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Meet Author Kate DiCamillo

This week's standards:

* Students comprehend and respond to a variety of images and text. Students identify forms and elements of literature. (Language arts: Reading)

* Students understand and apply media, techniques and processes. (Visual Arts)


1. Create a "mixed media" poster for your favorite book. "Mixed media" means that you use at least two different kinds of art (for example, watercolors and construction paper, or poster paint and photographs). Write a sentence describing the way you made decisions about the art in your poster.

2. Find three photos in the newspaper that you think could be used for a story idea for a children's book. Share the photos with family members and friends. Ask each person to make up a story line for one of the photos.

3. Divide a piece of paper into two columns. In the first column, list the ways Kate DiCamillo and Mordicai Gerstein are alike. In the second column, list the ways they are different. What can you learn about being a writer or illustrator from their stories?

4. Look at the descriptions of the books written by Kate DiCamillo and Mordicai Gerstein. Which of DiCamillo's books would you like to read? Why? Which of Gerstein's books would you like to read? Why?

5. Study the illustrations in some of your favorite picture books. Select three books. Look carefully at the illustrations. Compare the illustrations using these questions: Which medium is used in each book (for example, watercolors, collage, pastels, etc.)? Why do you think the artist selected that medium? What do you like about the medium used in the illustrations? If you were going to illustrate a book, what medium would you choose? Why?


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