Tradebook -No Way Book!

     This was my first trade book assignment and my first book talk via technology. It was fun and challenging to make a book trailer that was interesting, peeked a need to read the book, and didn't give away the end. By the end, however, I had a video that makes it hard to believe the book is just a trade book! 
     I began by choosing a trade book that fit into my unit plan. This book, Making a Difference by Megan Goss, describes the journey of a teacher and her class through their study of aquatic ecosystems and then their role in restoring their local watershed with the help of STRAW (Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed).
     After reading this book and gaining approval I began work on choosing which pictures would be helpful in setting the tone and peeking interest and what comments should be made around those photos to peek interest yet not give away the content of the book.
     I used animoto to compile the images and text with background music. I chose a song that was upbeat and spoke about the present to fit with the restoration theme and show that now is the time to take positive actions for our ecosystems and environment.
     This virtual book trailer took a lot longer than I thought and it was hard. Taking a short, nonfiction book and then making a video that is interest peeking, engaging, informative, and makes the viewer have to go and read the book was a challenge.
     While verbal book talks are quicker and easier no doubt, these virtual ones only have to be made once and then can be used multiple times. These book trailers are also more interesting and would be more engaging for students. The students could also make their own videos based on books they have read and enjoyed to share with their classmates who might be looking for an interesting read.
     As a teacher this book trailer was good as well because it made me thing very critically about the book I was using. Between the rubric and the trade book talk sheet I had to think about the purpose, standards, interest, result, activities, engagement, and generalizability of this book. By making these book trailers it would force me as a teacher to be choosing effective and engaging books rather than ones that just fall under my unit.
     All pros and cons aside, this assignment was good for me because I used animoto and now feel comfortable with it, have thought about what really goes into choosing trade books, and have the ability to make book trailers for my class to save time, get students reading, and engage them with nonfiction texts that they will enjoy. I even think having the students create a virtual library of books they have enjoyed using book trailers would be a good idea. Students who loved a book can share it which helps students chose books for reading workshop and also helps those students who have trouble finding books they enjoy reading.