Calling all K-12 educators! Be an Author Month is upon us, and it’s the perfect time to ignite a love for storytelling in your students. March is Be An Author Month, and I’m proud to partner with Book Creator to help literacy come alive for kids – and spread the word about this celebration.
You can leverage the power of technology with Book Creator, a fantastic platform that empowers students to become published authors. If you’re a regular reader of the blog, you know how much I love all things Book Creator. I’ve featured them in the past – here’s a link to lots of blog posts. And I’m even hosting a free webinar for them next month, “Beyond Quizzes: Creative Formative Assessment with Book Creator.”
Today on the blog, I’m excited to share twenty project ideas spanning various grade levels and subjects to spark creativity during Be An Author Month. At the bottom of the post, I’ve included a link to listen to a brand new episode of my Easy EdTech Podcast featuring Randi Ahrndt, Head of Literacy Learning at Book Creator. She joins me for an exciting chat about ways to honor student voice and celebrate storytelling.
Projects for Be an Author Month
On this list, you’ll find more than a dozen ideas for using Book Creator with your students this school year. The team at Book Creator has put together a special page that includes lots of resources for Be An Author Month. Use this link to explore all of their free resources!
My Favorite Animal
Students can craft a book showcasing their favorite animal using pictures, descriptions, and fun facts. Book Creator also lets them draw pictures and record their own narration.
All About Me
This is one of my favorite ways to introduce Book Creator to a group! Students create a book filled with details about themselves, their hobbies, and their dreams for the year ahead.
Fairy Tale Reboot
Ask students to tell a classic tale with a twist! Using Book Creator’s interactive elements, like comic panels, students can rewrite a familiar story from a different character’s perspective.
Field Trip Recap
Have students design a travel brochure for a field trip they’ve taken part in, highlighting its unique features and attractions. For virtual field trip ideas, check out this spring blog post.
How-To Guide
Help students showcase their expertise. Students can create a step-by-step guide on a skill they’ve mastered, incorporating visuals and clear instructions.
Poetry Celebration
Students curate a collection of their original poems, using BookCreator’s formatting tools to create a visually stunning presentation. For more poetry ideas, check out this blog post.
Problem-Solution Sharing
Identify a real-world problem and propose a creative solution. Students can present their findings and ideas in an informative Book Creator project – maybe with a PBL connection.
Unsolved Mysteries
Help students become detectives and share their theories. Students research a historical or scientific mystery, presenting their findings and theories with multimedia elements.
Choose Your Own Adventure
As a student, I loved reading “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, and this type of storytelling might be perfect for your student authors, too. Students can craft an interactive story where readers make choices that influence the narrative.
Digital Comic Strips
Regular readers of the blog know that I love comic strips (here’s a blog post with ideas). You can have students develop storytelling skills through visually captivating comic strips created in Book Creator.
Student E-zines
Fuel student journalism with the magazine and newspaper templates in Book Creator. Students can also collaborate to create a digital magazine featuring news articles, interviews, and creative pieces.
Ecosystem Diaries
Students can explore a specific ecosystem, documenting its inhabitants, food chains, and the delicate balance within the environment. Encourage students to use the graphic organizers in Book Creator to spotlight their research.
Weather Wizards
Transform your students into meteorologists and have them publish their findings. Students can track weather patterns over a week or month, recording data, analyzing trends, and presenting their findings.
Science Experiment Showcase
Students can conduct experiments and document the hypothesis, procedure, results, and conclusions in an ebook. They can use text, photos, and even video recordings in their Book Creator project.
Local History Spotlight
For Be An Author Month, have students spotlight figures who shaped their community. Students conduct interviews, gather primary sources, and assemble their biographies.
Elections Explanation
Have students create a page in a collaborative book related to elections. Each student can explain a key vocabulary word related to voting. This project certainly has social studies connections you can incorporate into your expectations for students.
State Symbols Showcase
For another collaborative project, each student can research a state symbol. Then, they can create a single page for a class book about the state’s symbols (bird, flower, etc.), explaining their origins and significance.
Book Reviews
For Be An Author Month, students can also share authors and their works. They can write reviews of their favorite books, analyze characters and themes, and share recommendations with the class.
Create a Play
In addition to a traditional narrative, you might ask students to author a script. They can also craft an original script for a short play and add voice narration using the audio recording feature.
Geometry in the Real World
Did you catch this recent post with math activity ideas? Pick one from the list or try a “Geometry in the Real World” project where students go on a photo scavenger hunt, capturing examples of geometric shapes in everyday objects.
Student Voice and Be an Author Month
As I mentioned earlier in the post, I had a chance to chat with Randi Ahrndt, Head of Literacy Learning at Book Creator. You can listen to the episode on your favorite podcast app (like Apple Podcasts or Spotify) or press play on the podcast player below.
Randi and I talk about how to honor student voice and celebrate storytelling during Be An Author Month – and throughout the school year. And don’t forget to check out this page full of resources from Book Creator for Be An Author Month!
