Want to connect with students? Grab their attention and don’t let go. Here are some possible ways to keep kids involved.
Kids love answering questions and participating.
What questions can you ask related to your book? (With a reminder to the students to raise their hands, touch their noses, their left elbows, etc.)
Examples:
“Raise your hand if you’ve ever…
…had a dog,
…been sad, or
…gone on vacation.”
“Who would like to hear…
…a secret,
…a weird fact,
…a funny story?”
For picture books, is there a hidden activity going on in the art or something that shows up on every page? Pause after reading each spread and ask, “Raise your hand if you spotted the fox?”
Read a section and ask students what they think will happen next. (Be prepared to call on students—this works best with a small group.)
Consider a song or actions, especially for a picture book.
If you sing, take a familiar tune from the public domain and write lyrics to fit your topic or text. If there’s a repeated phrase, you can have the kids practice it first. Then when reading, cue them to sing or shout out the line. (Resource for pubic domain songs.)
Add actions. Are there any places where claps, slaps on the legs, arms in, arms out, etc. would fit your read aloud picture book? “Stand up when you hear the word xxx. Sit down when I say the word yyy.”
Or do the characters in your novel do a clapping game? You could teach it to the students—if they don’t already know it. (Resources: 15 Easy Hand Clapping Games to Teach Your Kids, 11 Classic Hand-Clapping Games to Teach Your Kids.) You demonstrate with volunteers, then have the kids pair up and repeat.
Consider brainstorming and writing sessions.
In a classroom setting, I love talking about specific areas of writing and let the students shout out answers to my questions. Then I demonstrate how those choices could be used—sometimes the sillier, the better. If kids are seated at desks, I use an activity I sent to the teacher/librarian for printing. Once the students have finished the prompts, I call on them to share. I point out positives and areas for improvement. I try to make it fun!
Don’t forget props and visual aids!
If you have items that can be safely passed around, or are big enough for everyone in the room to see, that can garner interest. Unusual props will be more fascinating. Author Lynn Kelley says, “I don’t have the Gift of Gab, so that makes doing a school visit challenging. I’ve learned to compensate by using visual aids. You can, too. Whether it’s a funny hat, a honking horn, or a small poster-size photo of your kids, grandkids or pets, use something with child appeal to get the kids’ attention.” She also makes shadow boxes for each book. The small items in the boxes are visible, but won’t get lost. Some authors make a giant copy of their picture book that they use to “read” from.
I’ve included storytelling with a string “trick” and one kindergartener said, “magic!” when I pulled the string out of my pocket. I hadn’t even done the trick part yet.
Of course, PowerPoint presentations with simple slides (quality pictures, few words), book trailers, or other videos, can help as well. (Use a remote to change slides so you can move around.) Author Cynthia Lord says, “Be sure that you are the star of your presentation, not your slides. Have at least a few things to show the kids or stories to tell them that they cannot find on your website or read in interviews with you.” One caution: you must be prepared to carry on even if technology fails.
Acting.
Can you act out something from your book? It could be a skill your character has, or how they creep up the stairs to the spooky attic. Author Erin Dealey offers a mini-play with preselected students and sometimes teachers that is performed as part of an assembly. I’ve seen Lisa Yee have people act out the actions and read the dialogue of each character from a page in one of her books.
Be funny.
Especially if your book(s) have humor. But everyone likes to laugh. It may be a simple as the element of surprise, a story about something you did that was silly, something you thought was true when you were a child but is ridiculous, puns, jokes, funny images or videos, odd words, facial expressions, or a misbehaving prop.
In all of these suggestions, use what works for you and your material.
RESOURCES
5 Ways to Make School Visits Interactive by P.J. Hoover – she has some great thoughts
Engaging Students During an Author Visit: Part 1 Interaction by Annette Whipple
