Lights, Camera, Action! BOCES Students Transform Book into Movie Trailers

Hollywood touched down in Richard Norris’s classroom at Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School in Croton-on-Hudson this winter, as students created movie trailers for the book, The War with Grandpa, by Robert Kimmel Smith. Students acted, directed and held cue cards for one another as they brought favorite scenes from the book to life.

The first step in the process was reading the book, which took place in small groups over the course of approximately six weeks. Chapters were read multiple times and comprehension questions and summaries were completed at the conclusion of each chapter.

“The idea of creating a movie trailer was a motivator for the students,” said Norris. As the students progressed through the book, “they would discuss specific scenes and what they might look like in the trailer.”

On filming days, students had the opportunity to portray a character in a scene, manage the scene as the director, or hold cue cards to help their classmates remember their lines. Equipped with an iPad, Norris recorded the scenes, which featured different students rotating into the book’s various roles.  “Since several students expressed an interest in playing lead roles, we created two trailers,” explained Norris.

“In addition to being a lot of fun, the project provided students with an opportunity to work collaboratively as they recalled events from the story,” said Norris. “The characters and the story itself really came to life as the students combined reading comprehension, teamwork, creativity and imagination to create the movie trailers.”