Project:

INVITATION

How can we help students appreciate famous literary authors throughout the course of history? What qualities of an author might make them eligible for nomination into a Literary Hall of Fame? How can technology help students create a persuasive presentation?

TASKS

In this project, students study a favorite author and create a presentation to nominate the author into the Literary Hall of Fame. In pairs, students research an author, write an author résumé and a speech. Students create a class-wide database to organize the information the pairs have researched. They also create a multimedia slideshow presentation to accompany the nomination speech.

TOOLS

Computers; the Internet; Sherlock; iMovie (optional).

AppleWorks; Chronicle of the 20th Century; Eyewitness History of the World; World Book Encyclopedia; The Writing Trek.

Library reference materials; scanner (optional); digital video camera (optional).

INTERACTIONS

Students work in pairs to research a favorite author, write an author résumé, and create a multimedia slideshow presentation. Students work as a class to create a database to organize the author information. The teacher collaborates with the librarian or media specialist to gather resources for students to use during their research.

STANDARDS

To identify the curriculum standards for your state that correlate to this student project, select the state in the popup menu below and then click the Go button.

View Detailed Standards in

SITUATIONS

The initial introduction of this project begins with a class discussion about requirements for admittance into a Hall of Fame. During the next class period, students create a spreadsheet to compare aspects of different Halls of Fame. Over the next three class sessions, students work in the classroom, at home, and in the library or media center to conduct research and write an author résumé. During the second week of the project, students work in the classroom to create a class database and then in the library or media center or at home to create a multimedia slideshow presentation. In the third week, students present their nomination speeches and cast their vote. It should take about three to four weeks to complete the project.

ASSESSMENT

For Phase 1, the class (along with the teacher) develops a checklist that student groups will use in creating their spreadsheets for comparative analysis of qualifications for admittance into a Hall of Fame. The checklist should include the following items: qualifications, procedures, and the accolades that come with induction into a Hall of Fame.

For Phase 2, the class (along with the teacher) develops a checklist for researching the authors. The checklist might include items such as first name, last name, pen name, birthplace, date of death, titles of work, genre, and awards or honors.

Students can use the same checklist as they build their database in Phase 3.

For Phase 3, the "Multimedia Development Checklist" and the "Multimedia Presentation Checklist" can be used to help students in designing and preparing to present their presentations.

For Phase 4, the effectiveness of students’ nomination presentations for the Literary Hall of Fame can be evaluated by peer review. Factors to consider include the professional merits of the author; the enduring impact on readers over time; and the persuasive techniques used in the multimedia slideshow. The "Multimedia Project Rubric" can also be used to assess the presentations.

	Multimedia Development Checklist
	Multimedia Presentation Checklist
	Multimedia Project Rubric

Literary authors have had a tremendous impact on our culture and society throughout the course of history dating back to the Renaissance period. Many authors have been acknowledged with awards and honors such as the Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize, Newberry Award for Children's books, the Caldecott Award, or recognized by royalty, as in the case of Shakespeare being recognized as the leading London playwright in 1596.

In this project, students conduct an in-depth study of a favorite author and prepare a nomination presentation for admittance into the Literary Hall of Fame. Students nominate a favorite author by writing and presenting a speech, including an author résumé, and by creating a multimedia slideshow. Students also build a class database of authors to use as a resource for their Hall of Fame. This project is a natural follow up to one of the other Secondary Language Arts & Social Studies language arts projects, such as "Shakespeare, How I Love Thee," "M is For Mystery," "Hear My Voice," or "Elements of a Literary Masterpiece."

Phase 1: Qualifications for candidates

Introduce this project with a class discussion of famous authors over time after reading a story, poem, play, or novel by a famous author, such as William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Edgar Allen Poe, or Agatha Christie. Discuss the qualities of the author that has made his or her work a classic or favorite among readers. Brainstorm various honors and awards literary authors may receive, such as the Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize, Newberry Award for Children's books, or the Caldecott Award. Then discuss the qualifications for receiving such prestigious awards.

Have students imagine that there is a Literary Hall of Fame, similar to other Halls of Fame they are familiar with, such as the Football Hall of Fame or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Then ask students to compare the qualifications, procedures, and the accolades that come with induction into a Hall of Fame. In small groups, students can use a spreadsheet in AppleWorks to chart the comparisons. Students may want to use the "Organizing Textual Information in an AppleWorks Spreadsheet" Step-by-Step Card for help with this activity. What qualities are required for athletes, musicians, or authors to be inducted into a Hall of Fame? How does one become nominated and selected for induction into a Hall of Fame? What sort of accolades or praise is associated with a Hall of Fame member? Brainstorm a list of qualifications that would pertain specifically to candidates for the Literary Hall of Fame. Ask students if they were on the panel of judges, what qualities might they look for when selecting a candidate for the Literary Hall of Fame?

Organizing Textual Information in an AppleWorks Spreadsheet

Phase 2: Researching a favorite author

In partners, students can select an author they feel might be worthy of admittance into the Literary Hall of Fame and begin their research. To review some authors who have received the Nobel Prize, students can go to the Almanac in The Writing Trek and also read some author biographies. To nominate a candidate, students must write and present a nomination speech, create a multimedia slideshow for the presentation, and write a résumé for the candidate.

Using Eyewitness History of the World, World Book Encyclopedia and Sherlock to search the Internet, each pair of students will conduct an in-depth study of a favorite author and his/her impact on readers throughout history. Students can use the "Searching World Book Encyclopedia" and "Searching With Sherlock 2" Step-by-Step Cards for help as they conduct their research. If students choose an author from the twentieth century, recommend they also research the Chronicle of the 20th Century. As students research these authors, they can make notes in an AppleWorks journal. Encourage students to save the information, graphics, images, excerpts, or quotations into an AppleWorks file to be used later in their database, or in their slideshow and author résumé in Phases 3 and 4.

Once students have conducted their research, they can create a class database of authors using AppleWorks. Students can use the "Creating a Database With AppleWorks" Step-by-Step Card for assistance with this activity. Assign a database taskforce of two or three students to design the database so the other students can input their information. The database should include fields such as first name, last name, pen name, birthplace, date of death, titles of work, genre, and awards or honors. Students can add fields as they work with the database if there is additional information they want to include. The database will be useful for future activities relating to specific authors or genres studied in the class.

	Creating a Database With AppleWorks
	Searching With Sherlock 2
	Searching World Book Encyclopedia

Phase 3: Creating the nomination presentation

Next, the student pairs prepare nomination presentations for their author's induction into the Literary Hall of Fame. The nomination presentation includes a slideshow and the author's résumé as well as a brief speech on the reasons this author should be inducted into the Literary Hall of Fame. Guide students to the Theatre section of The Writing Trek to learn more about the secrets of public speaking, such as having a purpose, creating a thesis statement, and listing your major points. Students can read and listen to two memorable speeches by President Ronald Reagan and Empress Theodora, which will help students as they write their own speech. Additionally, in this section students can learn how to draft a speech to include a title, greeting, self introduction, opening hook, body, and closing. The Speech section also provides models of speeches in the More option, and students can follow the steps provided in the On Your Own section to practice writing a speech.

Students can write the author's résumé using the résumé template in AppleWorks. The résumé should highlight the authors' accomplishments and experiences, including honors and awards received throughout their careers.

When students are finished writing their speeches and author résumé, each pair of students create a multimedia slideshow in AppleWorks that accompanies the speech. Students can use the "Making a Presentation With AppleWorks 6" Step-by-Step Card for assistance with this activity. They can also import information, graphics, and photographs from their research, and excerpts from the author's work to create a persuasive presentation for the audience. If there are sound bytes of the author reading or speaking, students can also import them into their multimedia presentation. Students can scan personal or professional photographs of the author to include as well. Students can use the "Storyboard Card" template to help with designing their slides. During the nomination speech, students can make copies of the author's résumé and hand it out to the class.

	Making a Presentation With AppleWorks 6
	Storyboard Card Template

Phase 4: Nominations of the inductees

Finally, student pairs present their author nominations to the class in hopes of being selected for induction into the Literary Hall of Fame. Remind students that a speech is a public presentation that can test their knowledge and provide a dramatic opportunity to share their knowledge. If a digital camera and iMovie software are available, students can film the presentation and create a desktop movie to be included on the Internet, or shown during open house or other school functions.

After all of the nomination speeches have been presented, students then vote on which five candidates should be inducted into the Literary Hall of Fame. Students can create ballots in AppleWorks as well as awards for the selected inductees. They can use the award template in AppleWorks to design the Literary Hall of Fame awards. Students should cast their votes based on the discussion in Phase 1 as to the qualities that make a candidate worthy of admittance into a prestigious Hall of Fame. An area in the classroom or the media center can be designated as the Literary Hall of Fame where students can display the awards, résumé and photographs of the new inductees for others to see.

Phase 2: In World Book Encyclopedia, students can use the Time Frame feature which transports them through history. Specify a single year or a time span from a decade to a millennium and Time Frame searches the entire CD and delivers an array of items correlated to the time span. Students can locate information about a specific author from a different time span in history.

Phase 2: To help students get around in the Chronicle of the 20th Century, have them use the Navigator located at the top left corner of the screen.

Phase 2: When building a database, make sure the first name and last name are two separate fields, so it is easier to sort and find information.

Phase 3: Students can use clip art featured in the AppleWorks Libraries folder in the Books, Transportation, and other folders to illustrate their speeches. They can also import clip art from the extensive collection in HyperStudio or download images from the Internet to create their own library. To get images from the Internet, create a new clippings tab in AppleWorks, choose "Internet based" from the location pop-up menu, type the URL, and the images will begin to load.

Phase 4: On the day of the performance, set up the video camera and assign a camera person from the class to shoot the video. For help using iMovie, visit the Desktop Movies in Education Web site.

PREPARATION

Together with the school librarian, gather a collection of classic works of fiction and non-fiction short stories, as well as poems or plays.

Preview the Web sites related to the famous authors of classic literary works and download information that will help students with their nomination presentations, as well as any pertinent information from the Hall of Fame Web sites (see the "Resources" section).

Make copies of any of the Step-by-Step Cards that students might need in carrying out the project tasks. You might want to make copies of the "Storyboard Card" and "Storyboard Example" templates to help students in designing their presentations.

Storyboard Example Template

OPTIONS AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

Encourage students to join an online fan club for the author they nominated. If there is not an existing fan club, they may want to form one.

Students can take on the persona of the author they have researched and write questions for an interview with another famous author. Or in pairs, students can write a conversation between two of the authors elected into the Literary Hall of Fame. Students can film these activities and use iMovie to make a desktop movie to include as part of their presentation.

After the class vote, students can write a news article announcing the new inductees into the Literary Hall of Fame.

THE HOME-SCHOOL CONNECTION

Invite family members to contribute to the spreadsheet that compares the different Halls of Fame. Family members may have additional information that can help students comprehend the magnitude of admittance into a prestigious Hall of Fame.

Students can practice their speech for family and friends.

Invite family members to the nomination presentations or videotape the presentations and send the tapes home for parents and family to share.