A-U-T-H-O-R-SA-U-T-H-O-R-S

Author studies are the best!!Author studies are the best!!

By By

Katherine MiletoKatherine Mileto

The what and why of the author study

• An author study is a way to enhance your students’ love of reading

• It provides the opportunity to engage the students’ in a variety of topics

• It helps focus on a concept to advance students’ comprehension

• It provides ample opportunities for your students’ to discover story styles and establish opinions of different authors

How do I get started?• Pick where you want to begin. What do

you want to be your focus?

• Do some research on popular children’s authors to make sure they can fully provide you with your needs

• Make Google images your best friend!

How do I pick an author?• Choose one who has written at least 10-

15 books• Make sure the stories you will be

reading are age appropriate• Be interested in the author you choose• If you enjoy the author study so will the

students!

I’ve picked an author now what?

• Make sure you pre-read all the books you are going to read to the class

• Make sure to get a variety of books by the author

• Gather your facts

• Create your poster

Creating Your Posters• On your poster display the author’s face, at

least 3 facts about the author, 5-6 pictures of the books he/she wrote

• The poster is a tool, treat it like one• It will be a point of reference for your students• Make it creative!!!• Display your poster for all to see

How do I incorporate it into my day?

• Author studies can be done at any time of the day

• Read Aloud• Writer’s Workshop• Interactive Writing• Phonics• Word Study• Morning Meeting

The step by step introduction

• Break the introduction into two days» Day one

• Hang up the poster on the wall• Let the students do some self exploring• Then introduce the author as a large group

activity• Read and talk about the facts you found• Ask the students what they know about the

author

Step by step con’t• Do a picture walk of one of the books• Make sure to ask questions about the

illustrations, characters, setting» Day two

• Re-introduce the author• Play the “Guess What I’m About” Book cover

game– How to play and what you need

• Show the front and back covers, title page and any other pages that do not have the story written on it

Step by step con’t• Ask the students what they think the story is

about• Name the characters, the setting, what’s going

to happen• Write this all down on chart paper, white board,

etc

• As you read the story periodically go back to your list and compare

Step by step con’t• After the story is over do a class survey

– Survey can be done as a writing assignment or as a group

– Can be done with graphic organizers too– What they did/didn’t like– Favorite part, character– What would they change about any part of the story

• This will also help you decide who your next author will be

Other Activities (Group)• Write the wordless stories on chart paper.

Then draw illustrations to match• Write/Illustrate a story based on characters,

settings and vocabulary• Play character bingo• Play “Guess Who I Am”• Play character, setting, vocabulary hot potato• Interactive Writing

Other Activities (Small Group)

• Writer’s workshop

• Phonics

• Shared Reading

• Sight Words

• Basic Comprehension Games/Story Windows

My Author Studies• September - Dr. Seuss (easy books)• October - Mo Willems • November - David Shannon• December - Tomie De Paola• January - Jan Brett• February - Laura Numeroff• March - Dr. Seuss (longer books)

My Author Studies• April - Eric Carle

• May - Chris Van Allsburg

• June - Famous Authors (books by celebrities)

• July - Leo Lionni

• August - Ezra Jack Keats

The reason for my order• September: Rhyming awareness,

Phonemic awareness, silly stories, recognizable stories and characters

• October: Easy readers, sight word practice, simple sentence stories

• November: Easy Readers, sight words, relatable characters and situations

The reason for my order• December: Expanding vocabulary,

story telling practice, creative stories• January: Prediction• February: Circle stories, prediction• March: Longer stories, meaningful

tales, creativity and imagination

The reason for my order• April: Creative story telling with

common animals, sequence and values• May: Longer stories, deeper

comprehension, decoding context and picture clues

• June: Fun! Fun! Fun! Linking movie stars and other public figures to stories

The reason for my order• July: Flow of events, logic, practice

using graphic organizers with Venn Diagrams

• August: Multicultural stories

¿¿¿Questions???

Thanks for Listening!!!