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will explain to students that another characteristic of biographies is that they are about important people in the world. An important person is a person who does something that affects many other people. For example, important people that might appear in a biography include world leaders, historical figures, sports heroes, and artists. I will add the characteristic, “About Important People” to my Characteristics of Biographies Chart that I starting in Lesson 1 (example provided). I can find out why a person is important by reading a biography and identifying the person’s actions (what they do). After identifying a person’s actions, I will think about whether the actions might affect many other people. If the actions affect many people, I can understand why a person is important or famous. I will model identifying one reason why George Washington is important by identifying his actions in A Picture Book of George Washington by David A. Adler and thinking about whether his actions affect many other people. For example, I will pause on page 10 and note that George Washington helped England win the French and Indian War. This affected many people and is one reason why he was important.

Ask: "How did I figure out one reason why George Washington is important?" Students should respond that you identified his actions in the biography and thought about if an action affected many other people. You then used it to explain one reason why George Washington is important.

will finish reading the biography and work together to identify George Washington’s actions and draw a conclusion about whether those actions impacted other people. Once we have identified an action that makes him important, we will add the title of the book to our chart. We will also write one reason why George Washington is important on our chart and reflect on how biographies can teach us why people are important or famous in history.

will identify something that George Washington did that makes him an important or famous person in history (Independent Practice Worksheet provided). You will explain how you know this book is a biography.