African American Biography Movies

Suzanne Lloyd and Darcie Priester

Introduction: Students will be learning about the characteristics of the biographical

genre of writing. As US History classes have focused on the Civil Rights Movement,
English classes have been reading the novel “The Watson’s Go to Birmingham”.
Students have completed activities dealing with the struggles of African Americans
during this time period. This lesson will help students to understand how famous
African Americans have contributed to society by creating a biographical movie on
this person’s life. Students will reflect on this person’s life and work through text,
images, and videos. Students will better understand the struggles of African
Americans to obtain justice and equality in the United States in the 20th century and
have a better understanding of the Civil Rights movement.

Standards: English Communication: 6.2a, 6.2b, 6.2c, 6.2d, 6.2e, 6.3a, 6.3b, 6.3c,
English Writing: 6.7a, 6.7b, 6.7c, 6.7d, 6.7e, 6.7f, 6.7g, 6.7h, 6.7i, 6.7j, 6.8a, 6.8d,
6.8e, 6.8g, English Research: 6.9a, 6.9b, 6.9c, 6.9d, 6.9e

Activity Process: (Class time 80 mins.)

Day 1 – Students will learn about the characteristics that make up a biography. In
order to understand how life events are important in a person’s life, students will
illustrate how past events have shaped their own lives by drawing a timeline of
some high, low and ordinary points in their lives.

Students will read examples of biographies of famous African Americans such as,
Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King, Jr. They will create a timeline of significant
events from one of these people’s lives.

Students will visit the school library to find a biography on a chosen famous person.
Students will have time in class to read and research more information about their
chosen person. Students will need to create a summary using a graphic organizer of
the major events of this person’s life, including birth/death dates, early life, personal
life, career, and major contribution to society. Students will also need to find a
quote by this person to include in their movie.

Day 2 – Students will continue with research. They may use the laptops to aid in
their research and may begin finding primary and secondary resources (text,
images, videos, etc). A list of websites will be available to students. Students will
need to use Creative Common, copyright free or educational resources. Students will
need to save images, text, etc. for later use. The ITRT will assist students who need
help with this process. However, emphasis will be given on having a complete script
before searching for images.

Day 3 – Students will begin writing their script. The script must follow the writing
process and include complete sentences and paragraphs and have an organized
timeline of the person’s life and events. After completing their first draft, students
will share their writing with a partner and peer critique their work. Students will
then edit their draft until they have teacher approval to proceed to the next step.

Day 4 - The ITRT will model for students how to create a storyboard, breaking their
scripts into chunks, taking one or two sentences and matching it with an image that
best represents the text and message students want to convey, along with
transitions, titles, fonts, etc. A storyboard template will be given to students.
Students will need to complete their storyboard for homework.

Day 5 – Once students have a completed script and storyboard, they may begin
searching for images and begin creating their movie using iMovie. The ITRT will
model how students can import images and video into the software and organize
their movie. They will also learn how to add text, music, and their voiceovers.

Day 6 – Students will continue to complete their movies.

Day 7 – Movie Watch Day. Students will introduce and watch their movies.

Resources:
Macbooks, English textbooks, Internet, biographies, iMovie, script, pencil/pen,
microphones

Evaluation:
Students will be evaluated on:

1) The creation of a personal timeline,

2) A completed script
3) A completed storyboard
4) Completion of their biography movie.