Bringing together an enthusiasm for biography and a belief in in-depth learning through long-term projects which include manipulating the material to be learned, this book presents a reading-and-writing approach to biography for elementary and middle school students in which students research and write biographies. Following a foreword and an introduction the three sections of the book's first part, "Understanding Biography," discuss respectively the appeal of biography, choosing the subject, and the material included in a biography. The five sections of the second part, "Biography in the Classroom: Approaches for Beginners," discuss respectively the snapshot approach, fictionalized versions, an alternative to chronological order, the relationship between life and times, and feeding an interest in biography. Sixty-six references are attached, and three appendixes contain fictionalized biographies written by fourth graders, nonchronological biographies written by fifth graders, and a life-and-times biography written by a fourth grader. (SR)