Reputable People In History - FREE Biography Journal Page

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This week we had a blast at our monthly homeschool group book club meeting. The book theme was biographies. Each child picked out their own book on the person they were interested in learning about. For the meeting they each dressed up as their famous person and told the group what they learned. My children choose Alexander Graham Bell and Moina Belle Michael. We had such a blast and the all of children learned a lot. I highly suggest arranging a biography book club meeting with your homeschool group!

The books my children read were The Poppy Lady and Alexander Graham Bell Rookie Biography.

5 Facts About Moina Belle Michael:
1) She was born in New Hope, GA.
2) She was a teacher at University of Georgia Normal School.
3) She turned the poppy into a symbol of remembrance for Americans and Allied nations.
4) She was a philanthropist.
5) She wrote the following poem in response to the famous Flanders Fields poem written by McCrae.

And now the Torch and Poppy red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught,
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields. 

5 Facts About Alexander Graham Bell:
1) He was born in Scotland.
2) He was homeschooled.
3) He taught deaf people.
4) He invented the telephone and many other inventions.
5) He died from diabetes.

Since Rowyn was learning about Alexander Graham Bell we thought it would be fun to incorporate a fieldtrip as well. So we visited the FREE AT&T Telephone museum in Atlanta with a small group of friends. This place is run by a group of volunteers so you must schedule a tour appointment. The tour lasted about an hour and there were photographs, artifacts, tapes, slides and one interactive exhibit where children could use a rotary phone system. The children all had a good time and learned quite a bit too. Visiting the museum was very special for me and gave me a look back into the past of my Great, Great Aunt who used to work for Ma Bell!

More photos from our biography book club meeting:

I made this biography journal page for my children be sure to download yours for FREE (click on the photo or the link).

If you like my children's costumes and want instructions on the poppies, wig, and hat here they are.

Poppies:
Gwyn wanted to hand poppies out to all of the children so we made this fun craft!

Materials:
-Scissors
-Hot glue
-Small brown pom poms
-Red tissue paper
-Green pipe cleaners

What to do:
1) Cut 2 four leaf clover shapes out of the red tissue paper (see photo for example).
2) Stack them on top of each other alternating the petals.
3) Poke the green pipe cleaner through the center and twist the tip down to secure.
4) Pull the tissue paper petals up around the tip of the pipe cleaner. Take the long end of the pipe cleaner and wrap it (very carefully) around the tissue paper 1-2 times to secure.
5) Glue a brown pom pom in the center.

Cotton ball wig and beard:
Materials:
-1 bag of cotton balls
-Shower cap
-White ribbon
-White felt
-Low temp hot glue

What to do:
Wig:
1) Glue cotton balls onto a shower cap. To keep the cap from melting too much glue the cotton balls to each other rather than the cap.
2) Keep adding cotton balls until the cap is completely filled in. To cover my sons hairline I had to add cotton balls past the cap by gluing them to each other.

Beard:
1) Create a felt base (see photo below). Glue cotton balls onto the felt.
2) Glue ribbon onto the ends so you can tie the beard on.

*This is a very fragile wig and beard so it's really only good for one use. But it only cost about $3 so you can't beat it!

1900's hat:
Materials:
-Scissors
-Tape
-2 paper plates
-Construction paper
-String
-Embellishments (ribbon, flowers, etc)

What to do:
1) Cut the 2 paper plates - 1 plate you need the outer ring intact and 1 plate you need the center intact.
2) Cut 2 strips of construction paper (ours was 2 inches wide) and cut little slits along one side.
3) Tape the slits (a few at a time) to the inside of the paper plate. This will form a circular tube..
4) Cut another piece of construction paper the same size as the paper plate with the center cut out. And slide it down over the tube to make the brim. If you want you can trim the paper plate underneath so it doesn't show.
5) Cut another piece of construction and cover the paper plate circle. Fasten the circle to the top of the tube by applying tape on the inside of the tube.
6) Tape 2 pieces of string onto the underside of the tube so you can tie the hat onto the child's head.
7) Decorate the hat with a ribbon, sash, flowers etc.

For more resources on biographies check out my Biographies Pinterest Board and Biographies YouTube Channel. I am always adding more resources.