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My first memory involving reading was when I was little and my dad would read to me almost every night. It was apart of my night time routine. I would get ready for bed and we would sit and read together. Most of the time I would fall asleep in his arms and he would tuck me into bed. I remember this being a special part of my dad and I remember how he loves it as well. He would always let me pick out the book. When my sister was born she also joined and then we would take turns picking the book.

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The first books I remember reading on my own were different children's books. As seen on the picture to the right, I would always go in our basement where we had all of our books and I would look through them. I probably looked more at the pictures then read, but as I got older I would start to read. Some of my favorite books from that age were Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Five Little Monkeys, and The Snowy Day.

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My first important book that I remember from being a kid was Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. This book was so enticing to me as a little kid because it was scary yet comforting. I remember my dad would read it to me and I would always have an adrenaline rush reading it because of the thrill it brought me. One of my favorite quotes from this book was "AND MAX. THE KING OF ALL WILD THINGS, WAS LONELY AND WANTED TO BE WHERE SOMEONE LOVED HIM BEST OF ALL." This quote was so important to me as a kid because it made me realize that you could look so big and scary but have a warm heart inside. It taught me not to judge something by the way it looks.

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My first big shift in my Reading journey would be from reading picture books to more advanced books with no pictures. It allowed me to have my own imagination and be creative in my thinking. The book I remember doing this with the first is Junie B. Jones and those books. I remember reading them in elementary school and really using my own thinking. I remember also doing this with the magic tree house series as well.

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"My name is Junie B. Jones. The B stands for Beatrice. Except I don't like Beatrice. I just like B and that's all."

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"Let's go on an adventure!"

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An important Book or book series from when I was a pre-teen was the Rainbow Magic series by Daisy Meadows. I loved these books and was obsessed with them. This was also an important book for me because it was really my first type of chapter book with no pictures and just words. It allowed me to have my own imagination and creativity with what I thought. One of my favorite quotes from the book Ally the Dolphin Fairy is "The Ocean Fairies keep all the sea creatures safe and happy." I remember being young and loving this book and this quote because I was obsessed with the ocean and animals in the ocean making sure they were being taken care of. I remember having my own imagination with what the faires ocean looked like.

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My second shift in my Reading journey was first discovering Nonfiction reading in elementary school. I was so used to just reading fiction and making up stories in my mind, so reading something that was real and factual was so interesting and a big learning curve. It didn't allow me to be creative anymore, but it allowed me for the first time to read a book and learn something new. Some of my first nonfiction books I read were from the Who were series. I absolutely loved these and learned so much. I also enjoyed the National Geographic kids series.

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"As a boy, George learned to ride horses, hunt, and survey land."

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"Did you know that a blue whale's heart is the size of a small car?"

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My favorite book as a teen was the novel Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I remember this being my first big novel to read as a teen for middle school. I loved this book so much and it had such a big importance on me because it taught me such valuable lessons on not judging people based on how they looked. It kind of connected to the book when I was little on Where The Wild Things Are. I also liked that it was the first book to make me feel all the emotions, both sad and happy. One of my favorite quotes from this book is "When given the choice to being right or being kind, choose kind." I remember loving this quote because in life it's not always about being right but being good to others.

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My third shift in my Reading journey would be with learning how to annotate with reading and most importantly, the new idea of multitasking. Being able to read and comprehend the work is one thing and then adding Annotating and taking moments to pause and break is another. I really learned how to annotate my freshman year of high school. It took me a while to finally get the hang of it but by senior year of high school I can confidently say I feel pretty good about annotating. It definitely takes more time with reading, but I am able to understand things more easily and really understand the meaning of the works. My first book I truly annotated and learned with was The Great Gatsby. It was def tricky truly annotating at first but I sort of got hang with it and I would say Beloved this year I grew with my annotating.

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"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther..."

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A more recent important book to me as a HS adult now would be Beloved by Toni Morrison. This book I read twice and it being a challenging book is truly what I liked about it the most. It was my first really big life lesson book and taught me a lot of things through its unique symbolism and metaphors. It taught me a great lesson on motherhood and how you put your children first no matter what. My favorite quotes from the book are "Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all." This quote was very important to me because it showed me what a mothers love is and it also showed me that love is something or it isn't, you can't fake love so if you are than it ain't love at all.

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This link is important to me because it relates to my learning of nonfiction with the Who Was series and how my teachers used it because of these reasons. A lot of my first Who Was books was in different classes and this article explains why teachers would use them.

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I've been a big fan of the books series for a long time. For younger kids especially, historical events can feel distant, sometimes boring, and unrelated to their current lives of video games, YouTube, and whatever new thing is capturing the attention of kids at the time you're reading this. That's where a good biography comes in! Students not only learn about the person, but also the historical context in which they lived. Topics become much more relatable and students can start making connections to our past. My favorite biography series for making this magic happen is definitely the Who Was/ Who Is series! I'll be sharing some of my favorite activities to accompany the books in this post, including a free Who is Michael Jordan flipbook!

First published in 2002, the Who Was series profiles a very diverse group of historically and culturally significant people such as Amelia Earhart, Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey. You've probably seen them in bookstores. But you might refer to them as another name such as "big head biographies" or "bobblehead bios" because of their recognizable covers. The books are incredibly popular with students because they're relatively short (each one is just over 100 pages!) and feature lots of engaging illustrations. They're also very popular with teachers because most books in the series only cost around $4.00!

The publishers have expanded the Who Was series into other topics with their What was?, Where is?, and What is the Story of? series as well, meaning there are 250+ books to choose from! There's even a fun Who Was? Activity Book that has puzzles, mazes, quizzes, and other games based on the series. They're constantly adding titles, and about 20 new books get published each year. You can find an updated list of all of the books in the Who Was biography series here!

The recommended reading levels vary for each title, but they typically fall within these ranges:

Scholastic Reading Level: N-S

Lexile®: 620-900

Ages: 8-12

Grades: 3rd-7th

If you have a particular book in mind, I recommend just searching the title using the Scholastic Book Wizard. You'll be able to find Scholastic, Lexile®, grade equivalents, and DRA levels all in one place.

Why are the books perfect for integrating social studies and language arts?

The Who Was biographies are fun to read and packed with history and culture. Unlike some history textbooks, the writing is fun and brings each person's story to life. More than that, though, the books also make connections between historical topics and our current lives. Each book begins with a chapter that provides context and sets the scene for the person's life. Most of the books are excellent for teaching and supporting growth mindset, and readers are encouraged to explore their own potential for changing the world.

While the series remains upbeat and positive, they're also not afraid to dig into tougher topics like racism, religion, extramarital relationships, drug use, sexual orientation, and death since these issues are often central to the stories of people featured in the series. You can't write a book about Harvey Milk, for example, without discussing issues of homophobia and gay rights. And you can't tell the story of Rosa Parks without also discussing racism, the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow, and the history of violence against Blacks in America. Despite the difficulty of these topics, the series as a whole manages to find a balance between the facts and knowing how to present them for young students by tying them into the biographies and providing necessary context.

Incorporating Social Studies Skills

The Who Was books also provide supplementary information that is great for incorporating social studies skills. Each book comes with not only a timeline of the person's life, but also a timeline of the world during the same eras. Bibliographies are always included, and sidebars throughout the book give more information about related topics. A sidebar in Who Was Ida B. Wells?, for example, talks about Reconstruction and the three civil rights amendments passed during this era.

What are some books activities that I can use in my classroom?

One of the easiest ways to use the series is to have students complete a book report. You can assign a particular person, or just let students choose someone they're interested in! I also love the idea of choosing a theme, letting students choose a person that fits within the theme, and then having them share what they've learned with each other.

For example, let's say you were doing a unit on explorers and exploration. Students could be divided into groups and choose to learn about Jacques Cousteau, Ernest Shackleton, Sally Ride, Ferdinand Magellan, or Sacagawea! Groups could partner up and complete Venn diagrams showing how their explorers were similar and different. Since there are so many books in the series, there are a ton of possibilities for themes including artists, scientists and inventors, famous African Americans, Founding Fathers, presidents, athletes, writers, influential women, musicians, and more!

If you go the book report route, I highly recommend giving students a graphic organizer or trifold brochure template to help them focus their research and keep track of notes as they read. Younger students especially need a framework for taking notes and helping them pick out the most important information. This is also a great idea for scaffolding how to write a short essay. My graphic organizers are specifically meant to accompany the Who Was book series, and they make great book report templates. If you're looking for digital activities for distance learning, I've got you covered with digital graphic organizers and digital trifold brochures too! Each set comes with templates for 108 (that's right, I said one hundred and eight!) people featured in the Who Was series, and I make regular updates to add more people whenever I can.

Once you get your kids hooked on the book series with your biography unit, consider following it up by having them begin writing an autobiography of their own! This fun, interactive journal gives kids prompts to help them record their own life stories and write down their dreams for the future. It includes space for a family tree and areas to record information about best friends, pets, favorite foods, hobbies, and other important things students will enjoy writing about.

Did you know there is also an entire Netflix series about the Who Was books? Well there is! I'll be honest, as an adult with somewhat decent taste, I couldn't even make it through one episode. BUT, we all know how our students like things that we can't stand. There are 13 episodes, each featuring two people from the series and a particular theme for how they're related. For example, the Wright Brothers and Pablo Picasso were paired as free thinkers, and Amelia Earhart and Isaac Newton are in the same episode for both being innovators. There is an educator guide for the Netflix series that includes some quick teaching tips you may find helpful.

Who HQ

Speaking of teaching tips, the WHO HQ website also has some resources dedicated to teachers with a special page for educators. The site allows you to create your own checklist of books from the series and provides quizzes, activity sheets, and an episode guide to support the Netflix show. You can also learn more about The Who Was? History Bee, a trivia competition for kids in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades where the winner earns $10,000 and a set of books for their school library. Fun!

Who Was? Adventure App

If you're looking for some digital activities to use with the Who Was books, students will also love the Adventure app! It's free and can be installed on Apple devices. The app includes over 5,000 questions about the famous people in the books. Players can progress through 100+ levels as they use timelines and learn new facts. The app would be a great early finishers activity. And if you have enough devices in your classroom, would also make for a fun indoor recess!

Clearly there are a ton of ways to use the Who Was books series in your classroom. Did I forget any fun activities? Do you recommend any particular titles from the series? Tell me about your experiences and ideas in the comments below!

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Using the Who Was Books Series in Your Classroom | Dr. Loftin's...

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Students love the Who Was books series! Read all about some helpful tips for using the series for a biography project. A free Who is Michael Jordan flipbook is included!

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My Reading Mentor would be my dad. The reason for this is because he was always the one that read to me and my sister. I also honor my dad because still at the age of 65, he continues to read and expand his viewpoint on things. When I first started being a teen I remember he started to read a book on how to be a better dad for a new teen. He always is eager to learn and even re-read books to learn in in different views based on his age. This inspires me to also read more and learn more.

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My biggest reading challenge is that I sometimes don 't fully understand the main point of a book and then I stop reading because I get bored or confused. I need to just keep reading and look at things through different viewpoints and not give up on books.

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My favorite thing about reading is being able to use my own imagination at times. The thing with more advanced books is there is no pictures, so you make up things in your own mind which makes things personal and unique while reading.

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My Reading goals are to read more. Like genuinely buy more books and finding more interests. It doesn't even have to be a story or novel, but even just a book about a topic I can be better at. Any-type of reading I want to do more of as a new college student and also over the summer.

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Please feel free to comment on my Reading History Timeline!