Author Study: 5 Reasons to Teach One

Have you incorporated an author study in your classroom? Are your students tired of the traditional ways of learning about an author? Teachers are always searching for more engaging, exciting ways to engage their students. I have a wonderful author study activity that is digital and engaging. My Author Adventures are digital, foster reading skills, take your students on virtual field trips, and are fun!

Incorporating an author study into your English Language Arts classroom has many benefits. One way to learn about an author, his/her writing, and their life is including this activity into your English curriculum, whether it is through research or digitally. Author studies are perfect for culminating projects and connecting students with books. In addition, they help create life-long readers. When your students become excited about a genre of literature, introducing your students to an author adds to this enthusiasm. I wanted to share with you 5 reasons to do an author study in your classroom.

5 Reasons to Incorporate Author Studies into Your Classroom

An author study develops critical thinking skills. First, students make connections between an author’s life and his/her work. You students can also relate their life to the author’s life. Most importantly, your students will critically analyze a variety of the author’s work. Your students will make inferences and draw conclusions. These skills help develop your students overall reading skills.

An author’s writing becomes mentor writing for your students after an author study. When your students read multiple pieces of a particular author, they will begin to notice the author’s word choice and writing style. You can have your students attempt to mimic the author’s writing by using the author’s work as mentor texts. Provide your students with a line from the author. Then, have your students try to write a sentence just like the one you provide. Your students can use this technique to improve their word choice and sentence structure.

Take your students on a virtual field trip with an author study. Many classrooms are digital or have devices within the classroom. This gives students the opportunity to travel all over the globe and visit different places. You can have your students use Google Earth to see the author’s birth place. Secondly, you can have your students check out a 360 view of a particular place that relates to the author. This brings engagement and the technological aspect into your classroom.

Make your students global readers. Broaden their genres. When kids find a book they love, they often will stick to the same genre. Because an author may write through different genres, this will expose your students to other genres- fiction, non-fiction, biographies, etc. This will have your students branch out, and try new books.

An author study may forge a love of books. Students tend to fall in love in with an author’s characters and the plot. When a student finds their favorite book, they will usually tell you it is because it is action packed, highly engaging, and/or they just love the characters. Introducing students to an author will expose them to more than one novel or short story. Students may be more likely to pick up another book by an author they are interested in reading.

Resources for Author Studies

The Author Studies Toolkit

Author Studies Resources

Great Activities for Author Studies

I have some great digital activities for a variety of authors. These are perfect if you are doing an authors study in your classroom. With these activities, your students will go on an author adventure, reading about the author’s life and the author’s writing. Also, your students will spend time analyzing lines from their writing. They will also take a trip with Google Maps, and learn about the author’s birthplace.