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Virtual Author Visits in Your Library or Classroom
The mission of the Skype an Author Network is to provide K-12 teachers and librarians with a way to connect authors, books, and young readers through virtual visits.
Wouldn't it be great to invite authors into your classroom or library to video chat with students before, during, and/or after reading their books? We are growing a list of authors who want to make that connection with you via Skype. Visit our Skype Overview page to learn more about Skype. It all started when author Mona Kerby visited Grandview Library in 2008 to talk to our 2nd graders about her book Owney, The Mail Pouch Pooch. In 2009, Ms. Kerby visited our new class of 2nd graders via Skype. The children and their teachers cheered when Ms. Kerby "appeared" on our Smart Board. Ms. Kerby talked about Owney and the process she went through to research, write, and publish the book. Several of the children asked Ms. Kerby questions and the whole group enjoyed waving at and thanking Ms. Kerby for "visiting". Our goal is to set up a network of authors who are willing to participate in Skype conversations with students in classrooms and libraries. This wiki provides a page for each author who joins the network. Our author template ensures consistency of content and keeps things simple for authors, teachers, and librarians. The author pages provide procedural and contact information. Take a look at Mona Kerby's page as an example. Arrangements for Skype visits are initiated via email and/or phone between the author and the teacher and/or librarian. Authors offer two types of visits:
Once you are comfortable with "Skyping" you can try additional web-based technologies to enhance your visits, for example:
The possibilities for collaboration are many. If you have used other tools during your sessions, please start a "Discussion" to share with all of our members. | Skype a Poet National Poetry Month England - October 2009 United States - April 2010 Poem in Your Pocket April 29, 2010 Our Poets.... Josie Whitehead   Author/Illustrator Mike Artell Shares a Skype Visit |
12/18/09 Just a quick note to let you know that I recently did some Skype visits with a school in North Carolina and it went very well. I read some of my books, answered questions and then used the Whiteboard Meeting tool in Skype to give the kids step-by-step drawing instructions. They drew along and it went very well. If you are interested in using the WhiteBoard, just log into Skype, go to the "Tools" menu, scroll down to "Extras" and there you'll find the free WhiteBoard Meeting" tool.
12/11/09 Dec. 4th Skype visit with 42 sixth grade students from Coswell School in Rochester, NY. This was so much fun. The students had completed the fifth chapter of my recently released fantasy novel, 'The Hole in the Skye' and they prepared some questions in advance of my visit. After a tech rehearsal we went 'live' and it took the students a moment to realize we could actually interact with one another. They had interesting and thoughtful questions and I read a "cliff hanger" from my book. They gave me some great feedback afterwards. Here are some of their thoughts: "I like skyping, my favorite part is when the author reads from the book;" " I think one thing that should be done is have kids read their favorite parts out of the book;" "It's great to see the author and get to know their thoughts;" "I love skyping because it's live and you can actually talk to the author;" "I like that if you don't understand a part of the book, you can ask;" "I like skyping, especially with the author of; The Hole in the Sky." I am very much looking forward to another opportunity like this one.
sachauncey |
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