Middle Grade Students:
How to use the Author Adventures site (high school and college students can use this link: High School and College Students):
Five things to know and ideas to help you out:
1) The places listed on this website are open to visitors like you. Living authors’ homes are private so they are not included, but we may clue you into other places that are important to them like a library or park they enjoyed when they were young.
2) Since our goal is for you to experience what it was really like to live like the writers, we point you to places where you can actually walk around and discover what is there. If the only thing to see is a plaque, or if the place is a replica (a model) with no real connection to the writer, it is probably not included.
If you want an idea of what to expect, visit our Author Adventures channel on YouTube or click on the Videos tab of this website to see very short films about some of the landmarks. You can watch YouTube videos without noisy clutter by placing the video link in safeshare.tv.
3) Not all authors write with kids in mind and maybe you have a tour guide who doesn’t know how to talk to kids. Try any of these ideas to make it more fun for you:
A: Think up questions before you go. Ask your guide what is the most unusual or standout thing to know so you can write about it in your “What I Did Last Summer” essay
(For citations, always use the root source, not a website that links to it. To cite an Author Adventures page, please use AuthorAdventures.org.)
B: Ask if you can go to the gift shop first so you can find something to keep your hands working during the tour; working hands lead to working thought
C: Be the photographer and take photos of what seems cool or weird (stuff, not people); if you like, post interesting shots to social media such as Instagram or your family’s Shutterfly Share Site.
D: Sketch out something you spot on the tour that interests you; see how many details you can remember when you leave and fill them in
E: Smell trees and plants on the grounds; it sounds strange but you’ll remember everything better
4) We are passionate about what we learned and happy to help with questions. Please use the contact form below for that. Your question will be forwarded to the contributor who wrote the page you wonder about.
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