Author Study

We recently wrapped up our first author study on Leo Lionni. We read about 10 of his books and did some research to learn more about his life. At the end of our study, the kids wrote a short biography about Mr. Lionni (as a group) and each of them wrote about their favorite Leo Lionni book. In addition to enjoying his stories, they were also inspired by his artwork so each of them created a collage in Lionni style. You can see their work in our school's front office as well as in our classroom.

What are the benefits of doing author studies? Here's an article that outlines them: http://www.readingrockets.org/books/authorstudy/reasons

Our new author is Eric Carle. We have read several of his books and already, the kids are asking when we can create an Eric Carle art project! At the end of this study, we will again write a biography and I'll ask them to write about their favorite book. In addition, they will work in small groups to put together a video retelling of one of Carle's stories. They will create their their own versions of the book's character(s) and act out the story on a felt board or with puppets.

Here are some of the sites we will be using during our study:
http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3234
http://www.carlemuseum.org/
http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/carle
http://ericcarleblog.blogspot.com/

Videos:
Interview
Interview about The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Quiet Cricket
The Mixed-Up Chameleon
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?