Creating an EPIC Author Event
By:  Melissa Voss

Project at a Glance :
       
 
Driving Question:

How do we revamp the Author Celebration night into an epic unforgettable experience?             

Standards:

Team / Culture Building:
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Entry Event:

• To kick off the event, we watched a slide show the reflected on the Author Event we were part of in November. This event was held to celebrate books that each group of students had written after participating in the Story Book Project at Herrick North Branch Library. ​
• Two books used as inspiration for class written book.

Stakeholders:

• ​​3rd - 5th grade students
• Parents
• Siblings
• Library staff & visitors
• Teacher

Empathy Building:

• Stakeholder Map​

• Empathy Maps

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• ​The class completed a Bug List to identify the problems with the way the Author Event is currently run
• Need to Know protocol

• Students interviewed the librarian, Ms. Adrienne.

Incubation:

• The class began the incubation stage by conducting research into what excellent book launch parties might include.

• Students used the Idea Quota protocol to generate solution ideas.

• After completing research, the class used the Mind Mapping activity to consider what components of the Author Event were needed.

Checking in:

• As the class went through the process, the children conducted interviews, discussed how realistic our ideas were, (the ice sculpture was not) and thought about expenses for the solution idea.
• Before deciding a format for our presentation, we had to ask Ms. Adrienne what type of technology was available. We then decided to create a Google Slide Show. 

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Solution Building:

• Dot Voting - after narrowing down the ideas to those that were viable, each child was given dots to vote for two of their favorite choices on each poster.

Authentic Audience:

• Ms. Adrienne, Herrick Librarian
• Mr. Rob, Herrick Librarian

Final Presentation:

• Students presented their ideas (slideshow) at Herrick Library.

Reflection and Feedback:

• ​Students held a Question and Answer debrief with audience after our presentation.

Click here for the teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet . . .

Meet the Educator: