Lights, Camera, Action
Dust off your acting skills, dramatic voice, and stage presence. It's time to present booktalks to your middle schoolers! Booktalks can tantalize even the most reluctant reader into painlessly reading for enjoyment.
| The Rules |
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Never booktalk a book you have not read. |
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Don't give away too much information. |
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Keep it short, dramatic, and suspenseful. End with a cliffhanger. |
| The Types |
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The Excerpt – Read a short, intriguing tidbit and leave them wanting more. |
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The Narrative – Share a snippet of the plot, setting, character, or incident in the book. Use a question to hook your audience like "Have you ever been in a really spooky library?" |
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The First Person – Become one of the characters in the book and talk about what happens to you. |
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| Tips |
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Booktalk the books you really love. |
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Use books middle schoolers are sure to love, like Stone Arch Books’ "dark tales for brave readers," Zone Books—especially the Library of Doom series! |
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Provide your listeners with a list or bookmark with all the titles and authors of the books you are booktalking (Library of Doom bookmarks coming soon. Stop by our booth at AASL to get some!). |
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Talk about 15 books in about 30 minutes. |
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Leave them wanting more – "You'll have to read the book to find out!" |
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Throw in a fun extra like an author interview! See the entertaining interview with the Library of Doom author, Michael Dahl, now available for free viewing at www.stonearchbooks.com or YouTube. Don't miss the outtakes—a nice extra guaranteed to get everyone giggling. |
| —Tips courtesy of Linworth Publishing. Written by Cynthia Anderson, Associate Superintendent Emeritus for the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas. In her career she has been a school librarian, school principal, and director of media services. |
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