
Author studies help students form lasting memories with their teachers, and students simply love talking about common books they’ve experienced. It is through these discussions that they learn life lessons, make lasting connections with their classmate, expand vocabulary, and meet new authors. Research shows that engaging students in lively book discussions deepens their understanding of characters and plot development, text structures, and so many other reading skills. In this post, I will share ways you can incorporate your favorite authors into your daily routines.
5 Benefits of using Author Studies
For years, as a title 1 teachers, I was able to select the materials I used with my students. I built a bookroom filled with great titles that teachers could choose from and created resources to go with them. Fast forward, and today, these were the start of my author studies. To say that my students enjoyed coming to “remediation” is kind of an understatement. Truly, they loved the books we shared. How do I know? They made it a point to check out other titles by the same authors and would come into the room chatting about them. For me, here are the top 5 benefits for students.
- Author studies help provide exemplars for writing and author’s craft.
- They give students a shared experience with quality authors and remember the books long after they leave our classrooms.
- Author studies help students see a story through the author’s eyes when they hear how the stories came to be.
- Students have the opportunity for deep discussions and life lessons with author studies
- Author studies help students meet new authors and enrich vocabulary.
Which Authors are best to feature?
I like to pair the authors to the age level of the students. For read alouds, you typically choose books just slightly above your students’ reading level. However, I also look at the vocabulary growth potential. Picture books with rich tier 2 words can be used with older students. To help lighten the load for teachers, I created a K-5 Yearly plan which helps schools avoid duplication of authors by multiple grade levels. Of course every teacher enjoys sharing Jan Brett’s books in the winter, but guess what! There are many other authors to choose from. You can access the K-5 Yearly Plan over on my author study page HERE or use the form below to get your copy.
wHICH AUTHOR STUDIES WOULD YOU ENJOY teaching?
You may have favorite authors in mind already. For me, it’s Patricia Polacco. She is the one author I always hoped to meet. She’s also the one who made me cry every year when I shared her book, Thank You Mr. Falker. You see, as a reading specialist, you truly SEE lots of Patricias every single year. You know the heartache some feel because they too want to achieve. That’s why I chose to give this particular book away in our raffle. Although it hurt my teacher heart to read how long her struggles were overlooked, my students saw her as an inspiration for what they too can do IF they put their minds to it.
I shared the link to my author study to the right. If you love author studies, check out my collection in my website shop or on TPT.
grab your k-5 author study planner
Planning out author studies can be tricky. With this planner, every grade level has a different collection of authors to study. I have mapped out the calendar with author suggestions and book recommendations tailored to the age of the child. You can receive both color and black and white pdf. If you open the PDF, there are links to resources within the listings.
Grab your copy of the ebook:
Just in case you missed the Ebook download, you can click HERE to grab your copy. You’ll find lots of helpful resources included within it and a few great TPT sellers to follow.
other resources you might enjoy for back to school
The resource above is certainly great for all K-5 classrooms. However, I also wanted to share a few other links to resources that work well for various grade levels for Back to School. I truly believe in using author studies as a way to help students with both comprehension and writing, but it’s nice to have a variety of options.
- Concept of Word | Apple Themed Poem (Best for the K/1 Classroom)
- Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden Comprehension Activities (Great first week read aloud)
- Cooking Up a Great Year Poem (Perfect for the first week of school)
- Growing Greatness Writing Set (Works well with Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden)
Links to other posts about author studies:
I have really worked to develop author studies on a wide variety of authors. If you have a favorite, you might search on my site. Here are links to additional posts you may enjoy.
- HOW AUTHOR STUDIES IGNITE LEARNING AND A LOVE OF LITERACY
- WHY AUTHOR STUDIES ARE A MUST FOR ELEMENTARY
- HOW TO TEACH TOMIE DEPAOLA LIKE A PRO
- BUILDING READERS AND WRITERS WITH PATRICIA POLACCO
I really hope you find all of the back to school resources helpful. I know this is a BUSY time. To check out the other posts and freebies, you can click any of the images below.
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Sale Product on salePatricia Polacco Author Study Book Companions Literacy Activities
$67.87Original price was: $67.87.$38.00Current price is: $38.00. -
Sale Product on saleLeo Lionni Author Study Reading Activities in Digital and PDF
$34.97Original price was: $34.97.$25.00Current price is: $25.00. -
Sale Product on saleArnold Lobel Author Study Activities and Lessons for 8 Titles
$41.48Original price was: $41.48.$24.99Current price is: $24.99. -
Sale Product on saleKevin Henkes Author Study Bundle for FIVE TITLES, Back to School, CCSS Aligned
$23.48Original price was: $23.48.$15.00Current price is: $15.00. -
Sale Product on saleMem Fox Author Study in Digital and PDF, Comprehension and Writing Lessons
$25.97Original price was: $25.97.$15.99Current price is: $15.99. -
Sale Product on saleEve Bunting Author Study Bundle, Eve Bunting Book Bundle
$23.99Original price was: $23.99.$15.00Current price is: $15.00. -
Sale Product on saleEzra Jack Keats Author Study, Reading Activities in Digital and PDF
$28.00Original price was: $28.00.$18.00Current price is: $18.00. -
Sale Product on saleJan Brett Author Study Activities in Digital and PDF for 10 Titles
$52.41Original price was: $52.41.$30.00Current price is: $30.00.