Surfing the Net with Kids

Surfing the Net with Kids

Surfnetkids » Resources » History, Holidays » Biographies » Biographies


    • Biographies

    Biographies

    by

    Share
    Tweet
    Pin3
    3 Shares

    When researching biographies for school reports, it’s important to use a variety of resources. For most non-controversial subjects, I like starting with Wikipedia. After that, I recommend stopping by the following biography sites.

    		Biographies Resource Handout for Classroom or Homeschool: Just $2.00

    BBC: History: Historic Figures4 stars

    From John Adams (second President of the United States) to Georgi Zhukov ( World War II Soviet general), BBC houses an excellent alphabetic archive of biographies. Each biography is illustrated, and includes links to related pages, both onsite and off. New biographies are added monthly. Help them choose their next addition by clicking on "Suggest Historic Figure." Beyond the biographies, there is always much to enjoy at the BBC site. Don't miss their History for Kids section.



    Biography.com: Bio4Kids5 stars

    Although the children's television series Bio4Kids is no longer running on the Biography channel, the companion website is still worth visiting. Biographies are found in "Meet the People." Quizzes, games and videos round out the offering. For more biographies and a teacher's classroom guide, visit the grownup Biography.com site. The main site also has features such as "Born on This Day" and sections dedicated to U.S. Presidents, Women's History, Black History and Hispanic Heritage.

    Bellington Public Schools: The Biography Maker4 stars

    Chances are if you are a student, you will have to write a biography this year. Where do you start? What should you put in it? This unique site from the Bellington Public Schools takes you by the hand, and shows you how a great biography is made. "A great biography is driven by great questions. Boring questions produce boring answers. Boring answers put readers to sleep. Simple lists of facts are a bit like dry cereal . . .no milk . . . no fruit . . .no taste!"

    Garden of Praise: Biographies for Kids5 stars

    "These stories of presidents, inventors, educators, scientists, business men and women etc. are presented to inspire the student to follow their examples of courage, determination, honesty and willingness to work." Each of these easy-reader biographies includes a printable word search, crossword puzzle, study sheet with important facts to know, and a worksheet with open-ended questions to answer. "Where was George Washington born? Why did Washington wear a uniform when he met with the First Continental Congress?"

    Infoplease Almanac: Biographies4 stars

    Infoplease Almanac boasts over 30,000 biographies, making it the biggest site in today's collection. In addition to the alphabetic index, biographies are grouped by career categories (such as actors, scientists, American presidents or tennis players), ethnicity (African Americans and Hispanic Americans), people in the news, famous women, and recent deaths. The individual biographies vary in length from several sentences to half a page, but most include links to additional material.

    		Biographies Resource Handout for Classroom or Homeschool: Just $2.00



    Honorable Mentions

    The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!

    Academy of Achievement: The Achiever Gallery

    PBS: History: Biographies

    S9.com: Biographical Dictionary

    SPECTRUM Biographies


    Cite This Page

    Feldman, Barbara. "Biographies." Surfnetkids. Feldman Publishing. 21 Jan. 2008. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.surfnetkids.com/resources/biographies/ >.


    About This Page

    By . Originally published January 21, 2008. Last modified January 21, 2008.

    Filed Under: Biographies, Geography, Social Studies, History, Holidays, Language Arts, Reference, Reference

    3 Shares
    Share
    Tweet
    Pin3
    MENU