Over the past month, my grade 7 English Language Arts class has been exploring the idea of theme in children's picture books. With the help of our former librarian, who also happens to own an independent bookstore, I chose 16 picture books and brought them to class. Students had an opportunity to read books independently and with partners, as we narrowed the list down to eight books.
The finalists were (links are to amazon.ca) :
And Tango Makes Three
King and King
Desmond and the Very Mean Word
Ten Birds
One Hockey Night
Lost Teachings
The Road to Afghanistan
It's a Book
Using a Google Form, students indicated their top three choices, as well as communicating two or three others with whom they felt they could work well. From there, I created groups of two, and assigned them their book.
They used iMovie to create their trailers, as the technology was readily available and very user friendly. When I do this again, I will encourage students to choose (and "claim") the template so that we don't end up with multiple trailers using the same format and music. Students loved creating these trailers, in part because they could embrace the creative side of the activity without becoming frustrated by technology troubles.
As a way to further engage students, I let them know from the outset that their trailers would be passed along to the bookstore owner mentioned in the first paragraph, and that they would be on display in the store window. Students were nervous and excited about the prospect of their work being viewed by "real people."
I took the flash drive to the bookstore last Friday, and heard from the owner today. Our trailers are up on her Facebook page and will be shown in-store as soon as the screen is hooked up to the computer! I was able to show students the Facebook page in class today, and the excitement was palpable. Score one for the power of sharing with a wider audience.
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