Biographies of leaders and presidents: Comprehension activity pack

How does Donald Trump compare to Kim Jong-Un?

Should we be worried about North Korea?

Or how about Queen Victoria and JFK?

Who exactly are Rex Tillerson and Mike Pence?

This versatile set of 32 biography cards can be used in numerous ways.

Firstly, they will test your students in their Common Core reading skills.

Secondly, they will enable them to structure and write biographies of their own.

Thirdly, they provide a platform for you as a teacher to critically evaluate your students’ writing with feedback which they will find engaging; encouraging them to write to their very best ability.

Fourthly, they provide an insight into Donald Trump’s top team; US presidents of the past; prominent world leaders of today; and influential leaders through history.

Fifthly, as a game, this will be a tremendous amount of fun! This is perfect all year round but is especially good as a Presidents Day activity.

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THE BIOGRAPHY CARDS ARE SPLIT INTO FOUR SECTIONS:

Trump’s Team Trump, Preibus, Spicer, Devos, Conway, Tillerson, Pence, Mattis.
US Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Kennedy, Nixon, Lincoln, Roosevelt.
World Leaders 2017 May, Nieto, Netanyahu, Putin, Trudeau, Merkel, Jong-un, Rouhani
World Leaders 2017 Mandela, Malala, Mother Teresa, Luther King Jr., Ghandi, Queen Victoria, Princess Diana, Peron.

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HERE ARE SOME IDEAS FOR HOW THE BIOGRAPHY CARDS CAN BE USED:

Reading skills

Each biography comes with three questions.

RETRIEVE: Students will find this answer in the text.
REVIEW: They will need to use summarising skills to answer the questions. Answers can be quoted from the text. The question will make this clear.
RESEARCH: Students can use the internet to answer a question. The information cannot be found within the text.

Compare and contrast

Students can take any two cards. Their task is to find three differences and three similarities about the characters they have chosen.

Highlight the text

Referring to the scores under each image, students can color code the text that applies to each category with a highlighter or colored crayon.