English Festival, Celebrating Literature: Book Trailers using Slideful

English Festival participants enjoying professional storyteller, Pam Holcomb.

Annually, my seventh graders participate in our county English Festival. Junior High students from all of the schools in our county are invited to read quality literature, then join together at our local university branch to discuss issues, play games, write compositions and poetry, and create technology projects based on the books they have read. The list of this year's books includes:

Bulu: African Wonder Dog by Dick Houston
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
Jump into the Sky by Shelley Pearsall
Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
Blink Once by Cylin Busby

As a teacher whose students participate in the festival, I am required to "teach" one session, or workshop. By session I am referring to the activities that students choose to complete. There are sessions for writing stories and poetry, sessions for playing games, sessions for drama and music, and an internet session. Approximately 20 students are enrolled in each 50 minute session. I chose to host the internet session and am permitted to develop the activity as I see fit as long as it involves the literature the students read. This is the second year that I have hosted the internet session; last year I had my participants create a newspaper for their favorite book on the list using ReadWriteThink's Printing Press.

This year my participants created a book trailer for their favorite book on the list. Using the free website Slideful.com and following my instructional sheet Book Trailer 101, the junior high students were able to create interactive video book trailers to entice viewers to read their favorite book.

Of course, I did several dry runs before asking students to complete the activity on their own. Here is my first attempt at creating a book trailer using Slideful.



The best thing about Slideful is that there is no registration necessary. Without registering, users can still compile a video of ten images, each containing text, in a single work session (you can not save projects to work on later). This is the only website that I've found that allows non-registered users to COMPLETE a project! If you do choose to register, there is no cost, and you then can increase the number of slides in your videos as well as save your videos to work on at another time.

While I worked on my own video, I compiled my instruction sheet, a step-by-step set of directions that were kid-friendly. The directions needed to be simple enough for students to be able to follow without minimal teacher intervention, yet detailed enough to permit students to complete a successful project in under 50 minutes. When I felt I had accomplished this task, I handed the sheet to two of my seventh grade boys (English Festival participants but not taking my internet session) and said, "Please, do this."

Step 12 on the original directions contained a specific Padlet page.

And they did!



As did all of my English Festival participants. You can view all of the trailers at this blog link.

The festival was once again a great success. I heard tremendously positive feedback from my students who attended and from those from other schools who were in my session. We teachers who took part will be meeting within a few weeks to begin selecting the books for next year's festival, and I will begin searching for a "new" internet/literature project.

Any suggestions for junior high book titles or 50 minute technology projects? I'm all ears!

Throwback Thursday: Novel Responses

What is Throwback Thursday? How does it work, you might ask? Simply look through your PURR-fect Previous Posts, perhaps a particular favorite of yours, and re-post it! Purr-fectly easy and simple! Your post doesn't have to be from LOOOONNNGGG ago; it can be from last month or even earlier this week. And if you don't have a post to share, perhaps an old photo or two from WAY BACK will do! Even a favorite pin is PURR-fect! Just join in the Throwback fun!

For Wordless Wednesday yesterday, I blogged about a favorite novel response that I ask my students to complete. It reminded me of one of my first blog posts a little over two years ago. It, too, was about novel responses and is one of the most popular posts here on my blog. This post first appeared on The Teacher's Desk 6 3/1/13.

I've been a Language Arts teacher for a LONG time! I've seen many changes in teaching methods, philosophies, best practices, Common Core, etc., etc., etc. Some of the old becomes new again, and some of the new becomes quite old. What hasn't changed is that a good teaching activity is still a good teaching activity!

I've been sorting through The Desk lately and have come across many good activities that I've been using since my early days. One file I found was titled NOVEL RESPONSES (one of the first ideas I posted on my original website in 1996). In it are numerous ideas for having students respond to the novels that they read. I still use most of these in either my fifth or sixth grade classes. I'll be sharing many of these novel responses in the coming days.

Here's a sampling with which to begin:

• Write a letter to one of the characters in the novel. Ask him/her questions as well as tell about yourself. Pay particular attention to letter format.
• Create a newspaper page for one of the novels. Summarize the plot in one of your articles. Cover the weather in another. Include an editorial and a collection of ads that would be pertinent to the novel.
• Summarize the plot by creating a cartoon version of the novel. Use about six to eight frames.
• Rewrite a chapter or section of your novel from another character's point of view.
• Pretend you are a newspaper reporter whose job is to interview one of the characters. Write your interview.
• You have become a character in one of the novels. Describe your experience during a conflict.
• Write a poem about one of the novels. Touch on the characters, setting, plot, and theme.
• Rewrite a portion of the novel as a play.
• Choose a familiar melody, such as "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and change the lyrics so they pertain to the novel.
• Develop a mini matrix for your novel... more about this activity in a later blog post
• Create a mini story wheel for your novel... more about this activity in a later blog post
• Create a story chain for your novel that consists of at least ten links... more about this activity in a later blog post
• Compare and contrast one of your novels with another that you have read for class this year or last. Remember to include how the novels are alike AND how they are different. Create a Venn diagram to show your findings.
• Redesign the front and back cover of your novel. Include the pertinent information as well as a blurb on the back.
• Develop an award for your novel. Explain the criteria for the award and why this particular book was selected to receive it. A good place to start this project is by reading about the Newbery and Caldecott awards. Notice, too, the other awards particular books have been given.
• Create a triorama for your novel that depicts the most important scene. Write a summary of this scene, explaining its role in the storyline.
• Design a story map for your novel. Include important information such as characters, setting, and the plot. Write a brief explanation of your map.

As I read through the list, it dawned on me that even though these ideas had been posted almost 20 years ago, most of them align nicely with the current Common Core State Standards. Sounds like another project for me to work on!

Now it's your turn for a Throwback post.

An InLinkz Link-up

Wordless Wednesday: Responding to a Novel

I really look forward to Wednesdays and joining Miss DeCarbo for...

What kinds of novel responses or projects do you have your students complete?

This is a project that I have done with my 5th-7th grade students for more than 25 years.

Occasionally I  ask my students to illustrate a science concept or an idea from Religion class, but normally I just ask them to complete this three dimensional triorama as a response to a literature circle novel they have read.

Sometimes I ask them to display a particular literary element, such as setting or characters, sometimes I ask them to display a plot element, such as the climax or resolution.

This year I simply asked them to display and write about their favorite part of the story. The trioramas that they created are FABULOUS...

and the writing to accompany them is WONDERFUL as well!

Must Read Mentor Text: The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill CCSS Freebie

I knew that I had been using this book as a mentor text with my fifth grade Language Arts students for quite some time; however, I didn't realize just how long. When I went in search of a pic and quotes for this novel I found myself at Amazon where I saw my order update: purchased July 2, 2002... and this was a second copy! I'm now on a Kindle copy! If longevity of use in a classroom is any indication of a book's worth, this is definitely a book you should try.

"Ten-year-old Frederika (Fred for short) doesn't have much faith that the new teacher in town will last very long. After all, they never do. Most teachers who come to their one-room schoolhouse in remote, Alaska leave at the first smell of fish, claiming that life there is just too hard. 

But Miss Agnes is different -- she doesn't get frustrated with her students, and she throws away old textbooks and reads Robin Hood instead! For the first time, Fred and her classmates begin to enjoy their lessons and learn to read and write -- but will Miss Agnes be like all the rest and leave as quickly as she came?"... Amazon

I generally use this novel as the second read aloud/read along (now with my Kindle app and projector) with my fifth grade Language Arts students each year. It makes for a wonderful contrast to the first novel for genre, mood, use of language, plot development, setting, and more!

I especially like to teach character traits and character development with this novel. The main character changes profoundly yet subtly from the beginning of the story to the end. The secondary characters are well developed and exhibit a variety of traits. Because of this, readers/listeners can identify readily with at least one character. This allows for incorporating the strategy of making connections.

One of the characters, Bokko, is deaf. As a result Miss Agnes teaches herself and the entire class, along with Bokko, sign language so that everyone can finally communicate with each other. There is an entire chapter devoted to discussing the manual alphabet. We learn this alphabet along with the characters in the book... another connection... and then we use it to practice our spelling words each week.

The setting, the wilderness of Alaska in 1948, is integral to the story. Its harshness is what is so difficult for the teachers to accept. By changing the setting, the conflicts would change. Finally, while not too predictable, the story problem/resolution does lend itself to the strategy of making predictions: Will Miss Agnes stay, or will she, too, like all the other teachers, leave at the end of a year? You'll just have to read this Must Read Mentor Text to find out!

After I published this post, I decided I wanted to find out a little bit more about the book. I found a wonderful "interview" by the author Kirkpatrick Hill. In it she explains her background as a writer and the background for this novel. I'm having my fifth graders read the online informational article as a companion piece to the literary text. I believe I hear CCSS in there somewhere. I also created a brief comprehension paper that requires students to provide textual evidence in support of their responses (CCSS 5.RIT.1). If you decide to use The Year of Miss Agnes with your students you may want a copy. You can download it HERE or by clicking on the pic. You will need to download and print a copy of the interview as well.

Happy Reading,
Happy Teaching,
Angela
The Teacher's Desk 6

Time Travelin' on Throwback Thursday

I'm linking up with Jess at I {heart} Recess for her fun Time Travel linky and with Mrs. Carroll over at The First Grade Parade for her Throwback Thursday linky.

I never thought to share my sixth grade picture with my sixers as Jess does with her fourth graders. However, the more I thought about it, the more I really like the idea. I'm gonna do it this year!!!  I knew I had a picture of me in sixth grade somewhere. Before my mother passed away three years ago, she had gone through all her photos, separated them into piles, and gave each family member the photos she had of him/her. In her pile to me were all my school photos she had kept in her wallet ALL those years, and I mean a LOT of years. It's taken me three days to find it... ta da... here I am in all my sixth grade glory!

grade: 6th
school year: 1969-70 (gulp!)
school: State Road Elementary
teacher: Mr. Frank Knudsen... my favorite teacher and the reason I became a sixth grade teacher!
favorites: cable TV (just became available in our city), The Addams Family (on TV), The Muensters, Monday night ABC movies, Little Kiddles dolls from Mattell, super balls, Barbie, and Spirograph (still have mine)
Memories: being able to finally ride my bike to school, wearing culottes to school... this was a BIG thing back then since girls could NOT wear pants to school and culottes were like shorts, wearing fish net stockings with saddle shoes (what were we thinking?). One of the most vivid memories I have of sixth grade is of writing a puppet show script based on The Addams Family, making the puppets from milk cartons, and getting to perform it for the fourth and fifth graders. I was sooooo proud of my group's script and puppets but didn't one of the boys act up royally and we were not allowed to perform ours. I'm still mad after all these years. I had the boy's child in school about ten years ago and took great pleasure in telling her stories about her dad in sixth grade... revenge is sweet! LOL!

Continuing with the theme of traveling back in time, I'm sharing a post from the very early days of this blog  for Throwback Thursday wherein I talk about being a Language Arts teacher for quite a long time...

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March 1, 2013

I've been a Language Arts teacher for a LONG time! I've seen many changes in teaching methods, philosophies, best practices, Common Core, etc., etc., etc. Some of the old becomes new again, and some of the new becomes quite old. What hasn't changed is that a good teaching activity is still a good teaching activity!

I've been sorting through The Desk lately and have come across many good activities that I've been using since my early days. One file I found was titled NOVEL RESPONSES (one of the first ideas I posted on my original website in 1996). In it are numerous ideas for having students respond to the novels that they read. I still use most of these in either my fifth or sixth grade classes. I'll be sharing many of these novel responses in the coming days.

Here's a sampling with which to begin:

• Write a letter to one of the characters in the novel. Ask him/her questions as well as tell about yourself. Pay particular attention to letter format.
• Create a newspaper page for one of the novels. Summarize the plot in one of your articles. Cover the weather in another. Include an editorial and a collection of ads that would be pertinent to the novel.
• Summarize the plot by creating a cartoon version of the novel. Use about six to eight frames.
• Rewrite a chapter or section of your novel from another character's point of view.
• Pretend you are a newspaper reporter whose job is to interview one of the characters. Write your interview.
• You have become a character in one of the novels. Describe your experience during a conflict.
• Write a poem about one of the novels. Touch on the characters, setting, plot, and theme.
• Rewrite a portion of the novel as a play.
• Choose a familiar melody, such as "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and change the lyrics so they pertain to the novel.
• Develop a mini matrix for your novel... more about this activity in a later blog post
• Create a mini story wheel for your novel... more about this activity in a later blog post
• Create a story chain for your novel that consists of at least ten links... more about this activity in a later blog post
• Compare and contrast one of your novels with another that you have read for class this year or last. Remember to include how the novels are alike AND how they are different. Create a Venn diagram to show your findings.
• Redesign the front and back cover of your novel. Include the pertinent information as well as a blurb on the back.
• Develop an award for your novel. Explain the criteria for the award and why this particular book was selected to receive it. A good place to start this project is by reading about the Newbery and Caldecott awards. Notice, too, the other awards particular books have been given.
• Create a triorama for your novel that depicts the most important scene. Write a summary of this scene, explaining its role in the storyline.
• Design a story map for your novel. Include important information such as characters, setting, and the plot. Write a brief explanation of your map.

As I read through the list, it dawned on me that even though these ideas had been posted almost 20 years ago, most of them align nicely with the current Common Core State Standards. Sounds like another project for me to work on!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And now back to the present.... There are always projects to work on for us teachers, aren't there? I still have tons of laminating to cut out and I'm still making classroom items to match my new theme for this: polka dot monsters. Yesterday I finished up my sentence signs. I really like how they turned out. There are nine signs in all and are available in my TpT store.


Today I'm making Literature Circle Job posters. Next will be genre posters and figurative language signs... gotta get it done... I go in next week to "cute-ify" the room. The kiddos will be back before I know it!

Happy Teaching,

Angela

The Teacher's Desk 6