Reading: Ages 7-14
Biographies and
Autobiographies
Today's
Snack: Eat something that relates to the biography or autobiography that
you are reading. For example, if you're reading about the life of George
Washington Carver, of COURSE you are going to have to have a peanut-butter
sandwich and a Reese's peanut-butter bar. If it's the autobiography of someone
who was really poor, have what they had for dinner as your after-school snack,
and think what your life would be like if those were the only calories you got
all day. If you feel like it, drink a glass of milk with your snack, and write
a short story, "The Autobiography of a Cow." It should be a . . . MOOOOOVING
story.
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Supplies:
Ask a librarian for a
list of biographies and autobiographies
of people who lived
through interesting challenges
or worked in the
career that interests you,
and work your way down
the list this school year
One of the best ways to learn about history is to read
quality biographies and autobiographies in your recreational reading time.
There's a lot of gold to be mined in this genre.
The stories of people's lives are
not only educational, enriching and entertaining, but they teach you what NOT
to do in certain situations.
Indirectly, by reading these life stories, you can
learn from the mistakes made by others. You also can witness how those people
overcame their own mistakes, and societal obstacles, to achieve success.
Here are some good
biographies and autobiographies that may appeal to the child in fifth through
eighth grades or thereabouts:
An
American Childhood, Annie Dillard
A
Girl from Yam Hill, Beverly Cleary
Black
Ice, Lorene Carey
Circle
of Quiet, Madeleine L'Engle
The
Summer of the Great-grandmother, ""
Two-Part
Invention, ""
Diary
of a Young Girl, Anne Frank
Gifted
Hands, Ben Carson, M.D.
Lives
of the Writers (20 of note)
One
Writer's Beginnings, Eudora Welty
"Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman!" Richard Feynman
Under
the Eye of the Clock, Christopher Nolan
