author_studies/

AUTHOR STUDIES

Author Sites

Betsy Byers
Laura Numeroff

Kevin Hinkes
Harry Potter
Visit Hogwarts!

Sarah Plain and Tall

Whipping Boy

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Little House Books

Charlotte's Web

Because of Winn Dixie

Froggy Fun

Mary Pope Osborne

Children's Authors

Top 100 Children's Authors

An Author Study for Third Grade:

One successful activity that I did with my third grade class tr was an integrated author study that allowed me to highlight both reading and writing skills, while exposing my students to quality literature.

As always, I began by reflecting on desired learning outcomes for third graders, I found that many of the benchmarks could be taught and learned by using authentic literature by some of my own favorite authors. This would be a wonderful way to look at author's craft while also investigating reading strategies. A summary of my plan is below:

Author	Strategy/Skill/Genre	Books
Mem Fox	Connections Text to Self	Koala Lou; Possum Magic; Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge; Sleepy Bears; Time for Bed; Night Noises; Whoever You Are; Hattie and the Fox; Tough Boris; Feathers and Fools
Cynthia Rylant	Questioning; Genre – realistic fiction	The Relatives Came; When I Was Young in the Mountain; Appalachia; The Old Woman Who Named Things; Night in the Country; Silver Packages
Jan Brett	Make & Confirm Predictions	The Mitten; Annie and the Wild Animals; Trouble with Trolls; Beauty and the Beast
Eric Kimme	Genre - Fables, Folktales, Fairy Tales; Create Mental Images	Three Sacks of Truth; Why Worry?; Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock; Robin Hook; Anansi Goes Fishing; Shirko and the Wolf; Chinese Zodiac; Ten Suns
Chris VanAllsburg	Making Inferences	The Stranger; Jumanji; Zathura; The Mysteries of Harris Burdick; Ben’s Dream; Two Bad Ants; The Garden of Abdul Gasazi; The Wretched Stone
Seymour Simon	Genre – non-fiction; Re-read to Clarify	Lightning; Earthquakes; Weather; Earth; Stars; Our Solar System; Gorillas; Amazing Bats
Patricia Polacco	Use Text to Confirm Meaning	The Keeping Quilt; Just Plain Fancy; Thank You Mr. Faulkner; Chicken Sunday; In Enzo's Splendid Garden

Eve Bunting	Read Ahead	Fly Away Home; The Wall; Night Tree; The Wednesday Surprise; Flower Garden; Smoky Night; Train to Somewhere; Going Home; A Picnic in October
Allen Say	Summarize and review	Tea With Milk; Grandfather’s Journey; The Lost Lake; Music for Alice; Allison; Kamishibai Man; Tree of Cranes; Stranger in the Mirror

Song and Dance Man-Karen Ackerman

Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar- Anno Mitsumasa

Everybody Needs a Rock- Byrd Baylor

Guess Who My Favorite Person Is- Byrd Baylor

I'm in Charge of Celebrations- Byrd Baylor

River Ran Wild- Lynne Cherry

Miss Rumphius- Barbara Cooney

Cache of Jewels- Ruth Heller

Chickens Aren't the Only Ones- Ruth Heller

My Great-Aunt Arizona- Gloria Houston

Rocks in His Head- Carol Otis Hurst

Wolves- R.D. Lawrence

Owl At Home- Arnold Lobel

Black and White- David Macaulay

The Salamander Room- Anne Mazer

Shiloh- Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Amelia Bedelia- Peggy Parish

Pink and Say- Patricia Polacco

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone- J.K. Rowling

The Relatives Came- Cynthia Rylant

Science Toolbox- Jean Stangl

Abel's Island- William Steig

Jumanji- Chris Van Allsburg

The Polar Express- Chris Van Allsburg

Tuesday- David Wiesner

Where the Sidewalk Ends (poetry)- Shel Silverstein

Magic Treehouse Series- Mary Pope Osborne

Charlotte's Web- E.B. White

Ralph S. Mouse- Beverly Cleary

Ramona the Pest- Beverly Cleary

Monthy Schedule (each author takes about 4 weeks):
We don't read books for our author study every day. In general we read 2-3 books a week for our author study. I like to keep the first 2-3 days back to back until we have created our list of features. During the rest of the month we make connections between the new stories and our prior knowledge about the author. We also incorporate reading skill and strategy discussions as well as examining the genre features (where appropriate).

First Day: Read aloud first story listed with little to no introduction/ information about author. Discuss story and things we noticed about story.

Second Day: “Today we are going to read another book by [author]. Let’s listen and think about how this book is similar and different to the first story we read yesterday.” Read aloud. Discuss.

Third Day: “Today we will be reading another book by [author]. What can we expect from this story?” Discuss before & after reading. After reading, create rough draft of list of the author's style and characteristics.

Fourth Day: “Before we begin reading our story today, let’s review the list of qualities of this writer. What can we expect from him/her?” Review list. "As we listen to today's story, reflect on how this book fits with what we already know about him or her." Read-aloud new book. “How did this book fit into what we know about the author?” Update list as needed.

Subsequent Days: Read additional books. Before reading, look at the list of characteristics. Remind students to reflect on how the new book fits with the author’s style. Discuss – How can our understanding of his/her style help us understand what we are reading? Will every book fit every one of the characteristics? Why or why not?

TRIPLES with EMMA