First of all, check out my new blog design! I am so excited! Kassie at Designs by Kassie is amazing and wonderful to work with if you are in the market for a new look! : )
I can't believe I haven't shared my Meet the Authors hallway display yet! This was one of my new ideas from the past school year.
At the beginning of the year (and the entire year) I really stress who an author is and who an illustrator is. I feel like a robot:
Me: Eric Litwin wrote the words in this story so he is the...
Kids: AUTHOR!
Me: James Dean made the pictures for the story so he is the...
Kids: ILLUSTRATOR!
And Lord have mercy if the same person is the author AND the illustrator!
(Anyone know what book I'm referring to..)
I really like it when books have a picture of the author and/or illustrator with a tiny bio. It helps the kids make connections and see that these people are real. I can usually find a kid friendly author biography online too!
Once we understand who an author is and who an illustrator is, then we realize that we are authors and illustrators too! One of the funnest parts of being an author or an illustrator is sharing your work! I love my Meet the Authors display for a few different reasons:
1. It stays up the entire year and work can be easily switched out.
2. Each child has their own place to display work with their picture and biography. It really creates ownership of their work!
3. I still have room around it (and underneath it) to display interactive writing and other work.
4. It's bright and fun!
This is my Meet the Author's display at Meet the Teacher Night. I used 12x12 pieces of scrapbook paper (from the primary colors pack at Hobby Lobby) and hot glued a clothespin with a circus graphic on top. My classroom is circus themed! Above each clothespin is where the student's biography goes.
These are my clips in action with some beginning of the year writing. At the beginning of the year I typically hang up their writing, but as they year goes on, they will go into the hallway and hang it up themselves. I think I only had to replace about 3 or 4 clothespins the entire year. Which if you ask me, is pretty good!
Now on to the "meeting" the author's part. I asked each of the students a few different questions to make their biography. Here is the little form that I used...
Then I typed up their answers into a little paragraph and added a picture of them. Here are a few of them minus the kid's name...
Texas Tech! A child after my own heart...
Mark my words, this child will grow up to be the next Beyonce!
Yes you read that correctly, "When I grow up I want to be an OBGYN." This is one of my favorite teaching stories. I was going through the questionnaire above...
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Him: An obeegee
Me: A what?
Him: An obeegee
Me: (I'm trying to think of some like transformer character or super hero or something called obeegee)
Him: Don't you know, an OBG short for OBGYN.
HAHAHA! I can't even type that without cracking up! This sweet boy also is planning on being the valedictorian so that he can use the college money his parents saved to buy a new car and beer. This child kills me! : )
ANYWAYS, you can see how much fun this is to have displayed in the hallway.
Here is a picture of everything put together at Christmas!
I am planning on using my Meet the Authors display again this school year! I am going to redo the "Meet the Authors" title at the top with huge letters out of my Cricut and make it go across the top rather than stacking the words. I can't wait to share pictures when it's complete! : ) I love showing off my little authors and illustrators.
How do you display student work?
I have a FUN giveaway planned for FRIDAY. Go ahead and get a head start by liking me on Facebook! : )