Every Friday I show book trailers in class with the hope of getting kids interested in a weekend read. Sometimes I am more successful than others. I hit paydirt today with these book trailers for two of Todd Strasser’s books: Can’t Get There From Here and Give a Boy a Gun. I showed the trailers, one right after the other, and I sat the books on the whiteboard rail. Both were signed out within five minutes–one by a boy who “hates to read.” Me = smiling.
Join us in Reel Reading for Real Readers:
What: Weekly posts of book trailers of our favorite and most student-engaging YA books.
Why: Visual images can intrigue the most reluctant and even hostile readers.
When: Thursdays so you can find the book in preparation for showing the trailer on Fridays. (We might get some traction with weekend readers here.)
How: We’ll post ours. You post yours, using the meme Reel Reading for Real Readers. Leave us a comment with your blog link, so others can add to their book trailer libraries.
Mini-lesson Tip: tone, setting, characters
Mini-lesson Tip: notice the last frame; make connections to real events
Have you read these or other books by Todd Strasser? Tell us about them.
Three Teachers Talk 
What are you thinking?