Creating an Epic Author Event
By:  Melissa Voss

Project at a Glance :

This project was developed in order to make improvements to the current format for our Author Celebration Event that happens in the fall.

Driving Question:

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

Entry Event:

• To kick off the event, we watched a slide show that reflected the author event that occurred in November. This was intended to celebrate books that students had written after participating in the Story Book Project at Herrick North Branch Library. 
• We then completed a Bug List to identify the problems with the way the Author Event is currently run.

Stakeholders:

• Students and Families
• Teachers and Library Staff
• Library visitors 

Empathy Building:

• Stakeholders Map
• Empathy Map ​

• We tried to imagine what stakeholders would be thinking, seeing, and saying. 

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• After completing the Bug List and Stakeholders Map, students reflected on those and came up with their Need to Know list.​

 Gaining Insights:  

• The students developed Interview questions for the librarian based on their "need to knows".

Incubation:

• Idea Quota​​

• Mind Mapping
• Students researched what excellent book launch parties might look like​

​Checking in:

• As we went through the process, there were discussions about how realistic our options were.

• Expenses and available technology for our solution ideas were also discussed.

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Solution Building:

• A slide show was created to showcase the pitch. Each small group chose one area to focus on.​​

Critique and Revision: 

• Dot Voting was used to narrow ideas for each area of the Author Event. 

Authentic Audience:

• Herrick Librarians​
• Students

Solution Examples:

• Students came up with several areas of focus to implement at the Author Celebration Event.​

• Fundraiser Plan​

• Invites/Announcements
• VIP Pass
• Food
  

Click here for teacher's google slides with new protocols.
Reflection and Feedback:

• The Herrick Librarians gave feedback and asked questions after the presentation.
• The students were excited to possibly see their solution ideas implemented for the 2026 Author Celebration!

The Pitch

Stations Group

Decorations Group

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

Meet the Educator:

​Melissa Voss has been teaching for 26 years at the elementary level. She currently teaches the SAIL program (Students Accelerating in Reading) in West Ottawa and teaches 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students in above-grade level reading and writing.

          "I love to see the kids brainstorm, debate, choose, and present their thinking in PBL."