by Ashley
Coblentz and Jackie Moreno
Do our students help write the script for learning
or do they sit in the audience?
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This is a question we regularly ask ourselves, and although we
definitely want to say the former, the true answer is found in how we use our
time. As we count down our last days of first quarter, we are at the perfect
time of year to take a close look at our daily schedule, to see if the value we
place on student-driven learning is truly reflected in our day.
Today we’d like to share one of our favorite projects that fosters
student choice and empowerment, student
created book trailers! They are multi-media
projects that encourage students to take on the roles of writers, actors and
directors of learning.
A Spanish language book trailer created by a
third grader.
Creating in the Classroom
Together teachers and students define
which standards will be addressed. Once
students demonstrate they clearly understand the purpose, the creative
direction of the project is primarily up to them. For example, students might
choose the theme, tone, script, etc. Next enters joy and engagement as they
compose music, act, illustrate, read and write about what’s most compelling to
them. In other words, students decide how they will prove they have
learned what they set out to.
In Writing Workshop
2.0, in addition to publishing their narratives digitally, students might
print them as well. Then QR codes leading to student-created book trailers
advertising their books are placed on the copies. Other QR codes featuring a
student read audio book version are placed on the print copy as well.
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Joy is found not only in the creation; it expands
further as they get to share their writing and book trailers with
the whole school. This is incredibly powerful for them since it creates a sense
of authentic purpose for writing. By creating the trailers and books, students
have more access to texts that reflect experiences of other students “like
them”. This is a particularly powerful opportunity for ELL students to tell
their stories and the stories of their families, especially given mainstream
portrayals of immigrant communities.
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How To
1. Students write and publish narratives.
2. The book trailer concept is introduced, and students are given
a descriptive rubric. Students use the rubrics to evaluate professional or
other student created book the trailers before creating their own so that they
know exactly what the CCSS learning goals are and what is expected from them.
3. Students then use iMovie to create book trailers about their
stories. Students use the rubric to make sure their trailer includes all of the
key components.
4. After that, students use Voice Record Pro to record themselves
reading their narratives. They then convert their voice recordings into QR
codes so that other students can hear the stories read aloud.
5. Place the books with the QR codes on them in the school library
so that students throughout the school can read the print versions and scan the
QR codes to access the book trailers, as well as audio versions of the books.
