Christopher Paul Curtis BLOG assignment Scholastic Book Publishing Company is looking to hire a creative, intuitive mind to build Author Blogs for teens. Could you be the person they hire? Use the information below and on the back of this page to create a blog about Christopher Paul Curtis. While this company desires professionalism, presentation, mechanics, etc they are aware that not every teen participating has access to a computer. You can really go far to impress the interview team with the blog you create but a pen copy will be accepted as well. Good Luck! And may the best candidate win! Name: _________________________ Class Period: _______ Author Pen Name: ______________________________ Date: _______ BLOG REQUIREMENTS: 1: Background – You are creating this blog from the mind of Christopher Paul Curtis. Therefore the entire Blog must be written from his point of view and perspective. 2. Information to include: The blog needs to include information about: (15) Why he writes: Author’s Purpose Background information Hobbies Family Occupations Held Book Titles he wrote 3. Diary Entry: Include at least 1 paragraph minimum that is in the format of a Diary Entry. This could be about the books he wrote or an adventure he had for a day. Another idea is writing an entry about why others enjoy his books. Use personal information about Christopher to create this entry. (15) 4. Picture: Include a picture of Christopher Paul Curtis (5) 5. Title/Subtitles/etc: Include a large title for the blog. This is where Scholastic hopes for creativity. Include in the other sections outlined in #2 titles as well. (5) 6. Mechanics/Presentation: The final copy can be typed or written in blue/black ink. Remember Scholastic desires to hire those who express their imagination and creative talents. Thus they do want color! (10 ) 7. Advertisement: Include in a textbox an appropriate advertisement that would go with Christopher Paul Curtis or the ideas that he writes about. (5 points) Use the template on the back to get idea how to create the final copy blog. Final copy paper will be provided but you are more than welcome to use the BLOG template found on Schoolwires too!

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Christopher Paul Curtis- Author of Watson’s… Questions to Answer on Christopher Paul Curtis: Christopher Paul Curtis was born in Flint, Michigan, the setting of many of his books. He was a great reader, but as a youth, he could not find books that “were about me.” After high school, Curtis spent 13 years on the assembly line of Flint’s historic Fisher Body plant, hanging 80-pound car doors on Buicks. This left him with an aversion to getting in and out of large automobiles— especially Buicks! He attended college at night and wrote during his breaks to escape the noise of the factory. He wrote his first book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, in longhand in the children’s room of the Windsor Public Library. His son Steven typed his father’s drafts into their computer and served as first reader. Curtis’s writing—and his dedication to it—has been greatly influenced by his family members, particularly his wife, Kaysandra. With grandfathers like Earl “Lefty” Lewis, a Negro Baseball League pitcher, and 1930s bandleader Herman E. Curtis, Sr., of Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression, it is easy to see why Christopher Paul Curtis was destined to become an entertainer. Curtis’s hobbies include playing basketball, collecting old record albums, and, of course, writing. His favorite books include anything by Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, or Zora Neale Hurston. He lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with his wife, Kaysandra, and their two children, Steven and Cydney. What to do while you read the text: Underline what Curtis did before he became an author. Circle Book Titles Star the words: longhand, pursuit, assembly-line Highlight Family information about Curtis. (Any Color) Another Excerpt of his Biography: In 1954, Christopher Paul Curtis, son of Herman and Leslie Curtis, was born in Flint, Michigan, and like the characters in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—2963, Curtis grew up there. Delaying his pursuit of a college education, he went to work on the assembly line at the Fisher Body Automobile Plant in Flint from 1972-85. Curtis also worked at Automatic Data Processing in Allen Park, Michigan, and as an assistant to Senator Don Riegle in Lansing, Michigan, before becoming a full-time author of young adult books. Creative Blogs to Check out: http://kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/ http://blogs.scholastic.com/kidspress/ Describe Curtis with 1 word: