QR Code Book Recommendations UPDATED FREEBIE

I was observed yesterday. I hate being observed. It's not that I do bad. I'm just a perfectionist at times.... and nothing ever goes exactly according to plan, so I just get a wee bit anxious.

 {Here's a spoiler... things did not go according to plan!}

Lucky for me, during this second observation my supervisor wanted to see me during a co-teaching session... double lucky for me, this veteran teacher is AMAZING!

Our school uses Accelerated Reader, and with today being the close of the 3rd nine weeks, a new 9 weeks begins as a final chance for students to meet a new reading goal. My teaching partner and I put our heads together for away to stir things up...book summaries/recommendations via QR codes.

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It was suppose to work where students would fill out a graphic organizer with notes and then type them into a QR code maker. Unfortunately, when doing this on an iPad, the resolution couldn't be formatted to work. Thank goodness I wanted to try and show my teaching partner how the scanner worked this morning. Unfortunately, that discovery sent my morning tail spinning out of control. In the end, our iPad guru's got our project set up through Educreations {an app I already enjoy} and we overcame, were flexible, and the lesson went well even considering the lack luster internet service we were getting throughout the morning, change up in all morning plans, and making the first few hours seem like an eternity on an already long day {our long night of conferences was yesterday, all the way till 8 p.m.}

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Back to the lesson itself:

First we introduced this quick project. Think movie trailers for books. I showed my QR code book report example. Which had the cover picture from the book I chose and a voice-over describing the book and why it should be read.

Then we lead the students step by step in setting up an Educreations account. Gathering an image of the book they wanted, and students were off. {I was so glad that they were actually engaged and not still on the post-blizzard crazy alternate lifeforms that they were Tuesday when we returned to school. Whew!}

The students then  filled out a quick organizer to help them get their ideas in order. Then, step by step instructions were included on a PDF  {those directions were Plan A. We gave our much better Plan B instructions verbally and with reminders on the board of how to use this app.} The students record their voices, telling their summary/recommendation using Educreations. Then they grabbed the link from their video, put it into qrstuff.com, and viola a book report on a 1 inch square was made.

We are now ready for them to print their QR codes, book covers, and make a poster to hang in the hall to give other students book recommendations. Overall the students worked well, and mostly independent due to the explicit instructions. I hope that the book recommendations catch on and that maybe our library staff can run with it.

Click the picture to open the graphic organizer, and get teacher/student notes on how to complete the project for free! :)