Idea for my story: I will ask my 9th grade library students to create a digital story about one of their favorite books (books or ebooks), identify and describe its genre, provide their own review of the book, and clearly explain at least 3 reasons why they enjoy their book of choice. (Their reasons could possibly be (but is not limited to) any of the following: they can relate to the characters in the story, explaining what they have in common; the topic of the book is connected to their personal interests, providing details to support why this is true, the setting of the book appeals to them, justifying their reasons with their own opinions, etc.)

Students will choose a character from the Storyboard That’s available choices, or upload their own by searching on Pixabay.com. The character that they choose would reflect their favorite book’s genre (for example, they could choose a dragon or wizard for fantasy, an alien for science fiction, etc.) and they will include audio and text, describing the attributes of their genre and providing examples of books that belong to the genre they chose. The story will continue with the explanation and their own review of their favorite book, along with the 3 reasons why it’s their favorite. Finally, the students will describe other ways to discover their book choices (interests, hobbies, career choices, self-help, movies, book series, public library, book clubs, etc. - all have been discussed in class).

Digital tool that I will be using: Storyboard That to create the individual panels which will be uploaded to iMovie or Powtoons in order to create the video and audio for the final product.

My rationale for this digital story is an important one. Research shows that “60 percent of high school seniors read from a book or magazine every day in the late 1970s, but by 2016, the number had plummeted to 16 percent” (Korbey, 2019). Getting students to read is always a struggle in my classes. However, “to help lead students to texts that speak to their interests, teachers must know what those interests are” (Springer et al., 2017). This assignment will help me to determine the interests of my students, allowing me to search for books that they really want to read. It is vital that students have a choice in reading books that appeal to them, because they “are more likely to read when their interests are taken into account and they have control of how and what to read” (Hill, 2015). Also, when students can relate to the characters in the stories that they read, they enjoy these books. This engagement will allow them to continue reading because “when students find titles with characters that look like them and families that resemble their own or their neighbors, their interest level increases” (Starke, 2020). Giving my students a choice in their reading will allow them to develop a love of reading. My digital story assignment will also allow them to address the various ways that they can discover and access new books, which will help to encourage them to continue reading in the future.

References

Hill, H. (2015, March 26). 37 ways to help kids learn to love reading. Edutopia. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/37-ways-help-kids-learn-love-reading

Korbey, H. (2019, July 9). The reading wars: Choice vs. canon. Edutopia. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/Reading-wars-choice-vs-canon

Springer, S., Harris, S., & Dole, J. (2017). From surviving to thriving: Four research-based principles to build students' reading interest. The Reading Teacher, 71(1), 43-50. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26632506

Starke, K. (2020, January 21). Developing a love of reading in students. Edutopia. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/developing-love-reading-students

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading

Responding to Literature

11. Respond to literature by employing knowledge of literary language, textual features, and forms to read and comprehend, reflect upon, and interpret literary texts from a variety of genres and a wide spectrum of American and world cultures.

ISTE Standards for Students

Knowledge Constructor

3) Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.

Creative Communicator

6) Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.