Book Trailer Tuesday

The Benefits

• Book trailers will expose your students to more books! Book trailers will expose students to

books in a way that full bookshelves just can’t. If you show a book trailer every Tuesday,

students will have been exposed to 36 new books by the end of the year!

• Showing book trailers will help you get to know your students as readers and give better book

recommendations. After showing a few book trailers, you will quickly catch on to the genres,

plots, authors, and topics students love. The more you learn about your students’ reading

preferences, the better books you’ll be able to feature every Tuesday! You’ll also be able to

give better book recommendations to individual students who come to you when they need a new book.

• Showing book trailers is low-prep but HIGH-impact. Seriously, it couldn’t be more easy. It’s

almost too easy when you consider how much reading interest book trailers generate. The

only “work” you have to do is find a new book trailer every Tuesday and I've tried to help with that.

• The entire Book Trailer Tuesday process takes less than 5 minutes from start to finish. That’s it!

And it doesn’t even have to be a Tuesday. Book Flix Friday, anyone? Watch it Wednesday? If

you love the idea of First Chapter Friday but don’t have the time to devote to it, Book Trailer

Tuesday is an easy alternative. And if you’re already doing First Chapter Friday,

Book Trailer Tuesday will complement it perfectly.

• Book Trailer Tuesday works well in ANY environment: traditional or virtual. Whether you’re

pressing play in a physical classroom or linking a video in a digital classroom, this is an activity

that works well in any setting. Students always love a video!

Here’s how to facilitate Book Trailer Tuesday:

1. Find an engaging book trailer. There are plenty on YouTube. See the following page for a list

of the book trailers I’ve used in my 7th grade classroom this year.

2. Pass out the book trailer half sheet or assign the Google slides version. Let students preview

the sheet so they will know what to look for in the trailer.

3. If you want, briefly introduce the book. Show students the cover, mention the genre,

highlight the author and any other popular titles, and generate some pre-viewing interest.

4. Show the book trailer. Most are 30 seconds-2 minutes long. Remind students that trailers are

designed to hook the audience and leave viewers with unanswered questions. Encourage

students to think of questions and make prediction as they watch. Students should

complete the half sheet immediately after the trailer.

5. If you have time, quickly chat about students’ interest in the book, using the student

sheets/slides as a guide. Collect the students’ sheets to see what they’re interested in, but

then return them later so students can keep track of the titles they want to read.

6. If possible, it’s great to have a copy of the book so you can lend it out to a student. If a title is

really popular, I’ll take names to draw in a “book lottery.” If you don’t have a copy, that’s

fine too. Just make sure you give students information on how they can access it (school library, public library, a digital library)

Middle School Book Trailers

• Scythe by Neal Shusterman

• Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon

• Matched by Allie Condie

• I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

• Refugee by Alan Gratz

• Allies by Alan Gratz

• The List by Patricia Forde

• City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

• The Darkdeep by Brenden Reichs & Allie Condie

• Legend by Marie Lu

• Divergent by Veronica Roth

• The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

• The False Prince by Jennifer Nielson

• RESTART by Gordon Kormon

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusack (Movie trailer)

• Unwind by Neal Shusterman

• Boys of Blur by ND Wilson

• The Plot to Kill Hitler by Andy Marino

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard