The hook in your proposal should be one or two sentences. Cast the major character in the book with real actors and actresses. Stop and ask the class if they have any ideas about what the fish could do instead of biting the teasing hooks. A booktalk is a performance you want to hook the listeners, to do. Write a story which explains how the penguin got to the boys front door.
Book talks are important for students who have no knowledge of the books. And, its more persuasive than expositorythink sales and marketing. Then read the list of suggested reactions the book offers as you write them on the board or on an overhead. People digest text very differently when watching video compared to when they read a book cover so it. I speak to you for the first time as prime minister in a solemn hour for the life of our country, of our empire, of our allies, and, above all, of the cause of freedom.
A hook is the thing that is going to sell the book in about 60 seconds give or take. According to agentquery, the book hook is a concise, onesentence tagline for your book. No matter what youre writing, be it the next great novel, an essay for school, or a book report, you have to capture your audiences attention with a great introduction. For students who constantly struggle finding a book they want to read, booktalks might be the solution. The hook book libraries offer the best 50, 100 or 200 titles for each grade across a wide range of reading levels. A book talk could sell your students on the idea of picking up a new title or author or. In a book talk, the goal is to engage the listeners and present a fun, exciting, and even suspenseful commercial for your book. These are also links for students to get ideas if they want to dress up like their. Other times i pick an action scene or a cliffhanger. Tucker talk about the importance of booktalks to build a reading community. Shortly after, booktalks quick and simple was born. Book talk presentation booktalking is an effective way to share. A book report tells somebody you read the book, a booktalk tries to convince the person to read the book. If youre interested in other methods to hook your audience.
In their very helpful book, transforming literacy teaching in the era of higher standards, karen biggstucker and brian tucker talk about the importance of booktalks to build a reading community. Ive written about using series books to hook reluctant middlegrade readers. Whether youre a brand new writer or a seasoned author ready for a new writing project, it can be incredibly difficult to find the inspiration you need, in order to commit to an endeavor as arduous as writing a book. Book talks have the goal of sharing books with students in hopes that they will find the book interesting and read it. If a booktalk idea comes to you while youre reading, stop and write it down. As the camera panned over the members of the audience, their faces showed universal s. When i tease hatchet, for example, i read the two pages right as the plane is crashing. A book talk could sell your students on the idea of picking up a new title or author or give them the push they need to find a book they love and convince their peers to read it. Start writing a book using easy writing tools now novel.
Read an excerpt, if appropriate can be a hook or to end your talk. It is not about answering the question but engaging your reader and. Read a quote from the book, ask a question of your audience, introduce the main character. A book teaser is a short read aloud of a sampling of a longer book. Ninth house by leigh bardugo, pumpkinheads by rainbow rowell, wayward son by rainbow rowell, wilder girls by rory. Whenever you need help with writing a powerful introduction, use one of these recommended essay hook sentences to grab readers attention. What is a book talk your guide to making them work in the. Mentioning the lean presentation design book here, you get a famous tip. And by the way, the answer is yes to bright light and no to bachs concerto.
Booktalks, book trailers, and book teasers scholastic. What is a book talk your guide to making them work in. I also hold back a few copies for the later hours so they have a chance at the books, too. A book talk is a short presentation about a book with the goal of convincing other people to read it. I often try to booktalk an author so they have several to choose from. These collections are carefully curated to include the types of books every teacher needs as part of a classroom library to nurture the reading development of students in hisher specific grade. I think the ethical way that the author try to convince you to do the things are an important part of the book. A quick web search will reveal that there are many ideas out there for creative book reports, but they are not all good ideas. Heres how to hook your audience with a great opener. One of my favorite hooks comes form shirley jackson we have always lived in the castle. Creative ideas to promote books from your library collection.
A book talk may be just the tool you need to engage your students in a new book. Hook examples take inspiration from the most successful ideas to gain the. Another idea to hook someones attention is, if youre discussing a book by a well known or popular author, you might start with an interesting. The national literacy trust is a registered charity no. Write a letter to the main character, and then the characters reply. Booktalks, book trailers, and book teasers by alycia zimmerman. Your hook should also include the main plot or the issue at stake in the story. This was the claim that video game designer jane mcgonigal presented to the crowd during her june 2012 ted talk. Book talk presentation booktalking is an effective way to share great books with others. Ill outline techniques that will guide readers to reproduce these brainsets, thus increasing creative ideas and motivation.
We learn more by our failures than by our successes. Coming up with the right book idea can be a serious challenge regardless of how experienced you are as a writer. Talk a different set of books for each class so no single book is so much in demand that you cant fulfill student requests to read it reasonably soon. Using story plots to support childrens storytelling book. See more ideas about teaching reading, library lessons and reading workshop. Know your audience consider the interests of your audience choose a book with broad rather than narrow appeal select a book at the reading level of your audience. What follows is 12 hooks that will grab your audiences attentionand keep it. News, tips, and more for writers and readers adventures in writing kate raphael, author of the awardwinning murder under the bridge. A guide to how to start a presentation, based on starters and hooks used by the. Jun 25, 2007 great opening lines to hook young readers if youre interested in getting your child or teen to keep reading during a hot, long, lazy vacation, offer them these cool summer books. Never talk a book you havent read or at least skimmed. Students will create a book talk presentation using powtoons.
The impetus to put the booktalks on line came when i was asked to do booktalks for a class with very little notice. Hooks are memorable, compelling and sometimes controversial. Include a one paragraph explanation as to how it applies to your book not in the paper itselfon your title page. When her mother suggests that she look through her grandmothers recipes for some moneysaving ideas. Hansen that you are ready to present it to the class. Sometimes i read the first few pages or first chapter, but this isnt always the case. Start and finish your story using easy writing tools.
It should capture what your book is about in very few words. Booktalk assignment explanation write a booktalk for your book and present it to the class. Talk to the class about your book by saying a little about the author, explain who the. Dress either as the author or one of the characters. Using story plots to support childrens storytelling learn how teaching children about story plot patterns can make storytelling easier for them. Your hook is the element that is unique to your story. Nov 09, 2010 at the heart of every successful memoir is whats known in publishing as the hookor that certain something that makes a book marketable. Jul 02, 2018 a book talk may be just the tool you need to engage your students in a new book. Make a collage representing some event or part of your book. Below is a list of ideas that you can use to go above and beyond what is expected of you in the classroom.
Great opening lines to hook young readers if youre interested in getting your child or teen to keep reading during a hot, long, lazy vacation, offer them these cool summer books. It is not about answering the question but engaging your reader and making them interested. A book talk is an activity that is often used in middle school to encourage students to read more books in their spare time. Hook, line, and sinker by jamie thomas, teacher and talk for writing trainer whether youre after inside hooks, outside hooks, role play hooks or experience hooks, talk for writing trainer, jamie thomas, has it all covered and shares his hook ideas seeing thirty sets of eyes widen in intrigue and excitement has always motivated me as a teacher. Weve been looking at what makes a good one and here are our top six tips.
Kids will see right through you, and you need them to trust you so theyll act on your recommendations. You need to carefully consider your hook because it is what you will use to build your platform, gather your tribe, get interest and interviews from the media and much more. These will work for almost any book and are especially good when students are reading independent book selections. The cardinal rules of booktalking choosing a book preparing a booktalk presenting the. Most hooks for a book are written in the present tense, rather than the past tense, to make the hook feel more active to the reader. Magnificent picture books for mothers day a collection of delightful picture books that celebrate the precious love between a mother and child. If you want to sell your book and i know you do, you need to have a phenomenal book hook. Another idea to hook someones attention is, if youre discussing a book by a wellknown or popular author, you might start with an interesting.
Learn the high points of your booktalk, dont memorize. Thus, a booktalk is more of an advertisement or a commercial. This book started to ferment my brain with many ideas, some for my current projects and a new really good project. Make sure to also give the title and author of the book. Mar 23, 2017 a book talk is an activity that is often used in middle school to encourage students to read more books in their spare time. A hook for classics is telling kids that those books are for the mature reader who is ready to meet the challenge of more difficult and complex subjects. The birthday ball by lois lowry, the legend of spud murphy by eoin colfer, the nina, the pinta, and the vanis. Like he said in the book, the knowledge he is sharing is very powerful and could be used both for good and evil. Ten great creative book report ideas minds in bloom. I talk to people every single day who have written a book and cannot tell me what its about. Keane also likes to talk about any book that seems to be gathering dust on the shelves. At the beginning of the unit, the teacher might want to introduce a new book by first doing a picture walk.
Get everything you need to brainstorm and develop story ideas, settings and characters, create outlines, plot and develop scenes, chapters and drafts, and finish writing your book. Book talking tips to fire a passion for reading national library of. Read a quote from the book, ask a question of your audience, introduce the main character, vividly set the scene, or do a combination of a few of these techniques. A quick web search will reveal that there are many ideas out there for. By elaine pearson this is a display to give students some vocabulary and ideas to talk about books. Feb 24, 2014 students will create a book talk presentation using powtoons. Talk to the class about your book by saying a little about the author, explain who the characters are and explain enough about the beginning of the story so that everyone will understand what they are about to read. Normally when you start talking, people are tired from the other speeches, and their. Here are, in my opinion, ten of the best creative book report ideas. Oct 26, 2010 more ideas than youll ever use for book reports. Start with a hook that will get the audiences attention.
I am eighteen years old, and i live with my sister constance. If the book you read involves a number of locations within a country or geographical area, plot the events of the story on a map. Summary in a paragraph or two, summarize the plot of the book. Book talks are a powerful way of promoting books and reading to students. What it is, why you need it, and how to create it by rochelle melander. Can you think of speech for the characters at each point in the story. Jul 23, 2018 a book report is meant to discuss the contents of the book at hand, and your introductory paragraph should give a little overview. Why write a book thats been done before or that wont interest anyone. Im a firm believer that the best book ideas must come. When i searched the web looking for help, i found none. We talk about the great american novel that can sum up the spirit of a nation and debate which writers best captured the soul of mankind. See more ideas about teaching reading, teaching and reading workshop. Heres how you make a quick and perfect introduction. I have seen many fiction novelists struggling with this area and its.
Now that you have some ideas on why you might want to try flash booktalks youll need to actually write some. This isnt the place to delve into details, but draw off your hook to share a little more information that is crucial to the storyline. While talk for writing was developed to be used by teachers as part of a whole school approach, i was able to take away some key points from the talk for writing training which ive added to my narrative intervention toolkit. Want to grab listeners attention and engagement immediately. Using story plots to support childrens storytelling. We think of books as storing the ideas of civilization and teaching us about the truths that only fiction can tell. If you are going to booktalk a title in one minute you need to find a hook. Most students will introduce the title of the book and its author, but theres so much more you can do. You will entice your peers to read a book you have read by engaging their interests and inviting them into a story.
The hook is the first impression the agent or editor will have of your book. Write a letter from one character to another character. Point out any book suggestions that match ideas that students had already offered. You should try to always use the present tense to describe the action in the book. In your manuscript the hook can be up to several paragraphs. You summarized the book giving the audience information about the book. Read an ar book at your reading level, choose a book club idea, complete it, and then tell mrs. Choose any topic from your book and write a 12 page research report on it. Reading a book picture walk is a great strategy to use for a reading lesson. There are many, many great ways for students to respond to literature. One of the things reading activists love doing is creating book trailers.