BioBags: Linking Literature and Life

Overview

Featured Resources

From Theory to Practice

 

OVERVIEW

A BioBag is a kind of literature autobiography, a collection of written works that represent memories or milestones in a person’s life. The texts might include books, letters, diaries, recipes, and so on, all representing various aspects of a life story. In this lesson, the teacher starts by sharing his or her own BioBag with the class. Next, students visit a website to learn about several children's authors and the texts that inspired them. Then students interview one another about the texts that have been important in their lives. Finally, students put together their own BioBags and present them to the class.

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FEATURED RESOURCES

BioBag Interview: This useful handout will help your students during the interviews to ask questions clearly, listen attentively, and take good notes.

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FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Weih, T.G. (2006). Literature autobiography bags. The Reading Teacher, 59, 472–475.

• The Literature Autobiography Bags (BioBags) described could include any text that is significant to students from books to letters to greeting cards.
  
  
• Literature can evoke strong emotions in students and allow them to get to know each other in a different way.
  
  
• BioBags can introduce students to a variety of literature and can encourage them to read a particular title because a classmate loved it.
  
  
• BioBags are enjoyable for students from elementary grades through university.

 

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