PAUL KELLY - STORIES OF ME - Biography - Part 1

Students explore biographies as a text type through exploration of the documentary Paul Kelly – Stories of Me. Focusing on childhood, family, place and memory, students complete a number of visible thinking routines to develop their understanding of biographical elements. They then apply their understanding of the nature of representation in biographical texts by interviewing a person about their experiences growing up, and represent the information in their own biographical text.

This lesson uses sections of Shark Island Production’s Paul Kelly – Stories of Me as learning stimuli. Teachers are required to create an account on the film’s website to view the film. Upon registration you will be given a code – give this to your students so that they can access the film too.

Key points to explore:

• A biography is the representation of someone’s life.
• It is generally accepted that biographical accounts are based in the truth, however it is interpreted through the biographer.
• There are different elements in a person’s life that make up their biographical story.