How can I make our author visit a success?

Remember: an author visit can be a powerful tool to reinforce teachers’ messages about hard work and writing/drawing skills! The more you do in advance of the visit, the more successful the visit will be for your classes.

Understand that the author, in making special requests, is not being a prima donna—he/she has learned how the presentations work best.

Before the Visit

Preparation is essential for an effective visit!

Make sure students are familiar with the author’s work. Read one or more recommended books before the visit. If students have read an author’s work, they are more excited about meeting the person behind the book, and will receive the author’s messages (which reinforce teachers’ goals) more readily.

Talk with students about the book on an age-appropriate level about what an author or illustrator does. Ask questions: how long do you think it takes to make a book? Do you think it requires practice, or can a grown-up make a book quickly? Why do you think the author chose to tell the story the way he/she did? Find pre-visit discussion points for Brian Lies’ visits here.

The Day of the Visit

Setting the author up in one area for all presentations makes the day run much more smoothly. It is very difficult now for many schools to find a dedicated space for a day’s worth of presentations, but having the author move from classroom to classroom means repacking all materials and setting them up again minutes later. Visits in classrooms, except for workshops, tend to cause scheduling overruns and increased disruption. Students focus on an author from the moment he/she enters the room to when he/she leaves after the presentation, and this set-up/breakdown time is never quality classroom time.

Make sure classes know when they’re scheduled to attend the presentations, and where they’re supposed to go. An author’s presentation usually takes all of the scheduled time, and five or ten minutes’ delay can make him/her rush, or not be able to cover all of the planned discussion points.

After the Visit

Remind students of things the author said.

Review the pre-visit questions, discuss the author’s main points about writing, or have students do their own writing based on some of the things covered in the presentations.

It’s up to teachers to decide what is most useful for their students, but an author visit can be a powerful tool. Use it to its best advantage!