Book Trailers

 Look at these examples of student-created book trailers.

Be thinking of a trailer you'd like to produce to get kids interested in reading a book you love! 

A few rules:

• Less than 2 minutes!
• No more than 10 slides!
• Try for 10 words or less per slide!
• Use iMovie, Google Slides, Powtoon, Adobe Spark, Animoto, or any other format you're familiar with or want to learn!
  

Book Talks from 4/10/20

I've linked all the books that were talked about on Friday in our Zoom session, in case you're interested in reading them sometime.

The Last Boy and Girl in the World

Anne of Green Gables

Adrift

Series of Unfortunate Events (this is linked to book 1... I think there are 13 total?)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Heroes of Olympus (also a series... this link takes you to book 1)

Percy Jackson (another Rick Riordan series... this link takes you to book 1)

Refugee

The Sand Warrior

Darth Vader and Friends

Bravelands (also a series... this is linked to book 1)

Tucket's Travels (this book has 5 Tucket books in one publication)

How I Look at Teaching Reading

This article from The New York Times discusses my philosophy of teaching reading... let the students choose the books! The first book I ever hated in my life was a whole class novel. Those weeks of being forced to read The Hobbit were pure torture, and they affected how I look at the fantasy genre to this day. I hope my students will become lifelong readers, and I believe independent book choice is the way to do that.

Thanks, Book Whisperer, for posting this article on Facebook tonight, so I could share it with all of you!

Science Fiction Booktalks

Here are the science fiction titles I booktalked today for library day. Enjoy!

Larklight by Philip Reeve

Starcross by Philip Reeve

Mothstorm by Philip Reeve

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

The Dark Side of Nowhere by Neal Shusterman

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Booktalks: Historical Fiction

GOAL students are getting close to finishing their reading contracts for the year, but some are having trouble finishing their historical fiction genre requirement. I found a website with a lot of great suggestions... click here to see all the young adult historical fiction titles they've compiled on this site.

From that list specific books that I quickly pulled from our library this morning include:

Indio by Sherry Garland

A Bone from a Dry Sea by Peter Dickinson

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (and its sequels Skylark and Caleb's Story)

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman

The Legend of Jimmy Spoon by Kristiana Gregory

The Stowaway by Kristiana Gregory

I know our Fairfield Middle School library has a lot more from the list too, so dig in. Enjoy some historical fiction today!

Happy Birthday, Harper Lee!

This is such a great post about how, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shaped the meaning of these words:

integrity

empathy

conscience

respect

courage

Happy birthday, Harper Lee!

Newbery Booktalks!

Today most of the GOAL classes heard booktalks about three of the Newbery Award winning books for this year. They happen to all be historical fiction, and they happen to all be WONDERFUL!

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

The books above are Newbery Honor books. The following is the Newbery Award winner for this year... drum roll please...

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Check them out today!!!

3/8 Booktalks: Iowa Teen Award Nominees

For today's booktalks, I highlighted some of the nominees for the Iowa Teen Award. If students read at least 2 of the nominees, they'll have the opportunity to vote in the next few weeks for the winner!

Airman by Eoin Colfer

Elephant Run by Roland Smith

Football Genius by Tim Green

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

Library Day Booktalks

With shortened periods and 2 grades needing to finish research today, I didn't take a lot of time today for booktalks, but here are the few I highlighted:

A Killing Freeze by Lynn Hall

Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff

Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Happy reading!!!

Library Day Booktalks!

Tuesday was Library Day for GOAL students. The following books are the ones I booktalked during class. Also, every student had a chance to booktalk the book they're currently reading.

Firestorm by David Klass

Monkey Town by Ronald Kidd

Savvy by Ingrid Law

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Feel free to comment with your own booktalks too... what are your recommendations?

Science Fiction Booktalks

Tuesday is library day for GOAL students, and today I booktalked science fiction. GOAL students need to have 3 science fiction books read by the end of the school year, so hopefully they're well on their way!

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Interstellar Pig by William Sleator

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle

Beatnik Rutabagas from Beyond the Stars by Quentin Dodd

The Power of Un by Nancy Etchemendy

House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

The Search for Snout by Bruce Coville

Library Day Booktalks: Mysteries

Today was library day, and I booktalked the following selections in the mystery genre. GOAL students should be getting about halfway done with their 40 book contract for the year. 2 of those are mysteries, so I hope these booktalks helped with that requirement!

The Dark and Deadly Pool by Joan Lowery Nixon

Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett

The Calder Game by Blue Balliett

I So Don't Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy

Stolen Children by Peg Kehret

The 100 Year Old Secret by Tracy Barrett

Adam Canfield of the Slash by Michael Winerip

Adam Canfield: the Last Reporter by Michael Winerip

Historical Fiction Booktalks

Tuesday means library day for GOAL students. Today I booktalked the following historical fiction selections:

Voyage on the Great Titanic by Ellen Emerson White

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse

Piratica by Tanith Lee

Iron Thunder by Avi

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

The Broken Blade by William Durbin

Enjoy!

Booktalks: 11/9 (Informational Nonfiction)

Today for library day, I had a request to booktalk informational nonfiction. GOAL students have a requirement of 4 books in this genre for the year, so we talked about the genre in general, and I gave them some suggestions.

Communicating with Your Dog

Samurai

Paintball

Learning from the Dalai Lama

Spinal Cord and Nerves: Injury, Illness, and Health

Nigeria: Country File

The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Why Pi?: How Math Applies to Everyday Life

What are some of your favorite informational nonfiction books? Feel free to comment with your book suggestions!

Booktalks 9/14

Today for Library Day weekly booktalks, I highlighted the mystery genre. Check out the following books if you're interested in reading a good mystery!

Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man by Wendelin Van Draanen

Spirit Seeker by Joan Lowery Nixon

The Case of the Goblin Pearls by Laurence Yep

Ghost Canoe by Will Hobbs

Demon in the Teahouse by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

Storm Catchers by Tim Bowler

Booktalks!

It's Library Day again, and for booktalks this week, I'm highlighting biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. GOAL students have a requirement to read 2 books in this genre during the course of this year. Here are the books I talked about today:

Boys Who Rocked the World by Laura Carlsmith

Girls Who Rocked the World by Amelie Welden

The Book of Rock Stars by Kathleen Krull

Spellbinder: The Life of Harry Houdini by Tom Lalicki

Amelia Earhart by Susan Reyburn

Artist in Overalls: The Life of Grant Wood by John Duggleby

Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret (I booktalked this last October too, but it's such a great memoir, I wanted to mention it again!)

Booktalks 8/31

Library Day means Booktalks! Here are the first books I booktalked in the 2010/2011 school year. Have you read either one?

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen (why not read it before seeing the movie?)

Letters from a Nut by Ted L. Nancy

Don't forget... you can see all the books I've booktalked by clicking the booktalk label at the right side of this blog or right underneath this post! :)

Wal-Mart Wins!!!

I never thought I would type those words, but I found the book at our little Wal-Mart in Fairfeld, Iowa! I now have 2 copies to check out, and there will be more coming when the Amazon.com order comes through. Ms. Mangler has a copy now too, and Mrs. Lantz has ordered three for the library. All your Mockingjay needs will be met!

Sorry, Kids!

I could not be more disappointed in Amazon.com right now. I'm sorry you have to wait for the Mockingjay copies to arrive. I would have bought them at Target had I known they would get here so far after the book's release date. A fellow blogger even called Amazon.com to complain. I feel that I've vented by reading this blog. Maybe you will too. Hang in there. It will be here soon!

Mockingjay

I. CANNOT. WAIT.