TeachersFirst's Author's Websites

Introduce your students to some of their favorite authors (and some new ones). Learn and explore information about a variety of authors. Engage your students in learning about the life and works of authors and participate in the activities available on the websites. Share these resources with your students, families, and colleagues. Remember, our "In the Classroom" suggestions give you ideas about using these resources in your classroom.        

   

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Jack London Online Collection - Roy Tennant and Dr. Clarice Stasz

Grades
8 to 12
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This is an official website about Jack London and his works, maintained by Sonoma State University. It is really an exhaustive site including a biography of Jack London, Frequently...more
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This is an official website about Jack London and his works, maintained by Sonoma State University. It is really an exhaustive site including a biography of Jack London, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)(and their answers, of course!), London related audio, douments including letters, postcards, telegrams, etc. relating to his life and work, biographies & bibliographies about key people in his life, photographs, an archive of his works including newspaper articles, etc., all kinds of research aids, resources for both students & teachers. and MORE, plus links to other information (although why you would need more boggles the mind!).

tag(s): authors (100)

In the Classroom

If you teach Jack London or any of the related literature (Service poetry, etc), this is a GREAT source to take students. Again, it is a safe and reliable source with a variety of areas to expand upon. A caution on the student resources site: it DOES provide a link to spraknotes for students, but tells them that some of the information is faulty (yeah, I don't get it either!). It gives students good questions to ask as the first look at the page and the first two links are "Jack London International" and "The World of Jack London," both reliable and excellent sources of information. I do like the fact that it reminds students to cite their information and tells them how to do it!

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Dr. Maya Angelou's Official Website - Official Website of Dr.Maya Angelou

Grades
8 to 12
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Dr. Maya Angelou's Official Website is dedicated to the remarkable accomplishments, news, biography, and photo and video galleries, as well as descriptions of books and films,...more
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Dr. Maya Angelou's Official Website is dedicated to the remarkable accomplishments, news, biography, and photo and video galleries, as well as descriptions of books and films, of this remarkable best-selling author, playwright, and civil-rights activist. Dr. Maya Angelou, one of the great voices of contemporary literature whom continues to spread her legendary wisdom and captivate audiences, uses her unique power with the beauty of words to help readers cross the lines of race, religion, and culture.

tag(s): authors (100)

In the Classroom

Explore the media gallery to project photos that span Maya Angelou's lifetime of more than 80 years, and feature short videos on your projector or interactive whiteboard to inspire students with interviews about her work and vision, and moments that have punctuated and reveal the grace, dignity, and eloquence that are the hallmarks of her incredible work and life journey. You can sign up on Maya's email list to receive notices about special news and events.

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The World of Beverly Cleary - Beverly Cleary

Grades
1 to 7
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Ramona fans will celebrate when they visit this site. Look for oodles of background information for the Beverly Cleary's books on your shelf. Click on the neighborhood map to learn...more
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Ramona fans will celebrate when they visit this site. Look for oodles of background information for the Beverly Cleary's books on your shelf. Click on the neighborhood map to learn more about where the characters live. Access author info and character studies with a click. There is even a link for activities and games. Bring your Cleary unit to life with this site. There is also a printable "Teacher's Guide" that requires Adobe Acrobat.

tag(s): authors (100)

In the Classroom

Your class may want to send Ms. Cleary an old-fashioned snail mail letter, using her address at the bottom of her biography page. Instructions on how to have a successful Ramona party is at the bottom of the Fun and Games page. Have your students choose famous Cleary characters and compete answering the Trivia questions also found at Fun and Games. Include this page as a link from your teacher web page during for students to access outside of class or when writing book reports.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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Mem Fox: Teaching, Learning, Living - Mem Fox

Grades
K to 7
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This author page features plenty of ideas about how to help kids enjoy reading and includes many stories. Hear Mem Fox reading her own stories (click Hear Mem Read ...more
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This author page features plenty of ideas about how to help kids enjoy reading and includes many stories. Hear Mem Fox reading her own stories (click Hear Mem Read Aloud). She gives advice on how to read to children and gives great examples. This author page has many good suggestions for promoting literacy and love of reading. There is also a section of advice on writing your own picture book for children, an excellent writing activity for upper elementary and middle school students. Parts of this site require Quick Time. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

tag(s): authors (100), literacy (98)

In the Classroom

Create shortcut to Mem reading aloud on your classroom computer for a center activity for primary grades, and place a copy of Mem's book there for students to follow along. Print out Mem's suggestions for reading aloud to give to parents at conferences or share this site on your teacher home page for parent and students to access from home. For older students, this site is an excellent resource for planning cross-grade reading activities for Read Across America or other special times, including having middle school students write picture books for young students, then share them at an in-person visit or on a podcast recording.PowerPoint slides are an easy way to "create" and share large format picture books electronically.

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Maine Historical Society

Grades
3 to 12
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This website examines Longfellow's life and work, his homes and his family. It includes a searchable database of his poems, lesson plans for teachers, a filmography, and more. This...more
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This website examines Longfellow's life and work, his homes and his family. It includes a searchable database of his poems, lesson plans for teachers, a filmography, and more. This site is divided in 7 areas: biography, his poems, works, home, family, resources for teachers, and other resources. The lessons plans in the teacher resource section are quite good, broken down into curriculum blocks. There are 21 lessons written for across-the-curriculum study in creative and solid ways. They are each geared to specific grade spans (clear in the lesson)that include not only English and literature, but composition, American history, humanities, art, fine arts, language arts, and interdisciplinary studies. A great smorgasbord for a teacher who works with early American authors!

tag(s): authors (100)

In the Classroom

Find a great lesson among the many in the Teachers section or use the site as a resource during the study of American poets. The images of Longfellow's homes and other artifacts from the Maine Historical Society would help make the 19th century more "real" on your projector or interactive whiteboard as you read the poems.

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Judy Blume's Home Base - Judy Blume

Grades
5 to 9
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This website is Judy Blume's own site to discuss her writing, censorship, her books, and her life. It includes links to her blog and other websites about her biography and ...more
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This website is Judy Blume's own site to discuss her writing, censorship, her books, and her life. It includes links to her blog and other websites about her biography and her books.If you teach any Judy Blume books or just know of their high interest for some of your students, this is a safe site to share about a sometimes controversial author. Ms. Blume talks about her writing and directs students (and adults) to other reputable sites about writing tips, etc. It is also a safe place for kids to express their own views about her writing to her either through email or through her blogs.

tag(s): authors (100)

In the Classroom

Share the link on your teacher web page as a resource to promote independent reading or author study.

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S. E. Hinton - S. E. Hinton & Limemachine Design

Grades
7 to 10
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Here is the official website of a popular young adult author. S. E. Hinton burst on the literary scene with the book "The Outsiders," written when she was only 17. ...more
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Here is the official website of a popular young adult author. S. E. Hinton burst on the literary scene with the book "The Outsiders," written when she was only 17. Her youth has always appealed to young readers, as well as her young subject matter. This is a typical official website that includes biographical information with information on her books and movies adaptations. The book pages include comments from the author and short excerpts and summaries of the works.

tag(s): authors (100)

In the Classroom

A good source of material about the author. This site will also steer kids to her other works. The FAQ will probably mirror questions many of your students have about her stories and where she gets her ideas, etc.

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Hatrack River- The Official Website of Orson Scott Card - Hatrack Enterprises

Grades
8 to 12
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As official websites go, this one is comprehensive.The menus at the top of the page will take you to Card's biography, a "library" of his works --that allows you to ...more
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As official websites go, this one is comprehensive.The menus at the top of the page will take you to Card's biography, a "library" of his works --that allows you to download one copy of any of his works from novels to short stories, reviews, articles, plays, and a writer's workshop with an area just for teachers. This is a real find for anyone who teaches Card or is interested in getting students who do to write and research online.

tag(s): authors (100)

In the Classroom

There is plenty here to like. Card has made this site as user-friendly as possible and still include a wide variety of things. Clicking on the research area will give you the teacher links. Caution: there are ads on the left column and a store; however, you must register to purchase anything, so it's fairly safe at school. The site is too good to pass up because of ads, but you might want to just pull some of this yourself for your class. If you want to watch his version of "Romeo and Juliet," you must have Quicktime.

You will definitely want to include this among your authors links if you have students doing research and reports.

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Avi - Avi

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2 to 9
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Official site of the juvenile and young adult writer Avi, this homepage has a list that you can check from early readers to young adults, biography, ghosts, adventure, etc. If ...more
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Official site of the juvenile and young adult writer Avi, this homepage has a list that you can check from early readers to young adults, biography, ghosts, adventure, etc. If you teach Avi, this is a good source for teacher background. Show the kids, as well, and share a recent picture of this student-fascinating author.Share the section on keys to good writing with your students, as well.

tag(s): authors (100)

In the Classroom

There is a link to click for teachers at the top that shows how to get a free cassette of Avi's readings. Share this site on your teacher web page to encourage young writers or as a feature when your class is sharing an Avi book.

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Lois Lowry - Lois Lowry

Grades
4 to 9
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This is Lois Lowry's official website. Find up-to-date information on Lois Lowry's speeches, her new works, etc. The photo gallery includes pictures of her home, family, travels, and...more
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This is Lois Lowry's official website. Find up-to-date information on Lois Lowry's speeches, her new works, etc. The photo gallery includes pictures of her home, family, travels, and friends. You can email Lois Lowry or read speeches she has given at various functions. There is a very informative FAQ, with answers, of course!

tag(s): authors (100), novels (27), writing (302)

In the Classroom

A very worthwhile site if you teach The Giver or any other Lowry book. This site is a sure winner for an introduction to a student author study in small groups or individually, as well.

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Madeleine L'Engle - Crossroads, Ltd.

Grades
4 to 9
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This is the Official Madeleine L'Engle website. This site has good things to offer, including links to her speeches for awards acceptance, updates of movies made from her books, short...more
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This is the Official Madeleine L'Engle website. This site has good things to offer, including links to her speeches for awards acceptance, updates of movies made from her books, short summaries of all her books, and some interactive prompts to work with students. The site has some nice animation and includes lots of links that will satisfy even the most curious L'Engle fan. Its only drawback is that some of the information takes you out to other sites, but there is a considerable amount of information on this site itself.

tag(s): authors (100), literature (219)

In the Classroom

You can use this site with students for different group projects since it takes off in many different directions that would allow groups to come back and share what they find, perhaps as a presentation on a projector or perhaps in a non-electronic author exhibit.

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Video and Audio Interviews With 130 Renowned Children's Book Authors and Illustrators - Reading Rockets/ WETA

Grades
2 to 8
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Get to know favorite children's and young adults' authors and illustrators by seeing and hearing from them directly. The videos/audios can be accessed directly on the site or downloaded...more
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Get to know favorite children's and young adults' authors and illustrators by seeing and hearing from them directly. The videos/audios can be accessed directly on the site or downloaded to an iPod for listening on the go, if you or your students have one. The videos are split into shorter segments, so you can see Jack Prelutsky talk about his writing process, for example, or hear Patricia MacLachlan (author of Sarah, Plain and Tall) talk about reading with her father as a child. Bring your classroom of readers to life as writers or just fill in some background knowledge as you approach a new book or selection in your reading series. You are certain to have students lining up for works by these folks at the library. Note: Each author page tells which plug-in is required to view or listen to the interview. The needed plug-ins vary. They do provide a link to download the needed plug-in , if you do not have it. You can also get them from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

tag(s): authors (100), interviews (12), rockets (11)

In the Classroom

Grab a projector and bring the author right into your classroom, or turn down the lights and listen to what she has to say before you start reading. You can also create a shortcut to this page right on the computer desktop and allow students to "visit with" them as a center in your classroom. One great student writing prompt: Which author is most like you? Maybe even ask students to write about their own writing process on your class blog after sharing some of the interviews. They will LOVE this site! Libarians may want to set up a kiosk with this web site opened for children when they come in.

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Orchard House Home of the Alcotts - Louisa May Alcott Memorial Association

Grades
6 to 10
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While this site is mostly about the Alcott museum in Concord, MA, it has wonderful pictures of the house, including an online tour of each of the rooms in the ...more
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While this site is mostly about the Alcott museum in Concord, MA, it has wonderful pictures of the house, including an online tour of each of the rooms in the house. If you live close to Concord, MA, it includes visitor times and prices. Clicking on the second choice, "Alcotts and Orchard House" will give you what you need for pictures and biographical information on all of the Alcotts (not just Louisa). This is great if you want to explore not only L.M. Alcott's life and work, but also Bronson Alcott and his educational theories. Transcendentalism study can also glean information from this site.

tag(s): authors (100), literature (219), museums (42)

In the Classroom

Share the photographs and virtual tour on a projector as you begin to study the Alcotts or include this site as one of your research resources for author studies.

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Rudyard Kipling Society

Grades
9 to 12
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While Kipling is not a staple of today's reading lists, many of his works have become classics. This British site offers a biography, listings of books and poems, a poem ...more
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While Kipling is not a staple of today's reading lists, many of his works have become classics. This British site offers a biography, listings of books and poems, a poem of the day, and links to related resources and publications. It could be useful as part of an author study, or for a student interested in finding additional books by the author.

tag(s): authors (100), literature (219)

In the Classroom

This site is a sure winner for a student author study in small groups or individually, as well. Include this site as a link on your teacher web page during a study of Kipling's writings, and ask students to investigate one of his interests or part of his background to share with the class. Share them with a multimedia poster using a tool like Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, or a podcast recording using Spreaker, reviewed here.

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Isabel Allende

Grades
9 to 12
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Information, criticism and links on the works of Chilean writer Isabel Allende. The site contains pictures and biography of the author of such works as "The House of Spirits" and ...more
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Information, criticism and links on the works of Chilean writer Isabel Allende. The site contains pictures and biography of the author of such works as "The House of Spirits" and "Fortune's Daughter."

tag(s): authors (100), literature (219)

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Katherine Paterson

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4 to 8
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This is the official homepage of award-winning author Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia. (Newberry 1978). Site includes an annotated booklist, frequently asked questions,...more
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This is the official homepage of award-winning author Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia. (Newberry 1978). Site includes an annotated booklist, frequently asked questions, audio of songs from stage productions of some of her books and links to Amazon.com to purchase titles. Although she is a well-loved and respected author, this site is a bit disappointing - lacking lessons, activities, or other enhancements.

tag(s): authors (100)

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Gary Harbo

Grades
1 to 4
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Gary Harbo books are featured. The stories come in two versions: one for 2-6 year olds with large print and 25 words or less per page, and one for 7-11 ...more
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Gary Harbo books are featured. The stories come in two versions: one for 2-6 year olds with large print and 25 words or less per page, and one for 7-11 year old that contain approximately 200 words per page. Autographed books are available as well as original graphics and instructions on how to draw the characters.

tag(s): authors (100)

In the Classroom

Have your younger students use the stories on this site for your oral reading and comprehension assessments through the year using a tool like Literably, reviewed here. Let students try their hands at drawing some of the great characters following the directions on this site.

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The Roald Dahl Web Site

Grades
2 to 6
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There's far more than the usual author-site goodies at this British site devoted to author Roald Dahl. There are lots of activities for students, and the material is well-written....more
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There's far more than the usual author-site goodies at this British site devoted to author Roald Dahl. There are lots of activities for students, and the material is well-written. You'll need Flash/Shockwave for this one.

tag(s): authors (100)

In the Classroom

The teacher's section includes extensive lesson ideas based on several of Dahl's books.

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Eric Carle- Official web site

Grades
1 to 2
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This site provides a listing of Eric Carle's books. The site includes an author biography, newsletter and selection of frequently asked questions. ...more
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This site provides a listing of Eric Carle's books. The site includes an author biography, newsletter and selection of frequently asked questions.

tag(s): authors (100), book lists (139), reading lists (81)

In the Classroom

A teacher exchange of ideas for Carle's books is also included.

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