Flipped Out Book Reviews

As part of their English as a second language classwork, students will read a book from a Reading Rainbow episode. For example, a good episode for English language learners is the one featuring The Lotus, a story about one girl's immigrant experience. After reading the book, students will watch the Reading Rainbow episode about that book. This will give the students a chance to see examples of the short book reviews at the end of the Reading Rainbow episode. After viewing several examples of these brief book reviews, students will then choose their favorite book to review. They will write their review and choose sections of the book to feature in their videos. Each review should include:
1) Attention-getting introduction
2) Description of the book
3) Student's personal opinion about the book
4) Conclusion encouraging others to read the book

After much practice, students will film their first attempts and view the results. This will give the students a valuable chance to critique their performances and make improvements. Then they'll make a final video review.
Students can do this activity several times throughout the school year. This is especially important for English language learners since their English can improve markedly in just one school year. This lesson will not only give students valuable reading, writing, and speaking practice, but it will also give them a video record of their English progress!