So I've had a few questions from other librarians about how I put together our Page One Previews that we are showing the freshmen class during their Independent Reading time. This was a tricky one for me to figure out, but I'm glad I stuck with it and figured out the steps to take. It has a bit of a learning curve, but once you got it, you can crank them out.
Step One: GET THE CANVA TEMPLATE If you want, you can use my template in Canva to give a start to your project. CLICK HERE Pretty much all the steps I will outline here should be outlined in the template as well. You'll just need to read the different slides and and look in the notes section.
Now, here's the *ONLY* paid for aspect of this one you may want. . . .you need to get the "Starter" plan that costs $7 a month. You need this one because it allows you to download any screencast as an MP3. The free version does not. Otherwise, you will need to convert the MP4 video file to an MP3 with something like CloudConvert. And it will only upload to your Google Drive in the free account. It's just a whole bunch more steps. Plus, Screencastify is a great product! Step Three: GET THE FIRST FEW PAGES OF THE BOOK AND EXTRACT THE TEXT Okay, we have our audio! Now let's get the text to go along with that audio. To do this, I go to Amazon and find the book. On Amazon, you can preview the first few pages of the book. Do this and scroll on down to the section of the audiobook you have. Using a screenshot tool (My favorites are other the Snipping Tool on windows or just pressing Windows + Shift + S) get a picture of the page or two from the audiobook. OR you may be able to just right click and save the page as an image. Then you will go to an image to text extractor like THIS one. Upload those images, have it extract the text for you, examine it for errors, and there you go!
When you checkout under "license type," select "Education" and then select "Classroom Use," as you see in the picture above. You will then be able to download your atmospheric music and upload it to Canva! Step Five: PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
After this, search in Canva's elements for videos that will go with the kind of book you are featuring. I usually suggest looking for a video that's around 30 seconds max per slide. However much of the narration you can get through in that 30 seconds, that's how much text you should paste onto that slide. Please note: In the Canva template, under this text in the layers is a black rectangle that has the transparency pulled down to make the video a little darker, so the text is easier to read. To change the background video or picture, move this black rectangle off to the side a bit, and then you can change the background. Keep working until you get all the narration, music, videos, and text until it's just as you like! BONUS: USING AUDACITY Just because it's the way I prefer it, I actually mix all my audio in Audacity before I upload it into Canva so I have a little more control over the volume of the background music versus the narration. You don't have to do this, but I just thought I'd mention it if you are familiar with that tool already!
Happy Page One Preview!
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And we are underway! We have officially completed our first full week of school over here at Pondo, and it has been an absolute whirlwind of activity! So many book talks and such a warm welcome for the kids back to our school. I had our first session with our freshmen English classes to get them geared up and excited about our independent reading program, so I thought I'd share a little bit about how that went. First, the Advanced English 1 classes that I'm working with are absolutely awesome. It's kind of a "well, duh" that they would be, but they are an absolute delight, and I'm so thrilled to spend the year with them. Even if I were to focus on a "regular" English 1 class next year, I still think I want to do this with the advanced classes because it feeds my reading soul! And, as teachers, we need that!
Following this, I had them flip to their TBR (To Be Read) page, and I did a standard book talk, encouraging them to jot down any titles that I talked about that sounded interesting. We discussed the importance of maintaining a TBR as one of the habits of a good reader as well.
After this, it was checkout time, and they were all over the place, wandering, exploring, and asking questions. It was a fantastic day! In two weeks, they will return for their library orientation, during which I will have them take a survey about their current reading habits. This will allow me to measure any growth in the students throughout the year. I'm dipping back into the blogging world! Once upon a time, way back around 2017/18, I made an effort to blog regularly about my practice as a teacher librarian. Over time, I found it hard to keep up with it along with the day-to-day grind of my job. But I've made a resolution for this new year to maintain a blog, specifically to chronicle my work next year with independent reading at my school. After attending CSLA this past year, I was inspired to become more involved with the independent reading happening in our English classrooms. I don't have to fight the battle of trying to make them understand the importance of IR; everyone is already on board. However, after CSLA, I felt there was more I could do as a teacher librarian beyond just giving book talks. Therefore, it has become my goal to establish a stronger presence in independent reading with one freshman English teacher and their classes. They will be the class I experiment with next year as we embark on this journey, with the potential for expansion to other English classes. A few general things to know about what we will be doing. . . #1: This English teacher will be incorporating IR into their classroom every day At my school, we follow a block schedule. Mondays are shortened days to allow for collaboration in the afternoon. Tuesdays and Thursdays consist of periods 1, 3, 5, and 7, while Wednesdays and Fridays consist of periods 2, 4, 6, and 7. This teacher has chosen not to include IR on Mondays due to the shortened day, but they will implement it on the other block days. The duration of IR time will range from 10 to 20 minutes.
#3: These classes will visit the library every 2 weeks This is where it gets exciting! Next year, this teacher will have periods 2, 4, and 7 with these classes. We have decided that every other Friday, we will schedule his classes to come into the library at the beginning of class for their independent reading (IR) time. During this visit, students will have the opportunity to return, renew, or checkout books, eliminating the need for them to do it during IR. This approach will help reduce the number of students who try to avoid IR by using the excuse of needing to go to the library to renew their books every time they start reading. eye roll Additionally, next year, we will have new, exciting lounge-like furniture in the front area of the library near our fiction section. It's going to create a fantastic atmosphere for IR. #4: The classroom teacher and teacher librarian will conference with students together during IR time in the library For reluctant readers, the classroom teacher and I will collaborate to support these students. The combination of the classroom teacher's familiarity and strong relationship with the students (as this teacher is well-liked) and my knowledge of our library's collection will hopefully be a winning combination in helping reluctant readers. #5: The students will receive short 5-minute lessons during their IR time in the library My goal is to assist students in maintaining a "To Be Read" (TBR) list, develop skills to become successful pleasure readers, and enhance their ability to describe themselves as readers. We will achieve this through brief lessons that will be conducted partially during IR time in the library and partially during IR time in the classroom.
#7: The classes will be provided with a bookshelf in the library to curate with recommendations One of my other goals was to find a way for students to engage in more book talks with each other in the library. While I believe that students value my recommendations, having students recommend books to their peers is the most impactful way to encourage reading. Therefore, I will dedicate a bookshelf specifically for these three classes to curate with their own recommendations for other students. Now I just need to decide where in the library this bookshelf should be placed. . . . This is a significant undertaking for the next year, but I am incredibly excited about the potential it holds for the future. The teacher I am collaborating with is enthusiastic about the possibilities and fully committed. That's one of the things I absolutely love about our English teachers here. They are exceptional to work with every day. If you are interested in becoming more involved with independent reading (IR) in your English classrooms next year, please feel free to use my Canva templates below. Adapt, borrow, adjust, and do whatever you need to make them work for you. I will document my journey through this blog, and I am excited about the possibility of presenting this as a professional development session at CSLA, perhaps in 2024! Resources/Handouts:
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AuthorJennifer Zimny has been the teacher librarian at Ponderosa High School since the 13/14 school year and previous to that, she was the drama teacher for 9 years. She holds a BA in Theatre from CSUS, a teaching credential in English, and a teaching credential in Library Media Services from Azusa Pacific University. She has presented an multiple professional development conferences, including CSLA, CUE, ELA Conference at Asilomar, and multiple PD offerings throughout her district. Archives
September 2023
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