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Virtual Author Visits in Your Library or Classroom
| It all started when author Mona Kerby visited Grandview Library in 2008 to talk to 2nd graders about her book Owney, The Mail Pouch Pooch. In 2009, Ms. Kerby visited the class via Skype. The children and their teachers cheered when Ms. Kerby "appeared" on the 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". 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. Marsha Diane Arnold  Participating in the Skype an Author activity with Marsha Diane Arnold has been a wonderful experience for all of us. I shared with Mrs. Arnold a plan of action to help my students in grades 2 through 5 think more deeply about their writing skills and strategies. Through this experience, Marsha provided information about her personal writing strategies, being an author, developing pre-writing skills, and researching. The students also were provided with writing prompts. Marsha challenged them to write a sequel to her Roar of a Snore. Roar of a Snore 2! It sparked them to new heights with their writing skills and desire. We actually created a writing prompt using Roar of a Snore in a program which assesses the students on content and grammar. The teachers shared delightful news about seeing a marked improvement. This opportunity helped students get focused on writing, and they enjoyed it! Tina Riley – Technology Integration Specialist, Roane County Schools, WV Bruce Hale Visits Elmhurst Public Library We had a Skype visit with Bruce Hale at the Elmhurst Public Library, and it was great! Bruce is an engaging author and illustrator, and he is very skilled at making a Skype visit successful, even for us first-timers. The kids and parents enjoyed his humorous presentation, and the kids were thrilled to ask questions and share their own Chet Gecko drawings. Bruce's manner was friendly and interactive, and he kept the conversation moving and the kids interested. I highly recommend a Skype author visit with Bruce Hale. We thought he was wonderful!. Gloria Walsh-Rock Kids' Programming and Readers' Advisory Librarian Elmhurst Public Library The Hole in the Sky I Marsha Arnold  Marsha Arnold - 12/06/2011 I have a continuing story going on with Roane County, West Virginia and it's all because of Tina Riley, their energetic Technology Integration Specialist. Our skype visit in June made statewide news. After that, Tina began arranging three more Skype visits, the first of which I did with Geary Elementary in late November. But there's more! Tina has been asked to present to the West Virginia Department of Education about our Skype work together, in order to receive a commendation. She's working on other Skype projects too and has classrooms in various schools skyping as "pen pals" in live action. Tina says, "I helped teachers get skype set up and I trained them on using the hardware and technology. They went with it! What a great tool Skype is!" I couldn't agree more with Tina. Skpe is indeed a great tool.  Author Joe Cepeda In the News News Center 1 story about author Joe Cepeda who gives "...students an inside look at how the books they read come to life." Watch the video and read more here... http://www.newscenter1.tv/stories/10905.aspx 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. | FREE SKYPE TOURS OF NEWS ROOM!   Illustrators & Author Illustrators Click to Visit Jewish Books Page Click to Visit Education Week Web Conferencing... Writer on the Side Interview Skype An Author Columbia News Service   Author/Illustrator Mike Artell Shares a Skype Visit |
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Latest page update: made by sachauncey
, Apr 26 2012, 12:27 PM EDT
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| briankennethswain | The Future of Books | 1 | Sep 3 2011, 2:14 AM EDT by josiewhitehead | ||
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Thread started: Jun 1 2011, 10:16 PM EDT
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As folks who are presumably close to the education process, I'm curious as to your take on the future of books. In my recent dealings with a class of ~100 honors high school English students, all of whom read my novel as part of the curriculum, I was a bit shocked to hear that more than 95% of them preferred reading the genuine book to the electronic article. Guess there's hope for paper after all...
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| BSaltzberg | Testing out a Skype Author visit | 0 | Apr 15 2011, 1:50 PM EDT by BSaltzberg | ||
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Thread started: Apr 15 2011, 1:50 PM EDT
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I just had my first, 15 minute introductory skype visit with a pre-school class on Long Island. I think they were surprised to see me in sunny California. I loved having a chance to visit, without flying! The only thing that was a little different, besides not being there in person was, their monitor where they could see me was not in the same place as their camera so I saw their profiles. Something to think about for the next visit. I think Diane Arnold's idea of a youtube infomercial for her skype visits is brillant!
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| BSaltzberg | Friday April 15th 2011 | 0 | Apr 15 2011, 1:50 PM EDT by BSaltzberg | ||
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Thread started: Apr 15 2011, 1:50 PM EDT
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I just had my first, 15 minute introductory skype visit with a pre-school class on Long Island. I think they were surprised to see me in sunny California. I loved having a chance to visit, without flying! The only thing that was a little different, besides not being there in person was, their monitor where they could see me was not in the same place as their camera so I saw their profiles. Something to think about for the next visit. I think Diane Arnold's idea of a youtube infomercial for her skype visits is brillant!
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