Last year Dr. Brad Gustafson and I co-hosted the World Championship of Book Talks. Many of you will remember that we started with a field of passionate educators who each shared their favorite 30 second book talk video. What happened next was truly amazing! Thousands and thousands of people voted on the books they loved best. Students created their own book talk videos and shared them with us. We shared templates of blank book talk tournaments, and teachers created similar book talk experiences with their classes. Social Media was buzzing with book talk banter as the "Literacy Legends" competed against the "Lead Learners." When we started this little project, our only hope was that it would result in more young people seeing adults talking about the books they love! Both Brad and I are passionate about growing readers through authentic literacy programs that engage students in activities that look like what real readers do! I want to start a reading revolution - a wave of change that champions the necessity of reading for JOY, that empowers teachers to abandon remedial, incentive based reading programs that ruin reading for kids and that enables educators to share their passion for reading with students. After all, passion is contagious! The #30SecondBookTalk Challenge fits the bill, so I'm happy to announce that we're doing it again! This year we're opening up the championship bracket to educators everywhere. If you're interested in taking a risk and creating an original 30 second book talk please click HERE or go to tinyurl.com/BookTalkVolunteer (signing up takes only about 1 minute). Brad and I will host a live draft show in the next few weeks. As a fun token of appreciation, participating educators will be awarded some fun literacy-themed surprises as a small way of showing our gratitude!
If your book talk is selected to move to the championship round you will even be eligible for a stellar surprise from a company that loves literacy as much as we do. Drumroll please.....Scholastic is supporting our book talk project!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (This is BIG, y'all!)
Of course, only one book talk video can earn the coveted "Vince Lombooki" championship trophy. Our main goals are to celebrate reading and the books we love. We also want to model creativity and the process of making book talk videos for students. If you know somebody who might be interested in participating please share this blog post with them and encourage them to volunteer.Returning champs, the Literacy Legends are counting on you!
Finally, Brad and I want to take a second to thank last year's inspiring contributors. They made sure to keep the focus on the books we love, creativity, and the students we serve. All of them represented reading in such a positive way! To see our four book talk finalists from 2016 click HERE.
2016 World Book Talk Honor Roll:
Lead Learners:
Shana White @shanawhite
Tavis Lape @travislape
Amber Teamann @8amber8
Scott McLeod @mcleod
Steven Weber @curriculumblog
Patricia Brown @msedtechie
Pam Hernandez @pgilders
Dr. Steven Geis @drsgeis
Literacy Legends:
Tiffany Whitehead @librarian_tiff
Stuart Annand and John Draughon @stuartannand and@johndraughon***
Nikki Robertson @nikkidrobertson
John Schumacher @mrschureads
Mollee Branden and Tavia Clark @molleebranden and @taviaclark
Donalyn Miler @donalynbooks
Cathy Potter @cppotter
Pernille Ripp @pernilleripp
***2016 Vince Lombooki Trophy Winners:
The #Brobarians (Stuart and John....)
Who will be on the 2017 Honor Roll? Volunteer to participate TODAY.
