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Scholastic.com (http://www.scholastic.com ) provides
opportunities throughout the year for your students to chat with
famous authors and illustrators, scientists, political and world
leaders, or influential leaders who've changed the course of
history.
 The
chat environment provides a screen where students around the world
submit questions to a moderator who posts the best ones for the
guest of the day to answer. Some students can become
restless watching words typed back and forth for an hour, so here
are some tips to keep your students engaged. These tips were
prepared for the Author Chat with Chris Van Allsburg, author of
Jumanji, The Polar Express and many other books
Before the
chat:
-
Visit the
Authors and Books page on Scholastic that has been created
for the visiting author. Have students read the author's biography
and visit sites recommended by Scholastic to learn more about the
author and his or her books.
-
Print out the
booklist so students can bring in books and you can check out as
many as possible from your school or local libraries. The more
books students read by the author, the better their questions and
chat experience will be.
-
Read previous
chats so students will understand the types of questions that are
generally asked of authors. The previous chat will often
prompt new questions students might want to ask during this chat.
 The Day of the
Chat:
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Assign one or more students to be Keyboarding or Question
Monitor experts. They will submit the questions from your room
by typing them in during the chat. Students can rotate during
the hour to allow more to participate.
-
Read or have students read the questions and answers as the
moderator and author post them on the screen. As a new
question is being typed, you often have time to comment and
discuss a previous answer with your class.
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Have a group of students (Room 22 Question Monitors) who watch
for each time one of the questions from your room is posted by
the moderator. Make sure they have clipboards or tablets to
write down the answers!
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Challenge your students to become members of the CIA (Chat
room
 Investigating
Agency) or the IAC (CIA backwards which could stand for:
Investigating Authors via live Chat) Give them graphic
organizers to record the data they collect as they uncover
facts in multiple categories. Some categories you might
include on your organizer for this chat could be:
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Facts About Chris Van Allsburg’s life
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All the events, people, or circumstances that influenced him
to become an author
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Writing strategies the author shares that could help US
write like famous authors!
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Info learned about
specific books the author wrote. Students can make a
list of books prior to the chat by visiting the
Chris Van Allsburg booklist at Scholastic's site.
You can even print out the list and have students write
their notes beside the books.
-
New questions we
have for the author based on the chat
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Facts about how to
turn a book into a movie
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List other authors
who have influenced Chris Van Allsburg and describe how they
influenced him
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List any books
recommended by the author...some might be written by him,
while others might be written by authors he respects.
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Have as many books by the author as possible in your room
during the chat. Students may read them and will often want
to refer to them when the author comments on specific
illustrations or lines during the course of the chat.
After the Chat:
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After the chat, be
sure to visit Scholastic.com when they post the transcript.
It is great for students to read and re-read. They can
highlight favorite parts and take it home to share with
parents and siblings. Be sure to highlight all the questions
from your room!
-
Have students create
a journal page where they capture their personal responses to
the chat.
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Our district filters prevent students from entering chat
rooms, so you must ask the district to change the setting
before chats. For the Van Allsburg chat, we’ve already
arranged for all of you to have access, so you won’t need to
this time. (If you run into a problem that morning, you can
always email
mludwig@powayusd.com and ask Marc to help you.)
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For the chat with
Chris Van Allsburg, November 10, 2004, at 10:00 a.m., click on
this link:
The Chris Van Allsburg Chat.
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You'll see the
following screen. Notice the new link under the Main Event
sign
 at
the upper right of the screen. The link says:
Join the Chat. Click on
the link to enter the Scholastic Auditorium Chat Room.
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The next screen will
ask you to choose Java Lite or HTML. Follow the
directions that match your computer. If you're not sure, just
choose HTML.
 (If
you have a pop-up blocker on your machine you will need to
choose HTML.) Then make sure to highlight the author's name
and click on the "Enter Now" link.
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You'll then see the actual chat interface.
 The
main window is where you'll see the questions the moderator
posts for Chris to answer. Chris's answers will appear
in this box as well.
You can type questions
to send to the moderator in the text box at the bottom of the
screen. When you start typing, the button to the right
will become active.
When you are ready to submit your question, simply click on the
"Send to Moderator" button.
Enjoy the chat!
Be sure to check back on the Chris Van Allsburg page in a few
weeks for a transcript of the chat! I hope you get all your
questions answered!
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