Biography Book

o Book title: Francis Scoot Key
o Author/illustrator: Lillie Patterson
o Clip Art:

o Suggested Grade Level for the book: 2^nd grade because even though this book is a chapter book, it is written at a lower level and does not contain a vast amount of words. 
o An original brief summary: This book is a biography about Francis Scott Key.  It starts out with him as a child who loves his family’s farm, Terra Ruba but as he gets older decides to leave it to go to school at St. John’s College.  Francis was always skilled at writing and public speaking which is what he focused on in his studies.  Francis also spent time teaching the slaves on his family’s farm to read and helped lead them in prayer meeting.  One day George Washington, Francis’ hero, came to visit Terra Ruba on his way to the capitol, while Francis was home from school, to thank the Key’s for their support throughout the Revolution.  Francis excelled at school becoming a lawyer, and wrote poems in his spare time.  During the War of 1812 Francis refused to return to the safety of Terra Ruba, opting to stay in dangers way by trying to free Dr. Beanes who was being held prisoner, but after a night of English bombing on Fort McHenry the American Flag still remained.  This event is what inspired Francis to write the Star-Spangled- Banner, which eventually became the National Anthem.  . 
o How the book could be used in the classroom to teach children skills and strategies they need to know (be specific):  This book could be used in the class room to teach students how to use biography books when doing research on an important person in history, in this case Francis Scott Key, the writer of The Star-Spangled Banner- our National Anthem.  It also teaches students to read and enjoy books that are informational, not just make-believe, since this book tells the biography like a story.
o ESOL strategies/applications:  This book includes pictures which go along with the text which would be great for ESOL students.  To better accommodate ESOL students, I would ensure that they know at least a little bit about American History in order to understand some of the significances in this book, such as why George Washington was so famous.
o Read Aloud: I would read aloud pages 49-51 because they talk about the beginning of the War of 1812 and how the Americans did not know what the English had planned which would spark the student’s curiosity.  Also because it talks about how Francis set aside his hatred of war to serve in the army which would get the students interested in Francis’ character.

o Personal opinions of the book or illustrations: I thought this was an okay biography book.  At times it was a bit boring and uneventful but it did include historical information that would be great for students researching Francis Scott Key.