These biography reading passages and comprehension activities include resources for students to learn about famous Americans and complete biography reports. These biographies for kids are specifically written for kids to learn the life story of influential people, including presidents, leaders, inventors, women, civil rights activists, and more.
One of the challenges of teaching elementary grades is finding engaging nonfiction reading passages that students can actually read, comprehend, and use for writing expository text.
By reading these biographies, second-grade and third-grade students learn about the famous person through a fun, easy-to-read passage. Students can also use the QR Codes for additional biography research.
Included are comprehension activities that support a sequence of events and categorizing facts, as well as a simple biography report.
These biographies are also a great way to combine reading, writing, and social studies.
Are you interested in some QR Codes to jump-start your student’s Biography Research? Click below for some FREE QR Codes for Martin Luther King Jr.
Each biography resource includes the following components. The layout and application of the components are the same across all biographies so that you can give students one set of instructions, even if students are researching different famous people.
Below are some images and information about each component.
The three-part vocabulary cards can be used in several different ways. You have the option of cutting apart all three parts and having students match the word, picture, and definition, or leaving the word and picture together and having students match them with the correct definition.
Students can also use the picture cards in a report display or you can use them on a biography word wall.
Each biography resource includes a poster with an image of the famous person and information about why the person is important. The posters come in color and black and white. You can give students the black and white posters to color and use in their reports.
The biographies come in two formats like my animal articles. The one-page format is great for black and white printing. It has more condensed text and less images.
The two-page format includes color photos, larger text, and more line spacing. This format is great for whole group instruction and close reading activities.
The text in both formats is identical.
All of the biography text is written in a similar format. The first part introduces the person, explains his or her significance and the person’s birth or death.
The sections of each biography include the person’s early life, adult life, and later life. Those sections are consistent across all biographies and help students to organize the information on the note-taking graphic organizer or the report pages in the Biography Report for ANY Person.
The consistency across all biographies allows the teacher to give students different people to study while at the same time guiding and teaching about the genre as a whole class.
The comprehension activities in the biographies include sequence of events, short answer, and cloze reading activities. These comprehension worksheets scaffold the learning and focus students attention on different aspects of the person’s life.
Like the previous components, the graphic organizer and report pages are consistent across all biographies. They include space for students to take notes while reading. The report pages come in options with primary lines and space to draw pictures, as well.
Biographies are available for the following famous Americans. Some of the biographies can be placed in more than one category below, but they only appear in one.
The linked biographies below are available. Those that aren’t linked are coming soon!
Would you like a biography for another person? Leave a comment below and let me know!
Do you need more engaging and high-interest text for elementary students to read that can be used across content areas?
Are you looking to scaffold your Biography Report Unit?
The Biography Collection has over 47 kid-friendly biographies and comprehension resources and includes:
These biographies align well with my Biography Report for ANY Person. While these biograph ies include report pages, the Biography Report for ANY Person includes MANY more options and an in-depth study of biography report writing.
Also available are QR Codes for Biography Research Reports. QR Codes are included in this individual biography report. BUT if you want more QR Codes for other biographical people, they’re available separately.
Are you interested in some QR Codes to jump-start your students Biography Research? Click below for some FREE QR Codes for Martin Luther King Jr.
Hello! I love all of your products!! I teach a grade 3/4 split on a First Nation in Canada. Would you be able to do any biographies of famous First Nation people from past to present? I haven’t found a whole lot of curriculum on famous Native Americans and Canadians. Thank you!
Jessica Boschen says:Hmmm . . . I have never learned about First Nation people in Canada. I’m not sure I’m the best person to write about them, given my lack of background information. Do you have a list of people?
Jane Tom says:Hello,
Some names are: Elijah Harper, Louis Riel, Tom Longboat, Chief Dan George, Hiawatha, Adam Beach, Grahm Greene, Tommy Prince, Joseph Brant, Francis Pegahmagabow, Pound Maker, and Murray Sinclair. Other famous Native Americans: Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Sacagawea, Tecumseh, Geronimo, Chief Joseph, and Osceola. Does this help at all?
Thanks for the list! Some of the Native Americans are on our list to create. I’m not familiar with any of the First People names at all. I’m not sure that I’m qualified to write articles about them, unfortunately. I’ll add them to my list, though, and revisit it when we start writing articles again.
Welcome! I'm Jessica.
My passion is making learning accessible to all students. I love scaffolding teaching, breaking down concepts, and building them up so students can see all the connections.
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