A Novel Experience
By Dave Ross

Since 1975, I've been visiting classrooms across America to talk about what I do: writing and illustrating children's books. In my travels, I've met hundreds of very talented educators in every setting, from quaint town schools to sprawling suburban districts to embattled inner-city schools. I'm awestruck by the creative ways in which educators manage scant resources to motivate students and develop exciting lessons. I'd like to share six things I've learned from them, about how to maximize the benefits students derive from a visiting author.

1. Prepare your students for the author's visit. Find out as much as you can about the author. Your school library is only a starting point. Some authors provide PR material to schools; ask your librarian for copies of this information. Publishers often post author information on their websites; download that and share it with your students. Many authors have their own websites that provide background material, biographies and bibliographies. Older students may be able to surf these sites on their own. For younger students, you may have to distill the information and choose the most important points to share.

   Of course, you and your students also need to have read and discussed the author's most recent books.

2. As a class, brainstorm questions to ask the author. Having prepared questions will make the visit more valuable and enjoyable for everybody. If you can locate an e-mail address or phone number for an author, use it with care. Most authors are approachable and don't mind answering a few questions prior to their visit. When you phone or write, be sure to identify yourself as a teacher at the school the author is scheduled to visit and explain what your goals are in preparing students for the visit. Knowing what the author will talk about may give you ideas that can be turned into lesson plans. Sharing with your students what you have learned about the author prior to the visit helps build excitement.
3. Plan to use some aspect of the author's work in classroom activities. Look for ways you can incorporate one of the author's books or concepts into a lesson or project that can be undertaken before, after or even during the author's visit. Some ideas include having the students make their own picture book, creating a bulletin board about the author, creating a hall display or writing a paragraph about one of the author's characters.
4. Identify any of the author's ideas that overlap concepts you will be teaching. During the author's presentation, you should note specific ideas and topics that relate to your goals and possible future lessons. Write down any quotations from the author that reinforce concepts you'll be teaching. Listen for "life lessons" on dealing with rejection, perseverance and the rewards that come from hard work. After your students have asked a few questions, ask a few yourself. For example, if you want students to work at revising their own writing, ask the author how many revisions he or she does.
5. Immediately after the visit, clearly communicate to your students what you want them to remember. Try to ask guiding questions: "What did the author say about doing revisions?" Try to relate concepts the author mentioned to activities with which the students are familiar: "We call our first try at writing a 'sloppy copy.' What did the author call his first try at writing something?" Answering such questions requires students to use their memories and helps reinforce the connections made during the visit.
   

6. In future lessons, reinforce language arts concepts by linking them to things the author said. Weeks, or even months after the visit, you can remind your students of the author's words when they serve to make an important point: "What did the author say about how many tries it can take to find the best words to tell a story?" Prompting students to recall and retell the author's words and ideas is powerful interactive feedback – the best kind of reinforcement. Linking these concepts with what's happening in the classroom validates the lesson. You'll be showing the connection between what the author said and what your students are doing.

The effective use of a visiting author can promote learning by creating new connections to previously-learned material and by reinforcing learning long after the visit. While the content of various author presentations may differ, every visiting author, by virtue of his or her status, is a novel experience for students. With only a little effort, teachers can build upon this experience to promote the exploration and retention of many concepts.

Enjoy your author visits!

Dave Ross has published 38 books. He is a widely-traveled
presenter on a variety of topics. Dave and his wife operate a preschool for special needs children in Clifton Park, NY.