HOW IT WORKS
Broadway Bound Books allows students to exercise and integrate many different skills in one project. Students select a book that they enjoy reading, and then write, publish, and present a program about the book as if it were a Broadway play. This program follows the format of Playbill magazine. Students plan for a publication by extracting the information from the book they read. The program encourages them to look beyond the written materials and gain insight into an author’s thoughts. It exposes them to the many steps and aspects of publishing, such as illustrations, publishers, copyright dates, and other credits. The teacher presents a sample publication and discusses the parts with the students. They are given a guide to analyze their book by stating its themes, settings, and plots.

The different sections found in Playbill each develop a different skill. The Critic’s Corner helps them form their opinions of the book and share their impressions in writing. In class, they learn the figurative and literal aspects of language such as simile, metaphor, hyperbole, alliteration, personification, idiom, and onomatopoeia. They search for these literary elements in the books they choose and provide examples for them. Who’s Who In the Cast enables them to analyze and critique the main character, the supporting characters, the antagonists, and the protagonists of the story. In the back of their program, they create their own advertisement for the publication. They study advertising strategies by researching magazine and newspaper ads. Finally, they present their publication to other teachers and classes to practice their presentation and public speaking skills. The students viewing the presentation fill out evaluation forms in a positive tone to encourage and praise their efforts for future improvement.

THE STUDENTS
The students participating in this program are in a transitional ESL class. It can be easily be adapted in any level of fourth through ninth grades and may be used with large or small groups.

THE STAFF
Roza Ng has taught the Bilingual/ESL population at M.S. 131 for 16 years. This is the first year she implemented this program. 

WHAT YOU NEED
Required materials include a collection of Playbill magazines, a variety of books, art supplies (including scissors, glue sticks, color pencils, and watercolor paint), computers with printers, 8 ½” by 11” computer paper folded in half, and a video camera with videotape.

OVERALL VALUE
Broadway Bound Books calls upon the students to exercise multiple skills such as reading, writing, organization, editing, commentary, book reviewing, character analysis, publishing, art, advertising, oral presentation, and evaluation. The program helps the students meet Language Arts and ESL standards while enabling them to be creative and expand their thinking beyond the reading material. It also helps them to formulate an opinion in addition to developing a sense of pride in their accomplishments.