This is a five- to seven-minute oral report with a visual component (a PowerPoint presentation) in which you will share information you find out about one award-winning author or illustrator of children’s books. You may select any author or illustrator from my Award Winners file (which goes back to the 1990s) or do your own research to find an award-winner in children’s literature. Please pay attention to the fine print of the awards to see whether the author or illustrator got the award; for a book under the Newbery Medal list, which recognizes great authors, you may only select the book’s author, not the illustrator.
Once you have decided which author or illustrator interests you, try to check out as many books by them as possible. If they only worked on one book, your report will go into more detail about that book. If they published more than one, please feature a little about each book in your presentation. As you research, your driving question should be, What makes this author or illustrator’s body of work significant? What about the craft of it, its timeliness, beauty, or even controversy seems to stand out from other children’s literature? See if you can put your finger on why they are considered so successful, even if you don’t love all of their work. You may touch on the details of their life as they relate to your understanding of their professional/literary impact, but please spend more time discussing their writing/illustrating than summarizing their personal life. Here are a few other questions to get you started:
1. How did this author or illustrator get started in their profession? Did their success come quickly or over many years?
2. How would you describe their style (avoiding the words “fun” and “cute”!)? If your person is an author, try to tie this description to craft terms we’ve learned. If your person is an illustrator, try to identify their medium (graphite, ink, collage, woodcut, etc.).
3. What about their award-winning book seems especially well-done? How does it compare to other children’s literature they have worked on?
4. Who were their influences and who have they influenced? Can you see a connection between their body of work and other children’s literature that came before or after it?
5. How does this author or illustrator respond to American values (or the country in which they published their book) and appeal to a certain age group?
The format for this assignment will be a PowerPoint presentation with at least 10 slides with at least five images total. You are required to use at least three outside sources and to cite these sources in your PowerPoint slides using MLA Style (don’t forget a Works Cited page as your last slide). Original books by the author or illustrator count as sources, as do articles, essays, dictionary entries, etc. about the author or illustrator. Please avoid using Wikipedia as a source, though the source list at the bottom of a Wikipedia page is a great starting point for your own research. There are many sources in the JCCC library that you can use, and here is a handy link from a JCCC librarian with research tools you can use (Links to an external site.). And here’sLinks to an external site. one of my favorite library tools.
Your presentation is due on Canvas on Sept. 23, and on that day in class each of you will share your presentation. By viewing and listening to each other’s presentations, we’ll create a crowd-sourced reading list that will give you plenty of ideas for building your classroom/personal library! Please reach out along the way if you have any questions.
Rubric
Person Report
Person Report
Criteria Ratings Pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeInsight into Author/Illustrator
The student offers a reason or reasons for why this author/illustrator is so successful. This is the main idea and it appears throughout the presentation.
10 pts
Full Marks
0 pts
No Marks
10 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeUse of Sources
The presentation includes at least three sources, and each is referred to at least once. These sources are credible primary and/or secondary sources that relate to author/illustrator.
10 pts
Full Marks
0 pts
No Marks
10 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeMLA Style
Every time a source is quoted or paraphrased in the presentation, an in-text citation follows. In-text citations are formatted in MLA Style. On the last slide is a Works Cited list and the sources underneath it are formatted according to MLA Style rules.
10 pts
Full Marks
0 pts
No Marks
10 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeFormatting
The presentation was created using MS PowerPoint software and includes at least 10 slides. There is text on every slide and at least five images in the entire presentation. There is voiceover of the student talking about each slide.
10 pts
Full Marks
0 pts
No Marks
10 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeProofreading
The student clearly checked and double-checked the presentation for grammar and punctuation errors.
10 pts
Full Marks
0 pts
No Marks
10 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeMultiple Types of Evidence
To make the presentation as informative and persuasive as possible, the student offers a mix of hard facts (logos), reputable or eyewitness perspectives (ethos), and emotionally-compelling content (pathos).
10 pts
Full Marks
0 pts
No Marks
10 pts
Total Points: 60
