Over the past few decades, technology has proven to be a useful tool in classrooms all across the globe. Within the past twenty years, educators have come to the conclusion that not only can they use technology to teach, but so can students. Students often listen to -and can even learn the best- from their own peers. What better way to check a student’s understanding of the most recent novel read in class than a book trailer!

Inspiration

Kristin Harrington’s book, Adventures in Authentic Learning: 21 Step-by-Step Projects From an Edtech Coach provides several ideas and lesson plans to get students comfortable with using technology in the classroom. In particular, one lesson plan is all about increasing the literacy level of your students by having them create book trailers (pgs. 24-27). This lesson plan focuses on a student’s understanding of the material they had read, either in or out of the classroom. Students can choose to focus on specific literary devices (figurative language, similes) or the key ideas of the overall story (theme, plot).

Outcomes

The best part about this specific lesson plan, is that it can be done across all grade levels! In terms of elementary students, they will be able to solidify and effectively relate their newly learned literacy terms with someone they read in class. In addition, the K-5 students will have an introduction to technology meant for filming and editing videos. Upper grade levels (6-12) can create a more in depth trailer, allowing for the students to learn more about filming, writing scripts, and editing videos; the students will also be able to better analyze and display a better understanding of literary terms across various book genres.