"Ben Franklin's Life and Times"
Sample Lesson Plan

Step 4: Group Projects: Prewriting Stage

Students learn to brainstorm and organize ideas for group projects (either biography or invention).
Students learn to create graphic organizers using Inspiration software.

Teacher-led discussion with Invention groups. Stimulate children's imaginations about inventions by leading a group discussing asking questions such as: If you could invent anything, what would it be? How would it improve your life and the lives of others? How would it work? Discuss examples of Ben Franklin's inventions.
Teacher-led discussion with Biography groups. Discuss guidelines for writing a good biography. Ask questions such as: What makes a good biography? What types of information are important to include? What does a reader need to know about this historical context of a person's life? Discuss sample biographies and analyze what's good about them.
Group explorations of examples of graphic organizer formats before deciding which ones to use. Then groups take turns using Inspiration to organize ideas for writing their projects.

Guidelines for Writing Biographies
American Biography. Written by middle school students, this site contains informative biographies designed for other students to read.
Inspiration software
Examples of types of graphic organizer formats: http://www.graphic.org/goindex.html

Students will explore suggested web sites as part of developing critical thinking skills (e.g., exposure to biography guidelines and example student-written biographies in order to analyze "what makes a good biography?").
Students will practice using Inspiration to help them organize their ideas for their written projects.