Tiffany Ballard

OVERVIEW: This critique consists of a series of questions which students can answer about their work of fiction. Many of these questions are necessarily general since they might be applied to different types of books. Nevertheless, students will probably want to answer all that are applicable to their selection since this critique will be a valuable reference sheet throughout the rest of the Best Sellers simulation. For example, an immediate use of this critique will be when students compos

This is part of my Best Sellers unit. This assignment outlines for students how to write a professional business letter to a publishing house. Students are given specific guidelines for what content should be included in each paragraph of their business letter, how to properly format a business letter, etc.

Best Sellers is a living book report. Rather than simply reading a book and turning in a general report, students will read a book and become totally involved with it. Students have to “sell” their book to others, and will also learn much about books that other students are attempting to “sell” to them. Moreover, in the process, students will learn much about the real world of business. Using salesmanship skills, students will negotiate and strike bargains, send business letters, and give pr

Students work together as a team (publishing house) to prepare to select literary agents to interview. The establish criteria, write interview questions, and rank their top choices for interview candidates.

BEST SELLERS! A Living Book Report Simulation Objectives: Students will: • Read a novel of their choice. (students whose novels are not chosen will read an additional novel) • Write a working critique of the novel in order to help them prepare for their business letters and book fair presentations. • Write professional business letters to publishing houses. • Understand proper formatting for business letters. • Learn how to address envelops to hold the letters they plan to send to each publis

This is a contract written between the "author" and the "publishing house". The contract outlines how much "royalties" or extra credit the "author" will earn, up to 100%. The students use this document to help them "feel" the negotiation process. The ultimately come to an agreement as to how much royalties or extra credit they will give to the author for signing with them as opposed to another publishing house in the class. This activity allows the students to practice negotiating skills, in

This document functions as a team project contract. Students complete 3 sections: Section 1: Students write down the interactive project they plan to prepare for the book fair (guest talk show scene, act-out a scene from the book, interview with the author, etc) Section 2: Students submit materials request. Will they need an LCD project, photocopies, etc. Section 3: Students identify which team member will be the primary for the 4 assignment areas (PowerPoint, Movie Trailer, Interactive Act

This is part of my Best Sellers unit. I use this worksheet to check on my students progress towards meeting the assignment expectations. This worksheet requires students to turn in drafts of their portions of the project 1 week prior to the final due date. The worksheet outlines specific turn-in requirements for each part of the assignment rubric. After students complete the pitstop I conference with each Publishing House team to give feedback.

This is an example of a student letter written to a publishing house. I use this to help my students better understand the assignment requirements.

Personal identity is a person’s story, their lives, their challenges, their disappointments, their mistakes, and their successes. This theme is well established in S.E. Hinton's novel, The Outsiders. This 2-step assignment asks students to explore the theme of personal identity and relate the theme to their personal experiences. Students are asked to create an “I Am From…” poem that celebrates them, their family and culture, their personal identity. Their poems sound like them, using the na