Biography Book Report Due January 21st

This book report has 2 parts- Mystery Person and Interview. The instructions and examples for both parts are below.

Interview Instructions

1. Imagine that you could interview the person you have read about.

2. Think about some of the important events in their life.

3. Compose 8 questions that you would ask them as a reporter.

4. Write what you think their response would be based on what you have leaned about them through their biography/ autobiography.  These answers should be factual. Write their answer to your question in the 1^st person perspective, as if they were really there to answer you. You may NOT answer with a simple yes or no.

5. Questions and answers should be in complete, well-developed sentences. Multiple sentence explanations may be necessary to completely answer the question.

Below is a partial interview example. (You are the reporter and the famous person!!)

Shaun White Interview  By: Simon

Simon: You've been in the spotlight ever since you were a kid, how tough was it to balance your career and school? 
Shaun White: Think about being 13 in a hotel in Japan and the lights are flashing and you’re friends are all, ‘hey lets go out.’ And you’re trying to teach yourself algebra.

Simon:Ha! That must be difficult. What is the toughest thing about being a two-sport athlete?
Shaun White: The hardest thing for me is that I have to bounce back and forth between sports. It’s hardest to stop doing one thing and switch to the next sport. The hardest is just to kind of switch gears. During that whole time [snowboarding] the guys who are going to be competing against me were practicing, just skating.

Simon: Snowboarding season is here, what are your thoughts about going back to the snow?
Shaun White: Snow is always fun just because I’ve been doing it longer. I just kind of know the whole snow thing. I know what to expect, I know the competitors, I know the mountains.

Simon: As far as skateboarding goes, who would you say is your biggest competiton?
Shaun White: I’d say Pierre [Luc Gagnon] and Bucky [Lasek] are my biggest rivals, but probably Pierre.

Simon: Do you get nervous before events? Do you feel there is pressure for your to win?
Shaun White: There’s always been pressure on me. I’ve always felt that every time I show up at an event. There’s extra pressure on my performance to be better than everyone else. I don’t know if its’ real or just a pressure I put on myself. It always fuels me to learn tricks faster. I know I only have so much time.

Simon: What is you advice for kids who want to follow in your footsteps?
Shaun White: The way I started was I just kept going for one reason, which was I loved the sport. If you just keep going at it the way you normally would you will eventually make it big. It’s all about passion. The sponsors will come and so will the fame, but it’s all about passion.

Borrowed from: http://www.kidzworld.com/article/10362-shaun-white-interview#ixzz3LLiI61KF

Mystery Person Book Report

Directions:

1.     Read a biography or autobiography about the person you select.

2.     List 12 facts about the person. Do not put the facts in any order. However, you should include facts about the different stages of the person’s life or career. Include obstacles to their success, or problems that they overcame. Include great achievements in their life as well. Include at least one fact that indicates the time period in which they lived/live.

3.     Edit your facts. They should be complete descriptive sentences with proper capitalization and punctuation. They may be typed or neatly hand written. Use a larger font size – maybe 16 pt.

4.     Create a portrait of the person . Don’t trace. Add color. Label the portrait with the person’s name and their life span.

5.     Get a piece of construction paper. Glue your clues and your name on the top half (NOT the biography person’s name!) Fold the other side under and glue your person’s portrait. See example.

6.     Present your project the day it is due. Please wear a prop that will give students their first hint about your mystery person. Ask: “Who would like to play the mystery person game?” Call on your classmates, one at a time to choose a number from 1 – 10.  The person selecting the number can then guess or pass. Classmates can continue hearing clues until the mystery person is identified or all the clues have been read.

7.     Last, flip open the paper and show your portrait.

Example:

The Front - may be typed or neatly written

Inside - Your portrait must be drawn. It can be a face, a bust,  or a full body.  Must have some coloring.