom is so important. While it’s not as initially engaging as fiction, there are ways to pique students’ interest with this genre. In today’s episode, I’m sharing my best practices for teaching biographies. Oftentimes, students don’t like what they don’t understand, so getting them to understand biographies is the first step. Throughout the episode, I walk you through my five simple steps of exploring biographies in order to get students interested in this type of genre. With this exploration, you’ll help students understand how this genre works, how to identify it from a group of texts, and how to recognize the main purpose of this genre. Fiction is a genre students already enjoy, but by incorporating these best practices for teaching biographies, this will soon be a genre students will be engaged in and exploring all on their own. Show Notes: https://theliteracydive.com/episode121Resources Mentioned:Join the Writing Made Simple MembershipGrab my free Step-by-Step Writing routine!Biography Graphic Organizers FreebieConnect with me:Check out my TpT StoreSubscribe to my E-mail listInstagram PostsBlog PostsFacebook PostsIf you are enjoying The Literacy Dive Podcast, please follow, leave a rating, and a helpful review! It is much appreciated and thank you for listening!

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Do you find yourself seeking new implementations when it comes to literacy instruction? Do you crave fresh ideas and engaging lessons to transform your students into skilled readers and writers? The Literacy Dive Podcast was created to provide educators, like you, with actionable steps and strategies to improve teaching reading and writing.  Your host, Megan Polk, is the creator and owner of The Literacy Dive, a company that creates educational, literacy curriculum that aims to close the gap and support children in reaching mastery. Being a literacy specialist and having over a decade of teaching grades K-5, Megan knows the power of collaboration and working alongside teachers and parents to provide them with the support, confidence, and resources they need to meet students where they are. Dive in each Monday as Megan and her guests unpack an element of literacy or various topics relatable to educators. Here are some topics covered in this literacy podcast: writing strategies, reading comprehension, the writing process, the science of reading, and small group instruction. Tune in on your favorite podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Amazon, and more! If you enjoy this podcast and find the content helpful, please consider leaving a rating, feedback review, and/or sharing this podcast with a friend!