Final Session: Student Created Author Websites!

In this final session for our book study of Teaching With Author Web Sites, co-authors Dr. Rose Reissman and Mark Gura discuss the book's final chapter... and beyond.

In Chapter 6 “Creating Class Author Study Web Sites”, after examining and reflecting on the marvelous invitation to contemporary teaching and learning that author websites represent – analyzing the needs addressed by, the format and features of, and the magical literacy experiences available through these interactive, multisensory resources – it becomes a logical next step for students to create their own. Chapter 6 presents this important leap into the new world of authentic, digital literacy creation and publishing from a variety of angles.  This new genre of writing, the author website, is presented through education theory and literacy practice, as well as the practical ‘how to do’ and ‘what to do’ of this approach - the technology and classroom management involved. The chapter is chock full of advice and tips, activities and suggestions, standards-based goals,  and models of student literacy learning products. In short, Chapter 6 is an invitationconvenient port of entry into a dimension of learning that is exciting, satisfying, effective, and in many ways a necessary next step for all educators involved in fostering student acquisition of essential literacy skills.

This podcast features a conversation between the co-authors that touches on all these points, and more.  It concludes with a special roundtable session  conducted at Ditmas Middle School (Brooklyn, NY) in which Dr. Reissman and colleague, Mr. Angelo Carideo (Ditmas technology teacher), converse with students who have actually created their own author websites as part of  their literacy learning. They explain why and how they created their websites and what these experiences mean to them.  You may examine some of these student created author websites by going to one of the school websites and looking for their class section (link below):
http://imind.magix.net/public/student%20web%20sites.htm 

Please post your reactions  Chapter 6, to the podcast, and to the student websites in a comment below!

Session #2 Instructional Ideas and Inspiration from Authors T.A. Barron, Judy Blume... and Your Students!

You may want to listen first to the authors' podcast for this session

"The Authors Riff on Judy Blume, Brian Selznick, Suzanne Collins, T.A. Barron and MORE" (click above)

Please allow a few seconds for the recording to start playing)

Please read  review/reflect on Chapters 1 and 2 of Teaching with Author Websites and then read Chapters 3 and 4 for this session.

Chapter 3) Reading Through Writing: Rich Language Arts and Social Studies Learning with T.A.  Barron

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Chapter 4) Want to Explore the components of an Author Site With Judy Blume as Your Guide?

Please post your reactions and ideas to the chapters as a “comment” below. The following  questions and activities are from Dr. Rose Reissman, and will help steep you in the book’s content and potential to help enrich instruction – Try these with your students or perhaps  predict how they would work in your classroom. Feel free to post ideas about how you would change or add to them.  Specific examples of websites and website elements and their content (relating to the questions below) are good things to post, too.

1. Challenge students to find no fewer than two websites or web references to an author, have them compare and contrast them.  Ask them which reference ranks number one and why.  Challenge them to suggest ways to improve each site for a target peer or adult audience.
2. Have students create a when-they-were-our –age-or-babies bulletin board, or online gallery of author pictures and favorites/childhood activities.  It will be fun for them to find out how what the authors did when they were young, anticipated some of their themes, titles, interests or plots as an adult.
3. Challenge students to create map and interactive game pages /activities for favorite authors using the TA Barron Site or Seussville as an inspiring web resource.
4. The games and maps provided on  author websites  can vary in complexity, but they introduce a necessary geographic literacy and historical region dimension to reading.  Ultimately, we want student to design their own author sites and  can include their own maps and games. They can also design timeline and Venn Diagram plus DBQ exercises for author sites.  Even if teachers do not have sophisticated technology equipment, they can post the games online as digital photos and do them on a classroom site for an Author Expo.
5. Students can be challenged to check out sites for procedurals- making them Procedural Site Detectives- give them a few days to search the web for author sites as teams, looking for recipes, suggestions about writing, ways to make art or artifacts or to construct a map or continue a story- any form of procedural step by step or instructional  details on site.
6. Students can make TWO site connections in an expo or bulletin display or Power Point between a specific author site (for a social studies author) and the events /history that inspired the site, plus perhaps incorporate those connections into a POWER POINT- PIN POINTING SS author and event connections.

Session #1 - We Begin - May 1st

You may want to begin by listening to this welcome and "shape of things to come" chat/message from the authors...

Session #1:
Welcome to our book study of Teaching with Author Web Sites!
Tapping Author Websites for Teaching and Learning is a powerful approach; one that’s full of promise, value, and exciting surprises. We’ll be reading, reflecting, and sharing ideas, for sure. But we’ll also be experimenting, investigating, and making inspiring discoveries as we go through these 3 sessions together, I promise!

Please check back to this blog periodically, post your thoughts, reactions, and discoveries as blog “comments”. And, bringing the process full circle, please respond to the posts of others.  And by all means, include links to things you find or want the rest of the group to know about, too!

By the way, I reconnected with Dr. Rose Reissman, my co-author in creating this book, recently. And Rose has agreed to participate alongside us. She’ll be posting comments and, I think, coming up with some surprises to share with us all. I visited her the other day at Ditmas Middles School in Brooklyn, where I saw her in usual form, captivating kids and pushing the Literacy Learning envelope! Welcome to the party, Dr. Rose!  NOTE: A couple of the focus questions below were emailed to me by Rose just a few minutes ago….
So, here’s the plan for participation in this, our first of 3 book study sessions (do as much of any of the below as you are moved to):
Read – The book was conceived to present the use of Author Websites in a comprehensive way to teachers who aren’t currently using Author Websites, or who are unaware of their value and applicability. This includes teachers who are sophisticated in technology use (but who haven’t hit on authors sites yet), newbie tech users, and non tech using teachers, alike.

The book is conveniently divided into 6 chapters. There are some other items, too; an introduction and a resource list, for instance. Although you may want to read my 5 page introduction before delving into this session’s chapters, I will be targeting that as part of session 3’s reading. I wrote the introduction to bring non-technology using generalist teachers into our fold. However, I believe it is of high relevance to us from the perspective of our role as technology using teacher models/leaders. And so, I will list it later on to be read with chapter 6 in session 3, a chapter that outlines how and why teachers can and should create their own Author Websites and variations.
For this session, please read Chapters 1) “Welcome to the World of Authors and Readers Online”, and 2) “Getting Started: Beginning to Explore and Use Digital Author Resources with Eric Carle.”

As you go through these chapters please reflect on and share with the group:  any ideas that resonate that may be new to you, reactions or responses to the ideas presented, and any enhancements that you feel may be added to what’s in the chapter. If you have an anecdote to share about one of the practices or resources covered (or a similar one) please share that as well as any websites or other resources you discover!

Reflect (and share your reflections) –
1)      If you were able to get an author your students study into your classroom, what kinds of questions or activities would you plan for the author or prompt the students to request from the author?
2)      Select an author of fiction or non-fiction who lived and died prior to the Internet. Think of how you and your student readers might want to present that person's work and persona on an author site- i.e. Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Franz Kafka, and Jonathan Swift.

3)      The chapters explain how Author Websites prove useful in teaching traditional Literacy practices, like Procedural Narrative writing, eliciting student created questions to focus author study, (author) Read Aloud, etc. Do you see connections to other established Literacy Practices that you feel can similarly be facilitated by the use of Author Websites?

Investigate and Report – 1) Go to one of the websites covered in the chapters. What did you find there that surprised you, or at least captured your attention? What’s provided on these sites that you feel is of particular value in fostering student Literacy understandings and the love of books? 

2) List a few or your own favorite authors, especially any you feel may have something to offer students.  Next, go online and search for websites for them: a) Do they have their own website? b) Are there other websites for them of value (e.g. Site set up by their publisher? Set up by fans or others?)

3)  While authors are keen to make use of today’s digital media resources to connect with and provide value for their readers, they are not necessarily technology sophisticates.  Are there approaches, resources, items that you’d recommend to one of the authors whose sites you reviewed?

I’ll be checking this blog periodically and hope to see your thinking and discoveries posted here!

Collegially,

Mark Gura

To read comments, post a comment, or reply to a comment already posted, click "comments" below....

SIGlit BOOK STUDY #1: Teaching with Author Websites

GENERAL INFO. - SIGlit BOOK STUDY #1: Teaching with Author Websites
Book: Teaching With Author Websites K-8
Authors: Rose Cherie Reissman and Mark Gura
Publisher: Corwin/Sage
The Book Study will take place In 3 sessions
1) Session #1 – Introduction and Overview (week of… May 1st )
Information and activities to be posted here several days previously...

2) Session #2 – Mastering the World of Author Websites (week of… May 21st )

3) Session #3 – Recorded LIVE / synchronous session (June 18th for live session) … and access to those who don’t attend live, the recorded session for a week afterward or permanently (if possible

Format:
Each session will consist of Reading (from that book and related, free online materials) - Investigating, Experimenting, and Doing (trying out resources and practices described in the book, as well as adapting them for specific classrooms needs) – and Reflection and Discussion of discoveries and “ah ha’s” resulting from the book study.

Participants will read the suggested chapters and do brief experiments in using suggested (free) web-based resources. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to post their reflections on what they read, experience, and conclude on the book study blog… and/or respond to the posts of colleagues. Focus Questions and Suggested Readings and Activities will be made available to participants ahead of the book study sessions.
Important Book Study Links

• Author’s YouTube video invitation to the book study, giving an overview of the book’s purpose and contents (5 minutes in duration):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjlrw10Tu8k

• Author’s blog for the book and supplementary materials: http://teachingwithauthorwebsites.blogspot.com/

(The above offers a podcast prepared by the authors that explains the book and gives additional insights)

• Publisher’s flyer for Teaching With Author Websites: http://www.scribd.com/doc/19043649/ReissmanGura-eflyer

The book is available on Amazon, etc. or directly through the publisher, Corwin:
http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-With-Author-Web-Sites/dp/1412973864

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www.corwin.com/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book233827