I admit it! I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to getting my picture taken with authors at TLA or during the Texas Book Festival. There’s just something about meeting authors of a book that brings out the little kid in me and I get totally excited!
My students are always good sports, though, when I come back with all these new books and I tell them about meeting the authors. Often times, they ask me questions that I don’t know, so we end up finding the author’s webpage and researching the answers together on the computer. I then would add that author’s website to our library webpage, and glue the picture inside the book so that the kids could enjoy the picture throughout the year. Unfortunately, many of those books with pictures “disappeared” over time, and I knew I needed to come up with a better idea!
So as I began to plan this summer, I brainstormed different ways to share these pictures with my students.
My challenge:
- I wanted to give them an independent way to find out more information about the author and the books that he/she has written.
- I wanted to use technology as that is one of my target improvement goals for this year.
I literally hit my head and shouted “QR CODES!”
At first, I thought about hanging up picture frames to create my “Author Wall”, but I was worried that they would be too heavy and that they would be knocked off the wall too easily.
Then I remembered that I had this fantastic picture frame clipart that I got from Krista Walden! I quickly got to work! I started off by making frames for the different authors that I had met throughout the last 5 years as a librarian. My thought was that I could print them on card stock and then laminate them.
Then I remembered that I had this fantastic picture frame clipart that I got from Krista Walden! I quickly got to work! I started off by making frames for the different authors that I had met throughout the last 5 years as a librarian. My thought was that I could print them on card stock and then laminate them.
I was having so much fun, that I continued to add new frames for authors that I knew my students LOVED, as well as some new authors I wanted to introduce them to over the next school year. Instead of leaving a place for the author’s picture, I made these with pictures of their new books or popular ones I know my students enjoy reading.
I plan on rotating different authors throughout the year for the students to investigate. I’m going to start off hanging them up in the library, but then I plan on strategically placing them all around the school. I love this template because I can easily use it to promote additional authors that the students, teachers, or I find in the coming months or to promote brand new books that are purchased for the library.
I’m super excited about this idea, and can’t wait to share it with my students! If you would like a copy of this activity, you can find it at my TpT store or at Teacher’s Notebook!
Do you have some fun ways to introduce new authors to your students? I’d love to hear your ideas!
Sandy
When you scan the QR code where does it go? Love this idea. I am a huge QR code user.
I created this activity to help students explore different authors and their books, so each QR code takes the students to the author's websites. There are also some FANTASTIC QR code activities by BookChick where the QR code takes you to a book trailer for the book (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/QR-Code-Book-Trailers-Scan-Watch-Read-1026652) She also has some free ones for the Caldecott and Newberry Award books that I've printed out as well! Enjoy! 🙂