Biopoems

**Biopoems**
Section 5.2 (Instructional Strategy 4)

In order to comprehend literary texts, students need to have creative ways to look at character. This activity allows students to reflect on a character they have studied in a story or poem and focus on the most important traits of the character's personality in order to understand how the character functions in the context of the literary work.
 * Rationale:**

1. Have students write down a character that they find compelling (you can also choose to do this activity using a television or movie personality). 2. Students should make a list of the person's characteristics. These include physical characteristics, family members, likes and dislikes, hopes and aspirations, attitude and interactions towards other people, and any other important information. 3. Inform students that they will be writing a Biopoem based on this person's characteristics. 4. Distribute the Biopoem reproducible to students. 5. Ask students to create a Biopoem using the information from their list. 6. Invite students to share their Biopoem with the class.
 * Instructions:**

This would be a great activity to split students into small groups for with each group focusing in on a different character that the class is studying. In this way students might be able to also learn from each others poems more about the personalities and choices of other characters in the book as well. It would be beneficial to have students analyze why they think the character acts the way they do based on the information in the Biopoem and also beneficial to look at the way certain characters interact based on how their Biopoems are either similar or different.
 * Application to Language Arts:**