Awesome Authors, Part 1 of 2

You probably have beloved authors whose books touch your heart and make you think. Our students are no different. But what do they really know about their favorite writers? Are they content with seeing their beloved author's name on the well-worn spine of a library book? Are they satisfied with glancing at an author's picture or reading a biographical blurb on a book jacket? Or, do they long for more? Wouldn't it be exciting for them to discover how their favorite authors learned to write and how their life experiences influenced their works?

In today's digital world, we can help students learn about the works of their preferred authors as well as their lives with the click of a hyperlink! Of course, learning about a well-liked author has a few potential bonuses for students and teachers alike; namely, children might want to

1. read more of the author's work;
2. follow one of a favorite author's series;
3. emulate the writing style of an admired writer; and
4. analyze the author's purpose, style, and point of view.

Here are a few ways that we can encourage students to use their reading, writing, speaking and listening abilities, research skills, and critical thinking to make author studies come alive. Many of these suggestions also promote wide reading of both literature and informational text and provide students with the chance to discuss and write about their reading.

In the Classroom

• Revealing Read-Alouds: For a short period of time, focus your interactive read-aloud on the work of a particular author. Encourage students to think about what type of person the author might be based on the kind of writing he or she does. Begin an anchor chart that lists students' ideas and encourage them to add to it. Be ready to share interesting biographical tidbits about the writer and have some biographies on hand for interested readers. Ask learners to reflect on which of the writer's personal experiences may have influenced his or her writing.
• Fluency with Feeling: One of the CAFE fluency goals is "Read text as the author would say it, conveying the meaning or feeling" (Boushey & Moser, 2009). To do this, students have to truly understand the author's work and approach to the subject. By infusing an oral reading with the same type of enthusiasm the author would show, students can improve their fluency, comprehension, and grasp of the author's style and personal voice.
• Listen Up: Enlist the help of fluent upper-grade readers in tape-recording a few short books for your students' listening center. This activity has a dual advantage: the older readers improve their fluency, and the younger ones learn from listening to a fluent reader. Children can look forward to this Listen to Reading activity during their Daily 5 rotations (Boushey & Moser, 2006).
• Book Boxes: Designate a book-shopping day when students can search for just-right books written by the same author. Encourage children to read two or more books by the same author and compare the works. This allows students with a comprehension goal to Compare and contrast within and between text and gives everyone else the opportunity to recognize similarities and differences among the texts they read, too (Boushey & Moser, 2009).
• Author's Craft: In many different professions, people make intentional decisions about their work. Every time authors write, they make important choices about their craft. During a focus lesson or student conference, invite children to talk about various aspects of author's craft. Call their attention to the writer's choice of language, imagery, and unique way of telling the story. Invite them to share their ideas about why the author made these decisions. Students who have a comprehension goal might want to practice the strategy Determine and analyze author's purpose and support with text (Boushey & Moser, 2009) by digging into why the author wrote the book. For all students, this is an excellent time to bring up the idea of stamina—most authors write daily, revise, and rewrite. Undoubtedly, the job of writer requires a lot of stamina.

Community Outreach

• Family Time: Investigate upcoming library or bookstore visits from children's writers. Publicize the event to your students' families, and encourage their attendance. Share the writer's books with students before the author's appearance and encourage them to read the texts on their own (provided they are "just right" for the readers). This is another opportunity to encourage students to read voraciously.
• Author Visits: Find out if any children's authors live in your community. There may even be published authors right at your school. Invite the author to do a school or classroom visit.
• Close to Home: Some states have literacy initiatives to promote the works of homegrown authors. Find out if your state has this type of program. Learn how to involve your students in the project by having them research an author from their home state.

Library Links

• Author Text Sets: Enlist the help of your school or community librarian in creating text sets for author studies. These text sets can include an author's fictional works, nonfiction books or articles, and poetry, as well as biographies and/or autobiographies. Have each student or pair of students choose an author's works to research and report on for classmates.
• Book Talks: Ask your school librarian (or a text-savvy special guest) to talk about the books of selected authors. Display sets of books by the same author to generate interest in the writer and familiarize students with each author's works. Book talks entice students to read new authors, experiment with different genres, and develop their literary tastes.

Home Connections

• A Celebration of Writers: Organize your Family Literacy Night around the works of students' favorite authors. Assign guest readers to share read-alouds from a certain author. Decorate the guest readers' rooms with student work focused on author studies. These can include labeled pictures of the author's memorable characters, favorite lines from the featured author's books, student-created book reviews, and copies of the author's books for family checkout.
• Have Suitcase—Will Travel: Assemble a few picture books by the same writer along with the author's biography and a journal. Place them in an inexpensive suitcase or special backpack to be sent home to families. Ask the family members to read the books with their child. Invite them to write a brief journal entry about which books they liked best and what they learned about the author.

Part 2 will include ideas for Writing Connections, Working Together, Technology Time, and School Community.