autobiography assignment rubric

Assignment Biography: Student Criteria and Rubric for Writing

Researching an Individual Aligned to Common Core Writing Standards

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The genre of  biography can also be categorized in the sub-genre of  narrative nonfiction/historical nonfiction. When a teacher assigns a biography as a writing assignment, the purpose is to have a student utilize multiple research tools to gather and to synthesize information that may be used as evidence in a written report about an individual. The evidence gained from research can include a person’s words, actions, journals, reactions, related books, interviews with friends, relatives, associates, and enemies. The historical context is equally important. Since there are people who have influenced every academic discipline, assigning a biography can be a cross-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary writing assignment. 

Middle and high school teachers should allow students to have a choice in selecting the subject for a biography. Providing student choice, particularly for students in grades 7-12, increases their engagement and their motivation especially if students select individuals they care about. Students would find it difficult to write about a person they do not like. Such an attitude compromises the process of researching and writing the biography.

According to by Judith L. Irvin, Julie Meltzer and Melinda S. Dukes in their book  Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy:

"As humans, we are motivated to engage when we are interested or have real purpose for doing so. So motivation to engage [students] is the first step on the road to improving literacy habits and skills" (Chapter 1).

Students should find at least three different sources (if possible) to make sure the biography is accurate. A good biography is well-balanced and objective. That means if there is disagreement between sources, the student can use the evidence to state that there is a conflict.  Students should know that a good biography is more than a timeline of events in a person's life.

The context of a person's life is important. Students should include information about the historical time period in which a subject lived and did her/his work. 

In addition, the student should have a purpose for researching another person's life. For example, the purpose for a student to research and write a biography can be in a response to the prompt:

"How does this writing this biography help me to understand the influence of this person on history, and quite possibly, this person's impact on me?"

The following standards-based criteria and scoring rubrics can be used to grade a student-selected biography. Both criteria and rubrics should be given to students before they begin their work. 

Criteria for a Student Biography aligned to Common Core State Standards

A General Outline for Biography Details

• Birthdate /Birthplace
• Death (if applicable).
• Family Members.
• Miscellaneous (religion, titles, etc).

Education/Influences

• Schooling.Training.
• Work Experiences.
• Contemporaries/Relationships.

Accomplishments/  Significance

• Evidence of major accomplishments.
• Evidence of minor accomplishments (if relevant).
• The analysis that supports why the individual was worthy of note in their field of expertise during his or her life.
• Analysis why this individual is worthy of note in their field of expertise today.

Quotes/Publications

• Statements made.
• Works published.

Biography Organization using the CCSS Anchor Writing Standards 

• Transitions are effective in assisting the reader to understand shifts.
• Ideas within each paragraph are fully developed.
• Each point is supported by evidence.
• All evidence is relevant.  
• Important terms are explained to the reader.
• Purpose of each paragraph (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion) is clear.  
• Clear relationship between topic sentence(s) and paragraph(s) that came before is evident.

Grading Rubric: Holistic Standards with Letter Grade Conversions

(based on extended response Smarter Balanced Assessment writing rubric)

Score: 4 or Letter Grade: A

Student response is a thorough elaboration of the support/evidence on the topic (individual) including the effective use of source material. The response clearly and effectively develops ideas, using precise language:

• Comprehensive evidence (facts and details) from source materials are integrated.
• Relevant, and specific clear citations or attribution to source materials.
• Effective use of a variety of elaborative techniques.
• Vocabulary is clearly appropriate for the audience and purpose. 
• Effective, appropriate style enhances content.

Score: 3  Letter Grade: B

Student response is an adequate elaboration of the support/evidence in the biography that includes the use of source materials. The student response adequately develops ideas, employing a mix of precise and more general language:  

• Adequate evidence (facts and details) from the source materials is integrated and relevant, yet the evidence and explanation may be general.
• Adequate use of citations or attribution to the source material.  
• Adequate use of some elaborative techniques.
• Vocabulary is generally appropriate for the audience and purpose.
• The style is generally appropriate for the audience and purpose.

Score: 2 Letter Grade: C

Student response is uneven with a cursory elaboration of the support/evidence in the biography that includes the uneven or limited use of source material. The student response develops ideas unevenly, using simplistic language:

• Some evidence (facts and details) from the source materials may be weakly integrated, imprecise, repetitive, vague, and/or copied.
• Weak use of citations or attribution to source materials.
• Weak or uneven use of elaborative techniques.
• Development may consist primarily of source summaries.
• Vocabulary use is uneven or somewhat ineffective for the audience and purpose.
• Inconsistent or weak attempt to create the appropriate style.

Score: 1 Letter Grade: D

Student response provides a minimal elaboration of the support/evidence in the biography that includes little or no use of source material. The student response is vague, lacks clarity, or is confusing:

• Evidence (facts and details) from the source material is minimal, irrelevant, absent, incorrectly used. 
• Insufficient use of citations or attribution to the source material.
• Minimal, if any, use of elaborative techniques.
• Vocabulary is limited or ineffective for the audience and purpose.
• Little or no evidence of appropriate style.
• Insufficient or plagiarized (copied without credit) text.
• Off-topic. 
• Off-purpose.
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iRubric: RUBRIC FOR WRITING AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

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Rubric Code: By Ready to use Public Rubric Subject:    Type:    Grade Levels: Undergraduate

Writing an autobiography Writing an autobiography including important events from your life between birth and today.

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Autobiography Rubric—High School

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Autobiography rubric.

This rubric may be used for assessing individual performance on a autobiography project.

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 7 Quick Tips for Student Biography Projects 

Completing a biography is an extremely valuable learning experience because it provides students with an opportunity to reinforce research skills, enhance writing skills, encourage critical thinking, foster creativity, and cultivate empathy. It might also encourage students to apply some of the lessons learned to their own lives.

 1. Review the Definitions

Take a moment to review the definition of a biography. You can also use this time to focus on the differences and similarities between a biography and an autobiography. This leads nicely into a short discussion about word parts (auto, bio, and graph).

2. Start with a Mentor Text or Example

Starting the project with a mentor text or example will give students a strong frame of reference for crafting their own biographies. Here are some picture book biographies that will work well for this purpose. Use the mentor text or example for students to analyze the main characteristics of a biography, including:

• Organization 
• Language/Style

Biography Report Template and Project

“Love the outline for the notes and how easily it was for my students to use. It really helped them organize their research and provided them with enough questions to gather a lot of information. Also love the paragraph lay out and the fill in the blank for my kiddos that are not as strong writers. Great!” -Kirsten H.

3. Explore Themes

Identifying a common theme that runs throughout the life of the individual being researched will help students organize their writing and develop a clear focus for their biography. Using the theme to focus on the most significant events, actions, and achievements of the important figure creates a more cohesive and compelling biography. Common biographical themes include:

• One person can change the world.
• Success requires hard work, dedication, and consistency.
• Facing challenges can make a person stronger. 
• Ideas come to life with creativity and imagination. 

4. Encourage Students to Choose Wisely

When choosing someone to research, encourage students to pick someone they admire. This will make the research and writing process more enjoyable. If students are required to pick from a list of significant figures, make sure to include a diverse selection. That way, you know your students will be able to find someone they will enjoy writing about.

5. Provide Essential Questions 

It is helpful to frame your essential questions around the necessary components of a biography. If the students can answer most of the essential questions in their biography, they will most likely have a successful finished product. Here are some common essential questions used for biographical writing:

• When and where was this person born?
• What kind of childhood did this person have?
• Did this person receive an education? If so, what was it like?
• What was this person’s family life like? If possible, include details about parents, siblings, spouses, and children.
• What obstacles did this person face?
• What did this person accomplish? 
• Why will this person be remembered?

6. Make Your Own Research Guide 

Use your essential questions to design your own research guide. Providing students with some sort of research guide will help them remain focused and on task. The format and structure of the research guide is based on the needs of your students. Click here to see what I like to include. 

7. Don’t Forget a Rubric

Students need to start with the end in mind. A rubric will give students a clear understanding of the project expectations. Using your research guide to create your rubric is an easy way to make sure your expectations align with your instruction.  

Are you ready to incorporate a biography research report into your curriculum, but don’t have the time to create all of the necessary components? Click here to download everything you need from Literacy in Focus on TpT.  Printable and digital formats are included!

“This has been a great resource to use to teach my students about how to conduct research, and the types of sources that they can use! It is a very organized and easy to implement resource. Thank you!” -Ashley

Biography Project: Research and Class Presentation

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

Set the stage for high-interest reading with a purpose through a biography project. Students work together to generate questions they would like to answer about several well-known people, then each student chooses one of these and finds information by reading a biography from the library and doing Internet research. Students create a graphic organizer (a web) to organize the facts they have found and share what they have learned about their subjects through oral presentations. Students evaluate themselves and their classmates by using a rubric during the research and graphic organizer-creation process and by giving written feedback on one another's presentations.

Featured Resources

Bio-Cube : This planning tool can help students organize their research; use it as an extension to the lesson and have them outline the lives they' researched before writing their own biographies.

From Theory to Practice

• By using graphic organizers, students write or draw meanings and relationships of underlying ideas. This has been shown to improve students' ability to recall content.
• By summarizing information, students improve in including ideas related to the main idea, generalizing, and removing redundancy.
• By working in cooperative groups, students may increase their learning of reading strategies through peer discussion. They may also lead to better comprehension.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• School or classroom library with a broad selection of biographies
• Computers with Internet access and printing capability
• Index cards
• Oral Presentation Peer Feedback Form
• Oral Presentation Rubric

Student Objectives

Students will

• Learn to ask relevant questions before beginning a research project
• Learn to take notes and categorize information as they create graphic organizers
• Improve comprehension as they read and skim text for main ideas and details
• Develop research skills (book and Internet) with the purpose of teaching the class what they have learned
• Think critically as they use rubrics and written feedback to evaluate their classmates and themselves

Session 1: Before Reading

1.	Ask students what a biography is and show an example of one. Ask them what sort of things they would expect to find out about a person’s life in a biography. Share a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. and ask students to work in pairs to generate questions about his life. Then ask for their ideas for how this information might be categorized (such as childhood events, turning points, things he is famous for, etc.)
2.	Have students brainstorm famous people who might have biographies written about them, and write student responses on the board.
3.	Pass out the graphic organizer and discuss how categories and subcategories can be used to summarize a person's life achievements. In the sample for Martin Luther King, Jr., categories include "childhood and young adult," "beginning of his career," "turning points," "march on Washington," "what he wrote," and "assassination."
4.	Have each student narrow the list on the board to three famous people they might like to study (they will narrow it down to one during the next session, depending on availability of biographies).
5.	Pair off students to discuss the people they're interested in researching. Have them ask each other what they already know about the people. What things do they not know but want to find out? Have students work together to help each other generate questions about each of the people they would like to learn more about.

Sessions 2 to 5

1.	Using your classroom or school library, have each student check out a biography of a famous person. The biography should be about one of the three people on the student's list from Session 1.
2.	Pass out the and go over expectations and criteria with students.
3.	Use the sample web for Martin Luther King, Jr. to model for students how each item of the rubric applies to the creation of the web.
4.	Ask students to skim (or preread) their biographies, focusing on the questions they generated during Session 1 about the selected person. Then have students work with their partners to group the information they find into appropriate categories and start a rough draft of their webs.
5.	For homework (and, if time, in class), have students read independently as they complete their webs.
6.	Students can also use the to add to their webs.
7.	When the webs are complete, have each student use the Web Rubric to evaluate his or her own web.
8.	Have each student share his or her web with a partner and give each other feedback and suggestions for improvement. The partner can fill out the same rubric using a different color.
9.	Collect the students' webs, review them, and use the same rubric with another color to make suggestions for improvement.

Session 6: After Reading

1.	Return the rubrics to students, giving them time to review the comments from you and their partners. Allow them the opportunity to make revisions to their webs.
2.	Have students copy their webs neatly onto butcher paper and prepare for the class presentation, writing notes or key words and phrases on index cards to help them remember what they will say.

Sessions 7 to 9: Class Presentations

1.	As students give the class presentations, have other students use the to write their feedback.
2.	Collect the feedback forms, review and check them for inappropriate comments, and give each set to the corresponding presenter.

Have students use their webs and the online Bio-Cube tool to plan and write biographies of the person they have researched. When they are finished, ask students to share the books with a younger class.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Possible student assessments include:

• Use the Web Rubric to grade the students' webs.
• Use the Oral Presentation Rubric to grade students' presentations based on the quality and completeness of information given.
• Observe and evaluate students' participation in group work and ability to critique other students' presentations based on their comments on the Oral Presentation Peer Feedback Form .
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