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will explain that another characteristic of a biography is that it presents a real person’s life in chronological order. I will add this to my Characteristics of Biographies Chart (Example Chart is provided in Unit Teacher and Student Materials). Chronological order means “in order of time.” If I told you a story about yesterday in chronological order, I would start with my alarm clock waking me up in the morning and end with me getting back into bed to go to sleep. The time covered in my story of yesterday was only one day, but biographies are about a person’s entire life. Biographies usually start with when a person is born and end when a person grows old. It tells the reader the important events of a person’s life in the order that they happen. I will use the familiar biography (from Lesson 1) Let’s Read About . . . Rosa Parks to model putting major events in Rosa’s life in order. I will write the following events on the board or chart paper (mixed up) and number them in order while I think aloud. I will explain that to put them in order, I will refer to the order of information in the text. • Rosa was born in February 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. • Rosa was sent to a special school in Montgomery, Alabama where she could get a good education. • Rosa and Raymond Parks got married. • Rosa stood up to a white bus driver who would not let her sit up front because she was African American. • Rosa fought the bus company in court and won. After putting the events in order by numbering them, I will reflect that a biography tells me what happened to Rosa Parks in chronological order, or in order of time. I will add the title of the book to my chart.

Ask: "How did I put the major events in a biography in chronological order?" Students should respond that you used the information in the book to help you put the events in order. Since biographies tell you about someone’s life in order, you numbered the events in the order in which they happened.

will read A Picture Book of Sacagawea by David A. Adler. After reading the first half of the book, we will look at a mixed up list of events in Sacagawea’s life so far (list provided below). Then, we will number the events from 1-4, referring to the information in the book to help us figure out the order. We will reflect that a biography shows us the events in a person’s life in order, so we will add the title of the book to our chart. We will finish reading A Picture Book of Sacagawea.

Sacagawea was born in 1788 or 1789 in the Rocky Mountains.
Sacagawea’s tribe was attacked by Hidatsa warriors, and she was captured and taken hundreds of miles away to the Missouri river
Sacagawea was sold to a white trader named Charbonneau to be his wife.
Lewis and Clark arrived at the Hidasta village.

will put major events from Sacagawea’s life in chronological order by numbering them on your Independent Practice worksheet. You will explain how you know A Picture Book of Sacagawea is a biography.