Author Study: Language Arts Lessons

As a middle school English teacher, I'm always looking for good ways to have students read on their own. Book reports are always a good way to force students to pick a book, read it, and do something with it. The traditional book reports usually have students keep a reading log and then write a summary or an analysis of what they read. I was looking for something a little bit more and a little bit different from the plain old book report. I came up with a great author study that takes an entire quarter and gives students an opportunity to take a look at an author and how their lives affect their art. The assignment is as follows:
Part I: Author Biography

For this portion of the assignment, the students must choose an author from a list that I have provided. A great resources for finding books are the school librarian, national book lists, and other teachers. I allow students to add a new author if they haven't read them before and if all of their books are not in a series. I want students to experience the author writing about different stories and subjects.

An author like J.K. Rowling would not be allowed, because she doesn't have more than one series or storyline. After the students choose an author, their first assignment is to research their author and write a biography about their life, to give them some background information before they begin reading. I chose to have them write their biography in the form of a forward to one of their books. We looked at book forwards, pinning down their voice and style. The students must include at least four sources and include it with their biography.

Part II: Double Entry Reading Journal