Creating Book Trailers

Student Description Fifty-eight 8th grade students, split into four sections Lesson Overview Students will use Animoto to create a book trailer for their March book report. Educational Objectives The student will be able to summarize a book they have read. The student will be able to use persuasion to encourage others to read their book. The student will be able to use technology to organize their thoughts and ideas into a coherent presentation. Common Core Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.5 Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner 1.3.1 Respect copyright/intellectual property rights of creators and producers 2.1.6 Use the writing process, media and visual literacy, and technology skills to create products that express new understandings 3.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use, and assess. Time Frame Two 45 minute class periods 1st Class Period 5 minutes - Project Introduction/Example 15 minutes - Instruction 25 minutes - Project Work 2nd Class Period 45 minutes - Project Presentations Resources

Assignment instructions & rubric, front/back (attached), one per student Laptop computers, one per student Teacher computer and projector Animoto website education account Demo Animoto presentations Prior Knowledge This group of students does a book report each month, which includes a summary, usually in a certain genre. March is a choice month; students may choose any book. They use laptop computers on a daily basis. They have no experience with Animoto. Preparation The librarian will set up free Animoto accounts to be used by the students. The librarian will create a demo Animoto video to use during instruction and find an additional example video. The librarian will add to the library homepage demo videos, links for Animoto, resources and tools, tutorials, and assignment documents. The classroom teacher will turn on the teacher computer and projector, then open files for the instructions worksheet, rubric, and example Animoto presentation. Lesson Plan 1st Class Period Project Introduction/Example 5 minutes 1. Classroom teacher will explain to students that theyll be creating a different project for their March book report. Classroom teacher will introduce librarian and explain to students that shell be collaborating on the project with the class. 2. Librarian will explain that instead of a written report, students will be creating an Animoto video to promote their book. She will show the example Animoto book trailers. Instruction 15 minutes 1. Classroom teacher will discuss summarization techniques used in the demo videos. What elements are present? Which are absent? How much of the plot is revealed? How many characters does the viewer meet? What persuasive techniques were used? 2. Classroom teacher will pass out instruction sheets/rubrics as librarian walks students through the process of creating a new Animoto video, including adding pictures, text, a title, and choosing music, using the instruction sheet and rubric as guides. Librarian will remind students that all these components should be selected with their book in mind. 3. The librarian will review with students the concepts of copyright, giving credit, and walk them through the process of creating an image credits slide for the end of their book trailer.

4. Librarian will show students the assignment homepage on the library site and highlight links to important features. Project Work 25 minutes 1. Classroom teacher will assign Animoto account numbers for students to use. 2. Students will be given time to begin work an their book trailer. Both teachers will circulate the room, helping students with questions and any technical difficulties. Students will be encouraged to keep the focus of their activities on creation of their book trailer. 3. At the end of the allotted time period, students will put away laptop computers and take home assignment instruction sheets. Between class periods listed Classroom teacher will help students as needed with book trailers during reading focus time. 2nd Class Period Project Presentations - 45 minutes 1. One by one, each student will introduce their book before the librarian projects on the classroom screen the completed Animoto book trailer. Students will be given an opportunity to provide feedback at the conclusion of each video. 2. At a later time, the classroom teacher and the librarian will use the book trailer of each student along with their individual observations during the class periods to evaluate whether each student achieved the educational objectives for the project.

Lesson Reflection
Assessment Results We were not entirely pleased with the quality of work produced. Many students only followed some of the directions and those they skipped (image credits page

and emailing the final product) were weighted heavily on the rubric. This resulted in many low grades for the project. These points were covered in the initial lesson and included in the assignment directions, so it would seem these skills need to be improved through the whole grade. Some students also struggled with creating a coherent sequence for their images and words, often giving too little information to make the presentation interesting. Persuasive theory is still a relatively new concept to them, so we expect this will improve as they study the theory more. These challenges aside, several students created great book trailers and my cooperating librarian commented she would like to use them in her library. The classroom teacher commented that she was pleasantly surprised a few students who normally do not complete the book report assignment had created and presented good book trailers. The students seemed to enjoy injection of technology into the project. Some talked of using the Animoto website to create other presentations. We felt this was a great asset to the project and makes the idea worth revisiting. Collaboration with Classroom Teacher Our collaboration for this project began with my cooperating librarian offhandedly mentioning that the 8th graders do a book report each month. I asked her more about the project and we eventually talked with the 8th grade reading focus teachers. I asked if theyd be open to using a technology the students hadnt yet learned to create book trailers in place of the report and they agreed. I tried to gain a deeper understanding of their goals for the report and they assured me I could take the project wherever I wanted. After that meeting, I looked at several websites to use for the project including PowToon, Pixton, Voki, Animoto, Storybird, and Prezi. Id used Animoto to create some book trailers in my own schoolwork and thought it presented the right balance of ease of learning and attractive end product. I approached the 8th grade teachers and my cooperating librarian with this idea. They were unfamiliar with the site, but after I gave them a tour, they agreed it would work for the classes. Overall, I think this process would have benefited from more collaboration. The next time I attempt something like this I will work to break down the exact learning objectives for the students and be sure to cater the lesson to accomplish these goals. While the process was not ideal, I believe it taught me many lessons I will use in future collaborations.