#BookSnaps, Book Memes, and Book Trailers...Oh, My!

During my last post, I mentioned a variety of assignments I used to engage my senior’s in their ‘Joy of Reading’ elective. I thought that I should go into this a little further and explain how I use these assignments. Not only can these assignments be used for high school students, but you could also use them for elementary and middle school students as long as you tweak the expectations and rubrics. This article will focus on the use of multiple assignments to engage students in reading for enjoyment. Is that an oxymoron? Are kids reading for enjoyment? I hope so, it is one of the most important skills a kid can have, so let’s promote it as much as possible while they are in school and influenced by the old people that stand in front of them.

I am going to delve into three of the projects I mentioned in my last post: #BookSnap, Book Meme, and Book Trailer. I chose these three to focus on first because they show a progression of technology and they include some of the same elements in each assignment.

Let’s begin with #BookSnaps, shall we? #BookSnaps was created by Tara Martin as an attempt to connect with her teenager and what he was reading. Check out Tara’s page, she’s amazing and has tons of cool ways to integrate technology into education as a way to engage learners. Here’s the gist on #BookSnaps, you can use Snapchat or any other app to take a picture of a piece of text you want to annotate. Annotations refer to adding your own thoughts or insights into a piece of literature. You take a picture of the text, underline or highlight the text you plan to annotate, add stickers or GIFs to your picture, and add your annotation of the text. You can add relevant hashtags and tags depending on where you are posting your #BookSnaps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9xssFGf32k

This is a great assignment to implement while you are teaching annotations or during a book study or literature circle. I have used this for an all-class book study on Hatchet with seventh graders and I have used it with seniors during an English elective. Here is the assignment Doc I use for this assignment. It can be tweaked to focus on different content area skills such as identifying and analyzing theme, mood, characterization, conflict within a text, really, the list goes on. I also provide students with a copy of the rubric so they are well aware of the expectation for this particular assignment.

I love having student share their work with each other, so I ask students to house a viewable version of their #BookSnap on a shared Doc or Slide. I encourage them to view each other's work and provide feedback, so I might assign a class period to view others’ work and complete feedback. Here is an example of a feedback form I have used in the past and found beneficial. I adapted a feedback choice board from Caitlin Tucker. Students need to make a copy of the Doc, share it with the person whose work they are viewing, and provide feedback. You can always have students add and turn in their peer feedback Docs via Classroom for an assignment grade. Here is my lesson for using #BookSnaps from my Teachers Pay Teachers store. This assignment includes directions, a Google Draw template, and Google Slide for the class to use.

The next project is a Book Meme and it integrates some of the same elements as the #BookSnap and is still a very unique project option. With the Book Meme, I ask students to identify a significant event, conflict, or action in their book. They are to select a quote that best represents this moment from the text with the proper citation. I then have them use this Google Draw template to create a Meme that showcases this moment. Students will then paste their Google Draw onto a Slide in a shared Slide Deck. They must also include a paragraph explanation, including a quote with citation, to explain their Meme and the significance of the moment they selected. Here is the link to TpT so you can access the Doc I use for this assignment. Again, it can be tweaked to focus on different skills such as identifying and analyzing theme, mood, characterization, conflict within a text, really, the list goes on.

Since students are putting their finished products on a shared SlideDeck, I do expect them to view each other's work and provide feedback for one another. I use the same feedback form that I did for the #BookSnap project. Students need to make a copy of the Doc, share it with the person whose work they are viewing, and provide feedback. You can always have students add and turn in their peer feedback Docs via Classroom for an assignment grade.

One last project we are going to look at today is the mighty Book Trailer. This assignment is a little more time-consuming than the others because of the pre-work that needs to be done before beginning to make the actual Book Trailer. If you are using Book Trailers in your classroom this is an awesome project to use as students will be familiar with the elements of a good Book Trailer.

I begin this project with students completing a brainstorm to develop some ideas for the content of their own Book Trailer. Next, I have them use a storyboard template to map out each slide of their Book Trailer. Then, I have them create their own, free Animoto account. The first thing they should do after creating an account is selecting a template and downloading images they plan to use in their Trailer. Finally, they will spend multiple days integrating information from their brainstorm, outline, quotes, pictures, and music into their Trailer. Here are the step-by-step instructions from my TpT store on how to conduct this lesson and the rubric I use to assess the final product.

Yes, you guessed it, I have students share their Book Trailers on a shared Slide or Doc so that we can view everyone’s finished products. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I do expect them to view each other's work and provide feedback for one another. I use the same feedback form that I did for the #BookSnap and Book Meme project. Students need to make a copy of the Doc, share it with the person whose work they are viewing, and provide feedback. Again, you can always have students add and turn in their peer feedback Docs via Classroom for an assignment grade.

There you have it, three awesome assignments to engage students in reading for enjoyment. All three assignments can easily be adapted to meet the needs of your grade level and content area focus. In my next post, I tell you about three more assignments to engage students in reading for enjoyment: Book Talk, One-Pager, and Character Confessional. I personally believe that if we can make reading more engaging and even fun at times, we can help more students become lifelong readers. We will all benefit from this, so get those kids reading!

To check out my Teachers Pay Teacher store click here.