21st Century Book Talks & Trailers

Top 10 ways to use technology to promote reading I only steal from the best. So here we go. Johnson's Top Ten... Author and fan websites. Here's the thing. 5 Free Tools for Creating Book Trailer Videos The traditional book report that asks students to critique the books that they read is a staple of many classrooms. If you would like to add a new element to book reports try having students add visual and audio components to book reports by having students create book trailers. Book trailers are short videos designed to spark a viewer's interest in a book. A great place to find examples of book trailers is Book Trailers for Readers. If you would like to have your students try to create book trailers, here are five free video tools that are well-suited to that purpose. Animoto makes it possible to quickly create a video using still images, music, video clips, and text. Stupeflix is a service that allows user to quickly and easily create video montages using their favorite images and audio clips. Shwup is a service similar to Animoto and Stupeflix for creating videos based on your images and audio files. Masher is a free tool for creating video mash-ups.

Corkboard Connections: 12 Ways to Motivate Reluctant Readers I think I must have been born with a book in my hand! My parents told me that from the moment I learned to read, I would read everything in sight, from cereal boxes to billboards. When I began reading books, there was no stopping me! I even begged them to name my baby brother after a book character. (Yes, Tim, that story is really true!) So when I became a teacher, I was amazed to discover that most kids don’t enjoy reading. Here are a dozen strategies that are often included in Reading Workshop, and none of them involve stickers, certificates, or pizza. You can motivate reluctant readers when you …. Read aloud to them. Read what they’re reading.I used to get a secret thrill when the Scholastic Book Clubs flyer arrived! Let them read other stuff.

Resources for Creating Book Trailers Creating Book Trailers A trailer for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce. The trailer was created by Jarod Lambert and his son Charles (age 6). What are book trailers? Chance and Lesesne (2012) define a book trailer as "a visual representation of a book. Commercial conceptualizations of video book trailers are valid and have their place as they serve a valid and specific function: to sell specific books. Given the varying purposes assigned to book trailers, we will focus on the methodology of creating trailers. What about using book trailers instructionally? Talk of book trailers tends toward publisher, teacher, and librarian creation of trailers as a means of advertising books to various audiences. Sample Book Trailers From Carol Johnson at Buckalew Elementary Trailers saved as PDFs from PowerPoint files. From Third Grade Students at Coulson Tough Elementary (K-6) The Spider and The Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendack References

24 important Google Docs Tips and Add-ons for Teachers May 3, 2017 Google Docs has tons of interesting features that can immensely enhance your productivity level as a teacher and educator. However, most of these features are hidden and you need to dig deeper beyond the simple compose, comment and share trio most users are used to. We have already covered several of these features in previous posts in the past which you can access here. Today, we are sharing with you this wonderful infographic created by the folks in GetVoip featuring a quasi-comprehensive list of hacks and tips to help you tap into the full potential of Google Docs. The Big Tease: Trailers are a terrific way to hook kids on books Once upon a time, publishers promoted books with jacket blurbs, bookmarks, and author tours. Then six years ago, YouTube changed the rules of the game. Today publishers are spending as much as $20,000 a pop to create book trailers—30- to 90-second teasers, à la movie trailers, designed to generate virtual and word-of-mouth buzz and, of course, to sell titles. “Trailers are definitely a staple in our marketing,” says Diane Naughton, HarperCollins’s vice president of marketing. Indeed. The trick: “Pure enthusiasm does not make good video,” says best-selling kids’ book author and former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka. So what makes a great trailer? The best trailers typically last just a minute or so. Humor is another secret weapon. A little film, TV, and musical experience can also go a long way. Some videos are essentially author interviews, but these tend to work best after kids have read the book, says a Myers. Trailers target many audiences. No money?

McElhinny's Center Stage: The Beginning of Book Clubs in B13 My literacy blocks are beginning their first book clubs. They will be reading and discussing books in a series. They were supposed to do this unit back in November, but at that time my teammates and I thought it best to go ahead with the nonfiction unit instead. The main reason was that we did not have enough books. Now we are ready to go and the students are really excited! Here are some of the pieces I have put in place to get us started...I will share more as the clubs progress. Each book club completed and signed a contract. Book Club folders contain the following: a copy of the contract, a meeting checklist, a calendar of meeting times and page assignments, the book, sticky notes. Students use the meeting checklist as a self-assessment. Students filled out their own calendars to decide how many pages or chapters they were going to read to prepare for each meeting. Book Club Anchor Charts

Using Film to Teach Reading and Literacy Are you kidding? Use movies to teach kids to read? Some might say it’s nonsense. For most of a century, we’ve heard experts claim that “the media” is the enemy of literacy. First it was radio, then movies, then TV. Nowadays, when I hear this repeated yet again, I like to offer a true story that helps dispel the claim. And here’s a more recent example: Each episode of Reading Rainbow – broadcast by PBS from 1983 to 2009 and the recipient of over 200 awards – featured a segment recommending books that were related to each show’s theme. Those recommendations, shared by TV star LeVar Burton, led many school and public libraries to acquire the titles – and many kids to read them. The evidence continues to abound. An important common core standard to keep in mind Today, many films are “based on a true story” and current teaching standards encourage students to investigate how filmmakers use “artistic license” in their retellings. Which questions should they ask? Looking for older material?

Cool Tools for Schools Junior Library Guild Launches Book Trailer Contest for Teens High school students in the United States and Canada can put their creative skills to the test in a big way. School Library Journal’s sister company, Junior Library Guild (JLG), is launching a Book Trailer contest, kicking off February 22. Students in ninth through 12th grade and who are 13 or older can participate by producing a book trailer for one of JLG’s fall 2015 high school book selections. Video book trailers should be no more than two minutes long and credit all music and image sources as well as the author of the book. How to Enter: Post the video on YouTube using the tag #JLGTrailer16Submit the YouTube link to your book trailer along with your name, age, contact information (either a phone number or email) and your school’s name and full address and librarian’s name to: contest@juniorlibraryguild.com.Post videos between February 22, 2016 and March 31, 2016.

“Have you read…?” The Art of Recommending Books | Turn and Talk A colleague mentions that he is a huge fan of historical fiction. You immediately scroll through your list of favorites and ask, “Have you read…?” You attend a workshop where the presenter sprinkles her content with references to texts that have influenced her ideas about the topic. You click on your favorite book-shopping site and begin to fill your cart. While standing in line, you overhear some strangers talking about a movie and you can’t help yourself, “Did you guys read the book?” Book recommendations. Some Categories Readers Discuss when Recommending Books Title and Author—Pretty self-explanatory to mention the title and author in a book recommendation, however, we might also teach kids to add the little details that often push a book from shopping cart to ‘buy now with 1-click’. The Characters—We might pick up a book because the subject or storyline interests us, but we keep turning pages because we care about the characters and what happens to them. Like this: Like Loading...

5 Free Tools for Creating Book Trailer Videos The traditional book report that asks students to critique the books that they read is a staple of many classrooms. If you would like to add a new element to book reports try having students add visual and audio components to book reports by having students create book trailers. Book trailers are short videos designed to spark a viewer's interest in a book. Animoto makes it possible to quickly create a video using still images, music, video clips, and text. Stupeflix is a service that allows user to quickly and easily create video montages using their favorite images and audio clips. Shwup is a service similar to Animoto and Stupeflix for creating videos based on your images and audio files. Flixtime is a video creation service that is quite similar to Animoto and Stupeflix. Masher is a free tool for creating video mash-ups.

21 Top Presentation Tools for Teachers - More Than A Tech For years, PowerPoint reigned supreme as presentation software of choice for just about everyone, including teachers and students. In recent years though, upstarts like Prezi showed us that there was more than one way to move through traditional slides. We complied a list of 21 of the best presentation apps for educators. Sure, you’ll see some old favorites, but we’re sure there are at least a few on this list you’ve never heard of. Everyone is looking for different features and options when creating a presentation. Animoto Animoto is geared toward making videos as opposed to traditional slide decks. Reimagine the way you create classroom presentations and boardroom presentations from the comfort of your browser with Animaker. Did we miss your favorite tool? Looking for even more options?