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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Rick Riordan - Teacher's Guides - Rick Riordan
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): authors (107), critical thinking (128), greek (47), myths and legends (37), reading comprehension (149), student-centered (6)
In the Classroom
Create a mythology-themed trivia game where students answer questions about Greek, Roman, Norse, or Egyptian myths featured in Riordan's books. Make an online quiz using Blooket, reviewed here or Quizizz, reviewed here. Have students design a demigod character, including a parent from mythology. They can write a short character profile, including strengths, weaknesses, and a unique quest. Transform the classroom into Camp Half-Blood for a day! Create stations where students complete challenges (ex, solving riddles, crafting "weapons," or navigating a "labyrinth"). Using the hero's journey structure (as seen in Percy Jackson), have students outline and write a short adventure story. Encourage them to incorporate mythological elements and share their stories with the class.Margaret Wise Brown - Ladies Literary Guild
Grades
K to 10tag(s): authors (107), biographies (94)
In the Classroom
Certainly, read Goodnight, Moon to your class (even older students) to start a discussion based on their favorite children's picture books. Make a class list of titles and authors using Padlet, reviewed here, to refer to later. Next, use Read Ahead, reviewed here, to create a guided reading activity for younger students and to introduce this biography to students. Then, have students use this biography as a model to create a biography about one of their favorite authors. Use Adobe Express, reviewed here, and allow for student choice by offering students this site: Free Biography templates from Adobe Express here.Jack London Online - Roy Tennant and Dr. Clarice Stasz
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): authors (107)
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. I do like the fact that it reminds students to cite their information and tells them how to do it!Maya Angelou - Official Website of Dr.Maya Angelou
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): authors (107)
In the Classroom
Explore the Biography and Celebrate 95 Years section to project photos that span Maya Angelou's lifetime of 86 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.The World of Beverly Cleary - Beverly Cleary
Grades
1 to 7tag(s): authors (107)
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 for students to access outside of class or when writing book reports.Mem Fox: Teaching, Learning, Living - Mem Fox
Grades
K to 7In 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 using Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Use PowerPoint Online, Microsoft PowerPoint Online, reviewed here since slides are an easy way to "create" and share large format picture books electronically.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Maine Historical Society
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): authors (107)
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.Judy Blume's Home Base - Judy Blume
Grades
5 to 9tag(s): authors (107), book lists (167), reading lists (77)
In the Classroom
Share the link on your teacher web page as a resource to promote independent reading or author study. Enhance learning by asking students to share what they read - the tirle, a summary, and a rating of the book using Gravity, reviewed here. Have students watch their classmates' Gravity book reviews to find a new book to read and leave a comment about the book or the presentation.S. E. Hinton - S. E. Hinton & Limemachine Design
Grades
7 to 10In the Classroom
A good source of material about the author. This site will also steer kids to her other works. The BIO will probably answer questions many of your students have about her stories and where she gets her ideas, etc.Hatrack River- The Official Website of Orson Scott Card - Hatrack Enterprises
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): authors (107)
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.
Avi - Avi
Grades
2 to 9In the Classroom
There is a link to click at the top "speaking" that shows how to have a "virtual visit," "personal visit," "presentations (teacher in-service, library presentation, and conferences,) and "upcoming events." Share this site on your teacher web page to encourage young writers or as a feature when your class is sharing an Avi book.Lois Lowry - Lois Lowry
Grades
4 to 9In 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.Madeleine L'Engle - Crossroads, Ltd.
Grades
4 to 9tag(s): authors (107), literature (221)
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 using Gravity, reviewed here on a projector or perhaps in a non-electronic author exhibit.Interviews With Children's Book Authors and Illustrators - Reading Rockets/ WETA
Grades
2 to 8tag(s): authors (107), interviews (17), 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. A good resource for a class blog is edublogs, reviewed here. Libarians may want to set up a kiosk with this web site opened for children when they come in. They will LOVE this site!Orchard House Home of the Alcotts - Louisa May Alcott Memorial Association
Grades
6 to 10tag(s): authors (107), literature (221), museums (53)
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.Rudyard Kipling
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): authors (107), literature (221)
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.Isabel Allende
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): authors (107), literature (221)
In the Classroom
This site is perfect for literature circles! There are many books from which to choose and each one has a summary and excerpt. After reading some of the summaries, have student literature groups choose the book they want to read and present to the class. For the presentations, give the students a choice of multimedia tools using a resource such as Genially, reviewed here. Students can choose to present their book using interactive images, infographics, charts, and more; they can insert maps, surveys, video, and audio.Katherine Paterson
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): authors (107)
Gary Harbo
Grades
1 to 4This site includes advertising.
tag(s): authors (107)
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. Let students try their hands at drawing some of the great characters following the directions on this site.The Roald Dahl Web Site
Grades
2 to 6tag(s): authors (107), book lists (167), reading lists (77)