Unit of Study: Producing Book Trailers that Get Readers Buzzing about Books

Transcription

1 Unit of Study: Producing Book Trailers that Get Readers Buzzing about Books Cypress Fairbanks Independent endent School District Elementary Language Arts Department, Grade 3

2 Producing Book Trailers that Get Readers Buzzing about Books TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE Overview of Lessons...ii MINI LESSONS What s the Book Trailer Buzz All About? Exploring the Structure, Content, & Craft of Book Trailers... 1 Noticing the Way that Book and Movie Trailers Make You Feel... 2 Learning from Up and Coming Mini Movie Makers: Evaluating the Qualities of Student Made Book Trailers... 3 Choosing a Book that Gets Readers Buzzing... 4 Capturing the Story in a Nutshell... 5 What s Your Sales Pitch? Applying Persuasive Techniques to Influence Your Audience... 6 Producing a Book Trailer... 7 Using a Storyboard to Plan the Book Trailer... 8 Getting the Book Trailer Ready for an Audience... 9 Making the Book Trailer Using Technology Tools (2 4 Days) On the Red Carpet: Celebrating the Book Trailer Premiere Cy Fair ISD Curriculum Department DRAFT April 2012 Producing Booktrailers that Get Readers Buzzing about Books Writing Workshop Unit of Study

3 LESSONS INCLUDED IN THE UNIT OF STUDY: The following is a list of lessons that are included in the Producing Book Trailers that Get Readers Buzzing about Books unit. Each lesson has been assigned a number that correlates to a number found in the upper right corner of each lesson card, which signifies a suggested sequence or progression of the lessons. After analyzing the grade level expectations, district curriculum, and student needs, teachers should customize the mini lessons for their students. The mini lessons are based upon the grade level expectations found in the English Language Arts and Reading TEKS objectives. Lesson Title 1 What s the Book Trailer Buzz All About? Exploring the Structure, Content, & Craft of Book Trailers 2 Noticing the Way that Book and Movie Trailers Make You Feel 3 Learning from Up and Coming Mini Movie Makers: Evaluating the Qualities of Student Made Book Trailers 4 Choosing a Book that Gets Readers Buzzing Purpose Writers study the qualities of effective book trailers to understand the genre and find craft moves they would like to imitate in their own productions. Writers analyze the design elements of movie trailers and book trailers and pay attention to the feeling that the words, images, and sound create. Writers evaluate student produced book trailers to determine ways to improve the qualities of their own book trailers. Writers consider their audience and personal interests when evaluating and selecting a book to advertise in a book trailer. 5 Capturing the Story in a Nutshell Writers summarize the main character(s), problem, and plot of a story without revealing the outcome of a book. 6 What s Your Sales Pitch? Applying Persuasive Techniques to Influence Your Audience 7 Producing a Book Trailer with Idea Gems Writers use a variety of persuasive techniques to influence the thoughts and actions of an audience. Writers select appealing ideas about their book to help them produce a high quality book trailer. 8 Using a Storyboard to Plan the Book Trailer 9 Getting the Book Trailer Ready for an Audience 10 Making the Book Trailer Using Technology Tools (2 4 Days) 11 On the Red Carpet: Celebrating the Book Trailer Premiere Cy Fair ISD Curriculum Department DRAFT April 2012 Writers use a storyboard organizer to design the sequence of scenes in a book trailer. Writers prepare their book trailer for an audience by reflecting upon the design elements of a multimedia production, including visual images, sounds, words, movement, and timing. Writers use technology tools to create original multimedia productions that include visual images, sound, and text. Writers share and celebrate their book trailer production within a community of writers and readers. Producing Book Trailers that Get Readers Buzzing about Books Writing Workshop Unit of Study

4 Minilesson: What s the Book Trailer Buzz All About? Exploring the Structure, Content, & Craft of Book Trailers 1 Commercial book trailers see Appendix A The Scoop on Book Trailers slide show Appendix B Characteristics of Book Trailers anchor chart Appendix C Popcorn, director s chair, movie clapboard, etc. (optional) Note: Prior to the unit of study, teachers should gather a variety of book trailers for use throughout the instructional unit. Introduce the genre with professional book trailers so that students can notice the qualities of effective multimedia productions. Often publishers have book trailers on their web sites. Refer to the list of suggested book trailer sites found in the appendix for recommended sites. For this lesson, teachers may want to bring a small sample of popcorn to introduce the genre. Movie props can also enhance the excitement for the new unit, but they are optional. This lesson introduces the design aspects of book trailers during the teach portion of the minilesson using Farmer George Plants a Nation: Teachers may also consider using Melanie Watt s book trailers of Scaredy Squirrel found on YouTube as another resource for studying the portrayal of a character in book trailers: Students should be familiar with her character Al the salesman from the 2nd grade book review unit of study. Mo Willems also has a unique presentation of the Pigeon on his web site. Click on The Duckling Gets a Cookie? video link: Purpose: Writers study the qualities of effective book trailers to understand the genre and find craft moves they would like to imitate in their own productions. TEKS: 3.16 A, 3.16 B Capture students attention with a dramatic announcement that they are invited to participate in a series of film making workshops on creating mini movie productions known as book trailers. Their job today is to get an understanding of the book trailer genre, so that they can begin to envision possibilities for their own multimedia production. Share a personal experience in watching an enticing movie trailer that caused you to want to see the movie. Explain that a book trailer is kind of like a movie trailer. The primary purpose of a book trailer is to sell a book to reading consumers. If desired, provide students with a small sample of popcorn to whet their appetite for the upcoming unit of study. Writers, the day has finally arrived for us to begin our new unit of study. You are invited to join me as we launch our mini movie making study of book trailers. (Relate a personal story about an engaging book trailer that caused you to want to see the feature film.) Book trailers are kind of like the movie trailers we see at the theaters or on t.v. The main purpose of a book trailer is to convince a potential reader that they have just got to read the book. Book trailers are also like tasty treats that whet our appetite for reading the entire book. Readers, today, we will study the design techniques a producer uses to sell a book by paying attention to the visual images, sound, words, and other elements found in captivating book trailers. Tell students that the Internet has provided a new way for writers and publishers to connect with potential readers. Book trailers are designed to capture a reader s attention through the combination of visual images, sound, words, movement, and other design elements. Share the definition of a book trailer using the information found on slides 2 and 3 of The Scoop on Book Trailers slide show. Next, explain that students will view a professionally produced book trailer to help them understand the traits. The book trailer for Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas is especially effective for showcasing design elements. Use a think aloud process to point out design aspects: Opening Scene: A black background with simple white text allows the reader enough time to process a short message about George Washington. Remind them that although he was a real person, the producer sets up the book trailer like a story, There once was a farmer named George. The next scene cuts to an illustration of farmer George looking at dirt in his hand. The picture appears to move in close to George s face. He Had a Vision Scene: The movement from the text to a close up of the eye is a clever use of zooming in on a subject. The producer made a unique link between George s mental vision of a new land to his eye, which allows him to see actual physical things in the world. Some of the phrases end with ellipses (series of dots) to signal to the reader that more information is to come. The producer transitions from George s life as a farmer to his contributions to the development of the new country, The phrase, But George never forgot his farm, is an example of an effective transition. The music represents the Revolutionary time period, and it conveys a positive tone with its upbeat tempo. Conclusion: President George Washington helped create a new government. But FARMER George Planted a New Nation! The producer connects ideas and uses capital letters to emphasize his point. As you point out the features of the book trailer, record ideas about the qualities on an anchor chart similar to the one found on Appendix C. View another trailer and add traits to the chart. Tell students that they will watch another trailer and pay attention to the design elements used by the producer. They can jot down their ideas in their writer s notebook. After watching the trailer, ask students to turn and talk with a partner about the effective qualities that they observed in the book trailer. Listen in on the conversations. With the whole group, share some of the details you heard expressed by students. Explain that students will work in small groups to examine other book reviews during independent writing. Students will record their ideas on the Book Reviews: Tools of the Trade graphic organizer. Review the genre traits that students have discovered so far about book reviews. Remind them that writers who read a wide variety of book reviews will better understand the genre traits and the way that they are organized. This knowledge will make it easier for them to compose their own book review. What qualities do you notice in the book trailers? How do they impact the viewer? Which book trailers make you want to read the book? Why? Do you notice any patterns or similarities among the various book trailers? DRAFT April 2012 Writing Workshop Unit of Study

5 Minilesson: Understanding Noticing the Way the that Expository Book and Writing Movie Rubric Trailers (4s Make and 3s) You Feel 2 G rated movie trailers Characteristics of Book Trailers anchor chart Note: Prior to the lesson, select at least 3 movie trailers appropriate for study. Determine which trailer will be used for modeling (teach), active engagement, and independent reading. Teachers may opt to abbreviate the lesson and view 1 movie trailer together to use as a comparison to book trailers. Alternatively, teachers may opt to move on to lesson 3 to study the qualities of effective student produced book trailers. A suggested movie trailer is Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog, which is being released in the summer The movie is based on a true story in which a golden lab puppy is trained to be a guide dog for a blind man who is reluctant to rely on him. Go to: edog/ Purpose: Writers analyze the design elements of movie trailers and book trailers and pay attention to the feeling that the words, images, and sound create. TEKS: 3.16 A, 3.16 B Recognize student effort by noting the positive behaviors and contributions students made during the introductory lesson to book trailers. Briefly recap some of the qualities and design elements that students learned about high quality book trailers. Connect the previous learning to what students will learn today in their examination of engaging movie trailers. Writers, I can see that you are taking your film study seriously. Your close study of the qualities and design elements of effective book trailers will help you produce creative, high quality book trailers. Yesterday, we learned that producers of book trailers use a variety of design elements to help them create a multimedia production that captures a viewer s attention. Multimedia is a term that means the use of more than one form of media, such as text, audio, still images, animation, and video. By combining these elements, the producer hopes to make an emotional impact on a viewer. These design elements work together to create a mood. If a book is scary, the producer might use mysterious, spooky sounding music along with shadowy images or a sudden upclose look at a startling visual. The book trailer fad is something relatively new, and producers learned many things about design elements by studying movie trailers. Today, we will examine the design elements of movie trailers and compare them to effective book trailers, so that we can learn ways to create interesting book trailers that grab a viewer s attention and make them want to read the book. Briefly review the genre traits of book trailers using the Characteristics of Book Trailers anchor chart. Point out some of the high quality design elements that students observed in the different book trailers that were viewed. Discuss the purpose of a movie trailer and relate the idea that trailers usually have a slant or particular point of view from which the ideas about the movie are conveyed through images, audio, and text. Give some examples of different tones that movie trailers create. Writers, movie trailers are designed to make a potential movie goer want to see the full feature film. They give the viewer a taste of the movie using a particular slant that helps create a tone. Introduce the movie trailer that students will watch. Explain that they will pay attention to the feeling that the images, sound, and words create. The information below highlights design elements in the movie trailer for Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog. Opening scene: Cute puppies are poised on steps with their tails wagging signaling that their journey into the world is about to begin. The next scene shows the puppies back side as they look out the window and ponder their future. A mysterious, ethereal music plays in the background as each puppy s destiny is determined. Not all puppies are the same scene: The words appear on blank white page with cutaway scenes to multiple puppies showing affection for a woman. Some are destined to leave a mark scene: The simple line of text cuts away to an image of a single puppy who has a unique marking. Puppy behavior scenes: The tempo of the music changes to an upbeat tone. Scenes of cute puppies with typical puppy behavior (e.g., making a mess of toilet paper) are shown. Choosing a puppy scene: The puppies are shown in the home of a family. The woman asks someone on the phone how she will choose a puppy to be a guide dog. When she calls the puppies, all but one puppy comes. He stays behind with the young man and is singled out for his connection to a particular person. Airplane scene: A flying airplane creates a transition to the next scene, which shows the puppy has grown and is now receiving training on learning how to be a guide dog. Meeting the new owner: Around the 50 second mark, the scene is dark and the lights are turned on to reveal a blind man who is wearing dark glasses. The man shows his reluctance to embrace the guide dog. The music has changed and creates a darker mood. Falling star scene: The sound and sight signify the changing relationship. Best friends scene: The text cuts to the image of the dog licking the man s hand. He pats the dog and smiles, signifying the beginning of their friendship. Conclusion: The dog is showing how he is different by sticking with his owner and not running with the other dogs. The cherry blossoms signify spring the start of something new. If necessary, view the movie trailer again. Have students share one scene with a partner and discuss how the scene made them feel. Have them note specific design elements that helped to create the feeling. If desired, show another movie trailer and ask students to jot down design elements that helped create a particular feeling for the viewer. Allow them to share their thoughts with a partner by describing the design elements and the feeling they created. Debrief with the whole group. Writers, well designed movie trailers move viewers and help them get caught up in the emotion of a story. As we continue our study of book trailers, pay attention to the way specific scenes make you feel. We can use what we ve learned to help us move our viewers in similar ways. How do the sounds, images, movement, text, and other design elements work together to create a tone? What feelings does the movie trailer create for the viewer? Describe a specific design element from a movie trailer that was particularly effective. Why was it effective?

6 Minilesson: Learning from Up and Coming Mini Movie Makers: Evaluating the Qualities of Student Made Book Trailers 3 Student created book trailers Characteristics of Book Trailers anchor chart Several over the top fashion accessories (optional) Note: Prior to the lesson, select a few student made book trailers to evaluate during the teach and active engagement sections of the lesson. Teachers may also wish to have students evaluate student created book trailers during writing workshop. Dr. Mark Geary has several examples on his web site: ault.htm To help students understand poor design aspects of book trailers, teachers may opt to dress up using several over the top accessories. Prior to the lesson, record the criteria for evaluating book trailers onto chart paper. Refer to the bulleted list in the teach portion of the lesson. Purpose: Writers evaluate student produced book trailers to determine ways to improve the qualities of their own book trailers. TEKS: 3.16 A, 3.16 B Make a connection between poor book trailer design elements and tacky accessories by wearing too many accessories that clash with one another. Writers, I ve taken some lessons from Fancy Nancy and put on some of my best accessories to give me that glamour girl (or GQ guy) look. Don t you love my new look? Allow students to express their disapproval. You may need to prompt them by explaining that you are trying out your best look for a particularly fancy setting such as an interview for a summer job, going to church, or dining out at an expensive restaurant. After students note that the look is too busy, let them know that sometimes aspiring directors get carried away by over accessorizing multimedia productions. Rather than aiming for a classy, well designed book trailer, a novice producer throws in all the tricks that he/she can. Instead of creating a Fancy Nancy book trailer that grabs viewers attention, they end up with something less than the best. Too many special effects can detract from a book trailer and cause a viewer to move on. We want to avoid the Overly Accessorized Olive/Otis book trailer and stick with a few tricks to grab and keep our viewer s attention. Knowing when, where, and how to apply design elements in a book trailer is the key to successful creation. Today, students will examine and evaluate studentcreated book trailers, so that they can learn to apply design elements more effectively. Revisit what students have learned so far in their study of welldesigned book trailers. Refer students to the Characteristics of Book Trailers anchor chart. Explain to students that some individuals make their living by reviewing and critiquing books and movies. Usually, the professional movie critics and book reviewers have extensive knowledge and training in the areas of literature and/or movie production. The critics are paid to give an objective evaluation of the quality of the story and video production. The movie reviews can help people without the expertise decide whether a movie or book would be of interest to them. Share some of the qualities that make for an appealing book trailer by sharing the information on the Book Trailer Evaluation Criteria anchor chart. The book trailer reveals an interesting story. The book trailer makes the viewer feel a strong emotion. The book trailer uses clever, unique design elements. The audio elements (music, sound effects, dialogue, & narration) enhance the mood of the book trailer. The visual images (still photos, animation) effectively introduce the character(s), problem, &/or plot. The text in the book trailer helps the viewer understand important ideas. Transitions and movement help the viewer shift easily from one idea to the next. The book trailer captures the viewer s attention with an effective beginning. The book trailer keeps the viewer engaged in the story. The book trailer closes by making the viewer want to read the book. Tell students that you will use this list to help you judge the qualities of the student made book trailer. Play a book trailer made by students and then use the criteria to evaluate it. You may wish to use a rating scale (excellent, good, fair, poor) to discuss the various elements. Tell students that it is now their turn to evaluate a book trailer. As they watch the book trailer, have them make notes of the strengths as well as the weaknesses. Then have students first discuss the strengths of the book trailer. Listen in on the conversations and highlight some of the findings with the whole group. Next, allow students to share the weaknesses of the book trailer with their partner. Once again, listen in on the conversations. Debrief by calling attention to the weaknesses and discussing what the creator might have done differently to avoid those mistakes. Writers, over accessorizing a book trailer with too many special effects takes away from the message we want to convey and can cause a viewer to lose interest. The adage, Less is more, reminds us to carefully select the visual images, audio, text, and transitions we will use to design well crafted book trailers. Allow students the opportunity to evaluate additional studentmade book trailers during independent writing. How does the book trailer make you feel? What design elements helped create the feeling? Does the book trailer use clever design elements? Give examples of those elements. How do the sound, images, and text work together? Is the book trailer well organized? Why or why not?

7 Minilesson: Choosing a Book that Gets Readers Buzzing 4 Book Treasure Hunt slide show Appendix E Books We Love to Share with Others visual Appendix D (1 per student) Favorite books of students and teacher Note: Prior to the lesson, teachers should gather a variety of books that they have enjoyed reading. Choose ones that exhibit some of the qualities shown on slide 8 of the Book Treasure Hunt slide show. Consider posting the different reasons (slides 2 7) that books appeal to readers in the classroom and use the visual as an interactive book recommendation display. On sticky notes, students describe books that exhibit the different attributes. Teachers may opt to create partnerships for the book trailer making process. If so, students will need to select a book they have both read, so that they are familiar with the storyline. Teachers may want to direct students to focus their book trailer on a picture book. Purpose: Writers consider their audience and personal interests when evaluating and selecting a book to advertise in a book trailer. TEKS: 3.16 A, 3.16 B, 3.17 A Display slide 1 of the Book Treasure Hunt slide show. Relate a time when you were searching for a good book to read. Talk about the challenges you experienced in your search for a compelling book. Tell how you felt when you finally found a book that you couldn t put down. Describe some of the reasons that you found the book engaging. Connect the idea that finding a good book is like a treasure hunt. Explain that when you read a good book you like to share the literary gem with your friends. At times, you think about the friend(s) who would most likely enjoy reading the book. Tell students that writers consider their audience when they choose good books to share with others. Inform students that today they will evaluate the books they have read and select one that they will feature in their book review. As they examine their books, students should think about the individuals who are most likely to find the book appealing. Writers, everyone enjoys a good story. It s a rare book that grabs our attention and compels us to stay up late until we finish it. (Relate a time when a book captivated you.) Good books can be hard to find. It helps when you have friends who have similar taste to yours. When we find a good book, we need to pass along the treasure to other readers. Today, we will begin thinking about the book gem that we will feature in our book trailer. We want to find a book that appeals to our viewers and one that keeps our interest as well. Tell students that selecting the book you will feature in your trailer can be tough, because you have read several books that you like. One strategy that can help in the selection of a book is listing the reasons that you like different books and thinking about your audience. Explain that there are many factors that cause readers to fall in love with a book. Another strategy that can help us in our decision making process is to think about the audience that will likely watch our book trailer. Asking ourselves whether the book would appeal to them provides us with insight on the interests of our potential viewers. Introduce some of the different reasons that books appeal to readers by using slides 2 7 of the Book Treasure Hunt slide show. As you share each reason, show students a copy of a favorite book that exhibits the quality displayed on the slide. Share a few details from the text that showcase the attribute and then describe a reader that would find the book appealing. The qualities and corresponding slide numbers for the first three reasons are shown below. Slide 2: Memorable Characters Slide 3: Interesting Problem, Setting, and Plot Slide 4: Topics or Issues that Interest Us After you have shared the first three reasons, ask students to turn and talk to a partner about a book that exhibits one of these qualities. Listen in on the conversations and confer as needed. Use the same modeling process for the next three factors found on slides 5 7. Slide 5: React with Strong Feelings Slide 6: Surprising Details or Suspenseful Scenes Slide 7: Well Written Craft Moves Allow students to share a book with a partner that exhibits one of the qualities that were just discussed. Listen in on the conversations and confer as needed. Next, remind students that successful writers choose topics they love. This helps them sustain interest throughout the writing process, and it allows them to communicate ideas clearly because they are knowledgeable of the topic. Model the process you would use to select the book that you will review. Choose your top two books and ask students which one they would most like to read. Have them turn and talk to a partner and describe which book is more appealing to them. Listen in on the conversations. Then allow a few students to share their ideas about each book. Conduct a poll to see which book is most appealing for your students. Explain that you will consider their ideas as you make your final decision. Tell students that during independent writing, students will examine their favorite books by looking through their writer s notebook and inside the books. They will select their top two books, and they will share them with a small group. The small group will provide students with feedback on the book they find most appealing. Recap the key ideas from the mini lesson by reminding students that writers consider their audience when choosing a book for their review. What factors make your book appealing? Which trait(s) does the book exhibit? What evidence from the book supports that idea? Which book do you think readers would most enjoy reading? Why?

8 Minilesson: Capturing the Story in a Nutshell 5 Story in a Nutshell slide show Appendix F Nutshell (optional) Familiar book used for teacher modeling Book review of familiar book 3 5 additional familiar mentor books Teacher s and students favorite books Note: Prior to the lesson, select a familiar book to use for modeling the process of designing a book trailer. This lesson use Melanie Watt s Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend to model how to sum up a story succinctly without giving away the plot. Students will practice summarizing their story, so that they can use the key details to help them craft their own book trailer. Teachers may wish to have students work in partnerships to summarize the book that will be featured in the book trailer. Purpose: Writers summarize the main character(s), problem, and plot of a story without revealing the outcome of a book. TEKS: 3.16 A, 3.16 B, 3.17 A Tell students that successful producers of book trailers know how to capture the key details of a story without giving away the ending. The key details tell a reader who and what a story is about, which helps them understand the gist of the story. Writers, we have found some amazing book gems, and I am looking forward to seeing you craft a well designed book trailer to entice your classmates to read your great book. To help us clearly present our ideas, we have some important work to do. We need to shrink our story and select a few juicy morsels to tempt our reader to read the book. It s important that we don t give too much a way. Relate a time when someone relayed an unfamiliar book or story and gave away the ending. Describe how the experience made you feel and explain whether it caused you to lose interest in reading the story for yourself. Clarify the meaning of the word spoiler information about the plot of a movie, book, or t.v. show that spoils a person s sense of surprise or suspense about the outcome. Ask students to imagine how they would feel if they were watching a book trailer that spoiled the outcome of the story. Inform them that producers of effective book trailers know how to summarize the important ideas in a story without giving away the ending. Today, students will examine ways to effectively summarize their story in a nutshell. Show the nutshell and slide 1 of the Story in a Nutshell slide show. Explain the phrase, in a nutshell, by explaining that it means to summarize something in as few words as possible. You may wish to clarify the concept by comparing it to a nut, which is a small seed (a brief summary of the story) that has the potential to grow into a much larger plant (all the details of the story). Writers, you may have heard someone say that they are summing up a story in a nutshell. That means they are trying to summarize something in as few words as possible. Review the information on the slide and explain that summarizing the who and what a story is about without revealing a story s outcome will provide a viewer with enough information to make sense of what the book is about.. Make a t chart on chart paper similar to the one shown below. Use the familiar book to model how to summarize a story by thinking aloud about the main character. Record the information in the who column. Then model how to determine what the story is mainly about and record the information in the what column. An example is shown for the book, Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend. WHO (Characters) Scaredy Squirrel is an animal with OCD issues WHO is WHAT (Problem & Plot) afraid to venture out in the world in order to make a friend. Practice modeling how to determine the who and what a book is mostly about by summarizing 1 or 2 other stories that are familiar to students. Share another familiar book and ask students to summarize the who and what of the story with their partner. Listen in on the conversations and confer as needed. With the whole group, ask a few students to share their summary. Remind students that our purpose for the book trailer is to entice readers to read a book. Therefore, it s important that we do not give away the outcome. Furthermore, remind students that it s important to include enough details to help the viewer understand the story. If necessary, allow students to practice summarizing another book with their partner. Recap the big ideas shared during the mini lesson about summarizing a story. Explain that during independent writing students will apply what they have learned about summarizing a book by determining who and what a story is mainly about. As students work with a partner, they should pay close attention to the way the writer introduces the character(s), problem, and plot. This will help them when they develop their book trailers. Additionally, students should summarize their own book by recording the who and what the story is mainly about in their writer s notebook. Who is the main character of your story? What problem is the character trying to solve? What are some of the important events and details? How will this information help your reader understand the story?

9 Minilesson: What s Your Sales Pitch? Applying Persuasive Techniques to Influence Your Audience 6 What s Your Sales Pitch? slide show Appendix G The Most Interesting Man book trailer Commercials featuring a familiar product (optional) Teacher s and students favorite books Note: The goal of a book trailer is to help readers make decisions about the books they will read. This lesson blends persuasive techniques with book trailers. Additional information regarding persuasive techniques can be found on the web site: persuasion However, for the purpose of this lesson, it is recommended that teachers focus on a limited number of techniques. In addition, teachers may opt to show a few commercials of familiar products to help students better understand a variety of persuasive techniques. Prior to the lesson, select a familiar book that you can use to model the process of generating ideas for a book trailer. The next several lessons will use Melanie Watt s Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend in the teach portion of the lesson. Purpose: Writers use a variety of persuasive techniques to influence the thoughts and actions of a reader. TEKS: 3.16 A, 3.16 B, 3.17 A Provide students with examples from their everyday life where persuasive techniques are used (e.g., commercials, billboard signs, sales people, etc.) Tell students that successful writers use these same persuasive techniques to influence the thoughts and actions of readers. Relate a personal story in which a sales pitch was highly effective and caused you to purchase something that you may not have purchased under normal circumstances. Describe the strategies that were especially effective in moving you to action. Connect the idea to the strategies that multimedia producers use to create enticing book trailers that persuade readers that they must read the book. Explain that today s lesson will help students learn strategies they can use to convince their readers to buy into their book. Display slide 1 of the What s Your Sales Pitch? slide show and discuss the meaning of a sales pitch a line of talk or strategy that attempts to persuade someone to take action. Explain that there are many strategies that sales people use to influence the thinking of potential customers. Tell students that you will share a few strategies that they might consider trying out in their book trailer. Briefly highlight the selected persuasive techniques from the slide show and explain them to students by giving examples. These persuasive techniques are included in the slide show: 2: Propaganda, 3: Promises, 4: Dares, 5: Testimonials, & 6: Flattery. Tell students that they will watch the book trailer called The Most Interesting Man, and they will look for the producer s use of persuasive techniques. After showing the book trailer, point out some of the strategies that are used. The book trailer attempts to make a connection to The Most Interesting Man in the World commercial through similar music and the description of the amazing qualities of the mysterious person. The subliminal message is that the reader will be interesting too, if he just reads the book about Al Foxword. It does use celebrities to make the reader think that Al is cooler than all the other individuals. Association, humor, and repetition are used As you share some of the different persuasive techniques, provide an example of how that might look in your review. Be sure that students understand that the persuasive techniques must include information from the book. Record your ideas on chart paper using a t chart similar to the one shown below. Examples for Melanie Watt s Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend are shown below. Idea from the Book Persuasive Technique Scaredy Squirrel is a Dare to be different one of different kind of friend. the few, the proud, the chosen He has issues. friend of Scaredy Squirel. (Propaganda) Allow students the opportunity to suggest ideas by turning and talking to a partner about an idea from the familiar book. Continue to add ideas to the class book trailer anchor chart. Next, explain that students will now take a turn and talk with a partner by describing how they might use a persuasive technique in their book trailer to influence the thinking of their reader. Listen in on student conversations and confer as needed. With the whole group, share a few of the ideas that you heard. Inform students that during independent writing today, they will take time to look through their writer s notebook and the book to find interesting details that they might include in their review. Students will record the ideas in a t chart similar to the one that was modeled during the Teach portion of the lesson. Then students will try out one or more persuasive techniques using the details from the book. Recap the key ideas from the lesson and remind students that good writers use a variety of persuasive techniques to influence the thoughts and actions of their audience. What details from the book would your reader find interesting? How do you want your reader to feel after reading your review? What strategies could help you influence your reader? How can you use a persuasive technique(s) to communicate ideas from the book`1qaz?

10 Minilesson: Producing a Book Trailer with Idea Gems 7 Butterfly net or similar object to represent capturing the tastiest parts of a story (optional) Capturing Idea Gems: What s in Your Book Trailer Net? visual Appendix H (1 visual per student) Butterflies with Idea Gems Appendix R (optional) Creating a Photo Story Book Trailer Checklist Appendix J (1 per student) Note: Prior to the lesson, teachers may wish to print and cut out the Butterflies with Idea Gems to use as a symbolic representation of capturing great ideas about a book. Additionally, an enlarged copy of the Creating a Photo Story Book Trailer Checklist is a recommended resource for guiding students through the process of making book trailers. Librarian Michelle Harclerode ( has created a Prezi presentation called How to Make a Book Trailer. It has excellent tips and resources, including embedded videos that teachers may want to use in this lesson: 2 different student produced videos & 2 minute review video of Photo Story (use in next lesson). The Prezi is available on her web site as well as the Prezi site: tomake a book trailer/ Purpose: Writers select appealing ideas about their book to help them produce a high quality book trailer. TEKS: 3.16 A, 3.16 B, 3.17 A To grab students attention, display a butterfly net or related object and make motions as if you are trying to capture a beautiful butterfly. Tell students that you are trying to capture great ideas to help you in the design of your book trailer. Writers, we are growing inch by inch in our understanding of how to design a high quality book trailer. A great book trailer starts with one small idea gem. Finding the perfect idea is a little like hunting for butterflies. When you spot a beautiful one, you carefully sneak up on it and scoop it gently into your net. You can enjoy the beautiful creature, but eventually you have to let it go. That s kind of like a great idea. Once you ve captured an interesting thought about the design of your book trailer, you have to play with it and let your imagination go. Today, we will decide on the angle we want to use for our book trailer, and we will think ahead about all the important work we have to do to create our irresistible book trailers. They don t just happen over night. Good book trailers take time to grow. Use the butterflies or the Capturing Idea Gems: What s in Your Book Trailer Net? visual to discuss the focus of a seed idea that will allow you to grow a book trailer. Give an example of the different angles you could take to create a book trailer using 1 or more of these elements. The examples provided use Melanie Watt s Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend. Choosing an Idea Gem for a Book Trailer Design Focus Possible Use in Book Remarkable Use Scaredy Squirrel s fear of imperfection, Character Quality dangerous animals, & germs Favorite Scene Focus in on Scaredy Squirrel s first encounter with the dangerous dog Memorable Lines Use the warnings of what not to do when or Words encountering a dangerous animal DO NOT show fear. DO NOT show your fingers. DO NOT make eye contact. DO not make any loud noises. If all else fails, PLAY DEAD. Illustrations or Design Elements Amazing Author s Craft Unforgettable Message Use the WARNING! sign (always at beginning of Scaredy Squirrel books) at the beginning of the trailer to tell the viewer that Scaredy Squirrel insists that everyone use some sort of germ free product before viewing the book trailer. Scaredy Squirrel books begin in a similar way by telling a fact about the character & giving a reason for it (e.g., Scaredy Squirrel doesn t have a friend. He d rather be alone that risk encountering someone dangerous. A little risk is worth the reward. Scaredy Squirrel finds that when he overcomes his fears, there s usually a good result. Allow students the opportunity to turn and talk to a partner about other ways to focus the book trailer that is being modeled. Next, teachers may opt to use parts of the How to Make a Booktrailer Prezi to review the work expectations for the book trailer. Otherwise, use the Creating a Photo Story Book Trailer Checklist to discuss the various steps involved in producing the book trailer. Reiterate the importance of the careful planning involved in making the book trailer. Tell students that it is their turn to think about a design focus for their book trailer. Have them choose one of the elements found on the anchor chart and describe how they might use it to create a design focus for their book trailer. Listen in on the conversations and provide feedback as needed. Debrief with the whole group by sharing a few of the idea gems that you heard students share with their partner. Reaffirm your confidence in students abilities to design an engaging book trailer. Explain that during independent writing students will explore a focus for the design of their book trailer. They should be prepared with at least two different ideas that can be shared and discussed in a small group. Near the end of the workshop block, organize students into small groups and have them share both ideas. Ask the listeners to provide feedback and share which idea intrigues them the most. At the end of the workshop, bring students together to share their design focus for the book trailer. How might you use one of the design focus elements to create your book trailer? What are some of the character s most memorable qualities? How could you use the qualities in a book trailer? What is one of your favorite scenes in the book? How might you use the scene in a book trailer?

11 Minilesson: Using a Storyboard to Plan the Book Trailer 8 Storyboard Plan graphic organizer Appendix K or L (1 per student) Sample Book Trailer Storyboard for The Most Interesting Man Appendix M Note: Prior to the lesson, create a draft of a storyboard for a possible book trailer featuring the book that has been modeled in the teach portion of the lesson. There are a variety of storyboard organizers available on the web. Choose one that works for your students and feel free to customize it to match the particular needs of individuals. For third graders, Photo Story is generally an easier option than Windows Media Maker, which allows for video. This series of lessons will focus on using Photo Story. Individuals who want ideas on using Windows Media Maker may refer to the resources associated with the technology lesson in the grades 4 and 5 PSA writing unit. If necessary, students may require an additional day to for creating their storyboards. Purpose: Writers use a storyboard organizer to design the sequence of scenes in a book trailer. TEKS: 3.16 A, 3.16 B, 3.17 A Recognize students for working hard to find the just right idea gem to help them grow into a book trailer. Tell students that great productions don t just happen. The best book trailers are well planned. Explain that producers of animated films, commercials, and other movies use a storyboard to organize their ideas. A storyboard shows what visual images, sound effects, narration, or dialogue will occur in each scene. Writers, you can be proud of your efforts to find the just right idea about your book. I can tell that you are ready to plant those seeds and grow an incredible book trailer that will entice your viewers to read your book. We re one step closer to producing our book trailers, but first we need to do some careful planning. The best book trailers don t just happen. Producers invest time and effort into planning each scene of a book trailer using a graphic organizer known as a storyboard. A storyboard is a panel or series of panels of rough sketches outlining the scene sequence and major changes of action or plot in a multimedia production. Storyboards allow a producer to think about the images they want to show in each scene, along with any special effects or sound. Producers also need to think how they will help the viewer move from one scene to the next. We know that transitions are important in writing, because they connect ideas and help the reader understand what the writer is communicating. Transitions are equally important in multimedia productions. Today, we will learn strategies for organizing our book trailer using a storyboard. Explain that there are many different kinds of storyboard organizers that can help producers plan a book trailer. Tell students that a storyboard is a rough draft of the book trailer plan. Simple sketches are appropriate. Display a copy of the Sample Book Trailer Storyboard for The Most Interesting Man. Explain that the storyboard includes a combination of photographs for the background and clip art for the characters. The final production included scanned images of Al Foxword in the final scenes. The images of Al were cut out and physically pasted onto the photograph backdrop. Then the new scene was scanned into the computer to create a separate image file. These images were then imported into Photo Story. The scenes that have WordArt text were grouped together in PowerPoint and saved as separate image files. The text at the top of the page is the narration for each scene. Some scenes do not have narration. The words and visual images on the non narrated slides are intended to create an emotional response from the viewer. Next, share the storyboard you created for the familiar book modeled in previous lessons. Explain the process that you used to plan each scene. Describe the rationale for the inclusion of various effects, including images, sound, words, and other effects. Furthermore, when students put together their production, they will need to think about the timing and movement they want for each scene. Ask students to think about one scene they would like to include on their storyboard. Have them describe the visual images, words, sound, music, and other effects that they feel would enhance the scene. Tell students to share their ideas with a partner and explain the rationale for the inclusion of each element. Listen in on the conversations and provide feedback as needed. After the partner talk, share a few of the ideas you overheard with the whole group. Distribute copies of the storyboard organizer that students will use to create their book trailer plan. Explain to students that they will organize their book trailer by creating a storyboard to help them plan each scene carefully with the appropriate effects. Remind students that each element included in the book trailer needs a reason for being there. The adage, less is more, will help them craft effective book trailers. Near the end of the workshop time, have students share their storyboards with a small group and gather feedback. What feeling do you want to create with the scene(s)? Describe your scene. What visual images, words, sound, music, or other effects are included? What do you hope to accomplish with the inclusion of these effects?

12 Minilesson: Getting the Book Trailer Ready for an Audience 29 1 Ready, Set, Publish! slide show Appendix I Storyboard Plan graphic organizer Appendix K or L (1 per student) Putting on the Ritz song (optional) There s a Spider in My Bedroom student produced book trailer Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau book trailer Have I Got a Book for You (Most Interesting Man) book trailer Note: This lesson helps students consider various design elements for using the software application Photo Story by examining how they are used in three different book trailers. Teachers may want to play a festive song such as Putting on the Ritz to set the tone for the decisions and the work that students will begin in producing their book trailers. A video version of the song with Fred Astaire dancing is available on YouTube: As students work on the book trailer, keep in mind the importance of using photos and images that do not violate copyright. Generally, no more than 10% of a book can be used for educational purposes. Purpose: Writers prepare their book trailer for an audience by reflecting upon the design elements of a multimedia production, including visual images, sounds, words, movement, and timing. TEKS: 3.16 A, 3.16 B, 3.17 C, 3.17 D If desired, play the song, Putting on the Ritz, as students gather to the floor for the minilesson. Commend students for their efforts in designing their book trailer storyboards. Explain to them that they still have many design decisions to make. Each decision will either enhance or detract from their goal of influencing their viewers in the book trailer. Writers, it s time to put on the ritz and add the pizzazz to our book trailers. The phrase, putting on the ritz means to get dressed up as if you were going to a fancy event. Well, writers, it s time to dress up our book trailers with special effects and different design elements. Although we already have done considerable work, we still have many important decisions to make in the design of our book trailer. Today, we will look at a few book trailers to help us make decisions about the design elements of our own book trailers. Show slide 1 of the Ready, Set, Publish! Power Point, and tell students that they will use their storyboards to help them produce the book trailer using the software application, Photo Story. Share the idea that book trailers are powerful vehicles for conveying information and influencing the thoughts and actions of viewers. To maximize the impact on viewers, it is important to keep the design aspects in mind as the book trailer is being produced. Introduce the different elements that book trailer producers reflect upon by showing slide 2. Then briefly highlight the key questions for each design element by discussing the questions found on slides 3 6. Next, explain to students that they will examine the format and design elements found in three different book trailers. As students examine the trailers, have them think about how they might use some of the ideas in the design of their own book trailers. Introduce each book trailer and point out unique design elements. Briefly highlight the methods used to create the book trailers. Book Trailer 1: There s a Spider in My Bedroom used scanned images from the book that students read together in small group with their teacher, Stephanie McCarty. After making a plan and script, the students used a microphone to narrate the book trailer. Music was added to reflect the mysterious mood of the book. Book Trailer 2: Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau used images and text created in PowerPoint to allow more control over the placement of the text. Librarian Bettie McGinness first created the scenes in Power Point, grouped the text and visuals together, and then saved the object as an image by right mouse clicking and selecting Save as. The JPEG files were then uploaded into Photo Story and music was added. Book Trailer 3: Have I Got a Book for You (Most Interesting Man) used photographs and clip art. The visuals were grouped together and saved as an image in PowerPoint. Additionally, scanned images of the character Al Foxword were cut out and placed onto printed photographs. Then the scene was scanned once more into the computer. The files were uploaded to Photo Story. Music and narration were added. Allow students the opportunity to reflect on the various design elements used in the book trailers and ask them to share with a partner and idea they might try out. Have them share the design element and the reason why they feel it would help them effectively portray ideas about the book. Listen in on the conversations and provide feedback as needed. Debrief with the group by sharing a few of the ideas you overheard. Recap what students have learned about selecting design elements that will help them effectively produce the book trailer. Explain that students will begin locating the visual images and other resources they will need to produce their book trailer during independent writing. Near the end of workshop, have them share their storyboard and the design ideas they plan to use in a small group. Encourage them to listen and consider new ideas as they feedback from one another. What is the mood or feeling of the book? How will you grab and keep your audience s attention? What persuasive techniques will you use to sell your book? What kind of visuals will you use photos or illustrations? What text, if any, will you use on each slide to engage the reader? How will you order your slides to present your ideas? How will you narrate the slides to share ideas about the book? What kind of music, if any, will you use to create the mood of the book? How will your transitions add to the overall effect you want to create? What information will you include on your title slide? Do you want to include director information about yourself at the end of the show?