The Reading Promotion Plan I developed for the Young Adult Literature class involved my passion, which is drama. I am a former drama teacher and a big believer of using drama in the library, so it was only natural that I turned to it when developing a book promotion plan. My idea was to have students create book talks where they would assume the role of one of the characters in the book. The presenter would dress, act and talk like the character, providing a “hook” that would entice students into checking out the book and reading it. I thought it might work well to involve the drama department at our school. The students in the acting classes, who are talented and experienced at public speaking, could read a particular book, select a character to portray and write a monologue that would pique the interest of the audience. This activity could be conducted across grade levels; my specific plan was to have upper school students perform for the middle school girls.
For my presentation to my Young Adult Literature class, I decided to model this idea myself. I chose the book Son of the Mob, a humorous novel by Gordon Korman. I selected the part of Franky Luca, brother of Vincent Luca, the main character in the novel. I wrote a script and found an appropriate costume (black hat, tie, jacket and white scarf). I started off my presentation with a few bars of the theme from the movie The Godfather, then began speaking in a Bronx, tough-guy voice. Instead of doing a plot summary, I spoke from Franky’s perspective about his crazy family and Vincent’s attempts to lead a normal life. I’m not sure how well I carried off the accent, but the class got a big kick out of my presentation.
When it came time to try out my idea at my school, I made an attempt to coordinate with the drama department, but schedule conflicts made it virtually impossible I decided that I would work with the middle school 8th grade students myself and have them come to my library to present to my fifth graders. The middle school librarian was excited about the idea and helped facilitate. I made plans to visit each eighth grade section. I discussed what a book talk involves, and I did the same Son of the Mob presentation as a model. The eighth graders then developed their own monologues and presented them to the fifth grade classes. My assessment was an informal observation of the reactions of my lower school girls. They thoroughly enjoyed book talks given by the older girls, and they were eager to check out the books that had been presented.
Since then, the project has evolved into book talks developed by 5th grade girls and performed for their classmates. While the girls enjoy hearing from their peers, I would like to go back and try to involve the older girls again. I also want to go back to the drama department to see if we could work something out in terms of scheduling. Another idea I have is to use older students within my own Lower School division to present dramatic book talks to younger students, for instance fifth graders presenting to third graders. I am so glad that I resurrected this project because it has inspired me to revisit what I think was a very creative method of book promotion.
For my presentation to my Young Adult Literature class, I decided to model this idea myself. I chose the book Son of the Mob, a humorous novel by Gordon Korman. I selected the part of Franky Luca, brother of Vincent Luca, the main character in the novel. I wrote a script and found an appropriate costume (black hat, tie, jacket and white scarf). I started off my presentation with a few bars of the theme from the movie The Godfather, then began speaking in a Bronx, tough-guy voice. Instead of doing a plot summary, I spoke from Franky’s perspective about his crazy family and Vincent’s attempts to lead a normal life. I’m not sure how well I carried off the accent, but the class got a big kick out of my presentation.
When it came time to try out my idea at my school, I made an attempt to coordinate with the drama department, but schedule conflicts made it virtually impossible I decided that I would work with the middle school 8th grade students myself and have them come to my library to present to my fifth graders. The middle school librarian was excited about the idea and helped facilitate. I made plans to visit each eighth grade section. I discussed what a book talk involves, and I did the same Son of the Mob presentation as a model. The eighth graders then developed their own monologues and presented them to the fifth grade classes. My assessment was an informal observation of the reactions of my lower school girls. They thoroughly enjoyed book talks given by the older girls, and they were eager to check out the books that had been presented.
Since then, the project has evolved into book talks developed by 5th grade girls and performed for their classmates. While the girls enjoy hearing from their peers, I would like to go back and try to involve the older girls again. I also want to go back to the drama department to see if we could work something out in terms of scheduling. Another idea I have is to use older students within my own Lower School division to present dramatic book talks to younger students, for instance fifth graders presenting to third graders. I am so glad that I resurrected this project because it has inspired me to revisit what I think was a very creative method of book promotion.