Egbert, BYU, 2007

Biopoem- I Have Lived a Thousand Years

Purpose of the Strategy

A biopoem encourages students to synthesize large amounts of material within a poetic format. The biopoem follows a pattern that makes it easier for beginning writers to complete as they play with ideas about a subject, theme, character, place, etc. It would be most effective to write a biopoem when the class is almost finished reading the novel, so that they will have a good idea of the characters’ characteristics. A biopoem could be used early in the term to get to know the students by having them write about themselves.

DIRECTIONS 1. Upon finishing I Have Lived a Thousand Years, introduce the assignment. Tell the students that they are to choose any of the main characters from I Have Lived a Thousand Years (Ellie, her mother, her father, her brother, etc.) and write a biopoem using the following format: Line 1 Write the character’s first name Line 2 List four traits that describe the character Line 3 Write “Relative of ______________________________” (fill in the blank) Line 4 “Lover of _____________________________” (list three items or people) Line 5 “Who feels ____________________________________” (list three items) Line 6 “Who needs ___________________________________” (list three items) Line 7 “Who fears ____________________________________” (list three items) Line 8 “Who gives ____________________________________” (list three items) Line 9 “Who would like to see __________________________” (list three items) Line 10 “Resident of ___________________________________” (fill in the blank) Line 11 Write the character’s last name 2. Make it clear to the students that they need to follow the format exactly as they find it. Besides the format, encourage students to be as creative as they can be. ASSESSMENT Because the primary purpose of a biopoem is to assess students understanding rather than poetic ability, the biopoem should be evaluated mainly on the ideas rather than on the language. Teachers can evaluate a biopoem easily through a simple rubric that is passed out to students prior to turning in the finished product. Teachers can also evaluate the biopoem through peer responses or student reaction to the experience of writing the biopoem.

Egbert, BYU, 2007

Biopoem- Teacher Example

I Have Lived a Thousand Years

Elli Strong, Brave, Scared, Afraid

Relative of a loving Jewish family Lover of learning, family, and writing poetry

Who feels cold, fearful, and hopeful Who needs a normal environment to grow up in, more of the assurance that her mother has that

things will be fine, to continue the education she had to leave behind Who fears the gas chambers, she will never see her father again, and that her mother will not

make it Who gives her food, energy, and almost everything she has to save her mother Who would like to see her hometown as it once was, her dream city, her family

Resident of a cold camp filled with uncertainty Friedmann

Egbert, BYU, 2007

BioPoem- I Have Lived A Thousand Years

Name___________________________________

Choose any of the main characters from I Have Lived a Thousand Years (Ellie, her mother, her father, her brother, etc.) and write a biopoem about the character using the following format:

Line 1 Write the character’s first name _____________________________________

Line 2 List four traits that describe the character_______________________________

Line 3 Write “Relative of ______________________________” (fill in the blank)

Line 4 “Lover of _____________________________” (list three items or people)

Line 5 “Who feels ____________________________________” (list three items)

Line 6 “Who needs ___________________________________” (list three items)

Line 7 “Who fears ____________________________________” (list three items)

Line 8 “Who gives ____________________________________” (list three items)

Line 9 “Who would like to see __________________________” (list three items)

Line 10 “Resident of ___________________________________” (fill in the blank)

Line 11 Write the character’s last name _________________________________