Next, students scroll through the list to find the date of their birthday. The birthdates are listed as MO (month) DA (day) YR (year) with the entries appearing as 10 19 1966 for October 19, 1966 (which is my birthday!). Once the day is found, have students copy down the authors listed (though, some of the people listed are illustrators). On many of the dates several are listed.

Now, have the student search for a book by that person.. Use the AltaVista Search Engine (http://altavista.digital.com) to help find books by the chosen persons. Scroll through the search findings for your author's/illustrator's name. If/when you find it, you will probably find a book that he/she authored or illustrated.

Students findings can be compiled into a class calendar entitled:
Authors & Illustrators That Share Our Class' Birthdays

Make a listing of the books that your class finds that are written/illustrated by their shared authors. Use this as a springboard for students to use when choosing books for book reports. Why not have a Birthday Party Celebration when at least one of each person's shared author's book is reported on. Students can design birthday cards that tell/show something about their shared author's book.

Students may want to send their book report on-line to Book Nook (http://i-site.on.ca/booknook.html) using the Internet form provided at this site. While they're here, have them check out other books students have read to get future ideas for book reports.