Book Trailer Readbox and Cards

Trader Cards to Readbox

I’ve nixed the trader card idea – tried it today, but didn’t like it for this project. I’ve decided to use a Readbox idea from Pinterest for the wall, along with library cards in the classroom library file box.  Both will utilize QR codes to access the book trailer video (see yesterday’s post). Here’s a picture from lessonswithlaughter.com where the students made the book trailers. At some point, I’d like to use this as a student activity, but I think it can also be useful through the year to encourage interest in reading.

lessonswithlaughter.com

lessonswithlaughter.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My cards
Using PowerPoint, I’ve created two separate cards for each book on one page to be cut apart once laminated).  One card has a picture of the book cover with a QR code superimposed onto the image.  This card will go onto the Readbox display.  The corresponding card has a title, author, and QR code minus the image of the book.  This card will go into a library file accessed by students during scheduled or earned periods during language arts.  The Readbox display will rotate, but the library file will grow over the year.  Here is a scan of two of my cards (ignore title because it will not be used).

PowerPoint in .jpg format

PowerPoint in .jpg format

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Animoto Book Trailer

This past semester I came across the idea of using Animoto in the classroom for student created book trailers.  The blog where I discovered this lesson belongs to Holly Mueller.  I set aside the idea of playing with this project for the summer when more time would be available.  This morning I decided to explore the Animoto website.  I could not stop until I finished my trailer because it was so much fun!  Because Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin hits the middle of elementary reading levels, plus is a personal favorite, it was my first book of choice to create a video.  Using Flickr creative commons, Wikimedia commons, and the advanced search of Google images, I found pictures which I could repost without copyright infringement.  When my video reached 30 seconds, but was incomplete, I bought the yearly subscription.  I couldn’t help myself.  My next project will be to utilize a website I found this past week to create a trading card with a QR code in order to access the book trailer.  Learning is like giving Numeroff’s mouse a cookie: it expands, grows, and evolves.  Exciting, right?  Here’s my video:

Prezi or PowerPoint

After trying Prezi late last year, I discovered I prefer PowerPoint.  It feels as if PP has better variety with more options.  The way Prezi moves from one screen to another feels disjointed to me.  However, Prezi is useful for the choice it provides students in form of presentation.  I always prefer giving choices when possible.  Below is my prezi from a literature study of one chapter of The Skin That We Speak by Lisa Delpit.  The book conveys first account experiences about the impact of language in the classroom.