Communicating
with an
Author

Lesson Outline
Finding an Author
Questions for the Author
Publishing What We Learned

It is now time to take what we already learned about e-mail and take it a step further. The one step further that we are going to take is to find someone on the Internet that we want to learn more about and send them e-mail. Since we are always reading books, we are going to use the Web to find one of our favorite authors and e-mail with questions that we have about his/her books, their ideas, and other facts we would like to know about that author. We are going to do one author a month.

These are the steps we are going to follow:

  1. First, we are going to think of an author whose books we enjoy reading.
  2. Next, we will try to get as many of his books as we can find and read them.
  3. After we have read the books, we will look for any other information we can find out about the author such as encyclopedias, magazines, and maybe even the book covers.
  4. Now, we are ready to look on the Internet for information about our author.

Finding an Author

Because there is so much information out on the Web, we will use a tool to help us find what we are looking for this tool is a
SEARCH ENGINE We will be using a search engine called Yahoo.

Above you will see a sample of what the screen of Yahoo will look like. All you will need to do is type the author's name in the text box and then click on the "Search" button with the mouse pointer. Hopefully, Yahoo will be able to find the author that you are looking to find. After Yahoo does its search, it will tell you how many matches it found to your author's name. Click on the underlined link to go to the sites that are listed.

Now, it is time for you to try it. Just click on this Yahoo sign and you are ready to start.

Did you find out any information? Be sure to record any information you find to share with the class.

Here are some sites that might be helpful to find information about authors at:

Questions for the Author

Now, you have information you have found about the author from his books and from other sources. It is now time to think of some good questions to ask the author.

  1. Work in a cooperative group with some of the other students in the class.
  2. Write down the questions that you would like an answer to.
  3. Discuss with the other members in your group which questions in the list would be the best to ask or the ones you really want an answer to.
  4. Your group needs to decide on only one or two questions that you want to e-mail the author.
  5. Open the e-mail window by clicking on the small envelope in the bottom right corner of the Netscape window.

  6. Put in the author's e-mail address in the "Mail to:" box.
  7. In the"Subject" box, put "Questions from a Third Grade Class."
  8. In the message area, tell the author who you are and ask if he will answer some questions for you.
  9. Proofread what you typed to see if it sounds right and if you made any mistakes.
  10. Sign your names at the bottom of the message.
  11. Click on the Send button at the top of the window.
  12. Now, you just need to wait for a reply. Check the e-mail inbox tomorrow.

Publishing What We Learned

We have really learned a lot about this author so we are going to share our knowledge with others. The way we are going to do this is by making our own page about the author to up on the Internet.To get us started, meet with a cooperative group and think about what we should put on the page. Here are some questions to think about:

After your group is done with their discussion, the whole class will meet to discuss what we are going to do. A plan will be developed for the page. Then, we will get busy to follow our plan. Think about the different tasks that we need people to do. Our finished product will be a page for everyone to see on the Internet.

Return to E-Mail to Learning

Updated on May10, 1996
by Diane Backes