1st Grade Author Study

Author Study Group--We will be meeting each Monday afternoon from 12:00 to 12:45. I will update this page by Tuesday of each week.

2-25-08--This week we did a mock interview. I pretended to be Chris Van Allsburg and a student asked me scripted quesitons. We read The Widows Broom.

2-11-08--And our new author is ......Chris Van Allsburg! I am so excited to share this excellent author/illustrator with the group. Today we read his Caldecott Medal winning book, Jumanji. The Caldecott Medal is given each year for excellent illustrations. Today, we learned about who Chris Van Allsburg is. One important fact we learned is that, throughout the writing process, Van Allsburg asks himself two questions: What if.....? What then....? This are great questions for students to ask themselves while doing their own creative writing.

DID YOU   KNOW?????? The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg is one of the best selling children's books of all time!

2-5-08--This week we have wrapped up our study of Bill Peet. What a great author! The students really enjoyed the humor of his stories. Today, we concluded by summarizing the stories we have read during this author study. We discussed how these stories were similar/different. Author study packets will be coming home in this week's Thursday folder. Students are anxiously awaiting to hear who our new author will be! We will find out next Monday! Students have been BEGGING me to do Mary Pope Osborne (Author of the Magic Tree House Series). I would like to follow the pattern of selecting varied, possibly unfamiliar, authors for the students to experience. So for now, no MPO.

1-31-08--This week we read Merle the High Flying Squirrell. We discussed text-to-text connections and text-to-self connections. Text-to-self connections are the most common for students this age. Making text-to-text connections reflects a much higher level thinking skill. Any level of making connections to a story aids in a much higher comprehension level for students. We practiced making text-to-text connections by comparing/contrasting Merle the High Flying Squirrel to Chester the Worldly Pig. We filled out a Venn Diagram comparing contrasting city life vs. country life.

Thank you for completing the Bill Peet reading logs! Great Job!

1-14-08--No author study today! Reading teachers are conducting Aimsweb reading tests for all students k-3 this week. Author study will resume next Monday.

1-9-07--Welcome Back! We are continuing our study of Bill Peet. Before the break we read Big Bad Bruce. Today we summarized the story. We all decided that Bruce was a bit of a bully and didn't know how to act properly. To extend the story, each of the students was handed a character card. They were given a scenario and asked what would be the proper thing to say. Some examples are: Your mom is on the phone and you really need to ask her a question. What would you say? or You do not like the cupcakes someone has brought for the class party. What would you say? Today we also discussed the literary element of ALLITERATION. This is when the same sound is repeated at the beginning of 2 or more words: Big Bad Bruce, Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Alliteration is most often used in poetry and tongue twisters. Students made up their own tongue twisters using alliteration. Look for these in their homework folders. They did a great job! We will be continuing our study of Bill Peet through the rest of January. A new author will be introduced in February.

12-17-07--We completed a writing assignment using Chester the Worldly Pig as a springboard. In the story, Chester was trying to find his talent and in the end, found that he didn't have to look very hard. He had an unusual talent all along. This started discussion about what made each student special. Students wrote a paragraph about what makes them special.

Today we read Big Bad Bruce.

If your child has been absent on author study day, it would be helpful for them to check out the books we have read in class so they can participate in the discussions we have when we compare/contrast stories.

Please watch for an "at home" reading assignment in this week's Thursday folder.

Thank you for your support!

12-06-07--Come and check out the Jan Brett bulletin board in the library. Our first grade author study group has taken up this space to share the authors we are studying with the entire school. Our new author is Bill Peet. He is a very popular author but one, I must admit, I do not know very much about. I am looking forward to learning along with the students and enjoying all of his books. His books are funny and enjoyable. This week we learned about Bill Peet's life and started reading Chester the Worldly Pig.

Facts about Bill Peet:

1. Bill Peet used to be an animator for Disney before he became an children's author and illustrator.

2. Bill Peet loved animals. He saved his money to buy a new camera to photograph the animals at the zoo. When his camera broke, he resorted to sketching pictures of the animals. It was then that he learned he had quite a talent for drawing.

Jan Brett

11-12-07--This week we finsihed comparing the two stories The Mitten and The Hat. Each student drafted a friendly letter to Jan Brett. Students were required to follow the friendly letter format and were required to ask Jan Brett at least one question. Optional homework is to work with a parent to create an e-mail using the letter that was written. I have sent the letters home today with further instructions. Writing a letter sparked a lot of enthusiasm! If your student is interested in writing more friendly letters you can visit http://jc-schools.net/write/friendly-letters_files/frame.htm to view a power point on the proper format.

11-05-07--This week we shared our "Jan Brett style illustrations" These will be placed on a bulletin board in the library soon. We read The Mitten and The Hat and compared the similarities and differences between the two stories.

10-29-07--Once again, we had a great time in our Author Study group today. We reviewed the book we read last week (Berlioz the Bear) and talked about the words PROBLEM and SOLUTION and how they applied to this book and others. We read and discussed a new book today--Annie and the Wild Animals . We discussed how good readers can retell the story in order (sequence of events) followed by a sequencing activity. Finally, optional homework went home today in your child's homework folder. I have detailed the directions in the information I sent home. Illustrations are a large part of a student's understanding of literature. Eventually the sense they make of illustrations now grow into the illustrations your child will be making in their own mind as they transition in to chapter books. The learning goal I have is for students by completing this week's homework is to gain a greater apprectiation for the details within illustrations and how they apply to the story.

Is this website helpful?? Please provide any feedback you may have so far. I would love to hear your/your child's reactions to what we are doing. E-mail me @ ehildebrand@platteriveracademy.com.

10-22-07--The first day of our author study went GREAT! The students were very enthusiastic to learn about the author Jan Brett. We discovered 3 facts about Jan Brett and wrote them in out Author Study Notebooks.

1. Jan Brett is an author AND and illustrator.

2. Jan Brett gets ideas for her books from travelling all over the world.

3. Jan Brett lives in Massachussets.

We read one of Jan Brett's books--Berlioz the Bear.

Homework: Find out where Massachussets is on the U.S. Map

Printable Version