Author Study: Pam Muñoz Ryan (Grades 5-6)
Students read three selections by Muñoz Ryan and work across the texts to make comparisons and draw conclusions about the content and style of Muñoz Ryan’s writing. Students also study how Muñoz Ryan’s writing is informed by her life. The final task asks the students to apply what they’ve learned to an additional story by Muñoz Ryan.
- Three literary texts
- 3-4 weeks instruction
- Explanation writing
What is this unit about?
This unit, an author study of selected works by Pam Muñoz Ryan, encourages students to discuss in detail the author’s characters, themes, events, and writing techniques. Students also create their own narratives in a WriteLike of Ryan and do online research to learn how Ryan’s life connects to what she writes about.
The unit promotes students’ wider independent reading of authors they choose to read. In addition, the critical thinking students employ in this author study will help students do similar kinds of comparative analyses of other authors.
What content will students learn?
Students will deepen their understanding of:
- literary elements such as characterization, setting, events, themes, and meanings in narratives;
- narrative techniques and their impact on readers;
- point of view in narratives;
- clues authors provide in stories of their lives;
- how to compare and contrast ideas, literary elements, and narrative techniques across texts;
- their own aesthetic response to particular narratives; and
- genre of historical fiction and contemporary narratives.