The Power of Biography Picture Books: Teaching Life Lessons Through Real Stories
As a teacher and librarian, I have been lucky to receive many notes and letters from my students expressing their love for reading. These heartfelt messages never failed to brighten my day and remind me of the joy that comes with nurturing a love for literacy in early readers. When I was an elementary school librarian, I received a heartfelt letter from a student. The note said, "I love coming to the library because we always learn about someone awesome." Reading this note not only made me smile but also made me reflect on my teaching practices.
As a librarian, I always gravitated towards using picture book biographies in my lessons. Why? Because children’s biography picture books tell an inspirational story about a real person and typically include a powerful lesson taught through the words of the nonfiction story. I found that biography picture books were an excellent way to celebrate months that spotlighted groups of people that have positively impacted our society.
Biography Browse Activity:
One of my favorite activities during Women's History Month for 4th and 5th graders was to organize books from our biography collection into different accomplishment areas, such as inventors, scientists, authors, activists, and artists. I would then create book stations throughout the library for each achievement area. I prompted students to do a walkabout and pick their top three biographical picture books to read during the lesson.
After browsing for about five minutes, I gave students a minute (here is my favorite virtual teaching timer!) to select their first biography picture book to independently read. I encouraged students to select a person they had never heard of and an accomplishment area they weren't familiar with. The results were amazing! Students were completely immersed in their biography picture books, and I could hear a pin drop in the library.
After three rotations, I would have the students come back to the carpet to share what they learned. Students were eager to talk about a brand new person they read about. This biography browse activity was SIMPLE and ENGAGING. It also allowed students to learn about important people they were unfamiliar with and gave them a chance to explore different areas of accomplishments.
The power of biography picture books goes beyond just teaching history. These books can also be used to teach important life lessons, such as resilience, perseverance, and empathy. By reading about the struggles and triumphs of real people, children can gain a greater understanding of the human experience, and learn to see the world from different perspectives.
Reading picture book biographies can inspire students to dream big and know that anything is possible.
I never really processed why I often gravitated toward picture book biographies, but after reading my student's kind note- it clicked! My love of learning about somebody new in biography picture books spread to my students. Reading picture book biographies can inspire students to dream big and know that anything is possible.
