famous person research project elementary

The BEST Elementary Biography Project

Looking for a fun, new research and writing project for your elementary kiddos? This living wax museum is a great way to tie together reading, writing, social studies and speaking and listening skills all in one fun project. I have done this project with second through fourth graders and they have all loved it.

Start this project off by having your students select what famous figure they want to research, or by assigning them a famous figure. My ABSOLUTE favorite books for us to conduct our research are the “Who Was” Series by Jim Gigliotti. They are perfect for on-level/higher second graders, and are most appropriate for third and fourth grade students.

Typically, I will introduce the project, show the students my example, and then briefly introduce all of the famous figures that they can pick from. I then let them go one by one and pick which person they want to research.

For my second graders, I always have one group (my lower level readers) that work together to collect our research all on the same person, but then I release them to each write their own reports.

We spend about one week reading our books and researching our influential figure. While they work, they take notes on important aspects of that person’s life. There are also a ton of great books on Epic ! that students can use for additional research and ideas.

After our notes are compiled, students begin writing their drafts for their research reports. I have students write 6 total paragraphs about their famous figures. We do an introduction, a paragraph about their early life, a paragraph about why they are famous, fun facts, a paragraph about a character trait that best describes them and why, and then a closing.

We spend about 1-1 & 1/2 weeks working on our writing. We write about a paragraph or 2 per day, then take our writing through the revising/editing/publishing process. I then give students a good 2-3 days to spend a TON of time publishing their work to the best of their capability, using their best handwriting and best pictures that they can.

Wax Museum: Speaking & Listening

We end this project by inviting parents and other classes to come watch us present our reports. This is a fun time where the students get to dress up like their famous person, bring in props and practice speaking in front of an audience. We always get amazing feedback from the parents and from other classroom teachers. This component is totally optional, but completely worth it!

I always send home a student letter at the beginning of the project so that parents have ample time to help students gather materials for their costumes and to help them get a good understanding of who their influential figure is.

Distance Learning / Digital Learning :

Is your school closed for an extended period of time due to this crazy virus? This project is a GREAT way for students to continue learning at home. Simply send the PDF to parents to print at home (or print at school if you still have access), and send students to Epic or your local online library to find biographies on the person of their choice. Then, add a digital component by having students upload their videos to Google Classroom, SeeSaw or the digital platform of your choice. This is a great way to provide a few weeks of reading/writing plans to parents, while incorporating choice in student learning still.

Recommended Resources :

Snag everything you need for the biography research and writing reports in this Biography Writing Resource .

Click here for a compilation of all of my favorite “Who Was” characters to research for this project. These books are the perfect level for 2nd-4th graders, and are really affordable (between $2-4 each by following my Amazon affiliate link.)

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Ideas for a Research Project on Famous People

Sooner or later in your school career, a teacher will assign you to do a research project on a famous person. For a lot of kids, the hardest part of the project is choosing a famous person to research and deciding how to present what they've learned. Take some time to brainstorm and think about different ideas for a research project on famous people before you get started. Once you've decided whom you want to research, the rest of your project will fall into place.

Explore this article

• Local Famous People
• A Famous Person Like You
• A List of Famous People

1 Local Famous People

Every town has its share of famous people, and their stories can be very interesting. If you do a report on a famous person who was born or lived in your town, you have some exciting research options in addition to reading books about your subject. If he has any descendants still living in the area, they may be willing to talk to you about their famous relative. You may even be able to include your own photos of his birthplace, his school or the house where he lived. A research project on a famous local resident is an exciting way to learn about your town and its history.

2 A Famous Person Like You

Think about the things that are important in your life, and then find a famous person who has something in common with you. Perhaps you struggle with a learning disability. Many famous people also had to overcome challenges like dyslexia, ADHD, diabetes and asthma. If you love to run fast, you might enjoy doing a research project on a famous runner like Florence Griffith Joyner, the "world's fastest woman," or Jesse Owens, one of the most famous runners in history. A common interest or challenge can make it more fun to learn about a famous person.

3 A List of Famous People

Instead of doing research project on one famous person, put together a list of famous people who have something in common. Your common thread can be as simple as "famous people who have red hair" or "famous people who experimented with electricity." Compile your list in an interesting format that makes sense for your subject. Put together a slide show of famous redheads, for example, complete with short biographical blurbs, or a time line of famous people who experimented with electricity.

• 1 CNN/SI: Florence Griffith Joyner

About the Author

Deb Powers is an avid urban gardener who works with a community collective to promote sustainable urban agriculture and build partnerships between local business owners and community organizations. Powers serves as a social media and marketing consultant for local non-profits and businesses, and is collaborating with a coffee roaster to publish a cookbook highlighting coffee as a culinary ingredient.

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Biography Project: Research and Class Presentation

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Set the stage for high-interest reading with a purpose through a biography project. Students work together to generate questions they would like to answer about several well-known people, then each student chooses one of these and finds information by reading a biography from the library and doing Internet research. Students create a graphic organizer (a web) to organize the facts they have found and share what they have learned about their subjects through oral presentations. Students evaluate themselves and their classmates by using a rubric during the research and graphic organizer-creation process and by giving written feedback on one another's presentations.

Featured Resources

Bio-Cube : This planning tool can help students organize their research; use it as an extension to the lesson and have them outline the lives they' researched before writing their own biographies.

From Theory to Practice

• By using graphic organizers, students write or draw meanings and relationships of underlying ideas. This has been shown to improve students' ability to recall content.
• By summarizing information, students improve in including ideas related to the main idea, generalizing, and removing redundancy.
• By working in cooperative groups, students may increase their learning of reading strategies through peer discussion. They may also lead to better comprehension.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• School or classroom library with a broad selection of biographies
• Computers with Internet access and printing capability
• Index cards
• Oral Presentation Peer Feedback Form
• Oral Presentation Rubric

Student Objectives

Students will

• Learn to ask relevant questions before beginning a research project
• Learn to take notes and categorize information as they create graphic organizers
• Improve comprehension as they read and skim text for main ideas and details
• Develop research skills (book and Internet) with the purpose of teaching the class what they have learned
• Think critically as they use rubrics and written feedback to evaluate their classmates and themselves

Session 1: Before Reading

Sessions 2 to 5, session 6: after reading, sessions 7 to 9: class presentations.

Have students use their webs and the online Bio-Cube tool to plan and write biographies of the person they have researched. When they are finished, ask students to share the books with a younger class.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Possible student assessments include:

• Use the Web Rubric to grade the students' webs.
• Use the Oral Presentation Rubric to grade students' presentations based on the quality and completeness of information given.
• Observe and evaluate students' participation in group work and ability to critique other students' presentations based on their comments on the Oral Presentation Peer Feedback Form .
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Wax Museum: Biography Research Report and Event

It’s not just how darn cute the kids look, or how much the parents oooh and ahhh over what a great event it is, (we all need those pats on the back) but it’s the fact that I know how much the kids have gotten out of this project and how hard they’ve worked to get to this special day.

I have to say it’s one of the highlight events for me each year, and it’s one I never get tired of. If you’ve never been to a Wax Museum, you’re in for a treat!

All of the kids are in costumes, portraying well-known historical figures, and standing in front of their backdrops as still as can be (or as still as a ten year old can be). Wax Museum visitors (parents and the other kids from our school) walk around, looking at the famous people and pushing the button on the backdrop, to hear the child tell them a little bit about his/her life and why he/she is important. Great stuff!

So, exactly how do we put together a Wax Museum ?

Here are the steps:, 1. choosing a famous person and finding a biography.

First, we go to the library and I take my trusty cup full of Popsicle sticks with the kid’s names on them. When we get there, I pull sticks to see who gets to look for their famous person biography first.

The kids know my criteria for selecting a famous person to study, but of course, you can come up with your own requirements. My rules are that the person must have been an American (5th grade studies American history, so it reinforces that), must have been an admirable person and have contributed something positive (no outlaws/criminals), must be dead or near-dead (they always laugh at this rule but I just want to avoid having biographies of 30 year olds), must have been some kind of groundbreaker if he/she is a sports figure or an entertainer (Jackie Robinson is good but Michael Jordan isn’t).

Finally, the kids need to be able to find an actual book about that person, because I want them to read an entire story about them before they catch snippets of him/her on the internet. Once they find a book and check in with me to be sure we don’t have any duplicates, I tell them to take the book home and to read their biography as part of their required reading homework.

2. Researching and Taking Notes

Before we start researching, we go over how to take notes (and not write whole sentences) and then I give the kids a research handout with specific categories to add notes to. The kids have several weeks to gather information, either at home or at school and then I have a due date for the notes to be checked.

I learned early on that if there is no due date when it’s time to write, I’ll have ten kids who can’t write because they need more notes. The checking of the notes is quick but helps me know who needs to dig a little deeper to get ready to write.

3. Writing the Reports in Class

After a lesson on organizing notes in time sequence and how to “be the author” and tell the story well, the kids are ready to write their rough drafts. We focus on doing a page each day so it’s not too overwhelming. When the rough draft is done, the kids take them home to type.

Luckily, our school is in an area where almost everyone has computer access. I used to give the kids a choice to write or to type, but since keyboarding skills are part of the testing requirements, I figured it would give them good practice AND it is so much easier to read for grading.

4. Homework: Gathering Pictures

Besides research, another homework assignment is to gather some pictures for this project. The kids need to make a cover sheet, using a single picture of the famous person (or a picture collage) and his/her name, plus their own.

When the kids bring these to school, they choose their construction paper color and we fold the 12 x 18 paper in half and glue the cover sheet to the folder. The second part of the homework is to bring in a few pictures to add to their backdrop.

5. Make the Backdrop

We head to the gym for this project because we need lots of room to spread out. I tell the kids to take off their shoes (which they LOVE), because we don’t want our backdrops to get dirty from our shoes.

These backdrops are made from butcher paper (five and a half feet long) and can be any color, but I tend to use white. Each child decorates his/her backdrops with the homework pictures of the famous person studied, as well as a hand-drawn background.

On the Wax Museum day, the child will be standing in front of this backdrop, in costume, portraying the person he/she studied. Besides printed out pictures and drawings, we also glue on a button (a piece of paper) that says ‘Push here to hear about this famous American.”

6. Homework: Memorizing Speeches and Gathering Costumes

I give the kids a handout with a sample speech written on it and we talk about what makes a good speaker, like eye contact, posture, voice volume and confidence. The kids take this home and create a short speech to give for the Wax Museum Day when someone pushes their button.

When this homework is due (a few days before the Wax Museum) each child recites the speech in front of the whole class. I try to keep it positive but do like to use this as a learning opportunity for speaking in front of an audience, which is a great lifelong skill to have.

The next homework assignment is to put together a costume for the Wax Museum Day. They need to beg, borrow or steal (or sometimes buy a few pieces from Goodwill or online) to create a costume that represents their famous person well. I stress that they don’t have to spend a lot or even any money but they do need to be creative to pull something together.

I am always happily surprised by the amount of thought that goes into some of the costumes. It really makes the event awesome to see everyone all dressed up, like a historical Hall.

7. Presenting the Wax Museum !

The day before the Wax Museum, I have a few mom volunteers help me set it up. We tape backdrops to the wall, staple them to rolling art display boards, and clip some of them to the top of the volleyball net in the gym. Since we usually have three classes participating, we have lots of backdrops to put up.

On the day of the Wax Museum, my kids come dressed in their costumes ready to go. After a quick bathroom stop, we take our places in the gym and wait for the adoring crowds to come!

It’s really fun to have all of the classes in our school wind their way through the gym to see our kids in action, and we invite parents, of course, so they can be involved as well.

We “stay open” for an hour, and each child gets a ten-minute break at some point so he/she can see everyone too. Plus, it helps to get a few wiggles out because standing in one place for an hour can be tiring!

8. Making a Class Timeline With our Famous People

After the Wax Museum is over, the next day we do a culminating activity. I like to have the kids put together a timeline to compare the people we have studied.

We find the earliest and latest dates of birth and talk about how we should divide the timeline. This year, ours went from 1750 – 1955, and we counted by 25’s, which worked out nicely. I love how you can sneak a bit of math in here!

After the string was on the floor and the post-its were set out with dates written on them, I called about eight kids at a time to place their slip of paper (with the famous person’s name and his/her birth date written on it) above the line in the right place. We talked about how it was okay to gently move one a bit if we needed to, to keep them all in time sequence.

Once it was done, we noticed some connections and made some observations, and then I just kept it up for the day and let the kids look at it if their work was done. I think it’s awesome to be able to integrate social studies with reading and writing.

Here’s a resource I’ve put together for teachers who want time-saving handouts that are ready to print and go! I think the unit works really well for 3rd – 6th grade and is an activity that not only is fun but one that is full of learning for your students.

Click here to take a look at the ready-to-use wax museum biography project..

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Biographies

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Biography Research for Kids {Facts, Templates & Printables}

Published: September 6, 2022

Contributor: Jeannette Tuionetoa

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

The telling of a person’s life could be one of the most personal literature pieces your children will read while in school. Learn how to teach biography research for kids in an easy way so they can write their very own biography report. 

Biography Research for Kids

To obtain correct information about a particular person (famous person or historical figure), it is important to gather as much information as possible. To ensure the information you find is accurate, the sources you use should be reliable and should be cross-checked with other information.

Biography Facts for Kids

Before tackling biography research for kids, it is important they know what a biography is and what it is not. Here are a few important things to know about biography in literature lessons.

A biography is a story about a particular person’s life, whether it be a famous person, athlete, historical figure, or a specific person.

Biographies of people are written in third person , meaning it is about someone else. In contrast, an autobiography is a person themselves telling their life story.

The Purpose of a Biography

Many times biographies of people are used as historical accounts of an era. Biographies tell basic facts about people, their education, work, and relationships. Yet, they also are personal accounts and portrayals of experiences through events of the time in their life story.

What are the key features of a biography?

There are key features of a biography that make this literary artwork a retelling of a life story. Here are a few key features of biography to get a child’s mind in the flow of gathering information for a biography research project, author study, or important events for biography research.

• date and place of birth and/or death
• where the public figure lived or location of residence
• educational background
• professional experience (i.e. work, artwork, skills, hobbies)
• area of expertise (What was/is this person famous for?)
• major achievements in life (Which of the areas of expertise was he/she best known for?)
• expound on the information, find interesting facts, and include your thoughts.

How to Write a Biography

There are specific ways to keep focused when writing a biography. Explore these steps to help your students write and understand biographies.

Step One: Choose Who to Write About

There are loads of famous, historical, or note-worthy people your young readers can explore for their biography research project .

Parents can task a specific genre study of biographies or specific categories for students to research, or students can choose their own. Here are some interesting biography research topics students will enjoy learning about:

Interesting Biography Figures

• Sports figure
• Someone from American history
• Someone from a specific historical period like ancient civilizations/ ancient times
• Black History Month figure
• Native American figure
• Presidents of the United States (biographies of presidents)
• World War I or World War II figures
• American Revolution figure
• Renaissance figure
• Middle Ages figure
• 20th-century heroes

Historical Figures and Public Figures

• Amelia Earhart
• Elizabeth Carter
• Frida Kahlo
• Harriet Tubman
• Ruby Bridge
• Misty Copeland
• Ellen Ochoa
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• William Shakespeare
• Life Of George Washington
• Frederick Douglass
• Julius Caesar
• Jackie Robinson
• James Boswell
• Wright Brothers

Step Two: Do Your Research

Gathering information for research through primary and secondary sources is crucial. Compiling good research data is important and valuable for building knowledge and clear a path for learning.

Gathering reliable research helps students understand topics, understand issues, increase awareness, and exercise the mind.

Using Primary Sources

When students use primary resources, they gather reliable knowledge that answers research questions, enables critical thinking, and develop well, thought out interpretations from facts.

Primary resources are images, artifacts, and documents that are firsthand testimony and proven evidence on a topic.

Some more examples of primary sources:

• Manuscripts
• Video recordings

Using Secondary Sources

Secondary sources, on the other hand, describe, comment on, evaluate, discuss, or process what would be in a primary source.

Some examples of secondary sources are:

• Biographical texts
• Literature reviews
• Commentaries
• History books
• Bibliographies
• Dictionaries/encyclopedias

Step Three: Create an Outline

The next step in writing a research-rich biography is creating an outline to organize the information and content gathered.

Outlines, although many students might not think they are useful, aid in their writing process. They provide the writers with a structure to follow, making sure no important information is missed.

You can use the Biography Notebooking Journal to make this an easy process! The templates can be used to do a thorough biographical research project . 

Biography Research Outline

A research paper is enhanced with an outline by organizing thoughts, understanding a clear flow is needed for information, and then again, ensuring nothing is forgotten.

Here is a very basic research outline:

INTRODUCTION

• Develop an engaging introduction sentence that captures the reader’s attention.
• Site a quote or anecdote from the person’s life.
• Describe the basic identity of the person with the very basic key elements mentioned above (i.e. name, date of birth/death, location).
• Include a unique observation that you have gathered from the person or why you chose to write about him/her.
• Stick to the theme of your research paper and provide the content you have gathered in your research.
• Describe the information you have gathered in sections or chronologically.
• Discuss your person’s accomplishments and their impact on society or those around them. Maybe also mention, if applicable, how a major event changed their life or the life of others.
• Ensure the pieces of information gathered are connected or interlinked or flow well together.
• Mention the person’s legacy or why they will remain important to remember or acknowledge.
• Add a lesser-known fact about the person, something you found interesting or noteworthy.
• Conclude with a comment or your input of the impact the person will make or will leave on the world or society.

Write a First Draft

Making an outline is crucial for getting an overview of what a research biography paper will be. Look like. If done correctly, it will easily flow into a first draft.

The outline develops what you need as a first draft, and transition words will help the writer make the paragraphs and sections flow into each other smoothly. The below resources will help with both.

How to Write a Paragraph for Kids – Teach your children how to write well, thought-out paragraphs as a foundational writing skill in your homeschool. This post explores ten different steps for writing a paragraph and listing the essential parts of a good paragraph.

Transition Words – Your children will find these writing tools helpful for words and phrases they can use to show smooth storytelling transitions.

Edit and Revise

In the editing and revision page of a research biography unit paper, the writer can enhance effective headings and subheadings for their paragraphs. This is the time to:

• Information aligns with your main point or purpose of the research paper.
• Eliminate parts of the paper that do not add value.
• Tighten up the wording (i.e. if your sentences are understandable or make sense)
• Check for spelling and grammatical errors.
• Get someone to read your paper or write it, then do another read-over the next day – for a fresh perspective.

Write Your Final Paper

It is time. Type or write out the final paper. Make a cover page if needed, evaluate if your sources are cited correctly, and develop your bibliography page, if required.

Citing Your Sources

It is important to cite sources for research biographies and any other assignments students have in school. Determine what citation style is needed and teach children how to cite correctly. This resource will benefit students straight through high school, college, and any written work they may create.

Research and Citation Resources by Owl Purdue – This tool is a perfect resource for conducting research, using the research, determining citation style, and citing written works correctly.

Biographical Websites

To jump-start the minds of young girls and boys when they begin researching biographies, the websites below will assist set the stage for their journey into learning about biographies of people, their hard work, and more.

 Biographies of People in History

Biography – This is one of the most popular internet sites capturing the most interesting stories about massive amounts of people in our world. You will find compelling points of view and true stories about people from our world.

Info Please – This site is a search engine for biographies by category. There are all types of categories to choose from like Arts and Entertainment, Politics and Government, Famous Americans by Race and Ethnicity, and so much more.

Time 100 Most Influential People – Time magazine has brought their Time Most Influential People online. Check out Time’s 100 Most Influential People for 2020 to help students search for biographical information, including pioneers, artists, leaders, titans, icons, and more.

Scientists Biographies

Famous Scientists – Check out this alphabetical list of hundreds of famous scientists who have impacted our world’s history. Even search scientists by categories like Astronomers, Chemists, Biologists, and more.

World of Scientific Biography – Science World presents a whole section on biographies for scientists in various branches of the science field. The biographical data is separated by gender, minority status, historical periods, nationality, and prize winners.

People and Discoveries by PBS – Learn all about people and their discoveries in this databank which includes about 120 entries about 20th century scientists and their life stories.

Artists Biographies

Van Gogh’s Gallery of Artist Biographies – Although this site is about Vincent Van Gogh, it also offers biographical information on other artists like Michelangelo, Gauguin, Caravaggio, and Claude Monet.

If your child enjoys learning about artists, you can find all types of tips for an artist study, like how long a student should be on one artist study, famous artists to study per grade level, and so much more.

Biographies of Poets

All About Poets – You don’t have to be an expert on poetry to help students learn about poets and their artwork. Check out Poets.org to search more than 3,000 biographies on poets of both contemporary and classical styles.

Athlete Biographies

ESPN’s Top Athletes of the Century – Use your child’s love of sports to enhance their learning experience in their English classes. Students will enjoy the biographies of great athletes of the 20th century.

Biographies of Presidents

POTUS History and Data – It is important for students to learn about the Presidents of the United States (POTUS). This site has loads of information to help with a biography research assignment. The POTUS site includes presidential facts, quizzes, and even Presidential firsts. You can even use this unit for an overview of the U.S. Presidents timeline . These  president fact sheets are also super helpful.

Biographies of Nobel Prize Recipients

Nobel Prize Awards – The Nobel Prize is an international award by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. This site is a great way of learning about all the Nobel prize winners and what they were nominated for.

Biographies of Famous People

Who2 Biographies – This biographical resource holds 4,775 biographies of famous people, characters, and even creatures. Search these by categories that include born today, by occupation, cause of death, and more.

Smithsonian’s Spotlight Biography – Searching Smithsonian Education is a fun way to learn about famous and notable American artists, athletes, soldiers, scientists, inventors, social reformers, and others.

To Summarize, a Biography Should Include:

Biographies can be very interesting topics and a fun way to marry various subjects in your homeschool like history, writing, reading, English, research, and more.

Biographical research for kids includes:

• Narrowing down a person to research.
• Putting research skills into practice to gather all the information needed.
• Writing a detailed outline.
• Writing an introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Selecting a good image for the person chosen.

Every person is created for a purpose. Focusing on biography research for kids allows students to take interest in the lives of others. Begin encouraging your student to take an interest and learn about others this school year.

Jeannette Tuionetoa

Jeannette is a wife, mother and homeschooling mom. She has been mightily, saved by grace and is grateful for God’s sovereignty throughout her life’s journey. She has a Bachelor in English Education and her MBA. Jeannette is bi-lingual and currently lives in the Tongan Islands of the South Pacific. She posts daily freebies for homeschoolers!

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8 Genius Research Projects for K–2 Students You Will Definitely Want to Try

Turn your K–2 students into researchers and detectives with these fun classroom projects.

PebbleGo  is the award-winning database for reading and research for K-2. It makes learning fun while improving reading and research skills. Learn more about the six different databases—Animals, Science, Biographies, Dinosaurs, Social Studies  and the Spanish-language Animals. 

Research-based learning is often reserved for students in upper elementary or middle school, but this is a skill that kids can and do learn at an early age. Yes, you can teach kindergarteners how to do proper research (i.e. be awesome detectives and readers) . 

Here are eight inspiring research projects on subjects common for the K–2 age group. For each one, we give tips for LEARNING about the specific subject first with key research questions and tasks. Then, we offer a creative project idea, inspired by teachers and educators around the country, for DOING with your students.

1. The World of Bugs

SOURCE: Plain Vanilla Mom

It’s a big, enormous world out there—and there are   lots of bugs in it. This is a good one to start with if you’re teaching young elementary students how to research. Spiders, insects, and bugs will forever be fascinating subjects for kids. So this project should generate a lot of excitement.

LEARNING: Assign each of your students a different bug and have them answer very simple questions like: How many legs do they have? Where can you find them? How big are they?

DOING: This bug fossil activity is fantastic! All you need is modeling clay, plastic insects (which you can get at the dollar store), a magnifying glass, and tweezers or tongs. Your students will love making the little molds, and it will really encourage them to pay attention to detail!

2. Money, Money, Money

Source: 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Understanding the value of a dollar, counting, and even doing small math problems with money are all skills that your students will be doing for years to come. Here’s how you can get them going on concepts now.

LEARNING: Start with the basics and make sure your students know the value of each bill and coin. Once they understand this, talk to them about earning money, saving, and even the purpose of banks.

DOING: Get inspired by this money minibook. Either download a free one (see link above) or create your own version to meet your classroom needs. Create several books for your class or one for each student as a quick reference to help them really understand the value of money.

3. History and Fame

Source: Let’s Explore

Every grade level has history and biographies as part of its curriculum. It’s essential for students to learn about historymakers, inventors, artists, and other important people of the past, and there are lots of fun ways to do this.

LEARNING: The research comes first, so it’s a good idea to assign a famous person to each of your students. Have them do a little biography, answering questions like: When were they born? Why are they famous? Where did they live?

DOING: Now it’s time for the fun part, where students get to be creative in reporting their results. Some teachers have the students get up in front of the class to present on their specific person, while others make it an art project. We love biography poster collages, like the one pictured above, because they really encourage students to focus on the most essential biographical facts.

4. Learning Plant Life Cycle

Source: The Imagination Tree

Learning about plant life is always a popular classroom activity. It’s such a great opportunity to show students how things grow, and help them understand where their food comes from. 

LEARNING: Students can research farming and agriculture, and learn about where food comes from, both locally and around the world. Discover where tropical fruits like bananas and pineapple come from compared to crops in the United States like corn, potatoes, and beans. Help students understand that all plants have a similar start like the beans you will grow in class. 

DOING:  Plant your bean plants in a clear container like a jar. You can use paper towel or cotton balls for the planting so students will be able to see the roots grow and develop. Have students track the plant’s progress. They can measure it, take photos, or draw pictures every few days. Your students will love seeing how it changes so quickly. 

5. Animal Tracks

Source: Green Kids Crafts

Animals are such a big interest area for younger elementary students, and they make lessons instantly more popular. This really useful lesson covers animals, human anatomy, and animal habitats.

LEARNING: When your class studies animal tracks, students can learn a lot about animals. For instance, they can learn about an animal’s size. They can also compare the size of the animal track to their own handprints or footprints for an anatomy lesson. And students can learn about animal habitats, too! We can help our students understand how all of these items are connected.

DOING: Now that your students have learned about animal tracks, have them recreate the tracks using cardboard scraps and sponges. This will give them a real idea of the actual size and shape of different tracks in the wild.

6. Digging into Dinosaurs

Source: Inquiring Minds

Even though they’re now extinct, dinosaurs remain some of the most popular animals with kids. Once you get your students researching, they can learn so much about these magnificent animals that came before us.

LEARNING: Help your students define the words “paleontology” and “paleontologist.” Next, encourage your kids to research different types of dinosaurs. Have them answer questions like: What were some of the big ones? Which ones could fly? What did different types of dinosaurs eat? These will all be important questions to answer before you dive into a project.

DOING: You can steal the sponge idea mentioned above to also create dinosaur tracks. Or for the ambitious teacher, create your very own giant dinosaur skeleton. This teacher outlined the shape for her students and then let them use packing peanuts and empty cardboard tubes to fill the inside.

7. Environment and Pollution

Source: The Owl Teacher

Whether you’re looking for a good Earth Day activity or you just want to teach your students more about environmental issues we are facing around the world, you can bring home the message by studying water pollution. This is a topic that affects millions every single day.

LEARNING: First, learn about the different types of pollution with your students. Air and water pollution are two big ones to start with. Help your kids learn the difference between these two and what they look like. Then ask them a question like, how could pollution affect animals, humans, and the future? Questions like this might seem too big for little minds, but they can handle it!

DOING: It really helps to see this lesson firsthand, and this Freddie the Fish activity is perfect. You’ll definitely want to see this teacher’s step-by-step instructions  describing how she did it, but the basics involve a fish-shaped sponge, plastic containers, and adding different toxins to the water. Your students will really start to see how a little bit of water pollution can really get out of hand quickly.

8. Color Mixing 

Source: Preschool Inspirations  

Color mixing is always a popular activity, and it’s great for hands-on research. Your students will love being in charge of the colors and watching them change before their eyes. 

LEARNING: Talk to your students about primary colors and go over the basics of what happens when you blend colors together. Depending on age, talk to them about why this happens and/or what they are seeing. Work with them to come up with a list or anchor chart about the most common color combinations. 

DOING: There are so many great color-mixing activities out there, including mixing colorful ice cubes or having a color mixing station in the classroom. We also love this project from Preschool Inspirations,  where they make sensory bottles with color mixing. 

Make research for your K–2 students easier by using PebbleGo , a reading and research database specifically targeting younger elementary students.

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• Research Famous People in History

A research project about famous people in history can be an interesting, and motivating assignment for students.

By Carrie Jackson

Almost every student in school will have to complete a research project about at least one famous person in history. For many students this could be a difficult task. Selecting an individual, gathering information, and putting it all together can be overwhelming for any student. But there are some things that teachers can do to make this a little easier, and motivate students when they are completing their historical research project.

The first step is to help students find a historical figure they would like to find out about. Creating an interest survey is a good way to help students choose. Brainstorm or have the class present a list of famous historical individuals they have learned about, or would like to know more about. Develop a list of information about each famous person. The historical figure could be an inventor, leader, or even an explorer.  Students could also choose a famous individual from a different genre such as music , art , or literature. There are some great websites that can help students choose their famous person. Here's one from the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence .

Another way to guide students on their way to a successful research project is to create a list of approved Internet search engines and websites. As students compile information, they can use graphic organizers or research templates. This is also a great time to teach students about the difference between primary and secondary sources. The Library of Congress has a wealth of information for students to search through. They might even find of reproduction of something their historical figure has written. As with any research project , students should use a variety of sources, but should try to use reliable ones, such as encyclopedias, books, magazines, newspapers and reputable websites. Below are some lesson plans that contain great research ideas to guide students through the this process.

Famous People in History Lesson Plans:

Straight to the Source - In this lesson students will do research on famous figures from history by using primary sources. In addition they will examine primary sources by Malcolm X and reflect on his writing.

Forming Research Questions - Students develop historical research questions and analyze primary and secondary sources that include autobiographies, diaries, maps, photographs, letters, government documents, biographies and other nonfiction books related to the history of the United States. 

Presenting Personal Research and Observations - Students use various methods for gathering research about people and places. The focus of the research is based on the heritage and history of their local community.

A Multimedia Research Project - Students use the following media medians to help them research different topics; Internet (SIRS, Grolier), World Book Encyclopedia, books, and magazines. They use different computer programs to help them create presentations for their projects; in addition, they will explore websites to gather information and images to add to their project.   

All About Computers - Students will be introduced to the World Wide Web as a research tool. They will locate information using an Internet library and a search engine. This is a great lesson to show students how to use the Internet as a resource.

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Living Wax Museum Research Project Ideas for Your Classroom

Looking for living wax museum research project ideas for your classroom? First, pinpoint a group of people. Second, set guidelines. Third, ask kids to research and select 10 memorable events. From their timelines, students write monologues. After a bit of practice and costume selection, they’re ready to present.

Ms. Sneed Considers Living Wax Museum Project Ideas

As they planned their ELA block , our favorite fourth grade teacher sat at the back table with her teaching partner.

“Ready to plan our next genre study ?” asked Mr. Frank.

“Sure am. Biography unit up next!” Ms. Sneed exclaimed..

“Right. We can begin with picture books, like last year. Do you want kids to report with this organizer ?” He pulled a paper out of the folder in front of him.

Ms. Sneed nodded. “I noticed that the teacher who created that now has a free set of biography lesson plans .” She pulled them up on her laptop.

“Three weeks. That’s about right for us,” said Mr. Frank. “I like the idea of using those templates for some crafts and research activities.”

“I would like them to read a full-length biography too. For that, we could ask kids to play bingo with the choice boards .”

“Look at this!” exclaimed Mr. Frank. “The unit culminates with a living history project ! I’ve always wanted to try one of these! Do you think we can do it?”

Ms. Sneed’s eyes sparkled, “You bet! Let’s look at the wax museum project ideas.”

Choosing a Group of Famous People

“Hmm. It says to narrow our list of people when you do a wax museum research project. I never thought of that. Here’s a whole list of possibilities. Presidents? That would be cool. It reminds me of that living wax museum at Disney. Athletes?”

“How about famous people from our state?” Ms. Sneed asked. “That way, we could hit our social studies standards too.”

“Perfect.”

Setting the Guidelines

Next, the two teachers looked over a list of potential requirements.

“We already agreed that our students will read a full-length biography,” Mr. Frank remarked.

“Yes. After they read, I would like them to list ten important events and turn it into a timeline.”

“Then they’ll turn the timeline into a monologue, throw together a costume, and we’ll be ready to rock and roll!”

“Where do you think we should hold this living history event?” Ms. Sneed asked. “I was thinking maybe the cafeteria.”

“That’s a great idea,” her co-teacher responded. “You know how the tables fold upright? Kids could stand on either side of it to present. It would look just like a museum exhibit!”

The two teachers chattered excitedly. In no time they had customized the lesson plans to fit their needs – and planned their first wax museum project.

Ms. Sneed’s Students Get Started on the Wax Museum Research Project

The room buzzed with excitement. “Today’s the day we pick our people!”

Ms. Sneed held a jar full of craft sticks. “Has everyone chosen at least three famous people from our state?” she asked. “Remember, they have to be on the list of books we have in our school library.” Everyone nodded.

“Okay. Here we go!” She pulled a stick and looked at the name written on it. “Charlie!”

Charlie jumped up. As he made his way to the whiteboard in the front of the room, he high-fived a few friends. Then he wrote the name of his first choice: Neil Armstrong.

After all of the students had selected their famous people, the group headed to the library to check out biographies for the kids’ living wax museum projects.

Listing Important Events

A few weeks later, Ms. Sneed again stood in front of her class. “Now that you’ve read your biographies, it’s time to list important events in the person’s life.” She distributed a page with “Ten Events” typed at the top.

“Do we have to fill in all ten?” asked a girl with white glasses.

“Yep. You’ll need a complete set of events in order to write your monologue.”

Writing Monologues

A few days later, the students were ready to begin their monologues. Ms. Sneed displayed an example. “Let me give you a few wax museum project ideas,” she said. “First, greet the audience the way the person was. Then introduce yourself as that person. Tell about the person’s life using first person perspective. It should be relatively easy. Just tell about the ten events you listed previously. Be sure to explain adversity in the person’s life, as well as their contributions. Remember to use transitions to make the sequence flow. Finally, wrap up with a conclusion. But not the person’s death. After all, you’re still up there talking…”

The students snickered. Soon, they were busy writing.

“As you finish your monologues, you can begin practicing. Say it in the bathroom mirror. Tell it to your teddy bear. Over and over. Tomorrow you’ll practice in pairs.”

Costumes Make It Realistic

The following day, as promised, Ms. Sneed paired them up. As she circulated around the classroom, lively voices told the stories of people in history. That famous teacher smile curled her lips. How wonderful to see her students so engaged!

About thirty minutes later, Ms. Sneed called her students to attention. “Let’s talk about costumes.” She displayed a picture on the screen. “These photos will give you additional ideas for your wax museum project. Notice how this student is wearing a suit jacket and holding a hat. He’s also penciled on a mustache.”

She removed the picture and showed a different one. “And see how this student is wearing some goggles, a leather jacket, and a scarf? All of these things were borrowed from friends and family. I don’t want you to go out and purchase anything. If you can’t find something, ask me. We will get you squared away.”

Ms. Sneed continued to show examples and chat with her class. “In addition to costumes, props really make presentations realistic. See how this student has a homemade pallet and a copy of a picture by the artist she’s portraying?”

The Big Day – Culminating the Wax Museum Project

By the following week, everything was ready for their living wax museum. “Grab your chair and your button. Then line up. Remember, as you are waiting for a visitor, stay frozen. No difficult positions, though. I don’t want anyone to feel faint. If you do, sit in your chair for a few minutes. Although our wax museum is only 40 minutes long, you will repeat your monologue many times.”

Finally, students from the two classes, dressed in an array of costumes, had positioned themselves in the cafeteria. “Welcome, parents!” Ms. Sneed called. The much-anticipated event began. Now they would share their wax museum project with others.

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iRubric: Famous People Mini Research Project rubric

• Famous Person

Famous Person Research Project

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• 7 - Assessment Plan
• View all as one page

Instructional Procedures

1. Teachers will tap into prior knowedge of the students by asking questions such as: What is fame?  Who is a famous person?  What makes a person famous?  Is all fame good?  Students will answer these questions on their iPads using the WhiteBoard app.

2. The teacher will present the objectives of this project and the timeline

• choose a famous person
• read and research
• create an outline
• rough draft
• edit/revise
• create a project using technology

3. Time LIne

• 2 weeks to read and research
• 1 week to take notes
• 1-2 weeks to write the rough draft, edit/revise, and type the final essay
• 1 week to create the digital project

4. For each section of work, the teacher will create mini lessons and/or model using gradual release

5. Digital Project--students will be asked to showcase their reserch in a digital format.  An iMovie, podcast, google slide presenation, Keynote are examples.  Students may choose the app and format they would like to display their findings.  

List of APPS

Show Me (Whiteboard app)

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Sample Essay  

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KeynoteSample  

File size 890.0 KB

Biography Templates | Famous Person Report | Research Project Graphic Organizers

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✅ ✍ Are you ready to teach report writing to your students? Teaching kids how to research is a life skill and writing a biography is the perfect research project for kids. Use these no-prep differentiated biography templates and biography rubric to get your kids writing about famous scientists, famous artists, and MORE. ✅

The materials in the biography report package help make the report writing process easy for your students and the planning process easy for you. Your kids will enjoy writing famous people reports they can be proud of!

The Biography Research Report is available in two versions - printable and digital for Google Slides™. This resource includes BOTH the printable and digital versions.

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❤️ "One of the biggest selling points of this resource to me was that it was set up in multi-levels. I have a large population of ELL students in two of the schools I work at, and having the different levels of the report forms make research much easier! Thank you so much!!!” - Ellen D.

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Famous Person Biography Theme for Elementary

Famous person biography theme for elementary presentation, premium google slides theme and powerpoint template.

Writing a biography about a famous person can be a great way to engage young learners! With this template for Google Slides, you can help elementary students create interesting biographies about their favorite people in history. The template is designed with bright colors and fun illustrations that will capture the attention of any young learner. Plus, it comes with helpful prompts and tips to guide students as they write their biographies. Download this template now and help your students become experts on their favorite historical figures!

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A Black History Month Research Project for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

A Black History Month Research Project is a great way to help your students learn more about and celebrate the impact African Americans have made to the United States.  It's also a good way to help students learn about obstacles African Americans have had to face in this country.  But having 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students conduct research and complete a project based on that research can be an overwhelming task.

Scaffolding this process is essential in order for your students to be successful - and for them to actually stay engaged and excited!

After I fine-tuned the process, this Black History Month Research Project was one of my students' favorite projects all year.  It included researching a famous African American, writing an essay, creating a timeline of their life, and labeling a map.  The upper elementary students remained engaged throughout the entire project and were always very proud of the outcome!

Choosing an African American Hero to Research

Part of making a Black History Month Project meaningful is exposing students to people that they might not be familiar with.  If you let 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students choose who they want to research, you'll probably find that everyone wants to research Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, or Barack Obama.

Instead of simply letting students choose people they are already familiar with, collect a variety of biographies on different African Americans - or find some  kid-friendly biographies online.

Do whatever works for your classroom, as long as you give students an opportunity to introduce themselves to different African Americans.

How I Organized This in My Classroom

There are a lot of different ways you could do this with your students. I would always have my librarian collect enough child-friendly biographies for each student in my class.  We would sit in a circle, and each student would get one of the books.  They had about a minute to look through the book, and then everyone passed their book to the left.

After everyone had looked through every book, students would write down the top 5 people they were interested in researching.  Then, I would look through everybody's choices and assign each student their famous African American to research.

This process got students excited and gave them more ownership over the project.  However, it also allowed me some freedom to make adjustments that would help students be successful and be exposed to different people.

My students used a book from the library as their main source for research, so I wanted to make sure the reading level of the books was appropriate for each of my students.  (If you have a really well-organized classroom library checkout system, this might be easier for you!)

Scaffolding a Black History Month Essay

As all upper elementary teachers know, having students complete research and then use that to write a successful essay is much harder than you would think.

You have to teach students not to copy paragraphs straight from a book or website.  And how to organize a research paper.  And you have to motivate students so that they will actually WANT to write.

This No Prep Black History Month Research Project scaffolds the entire process so students can succeed.  And even better, it will minimize all the one on one time and help students complete their project much more independently.

But there are ways you can scaffold on your own.

1. Model the Project for Your Students

Modeling an entire project takes up a lot of class time, but it makes a huge difference in your students' success.  Plus, it will prevent a lot of student questions later.

This No Prep Black History Month Research Project has all the information you need to use Martin Luther King, Jr. in your modeling.

2. Provide a Research Page with Clear Topics

Instead of having students do their own research on note cards or a blank sheet of paper, provide a research page that tells them exactly what sorts of topics they should be researching.

Otherwise, students have the tendency to copy paragraphs and collect information on irrelevant topics.

Decide what exactly you want your students to learn about - for example, their African American's family, accomplishments, and impact - and create a research page that helps students easily organize that information.  (And, of course, this project also includes research pages.)

3. Scaffold the Writing Process

This might be one of the most important ways to help your students write a successful, organized research paper. Simply providing students with paragraph frames can make a drastic difference and give students more confidence in their writing.

This is similar to this scaffolding you can use when having students write a compare and contrast essay.   Or, use the no prep option with this already ready-to-go Black History Month Project.

Use the Research to Create a Timeline and Map

Use this opportunity to address some other social studies skills - timelines and maps!

Have students use their research to create a timeline of important events in their famous African American's life.  Then, provide students with a blank map and have them color in different states that were important to their African American.

This is a very simple way to make these skills more meaningful to students.

Presenting the Black History Month Project

There is no one right way to have students share their projects.  It really depends on how much time you have!

Here are some options:

• Have students simply turn in their projects.  You could use them to create a bulletin board or just take a grade.
• Have students create a poster with their essay, map, and timeline.  They can present it to the class, or you could make a display.
• Have a Living Wax Museum!  This takes a lot more preparation, but your students and parents will love it.  Find more information on Living Wax Museums here.

If you think this scaffolding would be beneficial to your students as well, then you might like my Black History Month Research Project – Essay, Map, and Timeline Resource.   It includes everything I used to help my students be successful – even a model using Martin Luther King, Jr. so you can show students what is expected of them!

Testimonial:

"This has made doing this research project so much easier! The best part is that samples of the completed steps are included. They always want to copy full sentences instead of making notes, and displaying the sample while they worked led to many more children succeeding without my one to one help."

You might also like these other ideas and resources for teaching during Black History Month - including a freebie!  

Never Stress Over Sub Plans Again!

Make copies, find a fiction book, and you'll be ready for any emergency that comes your way!

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