How to: People to Know

People to Know is short biographies of important people who played a role in the time periods studied in the United States history course. Since history is made up of people, it is important to have some understanding of those who contributed to or played important roles in pivotal moments in history.

When doing this or any assignment, be as neat as possible. Organization and clear handwriting improves understanding of the material. Students must use only information from the People to Know/Vocabulary sheets.

Step One

On the selected page, write the title People to Know at the top of the notebook page. On the bottom outside corner—the corner farthest from the notebook spine—write the page number. The page number will be the number of the lesson and a capital letter for the page number. For example, page 2A stands for lesson 2, page A.

Step Two

Cut out and paste no more than two portraits on the left side of the page. Leave space between the top and bottom portraits to write information.

Step Three

Next to the portrait, write "Who" with a colon and then underline the word. Skip to the next line and place a bullet. Write who the person was in ten words or less. In parenthesis write the number of words used in the bullet.

To answer who the person was, think about where the person came from and what they did for a living.

Step Four

Write the "Importance" with a colon and then underline the word. Using one to five bullets, no more than ten words per bullet, describe why the person was important. In parenthesis write the number of words used in the bullet.

To answer why the person was important, look for things that the person did that made a difference then and/or now. Also, report on how they affected people in their time and later generations.

Conclusion

People to Know is an activity that records the contributions, good and bad, of important historical figures. The assignment also develops the skill of summarizing facts and reducing them to only what is important.