Author's page in published book ideas

Anna's idea for the author page:
The last page of the book is about the author.  _______is in
Mrs. Feagin's second grade. _________likes to ____________at home.
_________likes to ____________at school.  This is __________ ______
book this year.


Susan's ideas:  

 I thought I'd add one more thing I do.  At the beginning of the year, 
the
students choose a name for their "publishing company."  For instance, 
one year the class chose Small Owl Publishers.

I used those same wonderful sheets of computer labels, 1" x 3" (I 
should
buy stock in Avery!).  This time, I went on the computer.  I made up a 
lable that said Small Owl Publishers, had a 
graphic of a small owl in the middle, and the school year at the 
bottom,
for instance 1999-2000.

When a student has a book ready to publish, they get one of the 
stickers
from the can (49 cents
at the thrift store - lovely little can) and peel and stick on the 
inside
front cover.

We also do something on the back cover, similar to Anna's last page.  
The
students noticed one year that many books have "About the Author" on 
the
back cover, and sometimes "About the Illustrator."  (Sometimes I let my
students work that way together, also.)  On the back cover, they can 
draw a
picture of themselves (or not) and then write something about 
themselves.  

When school pictures are taken, I always get about 3 little 1" x 2" 
photos
of every child whose picture was taken.  I take one of each of these, 
which
have a peel and stick backing, and make
up an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of them.  Then I copy it.  Although they aren't 
in
color, the students will
often use these pictures on the back of the book.  One of the students
asked, "Mrs. Nixon, why don't they let us do glamour shots so we would 
look
like authors?"

Barbara's ideas:

I also do an about the author on the back of published work.  We work 
hard at 
creating a short paragraph about themselves: Jane Doe is a third grade 
student at McKinley Elementary in Kenosha, Wisconsin where she lives 
with her 
mom, dad, brothers, cat and dog.  She has been writing for four years.  
Some 
of her works include (then we list works she has written in other 
grades) . . 
., etc.  

I then take their pictures with a quicktake camera, have them type 
their 
paragraphs in the computer labe and place them in a column under their 
digital pictures.  I print them and then photocopy them.  The kids and 
parents love them and it makes them feel like official authors.