Book Trailers

My principal and I wrote a grant proposal for NYSCATE last year.  We won it!!!

With the grant money we bought some professional development books:

• The iMovie '11 Project Book
• Reading and Writing Genre with Purpose in K-8 Classrooms
•   The Digital Writing Workshop

3 iPads 2 and 3 iMovie 11 apps


After reading the books we created a book review/book trailer unit. We taught these units in 5th and 7th grade English classrooms.  

The students watched this instructional template video we created using the iMovie 11 trailer app, then had to storyboard their own trailers.

The 5th grade students worked in groups, using books they had read in Literature Circle groups.  The 7th graders read books I have been receiving for consideration for the NYSRA 2014 Charlotte Award nomination list. They wrote and directed the trailers alone.  We had a trailer review event with judges from the school and a local news station.  

Here are the 3 of the 4 winning entries (the Charlotte preview books):

Out in Left Field

Best Direction

Take What You Can Carry

Best Acting

Without Tess

Overall Winner

and one of my other favorites (but no award) 

Chasing the Nightbird