Famous Americans....A Reboot

I don't know what's wrong with me.  Every year, I seem to want to "redo" or "revamp" my unit plans.  I can never seem to teach things the exact same way twice.  Do you do that, too?  Of course, Pinterest and the teacher blogs haven't helped!  They've inspired the creativity and "ooohh...I can do that!" to make me change the way I do things!

So, even though last February, in my beginning blog days, I blogged about the Famous American unit, here I am (somehow moved to Fall) making a few more tweaks and changes!

First, I was inspired by Pinterest.  I saw the coolest idea of making a visual for biographies.  Thought hmmm...I can do that!  So far, we've discussed George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  Here is what we have posted.  

It's a bit different than my normal anchor chart, but I think it looks pretty good! :)  The "bubbles" are actually the thought bubbles from Publisher, only with lines on them.  I am doing 3 "thought bubbles" for each Famous American to highlight WHY they are famous!  (My kids really wanted to put wooden teeth and wigs, but I told them that's not what made him famous!!!).

I was then inspired by a fellow VA teacher with paper bag books.  What a cool concept!  I've already passed it on to a fifth grade colleague. :)  Doris over at Third Grade Thinkers posted this on reviewing Famous Americans for our statewide test.  What a cool idea!  She had some other ones on there as well, including a bio poem that you can email her and she'll send you a copy!  Please be sure to check her out!

I have revamped mine so that it includes George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr, Helen Keller, Susan B Anthony, and Jackie Robinson.  You can find my pages {here} along with a flipbook template in Publisher.  (That way you can adjust it to whatever people you need!). 

If you'd like to check out the things I haven't quite gotten to yet, check out my Famous American Pinterest board!  The water bottle people are so cute....I'm trying to find a way to fit them in! ;)