1. Check Yahooligans! (http://www.yahooligans.com) for brief biographies written for elementary students about historical figures and well-known contemporary personalities. Choose one person and download text and photos to create a display about that person that would interest elementary students.

2. Follow the guidelines in this chapter to write a class collaboration report with a group of elementary students on a social studies topic, such as modes of transportation, types of houses, or ancient civilizations, or on a science topic, such as the solar system, water, or the human body.

3. Choose a topic related to teaching language arts in the elementary school, such as writing in journals, aesthetic and efferent reading, the writing process, or the uses of drama. Research the topic following the guidelines in this chapter and write an "All About . . ." book or a report that you can share with the students in your university language arts class or with the elementary students you teach.

4. Have students interview a community leader and then write a collaborative biography.

5. Have a small group of students develop a lifeline for a historical personality or other famous person, choose several events from the lifeline to write about, and compile the writings to form a biography.

6. Read one of the biographies or autobiographies listed in the Classroom Library box on page 464. Then develop a box or lifeline about the subject's life.

7. Read one of these articles to learn more about the topics presented in this chapter:
   Camp, D. (2000). It takes two: Teaching with twin texts of fact and fiction. The Reading Teacher, 53, 400–408.
   Housum-Stevens, J. B. (1998). Performance possibilities: Curating a museum. Voices from the Middle, 6(2), 19–26.
   Hynes, M. (2000). "I read for facts": Reading nonfiction in a fictional world. Language Arts, 77, 485–494.
   Maduram, I. (2000). "Playing possum": A young child's responses to information books. Language Arts, 77, 391–397.
   Merkley, D. M., & Jefferies, D. (2000/2001). Guidelines for implementing a graphic organizer. The Reading Teacher, 54, 350–357.
   Moss, B., Leone, S., & DiPillo, M. L. (1997). Exploring the literature of fact: Linking reading and writing through information trade books. Language Arts, 74, 418–429.
   Tower, C. (2000). Questions that matter: Preparing elementary students for the inquiry process. The Reading Teacher, 53, 550–557.
   Yopp, R. H., & Yopp, H. K. (2000). Sharing informational text with young children. The Reading Teacher, 53, 410–423.

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