Read about famous people
key notes :
Introduction to Famous People: Explain who famous people are and why they are important. Discuss various fields such as science, arts, history, sports, etc.
Research Skills: Teach students how to research information about famous people using books, encyclopedias, and reliable websites.
Biographical Details: Focus on key biographical details such as birthplace, major achievements, contributions to society, and their impact on the world.
Timeline of Events: Help students create timelines showing important events in the lives of famous people. This could include milestones, discoveries, or significant moments.
Impact and Legacy: Discuss the lasting impact of these individuals on society. Encourage students to think critically about how their achievements have influenced the world.
Presentation Skills: Guide students on how to present their findings effectively, whether through oral presentations, posters, or written reports.
Role Models: Discuss the concept of role models and how famous people can inspire us through their accomplishments and character.
Ethical Considerations: Teach about the importance of respecting privacy and accurately representing the lives of famous people when discussing them.
Learn with an example
▶️ Read the text.
Wild Beast
When French artist Henri Matisse exhibited his paintings in France in 1905, people were shocked—and horrified! The bold colours that filled his canvases jarred people’s senses. One of his paintings, A Woman in a Hat, showed a woman whose face and clothing were painted in unnatural greens, reds and purples. The painting’s irregular, loose brushstrokes made it seem unfinished. One critic who reviewed the show called Matisse and his fellow artists fauves, which means ‘wild beasts’ in French. The name stuck and led to the start of the modern art movement known as fauvism.
While his new art may have seemed ‘wild’, Matisse’s earlier life had been quite tame. He grew up in an ordinary French family and became a lawyer in Paris. He started taking art classes for fun, both before and after work. Then, when he became ill and had to go home to recover, his mother bought him a set of paints to pass the time. That’s when he decided to become an artist instead of a lawyer. He started studying art more seriously, and he quickly became skilled at painting in the traditional style of the time.
But soon Matisse started experimenting with his painting. Many artists were starting to move away from the old, traditional ways of doing art. New styles were taking shape. Matisse wanted to put more emotion in his paintings. He didn’t want to just imitate real life. He started using bolder colours, rounder shapes and less detail. He wanted to paint the essence of his subjects, their simplest forms and the way they made him feel. The result was quite different from anything seen in the world of art before.
Matisse is often called the ‘father of modern art’. His work influenced other artists to take risks and try new things. He and Pablo Picasso, another famous modern artist known for his ‘shocking’ art, developed a long-lasting friendship and rivalry. Though they were friends, the two men tried to outdo each other in exploring new approaches to art. They competed with each other and challenged each other to try new ideas.
Matisse’s work continued to change throughout his life. In 1941, when he was seventy-two years old, he became ill and had to stay in bed. That’s when he began making art in yet another brand-new style. He called it ‘drawing with scissors’. He painted pieces of paper in bright colours and then cut shapes from them. He made collages by combining the shapes and gluing them onto large sheets of paper. In 1947, he published a popular book of these collages, called Jazz.
Matisse worked as an artist for about six decades before he died in 1954. Besides paintings and collages, he also produced drawings, statues and stained glass. He never stopped creating in ways that broke the ‘rules of art’. Though the fauvism movement he’d started in the early 1900s only lasted a short time, Matisse himself remained the art world’s ‘wild beast’ all his life.
Who is the text about?
- Henri Matisse, an artist who first learned to paint by watching his friend Pablo Picasso
- Henri Matisse, an artist who wrote a famous book about an art movement called fauvism
- Henri Matisse, an artist who became famous for breaking traditional art rules
- Henri Matisse, an artist who became blind after a serious illness later in his life
The text discusses the following ideas:
- Matisse experimented with painting and broke the traditional rules of art.
- Matisse’s work influenced other artists to take risks and try new things.
So, the text is about Henri Matisse, an artist who became famous for breaking traditional art rules.
▶️ Read the text.
Fun and Games
Milton Bradley has been famous since the 1800s as the man who changed playtime forever. Bradley was born in 1836. His father, Lewis, a factory worker, liked to help his son with his schoolwork. He made maths fun by using apples to help Bradley learn to solve problems. His father’s lessons served an important role in Bradley’s life. When Bradley grew up, he wanted to help others have fun while learning something new.
Bradley liked learning and wanted to go to university, but he had to earn some money first. After secondary school, he started his first business. Many people who lived in his area wanted to write letters to their families back home. Bradley spotted an opportunity and sold stationery supplies like paper and envelopes door-to-door. He was a good businessperson, and he earned enough money to go to university. However, he left university when his family moved, so he never earned his degree.
After leaving university, Bradley learned a special art style called lithography. It was a way to copy and print pictures. In 1860, he launched the Milton Bradley Company, which printed pictures for businesses. One day, he was asked to create a picture of Abraham Lincoln, who was running for president of the United States. The picture turned out beautifully, and the Milton Bradley Company sold many copies of it. However, when Lincoln grew a beard, the picture no longer looked like him, and Bradley’s prints became worthless overnight. Things looked bad for the Milton Bradley Company. Luckily, Bradley came up with an idea that would save his business. He would make and sell board games.
Bradley created a game called ‘The Checkered Game of Life’. He sold it to shops, saying that all their customers would buy it—even people who thought games were a waste of time. He was right! In just two days, he sold hundreds of copies. People enjoyed playing the game because it was both fun and educational. Players became so enthusiastic about it that it sold more than forty thousand copies in its first year. The game, later called ‘The Game of Life,’ or ‘Life’ for short, is still loved by players today.
Bradley’s success drove him to create many more games. During the American Civil War, he visited soldiers who were stationed near his home. After seeing the soldiers’ daily routines, he invented the first small, travel-sized board games for the soldiers. Later, his company began making blocks and other toys for use in schools. Bradley gave free educational toys to the primary school classes in his town. He had always remembered the creative ways his father had taught him. He honoured his father by helping children mix fun and education.
Although Bradley died in 1911, his name lives on through his company. In fact, some of today’s most popular board games—including Candy Land, Battleship and Connect 4—were developed by the Milton Bradley Company. Bradley is remembered for his love of putting work and play together.
Who is the text about?
- Milton Bradley, a businessperson whose company created famous board games
- Milton Bradley, a talented salesman who created artwork for popular games as a hobby
- Milton Bradley, an artist who quit university and later became an American general
- Milton Bradley, a factory worker who became a famous primary school teacher
The text discusses the following ideas:
- Milton Bradley was a good businessperson who built the Milton Bradley Company.
- The company made money creating and selling popular board games.
- The company still makes games that are played today.
So, the text is about Milton Bradley, a businessperson whose company created famous board games.
let’s practice!
Read the text.
A Brilliant Star
Back in the 1940s, Hedy Lamarr was a talented actor, dancer and pianist. She was well known for her film performances, but most people didn’t know that she was also an inventor. Lamarr loved science and was always looking for ways to make things better. Her brain was overflowing with ideas, so she set up a small workshop in her trailer on a film set. In between filming scenes, Lamarr would go back to her trailer to work on her latest invention. Lamarr invented lots of interesting things. She created a glow-in-the-dark dog collar to help people find lost pets at night. She made a tablet that turned plain water into a fizzy drink. She even created a new kind of traffic light that would alert drivers that the light was about to change. Lamarr never tried to sell her inventions. She wasn’t trying to make money. She just had fun inventing things. Although most of her inventions did not catch on or become famous, other inventors later used her ideas to create technology that would change the world. Lamarr enjoyed improving things. When a friend who was a pilot and aeroplane builder complained that his aeroplane wasn’t speedy enough, she wanted to help. Lamarr thought the wings looked too square. She read books about birds and fish. She studied the wings of the swiftest bird and the fins of the quickest fish. Then she combined elements of both in a sketch. Her sketch was used by scientists to create a new wing design that made aeroplanes fly more quickly. In the 1940s, Lamarr wanted to help the United States win World War II. She and her partner invented a secret communication system called frequency hopping. This technology was a new way of using radio waves. It would help the Navy’s underwater weapons reach their targets. But the Navy decided the invention was too complicated to use. Although Lamarr didn’t help win the war, her notable invention did form the beginning of technologies used today. Years later, other inventors used her remarkable work on frequency hopping to create wireless communication systems. These include major modern technologies like Wi-Fi, which uses radio waves to provide wireless internet connections. Even though Lamarr didn’t invent Wi-Fi, she is sometimes called the ‘mother of Wi-Fi’ since her early work helped pave the way for it. Lamarr was certainly more than just your average entertainer!