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Copyright 2006 Amanda
Burleson, Reich College of Education,
Appalachian
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Artifact # 4 |
Components
of Author Study
Context: This project was developed as part of the
criteria for Advanced Studies of Children’ Literature, taught by
Dr. Beth Frye. This author study
project’s unifying component was a selected children’s book
author, that would encourage students to explore reading a variety of
literary genres, often with the same themes, but by the same author. Studying and reading works by the same
author helps students hear the author’s voice through their respective
works because the can apply background from the author’s life. Students can more easily make the
connection that authors write about what they know and love and students can
do the same, therefore they begin to see themselves as authors and
writers. For my author study, I
chose the author Joseph Bruchac, who has written across of a variety of
genres and reading levels with an underlying tie to his Native American
Heritage as a descendant of the Abenaki Indians. After reading a range of Bruchac’s
works, I incorporated technology and created a PowerPoint presentation about
Joseph Bruchac and his journey as a writer/author, his thoughts on
multiculturalism, and I then created a brochure handout with author highlights,
awards/honors, and major works. Impact: Since the creation of this Author Study
project, I have learned by being exposed to a variety of children’s
book author’s that exploring author’s and writers is another way to
foster a love of literature and develop a literature rich classroom
environment. Through educational
research readings associated with the author study project, I realized that
it is students who are successful and interested reading one author’s
works will be likely to want to continue, following the works of that same
author. I have also been able
to use my created author study of Joseph Bruchac in collaborative planning of
a fifth grade-reading unit. I worked
with a fifth grade teacher, in the school in which I currently teach, to
develop an integrated novel unit around The Sign of the Beaver. The
teacher and I planned and integrated reading, writing, and social studies
into this unit. As an extension, we
were able to use the author study as support for the novel unit due to the
author’s grounding in Native American writing. Alignment: Standard A: Instructional
Expertise
This Author study demonstrates my ability to
incorporate educational findings from theoretical literature and incorporate
them into school and classroom strategies to improve student learning. While putting together this author study
unit and implementing the knowledge I gained and the actual author study I
made in the classroom helped me to link and integrate subject matter across
the curriculum as well as address student diversity in the school environment
by using technology to support student learning Standard B: Knowledge of
Learners
The Joseph Bruchac author study helped me gain a
deeper level of understanding about how students perceive writers and authors
and the role that diversity plays into that understanding. This unit of study is created to foster the
love of literature over various levels and genres in students, and supports a
classroom environment conducive to learning where students enjoy learning,
feel welcome, and can be successful. Standard D: Content Knowledge This artifact and its use in collaborative
planning, demonstrates my advanced content knowledge and my ability to
implement and apply my theoretical, current knowledge of trends in education.
In my role as a Title I Reading Teacher I was able to apply those trends
directly when planning individual instruction for students or collaborative
planning with whole group instruction. |
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