Author Luncheon

Scenario

Congratulations! You have just volunteered to help with an author luncheon being planned by the public library to raise funds for more children's books. Many famous authors will be invited to attend the luncheon. Tickets will be sold to children and their parents to eat with their favorite author and have their books autographed.

Task and Product

As members of the Friends of the Library committee, your group of three students will need to choose one author to invite to the luncheon. Your group will want to choose an author that people will be willing to buy tickets to meet and that another group has not chosen.

For the purpose of this "luncheon", the author can be living anywhere or not even alive. Choose from among the following:

Your group will have to research the author selected, write an introduction to be read at the luncheon, and create a poster/flyer on 8" by 11" paper to advertise that author's attendance at the luncheon.

  Assessment

 You will be graded on your participation in your group, as well as, your rough copies of the author introduction and poster/flyer and the group's final introduction and poster.

Performance Task Assessment List Group Work

MSDE Scoring Rubric: Writing to Inform

Performance Task Assessment List Poster

 Question

Essential Question: What information about an author would encourage a family to attend an author luncheon?

Subsidiary Questions:

• What are some of the books your author has written for children?
• When and where was your author born?
• Where does your author live now?
• What awards has your author received for his/her writing?
• Where did your author go to school?
• How does your author get ideas for new books?
• How does your author write books?
• What other jobs has your author had?
• Who are the members of your author's family? pets?
• Why is your author a good choice for the author luncheon?

 Gather

 Your group must use both print and electronic resources in your author research.

• Use this note-taking organizer.
• Use this bibliography worksheet.

Gather information from a variety of sources.

Pictures of your author or of the author's books maybe copied from an internet site and used on your poster/flyer.

 Organize

• Remember the question guiding your research.

Essential Question: What information about an author would encourage a family to attend an author luncheon?

• Is your note-taking organizer complete?
• Are all of the questions answered?
• Is your bibliography worksheet complete?

  Conclude

 Are you ready to write your introduction of your author and create the poster/flyer advertising your author at the luncheon?

• Each student is to write a rough copy of the author introduction.
• Share your rough copy with a member of your group for Peer Response.
• As a group, write a final copy of the author introduction.
• Each student is to create a rough copy of the poster/flyer including pictures from an Internet site.
• Share your rough copy of the poster/flyer with your group for Peer Response.
• As a group, create the final copy of your poster/flyer including pictures from an Internet site.

Author Luncheon

• Attend the class "Author Luncheon" with one member of your group pretending to be the author, one member giving the introduction, and