Chapter 7. Biographical Writing



I am..



In this chapter, Tompkins is talking about Biographical writing is writing about people. Children like to investigate the lives of well-known personalities as they read biographies and share information about themselves and their lives as they write personal narratives and autobiographies (Tomkins, 2008) making connections between these elements using biographies for children is a wonderful approach to creating rich learning experiences. Children are more apt to engage in reading and writing activities when they are motivated, and selecting subjects of personal interest to the child is a fantastic approach that can yield excellent results. Countless biographies for children offer inspiration, motivation and many opportunities for Writing. Taylor also says that Biography study engages Children’s imagination (Taylor, 2002/2003)

According to Ja Eun Kim,” By reading the real examples of these three writings, the children can get an idea how they need to work on their compositions. Tompkins (2008) supports, "Children get ideas for their writing as they listen to classmates sharing their books and from books of children's literature they are reading." Talking to others will help children understand how others see them and it may help children discover things about themselves that you hadn't noticed.

References

Tompkins, G.E. (2008). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Taylor, G. (2002/2003). Who’s who? Engaging biography study. The reading teacher,56, 342-344.

http://childrens-books.lovetoknow.com/Biographies_for_Children