About Book Trailers
Throughout the process, I guide students in how to ensure their product conveys their intended meaning. I teach multimodal composition—ways of working with multiple modes to create a rich compelling product…. Once they have a clear plan for their trailers, students receive written “entrance tickets” for the computer lab. Instructional time within the lab, or in the classroom if we’re lucky enough to gain access to a cart of laptops, is not about where to point and click. This is not because I believe that our students are digital natives (Prensky, 2001) who already know the tools and will be successful with the taks because it involves a computer. It is because our planning leads students to…focus on content as opposed to bells and whistles. (Kajder, 2008, p. 13)
Kajder, S. (2008). The book trailer: Engaging teens through technologies. Educational
Leadership: 65 (6), 1-4
The process this Kajder’s quote speaks of is the process of creating book trailers. Initially when I learned about the process of creating a book trailer as a form of giving a book talk, I thought of it simply as a way to utilize computer technology; hence, I thought it was simply a gimmick. Kajder says that the usage of the computer is not the objective of the lesson; instead, the idea is to help students have an alternate way to present the take away message about a book they have read or to give their inner thoughts about a book. I am among those teachers who complain about the lack of access to technology my students have. Kajder says in essence that the meat of the work of the book trailer project occurs away from technology. Technology becomes the minor end process.
As I look as Kajder’s preparation process for the book trailer, I recognize multiple entry points to touch on those items required by the New York State Performance Standards for English Language Arts. Likewise, I can imagine how engaged the students will be in building a blueprint for the final result while improving writing skills, reading skills and persuasive skills. This preparation process for the final book trailer project can actually be thought of as a disguise for the hard part of the job without students realizing it since ultimately their focus is on the final end product. It’s like walking up a demanding hill not thinking about the journey itself but what you expect to find at the top. It’s the thought of the top that makes the journey less daunting.
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About Literature Circles
In the early days, Literature Circles were promoted…as a kind of if-you-build-it-they-will-come proposition. If you trained the groups properly, kids would do the reading….We now realize that peer-led reading groups need much more than a good launching; they require constant coaching and training by a very active teacher who uses minilessons and debriefings to help kids hone skills…. (Daniels, 2006, p. 13)
Daniels, H. (2006). What’s the next big thing with literature circles. Voices from the Middle
13(4) 10-15.
As a new teacher, I am still learning how to design literature circles for my tenth grade English classes. What I take away from Daniels’ quote is that the learning process of how to utilize literature circles effectively is continual. Learning how to function in a literature circle is not something that is understood instantly and can thus function on its own. It is a continual work in progress for the students and for the teacher. Visiting a You Tube video of how literature circles work, what struck me the most was the outrageous comments written beneath this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SykNmAFrFY4). At first I was angered by the comments then I realized as I read these comments that there is an assumption that people (teachers) should know everything they need to know by the time they reach the classroom. This made me think that there is this belief that learning is stagnant, that it reaches one specific point and from there it does not go any further. I realize that I initially suffered from this same sort of thinking as a first year teacher. I believed that once I taught a lesson, or a unit, then the lesson was learned for life; therefore, I never needed to revisit it. My goal was to just cover as much stuff as possible. I have since learned to drop this thinking. Likewise, I think literature circles need room for expansion and exploration.
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