Animoto Book Trailer Project

Thanks to David Etkin, I embarked on a super-fun project after my students read  The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis and Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood, books for the historical fiction half of our civil rights movement unit. 

- We watched numerous examples of book trailers that publishers are putting out these days as examples.
- Starting by using the planning sheets that David created and tweaking them a bit to serve the needs of my students, my class chose the important, relevant details of their books to tell the stories and the image ideas to help support them.
- We determined what things are important to highlight without giving away the details of the climax, resolution, and conclusion. 
- We talked about persuasion and how the purpose of trailers are to entice viewers to read the book.  Students had to use persuasive language and make it succinct so that their trailers aren't too long or involved - just long enough to whet the appetite. 
- They worked mostly in pairs, but I did give students a choice to work alone, so a few chose that option. 
- After completing text panels and writing down image ideas, students cut out the panels and made storyboards so the sequence was planned.
- After checking their storyboards, they began using Animoto.com to put together their videos.  This website is an easy and fun way to make videos.  I set up each account beforehand using the educator's code so that each student had access to certain features and video lengths.  These accounts are free and good for a year.
- This is one of those projects in which students became completely focused and immersed, and I became a guide and facilitator.  It was so much fun!

Pictures of students putting together storyboards:

A few completed projects:

 

 

 

 

One of the things I love about social networking with other teachers is that I get fabulous ideas like this one.  Thanks, David, for sharing!!