I presented at Schoolwide’s Literacy Workshop yesterday in Islandia, NY.  The topic was Author Study. We looked at Donald Crew, Mem Fox, Gail Gibbons and Patricia Polacco. The k-3 teachers were great. 

  “What makes a good author study?” was the BIG question.    This is what was determined…  

A good author to study need to:

Be accessible. We want students to have many books to read and explore, both through text and illustrations. When the author is the illustrator as in the case of Donald Crews, Gail Gibbons and Patricia Polacco, we learn so much more about them!

Be age appropriate.

Have a lot of autobiographical information available, so students get to know the author well.

Incorporate many different crafts, structure and language.

Make students feel that “they can do it”…I can write just like Donald Crews when I use bold font or environmental print, or I can label my diagrams just like Gail Gibbons, or end my stories with a happy ending/reflection like Patricia Polacco.

Write about topics or themes the students can relate to, and can make text to text connections to as well.