Awesome+Author+Project+Instructions

** Researching, Glogging, and Persuading **
 * Awesome Authors! **

** Essential Questions **
 * How can middle school students become enthusiastic, life-long readers?
 * In what ways can collaboration through the use of technology help studentsconduct research and become more sophisticated readers and writers?

** Objectives **


 * Research the life of a favorite author and present convincing reasons—both in writing and in an oral presentation— why this author’s books are worth reading.
 * Access reliable information, take notes, and create a bibliography, using EasyBib.
 * Students will be able to persuade classmates to read books by your author, using a Glog—an online poster—as a visual aid in supporting their presentation.

** Assignment ** Research the life of a favorite, award-winning author. Write a blog entry, sharing the results of this research with a audience of classmates. Create a Glog—an online poster—and use this Glog in an oral presentation, convincing classmates to read books by this author.

** Procedure **


 * Step 1: ** **Select an award-winning author** whose books you think your classmates would enjoy reading.


 * Step 2 ** : **Create an Easy Bib account** to use in writing a bibliography on your research about this author. This must be done in school. See specific directions.


 * Step 3: ** **Consult with your partner** about when you will get together to work on this project. If you need help finding a partner, let Mrs. Grefe know.


 * Step 4: ** **Search for reliable resources and create a** **bibliography**, using your Easy Bib account. [Each student is responsible for creating a bibliography independently.]
 * An article from a state database
 * An official author web site, a website dedicated to this author, another article from a state database, OR an article from //Britannica Online//
 * An author interview or an equivalent resource
 * A novel written by your author


 * Step 5: ** **Research and take notes on the materials you find,** looking for answers to the following questions:
 * Why would readers find books by this author interesting? [Note: You could include in your answer information about the genres, themes, and characters in the author’s books.]
 * What has inspired this author to write books?
 * What connections, including life experiences, hobbies, and special interests, have influenced this author in the writing of his/her books?
 * What other information do you think would help readers appreciate this author's books.

[Each student is responsible for taking notes independently in preparation for collaborating on the creation of a Glog.]

**Step 6:** **Write an essay (that you will post as a blog entry), discussing the results of your research on your author, answering one or more of the questions** listed in Step 5.


 * Step 7 ** : **Create a Glog**, using Glogster, an online poster-making website. Collaborate with your partner to create your Glog. Mrs. Fuller, our Sharon Middle School Media Center Librarian, will introduce you to Glogster in school and distribute log-in information during class. Here’s the link: [|__http://edu.glogster.com/__]

Your Glog should include the following elements:
 * Interview with author
 * Author's official website or equivalent element
 * Book titles with cover images
 * Sources of information [specific state databases you used]
 * Interesting facts about the author presented in an original, creative, engaging way. [See sample blogs from last year for ideas about this.]
 * Links to your blog entry (essay) and your partner's blog entry (essay) [See Step 6.]


 * Step 8 ** : **Prepare an oral presentation.** Decide in what order you will talk about the items on your Glog. Note: If you and your partner are in different classes, you will each need to give your presentation separately.


 * Step 9: ** **Give your oral presentation, using your Glog as a visual aid,** to persuade classmates to read books by your author.


 * FINAL DUE DATE: **
 * Bibliography and essay (blog entry): Wednesday, December 5. **
 * Glog will be due Thursday, December 13. **


 * The oral presentations will begin that day as well. **

.