The Mystery of Book Covers

The Mystery of Book Covers Student Book 5a, pages 34 35 Understanding Media Instructional Focus IDENTIFYING PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE FOR BOOK COVERS Identifying the purpose and audience for book covers enables students to begin to think critically about how a particular form of media can be directed at different audiences while maintaining the same purpose. Instructional Approaches SHARED READING Transparency 4: The Mystery of Book Covers The Mystery of Book Covers Student Book 5a, p. 34 INDEPENDENT READING The Mystery of Book Covers Student Book 5a, p. 34 Expectations LANGUAGE O: Oral R: Reading W: Writing ML: Media Literacy O Adapt active listening strategies to suit a range of situations, including work in groups W Identify the topic, purpose, audience, and form for writing ML Identify the purpose and audience for a variety of media texts ML Identify conventions/techniques in media forms and explain how they convey meaning/influence the audience About This Selection In this media focus, four book covers from Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries illustrate different styles of book covers. The covers are from different eras and reveal how audiences have changed over the years. Most students will be able read and relate to the covers. The vocabulary is not complex or challenging. ACCESSIBILITY Easy Average Challenging ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING Ongoing Observation Students who understand will explain that book covers are designed to attract readers explain that images help readers make connections explain that the type highlights what is important to readers explain how book covers appeal to readers Differentiated Instruction If students do not understand, use Check Out the Covers! (See Differentiated Instruction: Extra Support, p. 63) Assessment Demonstration Task, p. 63 Key Assessment Question How do book covers appeal to readers? Assessment Tools BLM 2: Oral Language Tracking Sheet BLM 3: Small-Group Observation Tracking Sheet BLM 11: Demonstration Task Book Cover Analysis Form BLM 12: Strategy Rubric Strip Identifying Purpose and Audience for Book Covers What Research Says about Purpose and Audience Throughout history, print has often been partnered with pictures in order to convey more meaning, to add attractiveness, and to appeal to a wider audience. Television, video, and film all involve such combinations, as do websites and presentation software. (NCTE, 2004) Reflecting on Your Practice How often do I encourage my students to focus on characteristics and formats in all types of media texts? The Mystery of Book Covers 59

Shared Reading Use Transparency 4: The Mystery of Book Covers and its related teacher notes in Transparencies for Shared Reading and Modelling to model how readers identify purpose and audience for book covers. Before ACCESSING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE 1. Tell students they will be learning about book covers, and say that book covers are a type of media form. Show them an assortment of books, including picture books, paperback novels, and hardcover books with dust jackets. Ask: What do you expect to see on a cover? (title; author; a picture; sometimes information about the book) What book covers interest you, or what do you look for in a book cover? Give them time to talk to a partner or in a small group about appealing covers. Encourage them to brainstorm a list of what makes a cover interesting or appealing to them. 2. Let the groups share their ideas. Together as a class, make a list of features that make a cover interesting. During INTRODUCING THE TEXT 1. Give students time to preview Student Book pages 34 and 35. Ask them to turn to a partner and tell one thing they notice right away about the covers. 2. Ensure that students understand the concept of a book series. media Understanding Identifying Purpose and Audience for Book Covers 34 The purpose of the image is to help readers make connections. Does this image connect to your interests? Who might find this image exciting? Mystery Vocabulary The Mystery of Book Covers The dream of every author is to reach readers. They hope readers will pick up their books, open them, and start reading! What makes you pick up a book? For many readers, it s the book cover. The purpose of a book cover is simple to attract an audience that will enjoy the book. The purpose of the type is to highlight what will be important to readers. Will the audience for this book be most interested in the series title, the book title, or the author s name? attract pull or draw to itself designer someone who comes up with ideas for new styles in clothes, furniture, and other items image a picture Strategy Tip: Look for the known To help students with decoding, use the word designer and ask what they know about pronouncing it, or the words design and sign. Remind them that some consonants are silent, such as the g in these words. Ask for or provide other examples, such as gnu, gnarl, gnash, gnaw, campaign. Encourage students to use what they already know about consonants when they encounter new words. 60 Nelson Literacy 5 Teacher s Resource: Mystery

All book covers are designed to attract readers, but designers use different images and type to attract different audiences. Take a close look at these two book covers and then look back to the covers on the previous page. What do these books have in common? Why do the covers look so different? 35 Discuss with students the two series that are featured in this selection: Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries. Ask if they are familiar with these series, and allow them to share what they know. READING AND DISCUSSING THE TEXT 1. Read aloud the text at the top of page 34 as students follow along in their books. 2. Direct students attention to the annotation on the left and read it aloud. Have them respond to the questions. Does this image connect to your interests? (No: it s boring; it looks really out of date; I don t know anything about castles. Yes: I can tell they are sneaking up, so something is going to happen; the castle looks cool.) Who might find it exciting? (older people) 3. Read the second annotation to students and ask: Will the audience be most interested in the series title, the book title, or the author s name? How can you tell? (the title, from the size of the type; readers want to know if they have read that one, and if the title sounds interesting) Why is the author s name smaller than the book title? (it s not as important; all the Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books have the same author name) Does the image on the Hardy Boys book cover make you want to read the book? (No: it looks dull; it looks like a weird place; there aren t many mills around anymore; it looks oldfashioned. Yes: the boys look scared, so I m curious.) The covers on these books are from a long time ago and are not really meant to appeal to today s audience of readers. Who would read them anyway, and why? (people who like mysteries or these series, because not liking a cover doesn t mean you won t like the book) INDEPENDENT READING Let students work in pairs to read page 35. They can first read the introduction together and then look at the book covers and discuss the questions in the introduction. What do the books on these two pages have in common? (they are the same series, with the same authors) Do the covers on page 35 connect to your interests? Why or why not? (they are exciting; I like the file folder idea) Why are the series titles on page 35 so big? (the publishers want people to recognize the book as part of a series; people like to read lots of books in one series) Which covers do you think are more appealing? Why? Why are the two sets of covers so different? (they were made at different times for different audiences; kids today are used to more exciting images because we see more TV and movies; the type looks more modern) The Mystery of Book Covers 61

After These questions and activities give students the opportunity to share and consolidate their learning about book covers. You may use BLM 2: Oral Language Tracking Sheet and BLM 3: Small-Group Observation Tracking Sheet to track student progress through the unit. REFLECTING ON THE STRATEGY 1. Review the brainstorming from the Before activity. Ask: Which of the features we listed are seen in these covers? What could make the covers even more appealing? 2. Let students share their thinking about book covers in general. Ask: Which book covers usually interest you? Why? Which book covers usually don t interest you? Why? Do you make connections with the covers? Explain. How closely do you look at the cover when you pick a book to read? Why? Why is it useful to think about the purpose and audience for a book cover? (helps you find a book you ll like; reminds you that book covers are trying to get your attention, but that doesn t mean the book is as good/bad as the cover would lead you to believe) How could making decisions about books based on the cover be a bad idea? (you might miss a great book because it has a boring cover; the cover may be exciting but not the story, so you may get stuck with a book you don t like) How do you think book cover designers try to reach an audience of Grade 5 students? (exciting pictures; big type; characters our age; settings and images that interest our age group) ORAL: DISCUSSING BOOK COVER IMAGES 1. Divide the students into small groups. Have each student bring one book they are currently reading during independent reading time. Working with one book at a time, direct the other students in the group to look at the cover. Encourage them to discuss what makes the cover appealing or not appealing, and what connections they make with the cover. 2. After looking at each book, ask the group to make a list of the features they noted. Challenge them to find one other book in the class (or library) that has a very appealing cover and that has many of the features they discussed. Direct the group to be prepared to show their book to the whole class and explain why it appeals to them. 3. Ask the class how they know they are an intended audience for the books they showed. Ask: What makes these covers look like they were made for students your age? Have you ever picked a book because you liked the cover, but then found the book was not for you? Why did that happen? Do you think some book covers are intended for girls and some for boys? Do you think that targeting these audiences differently is a good idea? MEDIA: CREATING A BOOK COVER Tell students they are going to create a book cover. They must keep in mind the intended audience and the purpose of the cover. They can choose one of the following possibilities: Create a new cover for one of the books on page 34. Make it appealing to an audience of kids today. Create a new cover for one of the books on page 35 to make it appeal to a grandmother or grandfather. Create a cover for a book you liked that had an awful cover. Find an old book in the library and create an updated cover. (Possibilities are older titles by Judy Blume, Betsy Byars, Eric Wilson, Gordon Korman.) Note: You might want to ask some students to design a cover for the class anthology of mystery stories that they drafted in the previous lesson. 62 Nelson Literacy 5 Teacher s Resource: Mystery

Differentiated Instruction: Extra Support Check Out the Covers! Give the students a few books with varied covers. Select a few books that would appeal to them and a few that are unappealing or intended for an older or younger audience. Encourage partners to look at the covers and discuss who would be interested in the books based on the covers. Ask the group to sort the books into groups according to who might find the covers appealing, and encourage them to discuss reasons for their choices. ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING Checking Progress Demonstration Task Use BLM 11: Demonstration Task Book Cover Analysis Form. Ask each student to identify how he or she made a book cover that would appeal to the intended audience. Then have each student look at the book cover of another student who was not in their small group and fill in the rest of the form. Key Assessment Question Students may respond to the Key Assessment Question either in writing or orally in a conference. Ask: How do book covers appeal to readers? Record individual progress on BLM 12: Strategy Rubric Strip Identifying Purpose and Audience for Book Covers. Next Steps Encourage students to continue to be aware of book covers in the classroom and at home. Talk about covers that interest you, and tell students why. Have students talk about covers they notice and tell why they like or don t like them. Strategy Rubric Strip: Identifying Purpose and Audience for Book Covers A full-size version of this rubric, suitable for recording assessments, is provided on BLM 12. Criteria Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 explains that book covers are designed to attract readers with limited with some explains that images help readers make connections with limited with some explains that the type highlights what is important to readers with limited with some explains how book covers appeal to readers with limited with some Cross-Curricular Application applies the skills involved in analyzing book covers in other areas of the curriculum with limited with some Student Self-Assessment Encourage students to think back to their learning with The Mystery of Book Covers and reflect on their ability to identify the purpose and audience for book covers. Ask them to describe, while conferencing with you or a peer, how they might have used the skills from this lesson in other subject areas or in their daily lives. Then direct them to check off the appropriate box on BLM 4: Self-Assessment Checklist and Personal Goal Setting. The Mystery of Book Covers 63