Students Bring Stories to Life With Creative Book Trailers

Sixth-grade students produced original book trailers based on the novel The Curse of Capistrano as part of a classroom project to integrate literacy with performance arts. The students worked in teams to handle the entire production process, which included writing scripts, acting, filming on school grounds, and editing the final footage.

Student Production and Filmmaking Process

The project required students to translate literary themes from The Curse of Capistrano into visual media. According to the project details, the students functioned as a full production crew by managing the following stages of development:

• Scriptwriting: Drafting narratives based on the book’s plot.
• Performance: Acting out roles to bring the characters to life.
• Cinematography: Filming scenes throughout the school campus.
• Post-Production: Editing the recorded footage into cohesive trailers.

By taking on these roles, the students transitioned from readers to creators, applying acting and technical skills to summarize the story’s core elements in a promotional film format.