Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

 

Read, Tell, and Sell: CCSS through student book promotions

Assess, Reflect, and Share

Be sure to take time at the end of the project to assess your students' work and to have them reflect upon both the process and the product. Check out the Teacher Resources page for a booktalk module from the Baltimore County Public Schools. It provides support materials for the planning stages of the project as well as a tool for peer or self-evaluation. This module was created for third grade goals and objectives, so you may have to tweak it for your own purposes. This rubric was created for a middle school summer booktalk program, and another sample rubric (Word doc) is available from the Cobb County School District.

If you take the low-tech or no-tech approach, consider a gallery walk for sharing time. Display student projects in your classroom or library, and have students give their booktalks “live” for small groups as they rotate through the “gallery.”

Written narratives created in Reading Apps (or Google Docs) can be “published to the web” as a sharing option. The URL provided by Google can be shortened using goo.gl, and a QR code generated. (Learn more about QR codes here.) Print the QR codes and attach them to the covers of the books in the school library. Students browsing in the library can read the accompanying booktalk by simply scanning the QR code with a device that has a code reader, such as an iTouch or tablet.

If your students prepare digital booktalks or trailers, why not set aside class time on a few consecutive days for a film festival, and have students view the work of their peers and complete scoring sheets. Consider asking your librarian to add exemplary trailers to the school's library catalog. This video shows how to do this for schools using Follett Destiny.

Celebrate all the learning that took place by sharing with your intended audience (other classes, the librarian, etc.) and then with a more global one. Upload student work to sites that assign URLs and embed codes. Then link to or embed the projects on your class web page, blog, or wiki for worldwide, 24/7 access! If you have a class or teacher Twitter account, be sure to tweet about it with hashtag #elemchat, #tlchat, or #edtech to spread the word and invite viewers. Not sure about Twitter? Learn more about it here.