This week I have a contest for my students. I’m calling it the book challenge but I think perhaps I should have called it the author challenge. In short it goes like this: All the students in my class are reading a book of their own choice. This has resulted in a varied list of literature in different genres, with authors from different ages and countries.It used to be really difficult if you wanted to contact an author. You might send a letter to the publisher who then would read it and maybe pass it along to the author. These days however, almost every author has their own website, with a blog, an email, Facebook and or Twitter, making connecting with the author that much easier. Of
course if you are reading Emma by Jane Austin, or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee connecting with the author is impossible. But still I would like to see how creative my students are.
The challenge is: Connect with the author, or in case he or she is deceased the leader of the organization for the author. Jane Austin.org, a fan club a family member or…..
I think Skyping with an author probably would get first prize! And the prize is? I think it should be a book, a movie or something special from the school canteen! Let the competition begin!
If any of you have done this in class please leave us a comment and tell us what you have done! So much fun to read about what other teachers do in literature classes to connect the classroom to the real world!
I do think your idea is excellent. I only wish I’d seen it before. My vg3 literature students have finished their work on the novels of their own choice. I’ll certainly make my students next year do something similar. Thank you!
Siri Hunstadbråten, Drammen vgs
Thank you Siri for your nice comment! I’m anxious to see how they do here! I know one of my students has befriended the author of the book she is reading on FaceBook. That was a surprise to her and me too!