Project Lit Author/Illustrator Pages & Projects
Project Lit is Allen's book club for 4th and 5th grade students interested in reading and talking about books that highlight authors, illustrators, and characters from diverse backgrounds. These are the books we have read so far. We were passing out our March/April choices as we left on Friday, March 13th, so it is possible not everyone had a chance to take home a copy. No worries, though, because there are still options to engage with the books. If you are not a part of Project Lit, these links can still be great choices for reading and learning at home. Give them a look!
El Deafo: Cece Bell
Cece Bell is giving a lot of personal background information about El Deafo chapter by chapter on YouTube. Make sure you have permission to use this link at home, but it is great to hear the author tell you more about the story!
The Benefits of Being an Octopus: Ann Braden
Ann Braden is doing video creative writing series on her website. It is called What to Write When You Don't Know What to Write (And You Don't Think You're a Writer). If you are using any of your time at home to write, or if you have ever wondered how to get started writing, this is a fun series.
Ghost: Jason Reynolds
You can watch Jason Reynolds read a chapter of Ghost on YouTube. In this chapter, the main character talks about breaking world records. After listening to the read, you can also visit the Guinness Book of World Records page to try some records at home.
Wishtree: Katherine Applegate
In Katherine Applegate's novel, the community learns that prejudice and racism are NOT good reasons to destroy a community (or, in the story, cut down a tree). However, the USDA Forest Service wrote a book explaining that sometimes there are good reasons to remove a tree. If you are curious, you can check out Why Would Anyone Cut a Tree Down?
New Kid: Jerry Craft
Time for Kids recently posted an article called 8 Questions for Jerry Craft. You can see what he has to say about New Kid, how he started writing graphic novels, and what it means to win both the Newbery and Coretta Scott King awards this year.
Front Desk: Kelly Yang
If you scroll to the bottom of Kelly Yang's website, she has YouTube links to a series of discussions about writing.