We have several formats for our Author ciphers but they all include an onsite visit from the Author.
Read and Go Deeper
In this cipher the author students have the opportunity to fully engage with the Author by asking questions about the writing process, the author’s motivations for writing, themes associated with the book life as an author and other questions of interest.
Read and Create your Own Ending
In this cipher students are asked to read a portion of a manuscript before coming to the cipher and asked to think about and create their own endings. They bring to the cipher a pre-written essay. Students engage the Author in a discussion about how they see the story ending.
Example: Author Aurelia Williams flew in from Texas one month prior to the publication of her book Broken China. Students were given the first 100 pages of the book and asked to think about and create their own endings. In the cipher, they showed Lori a visual tapestry based on the themes of her; novel–guilt, heartbreak, and dealing with some of life’s hard choices. This cipher was sponsored by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Read and Bring the Drama
In this cipher students are called on to dramatize portions of the book or to pull themes or concepts from the book to be dramatized. This may sometimes call upon students to create mock trials.
Example: A Philip Randolph, Bread & Roses Academy, Central Park East Secondary, Frederick Douglass Academy I, Frederick Douglass Academy II, Manhattan Center, Thurgood Marshall Academy, Urban Peace Academy, Wadleigh Secondary, and Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Students participated in a cipher that featured Randall Kennedy’s title Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. After reviewing the history of the word, students put the word on trial.
In this dramatization they were called to address the use of the word in literature, t media, school, and on the street. A mock trial was performed. Who knew J-Lo, Aaron McGruder and Al Sharpton would all be called to testify?