Walter Dean Myers

Author Presentation

Selena Perez

Feb. 15, 2013

About the author• Born in West Virginia and raised by

foster parents in Harlem.• High school drop out and joined the

army at the age of 17.• Wrote about the most difficult period in

his life, his teen years.• Books are mainly Realistic Fiction but

also writes Poetry and Nonfiction.

Awards

• Two Newbery Honors

• Five Coretta Scott King Awards

• Inaugural recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement

• National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

List of published works

• Ida B. Wells, Let the Truth Be Told (2009)

• Here In Harlem: Poems in Many Voices (2004)

• Shooter (2004)

• Monster (1999)

• Slam!  (1998)

• Scorpions (1988)

• Hoops   (1981)

• Autobiography of My Dead Brother (2005)

Themes

• Inner-City Life

• Urban Youth Struggles

• Violence

• Bullying

• African American Culture

• Peer Pressure

• Overcoming Adversity

Writerly techniques

• Narration

• First-Person P.O.V

• Imagery

• Powerful Diction

• Tone

• Similes and metaphors

• Relatable language

Snippet of “Monster”

Teacher Resources/content Connection• Compose poems inspired by Walter Dean Myers poem: Summer

Teacher resource: http://www.crsd.org/Page/762

• Monster is presented in the form of a film script, written by the main character. Discuss how this format affects the story and why the author may have selected this writing style. Have students write a story using a similar format. Some options include:

Have students rewrite a story as a screenplay from a character's point of view. Younger students could select a favorite children's story or picture book for this activity, while older students may choose their favorite novel.

Ask students to write an autobiographical story. Have students first list interesting events from their lives, and then write a true or fictional account based on the facts.

Have students share their stories by creating a class book or reading them aloud. 

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/walter-dean-myers-author-20670.html

• Social studies connection: Geographic studies of the setting and looking at population topics dealing with minority and integration.

http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~elbond/slam.htm