Digital booktalk elements and guidelines. Resources included.

1. Digital Booktalks
Elements and ideas

2. What it is.
● A book “trailer”
● Uses multimedia such as photos, videos,
music and audio
● “sells” the book to readers

3. Why use it.
● gets kids reading
● provides choice
● understand story elements - mood, setting,
theme, characters, etc..
● creative process
● digital tools
● digital citizenship
● global audience

4. Three key elements:
● The hook
● The content
● The cliffhanger

5. The Hook - grab the listener’s
attention
● Read a gory, scary or exciting section (keep
it short)
● Ask a question
● Relate the events/feelings in the book to
current events/feeling in the listener’s lives
(https://multcolib.org/single-shard)
● Use effective visuals, text, music

6. The Content - tell about the
characters and/or plot
● Provide facts, then move to something shocking or
surprising
● Know a secret, talk about it, don’t reveal it
● Copy dialogue to read
● Tie the plot into a historical event or time period
● Get into character - use voice
● Show a great visual
● Tell something interesting about the author,
especially when the book is an autobiography

7. The Cliffhanger
● End your talk with something unresolved
● Leave them wanting more
● You want the listener to want to read the
book.

8. How to create a book talk
● Read the book
● Take notes/use sticky notes
● Look for the hook
● Decide what you want to share
● create a storyboard
● Write down your book talk
● Practice

9. Storyboard

10. Creating the digital book talk
● Make a folder in your documents titled ‘Book
talk’
● Search creativecommons.org for pictures,
music and media
● Save media to your folder
● Use iMovie (mac) or Movie Maker (PC), or
Voicethread to create your digital book talk

11. http://search.creativecommons.org/

12. Points to remember for a good
digital book talk
● Use photos (high res), music and other media that
create impact
● Be creative (photo collages, digital manipulation)
● Minimal text
● Clear voice (practice)
● Appropriate music - think about mood
● Avoid using images from the movie version of the
book.
● Keep it short: 1 1/2 to 2 minutes

13. Sharing
● post student booktalks on school Youtube
channel
● create QR codes and put around the school,
library and share with public library
● start a digital booktalk club
● host an Academy Awards

14. Resources
Assessment Rubric - http://bit.ly/1g0vJwe
QR Code generator - http://www.qrstuff.com/
RSS digital booktalks - http://bit.ly/1uSPzxu
Voicethread - http://bit.ly/1sjk7og