Lesson Plan

The French and Indian War 1754-1763: Biography Cards - Unit 7

Drawing of American Indian Scarouady

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Grade Level:
Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Social Studies
Lesson Duration:
60 Minutes
Common Core Standards:
4.RI.1, 4.RI.3, 4.RI.7, 5.RI.1, 5.RI.3, 5.RI.7, 6.RI.1, 6.RI.3, 6.RI.7, 4.SL.1, 4.SL.2, 5.SL.1, 5.SL.2, 6.SL.1, 6.SL.2, 4.W.2, 4.W.4, 5.W.2, 5.W.4, 6.W.2, 6.W.4
Additional Standards:
National History Standards: K-4 Topic 2: 3A, 3B, 3D, 3E; K-4 Topic 3: 4B, 6A; US Era 2: 1A, 1B; US Era 3: 1A; World Era 6: 4A
Thinking Skills:

Essential Question

Guiding Questions: Who participated in the French and Indian War? What was interesting about their lives? How did the war affect them?


Students will be able to:
List the name of a person associated with the French and Indian War
List two interesting facts about the person
List how the person was associated with the French and Indian War


“Biography Cards” Unit 7 of the Teacher’s Education Kit “The French and Indian War: 1754-1763” has 27 different biography cards for the students to read. 

This unit includes four lesson plans:

  1. "Getting to Know You" has students read about the person on their assigned biography card and give an oral summary

  2. "Where in the World" has students locate important places associated with the person on their biography card

  3. "Who am I?" is a game where students use facts about the people featured in the biography cards.

  4. "Bio BINGO" is a game where students us a BINGO type card to learn about people and events in the French and Indian War

Critical Content: Biography is an engaging and powerful way to teach history. The participants in the French and Indian War were just like people today, with different personalities and feelings. Biographies can make history come alive. Students will read about the soldier who wanted revenge, the general whose grave was in the middle of a road, and the commander who united enemies. Some were bold, some were captured, and some were enslaved. The students can read about the lives of American Indian, French and British participants.

See the “Related Lessons and Educational Materials” section for links to the other units in the teacher’s guide.   

This curriculum is available to teachers free of charge as a printed three ring binder or on CD. Please email the education staff if you are interested in receiving the curriculum in one of these formats.




For all the units you will need to make at least one copy of a biography card for each student.  
For the lesson "Getting to Know You" you will need one biography card per student.
For the lesson "Where in the World" you will need to download the map of Indian Nations and French and Indian War Forts 1754-1760 from the materials section, a world map and one biography card per student.
For the lesson "Who am I" you will need one biography card per student.

For the lesson "Bio BINGO" you will need a copy of the BINGO sheet and one biography card per student.  


There are four lessons that use the biography cards: "Getting to Know You," "Where in the World," "Who Am I," and "BioBINGO."

Download Lesson Plans and instructions

This is one of three sets of biography cards used in this lesson

Download Biography Cards: American Indian


Download Biography Cards: French


Download Biography Cards: British

This provides background information on the French and Indian War for teachers and includes maps, and further instructions.

Download Teacher Background Inforamtion

This is a color map of the Indian Nations and French and Indian War Forts 1754-1760.

Download Map of Indian Nations and French and Indian War Forts 1754-1760

Lesson Hook/Preview

People throughout history have experienced troubles and joys, just as people today do. The French, British and American Indians in the French and Indian War were no different. Write about what emotions or challenges of a historical person you are familiar with faced.




Part 1: GETTING TO KNOW YOU: This activity will help students practice selecting important information from a written document then making an oral presentation to a group.

  1. Explain to the students that they will be introducing the person on their biography card to the class. Tell them they will be speaking in the first person. For example, they might say, “Hello, my name is Queen Alliquippa.”

  2. Brainstorm with students about what people might want to know about their individuals. The list might include their name, where they are from, and what role they played in the war. If there are any unique facts about the person, students should include those, too.

  3. Give the students 10 minutes to prepare, and then start the introductions. As each student introduces his or her individual, write the names of the introduced people on the board.

  4. After all the individuals have been introduced, go over the list of names on the board, asking the class what they remember about each person.

Part 2: WHERE IN THE WORLD?: This activity will reinforce information about the people

portrayed on the biography cards. It will also help students connect people and events to geographic areas.

  1. Pass out the biography cards, one to each student. Give the students a few minutes to read their card.

  2. Have the students show which places on the map or maps were important to their individual.

Part 3: WHO AM I?:This is a fun activity to try after students are familiar with some people involved in the French and Indian War.

  1. Hand out biography cards. Have the students write down the person’s name and 4-6 important facts about the person on their card.

  2. Collect the papers with the important facts and mix them up. Pin or tape a paper onto each student’s back. Students should not know which individual they are wearing.

  3. Give students a list of all the individuals (or write the list on the board).

  4. Tell students that they may ask questions about their person, but the questions must be able to be answered with a “Yes” or a “No.” For example, a student could ask, “Am I an American Indian?” but not, “Which group do I belong to?” Also students should not go down the list of names asking if they are an individual. For example they should not ask, “Am I Queen Alliquippa?” as their first question.

  5. Allow time for students to walk around and ask questions of each other. Of course, students will not always know the answers to the questions other students are asking. In that case, they can read the information on the other student’s back.

  6. After 10 minutes, ask everyone to sit down. See if students can guess their individuals.

Part 4: BIO-BINGO: This activity will help students learn more about the people who were involved in the French and Indian War.

  1. Give each student a biography card. Have the students read it so they know more about their person.

  2. Give each student a copy of the Activity Worksheet “Bio BINGO.” Have the students read their BINGO cards to see where the person on their biography card meets the squares on the BINGO card.  It may help to have the students circle the squares their biography card person meets. For example, if Christopher Gist was one of the biography cards, he would meet the BINGO card squares as follows:

    1. Present at Fort LeBoeuf

    2. Knew George Washington

    3. Present at Braddock’s defeat

    4. Spoke English

    5. Born in the British colonies

    6. British

    7. Visited the Forks of the Ohio

    8. Attended a treaty conference

  3. Tell students they will get up and walk around. Two students will meet and each will try to fill in – by signing his or her name – one square on the other student’s card. Then each will move on to another student and try to do the same thing again.

  4. Students will keep moving until they get BINGO: five across, five up, five down, or five diagonally. (To make it more difficult, have the students fill in their whole card.)

  5. Let the students know that they will represent the person on their biography card when they walk around. They can sign their name in any box on another student’s card that fits the person they represent.

  6. The students cannot sign their own card.

  7. The students cannot sign another student’s card more than once.

  8. Winner is the student who is first to score a BINGO.


Biography: Using some format to tell a person's life story.

Assessment Materials

At the end of the unit, use the biography cards to create a quiz or game show. Split the class into two teams and have each team answer questions about each of the cards for points. Questions should include the individuals’ roles in the French and Indian War when appropriate.

Supports for Struggling Learners

The teacher can read the biography cards to the students. 

Enrichment Activities

Have the students research and write biography cards on other participants such as: General James Wolfe, William Trent, Sir William Johnson and Claude-Pierre Pecaudy de Contrecoeur.

Additional Resources

Fort Necessity National Battlefield web site 

A Charming Field for an Encounter the park's handbook 

Becoming George Washington a curriculum about George Washington in the French and Indian War 

The Lands Would Be Entirely Theirs Again: Indians and the Seven Years’ War in the Ohio Valley by Amy C. Schutt. Ask the education staff for a free copy.

Related Lessons or Education Materials

“The French and Indian War 1754-1763” Teacher’s Education Kit is broken into eight units and a Teacher Background section. Units 1 - 6 chronologically follow the war from start to finish, including how the war set the stage for the American Revolution.  

Links to the other units:

Unit 1: Who Were the People Involved?

Unit 2: What Were They Fighting For?

Unit 3: How Did the Conflict Begin? (This includes two lessons on George Washington)

Unit 4: How Did the War Progress?



Unit 7: Biography Cards (there are nine American Indian, nine French, nine British biographies)

Unit 8: Primary Documents and Artifacts


French and Indian War Historic Sites in Western Pennsylvania

Contact Information

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Last updated: September 26, 2019