ReadWriteThink: December 2, 2009: David Macaulay was born on this day in 1946.

December 2, 2009

		Born in England, Macaulay came to the U.S. as a child. He received his B.A. in architecture in 1969 and has since worked as an illustrator, graphic designer, and author. Macaulay is well known for his books on architectural structures, which feature a unique genre blend of fact and fiction. He has earned a number of awards for his work, including the Caldecott Medal (for Black and White) and Honor Awards (for Castle and Cathedral). image © 2005 Julie Brigidi—Bristol Workshops

David Macaulay was born on this day in 1946.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

Invite your students to explore Macaulay’s use of multiple genres by composing original multigenre texts using the interactive Multigenre Mapper. This tool invites students to create original works that include one drawing and three texts.

First, select a topic for students’ multigenre texts. You might choose a subject you are currently studying in science or social studies or let students choose their own topics.
Next, ask students to brainstorm a set of subtopics and possible writing genres (for example, poetry, recipes, fables, journal entries, or news articles) that could be used to share the subtopics with readers in an engaging way.
Have students use the Multigenre Mapper Planning Sheet to write rough drafts of their texts.
Finally, have students visit the interactive Multigenre Mapper to compose their texts online.

Have students print and share their final texts, explaining how they blended different genres to create their final products. Create a display or index of the texts so that other students in the school can enjoy them. Include some of Macaulay’s texts to tie the project together.

Lesson Plans

Reading and Analyzing Multigenre Texts
In this lesson for middle school, students read Macaulay’s Black and White, and then brainstorm what they need to read and understand multigenre texts.

Postmodern Picture Books in the Middle School
Middle school students use Black and White to explore multigenre texts and engage in a deep analysis of the writer’s craft.

Weaving the Multigenre Web
In this lesson, high school students use online technology to link genres together in a hypertext presentation or multigenre Web.

Zines for Kids: Multigenre Texts About Media Icons
This lesson asks elementary students to write short pieces in a variety of genres about a favorite media icon to create their own zines.

Web Links

David Macaulay: Bookfest 04
In this Webcast, David Macaulay discusses his interest in learning about “how things work” and how he develops ideas for his books.

David Macaulay
David Macaulay’s site at Houghton Mifflin offers information about Macaulay and his books. Highlights include a video of Macaulay at work, animated demonstrations and slide shows of parts of his books, and the text of some of his speeches and interviews.

Teaching Multigenre Writing
This workshop from the “Write in the Middle” program focuses on multigenre writing, and includes a related reading from the NCTE journal Language Arts.

Building Big
PBS offers this companion site to their series Building Big, hosted by David Macaulay. The site offers an Educator’s Guide to the series, as well as several interactive features.

Texts

Macaulay, David. 2005. Black and White. Houghton Mifflin.
Macaulay’s nonlinear picture book challenges the reader to use text and pictures in unexpected ways.

Macaulay, David. 1998. The New Way Things Work. Houghton Mifflin.
Macaulay demonstrates how machines do what they do—from the simplest lever to the far-reaching capabilities of the Internet.

Macaulay, David. 2003. Mosque. Houghton Mifflin.
Macaulay recounts the step-by-step planning and construction of a fictional mosque in 16th-century Turkey.

Macaulay, David. 2000. Building Big. Houghton Mifflin.
The design process for structures all around us—bridges, dams, skyscrapers, domes—forms the basis for this book.