Program Focus:

This annual, school-wide project is designed to promote and celebrate literacy through the use of technology. The Digital Book Review Program uses the four modes of language: reading, writing, listening and speaking and features the best-loved and most cherished books of our students and staff. Participants submit type written reviews via e-mail or save them to the common drive where they can be pasted into the presentation. This year, in addition to the written review, the presentation contains a recording of the reviewer's voice reading the review, a photograph of the reviewer, and a picture of the book's cover.

• to celebrate and promote literacy throughout the school community and across the curriculum
  
  

• to provide a unique forum for students and staff to share their enthusiasm for and personal reaction to a book of their choice
  
  

• to provide an opportunity for students and staff to utilize their knowledge of available technology to produce a digital presentation of their book review
  
  

• to share this program with the school community at Open House Night in our library media center
  
  

Timeline:

Week 1:   Starting out! A letter is sent to all students and staff inviting participation, outlining the program and explaining how the format works.

Week 2:  Submitted reviews, photos, audio, and book cover designs are compiled. Participants schedule appointments to format their work using Power Point.  

Week 3:   Presentation is synchronized with background music, and presented to the school community for Open House.

Read Our Digital Book Reviews!
The Mouse and the Motorcycle	Make a Wish, Molly
My Side of the Mountain	Chocolate Fever
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	The Polar Express
The Toothpaste Millionaire	Dear Mr. Henshaw
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	The Rag Coat
The Sign of the Beaver	Black Beauty
The Wretched Stone	Stuart Little
Hurry Home, Candy	Parallel Journeys
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Acknowledgements and Conclusion:

This program is an example of the innovative teaching and learning experiences that are emerging as a result of technology. It fosters enthusiasm for literacy learning while using a variety of available technologies to communicate in a unique and entertaining format.

This Digital Book Review is an on-going, annual program. We plan to continue to use it as a vehicle to showcase our best-loved books in the hopes that it will spark an interest in reading. Its success is due to collaboration and mentoring from the Arlington Central School District, in particular:

• the principal of Titusville Intermediate School, Mrs. Linda Heitmann, for her unfailing support of literacy learning initiatives
  
  

• Mrs. Jo Ann Kraus, Technology Resource Teacher for her encouragement and technical expertise
  
  

• Mr. Chris Shave, Titusville Intermediate School system operator, for his on-site, technical consultations