BOOKFLIX and Chill

I’ve been encouraging my students to think more about their book choices and if they would recommend their reading to their peers.

I’m excited to get ‘Bookflix‘ up and running this term to encourage students to think more about what their recommendation tells us about a book, who might also like their chosen book but most importantly, tell a potential reader enough to interest them but not give away the plot of the story.

Students can find this challenging and certainly need practice to get better at it. ‘Bookflix‘ encourages students to be more creative and to write more than just a review of their book. It transitions perfectly from our narrative writing, specifically a step called, ‘Show, Don’t Tell’. The purpose of this step in narrative writing is to create a little mystery, hook the reader and use more descriptive language.

‘He woke up in the middle of the night in his bedroom’ Vs ‘As his eyes slowly opened, everything was still so dark. A strip of light crept in under the bedroom door’.

I put together an example for my students but I didn’t make copies of it and I did not create a template. I encouraged my students to make it their own and to think outside the box. I found that some students really benefited from seeing an example to help them to get started, while others had so many ideas, they didn’t know where to start.

How did my students respond?

Previously, I had students ‘who didn’t like writing’ get really into this idea. When you think about it, it’s as creative and artistic as they choose it to be. It’s also an unmarked piece of work that students have freedom with and many students find it relaxing and fun.

Thank you so much for reading this post. If you decide to use this in your classroom, please feel free to come back and leave some feedback, share your ideas or the BOOKFLIX completed by your students.