Dr. Michelle Kelley WSE

A unit that gives students the opportunity to delve deeply into an author’s life and work. Whether individually, in small groups, or as a class, students can:  Critically evaluate an author’s themes, characters, and writing style  Make connections between the author’s life and work  Make personal connections between their own experiences and those of the author and his/her characters

1. Develop students reading skills 2. Build critical thinking skills 3. Improve writing skills 4. Forge a deeper attachment to books 5. Establish a community of readers 6. Expose kids to different types of literary voices and styles

7. Boost information literacy skills 8. Plug in easily to the curriculum 9. Make connections across the curriculum 10. Add fun to the school day! Resource: authortoolkit_rr.pdf authortoolkit_rr.pdf

1. Set a purpose and goals for the author study Think about your goals for the author study. Are you trying to tie the study to a curriculum unit (content)? Is it something extra? Setting a purpose will help you to tailor the study and clarify student expectations for the assignment. Connect to CCSS. 2. Choose an author This choice is crucial to student enjoyment and learning. You can develop a list of possible authors, or ask a media specialist for suggestions. Student polls are a good way to include students in the process.

3. Read and respond to the books- Decide how many books students will read and how long they have to do this reading. Encourage students to journal their responses or use a graphic organizer related to readings. 4. Research the author(s), illustrator(s)- You’ll find plenty of information in print and online (see resources at the end). 5. Culminating projects- Culminating projects give students an opportunity to respond to what they’ve learned about an author. Usually a presentation to the class or to a larger audience composed of parents or other classes.

 Collect numerous books the author has written (ask your media specialist, use your local library or your classroom library)  Place the books in a basket labeled with the author’s name or on a special table in your classroom  Locate audio and video resources (look online for free author book talks or video interviews)  Locate information about your author on the internet. For example: Lights, Camera, Authors! Free curriculum-based author videos for your classroom with Classroom Cast. PcStGb5lw8W0bBhOG5mpqVsje_HheEdjV3c PcStGb5lw8W0bBhOG5mpqVsje_HheEdjV3c  Gather material from the author's publisher (often times, publishers provide free materials to teachers and have excellent lesson plan ideas etc. on their websites)

 read aloud as many of the author's books as possible  have students survey their favorites and create a graph of the results  write to the author via snail mail or  write reviews of the books (bring in book reviews from the newspaper, online as examples)  create RT scripts for younger students to read  create K-W-H-L charts for the author  discuss the author's writing style; create text innovations based on their style  conduct writing mini lessons based on the author's style and encourage students to incorporate this style into their own writing

Create a class book Create a display highlighting author’s life & work Create a magazine Create a video review of an author’s work Develop a timeline about the author Dramatize a scene from one of the books Host a party based on an author’s books

 Choose a corner or other place where you can keep and display books for the author study.  If you’re doing a classroom-wide author study, take a tri-fold display board and decorate it with the author’s name and photo. Students can add more information and more photos as they research the author.  If students are doing different authors, you can use a tri-fold display board as a photo gallery of the authors. If you can have a computer in the author study center, students can create an online multimedia display, including websites, and related resources.  Make sure you have enough room in your center to later display work created by students as part of their author study.

 Authors and Illustrators on the Web dIllustratorsontheWeb.htm  Scholastic’s Author and Illustrator Index  Rutgers University’s Learning About the Author and Illustrator Pages development/childlit/AuthorSite/  Bank Street College’s resource page

 Reading Rockets -  AdLit.org -  Bookwrap Central  YouTube.com

 Eric Carle’s Website-  Lesson Plans- plan/very-hungry-caterpillar-activity-plan  Glogster- orstudy-9110/ orstudy-9110/