BookBreak’s virtual author talk program for high school was created with a mission to make transformative and multi-disciplinary literary events accessible to every classroom while aligning with curriculum standards. By seamlessly integrating these virtual author sessions into your curriculum, you’ll ignite a fire for reading, kindle a passion for writing, and captivate even the most reluctant readers. Our innovative platform connects students with renowned authors in a variety of genres, expanding opportunities for story hooks to help deepen their reading engagement. Motivation is a key component of reading to learn, so optimizing a variety of pathways for piquing interest in books can have a large impact.
High school students are also navigating required reading, such as classic literature - Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations - to name a few. BookBreak’s high school program helps foster discussions on modern implications of the text, as well as connects classic literature with contemporary issues. The goal is to get students excited about required reading.
BookBreak fosters student interest in reading and writing with monthly live-streamed events that include comprehensive planning resources which seamlessly integrate with teacher curricula and state standards, and reinforce the library's value as a collaborative learning space. Events are geared specifically for high school students on curricular topics to provide impactful experiences that increase student excitement for learning and reading.
BookBreak’s virtual author talk program for high school includes 12 live author talks, which are 30 minute in-depth interviews with bestselling authors. There are opportunities for student Q&A to increase engagement and recordings of the talks are also available on our platform for those who cannot attend live.
Our high school program also includes a Would You Read It? series. These 8-minute videos showcase a booktalk from the author. The authors read an exciting segment from their featured book and share a behind the scenes look at their inspiration and writing process. Like an extended “First Chapter Friday,” the Would You Read It? videos will intrigue students while introducing them to new authors and genres. New videos are released each month throughout the school year.
In addition, our high school subscribers have access to our “Classic Connections” video series which introduces some of the classic literature read in English classes in a way that makes it more interesting and meaningful for today’s students. Multi-disciplinary sessions are planned in several subject areas: English, history, science, etc., to provide effortless integration into your curriculum. Our curriculum specialist helps align all of our author talks and resources to national standards.
Here’s a sneak peek at the bestselling authors we have planned for our virtual author talk program for high school, launching in Fall of 2025!
As an educator, you know academic content gets significantly harder as students advance into the high school years. Many become less confident in their abilities and struggle to recalibrate how to learn at this level, which can put them at risk in their academic performance.
A summary report of almost 150 studies talks about how motivation affects learning and, in turn, academic success, as well as several other aspects of a student’s life.
For example,
“Higher motivation to learn has been linked not only to better academic performance, but to greater conceptual understanding, satisfaction with school, self-esteem, social adjustment, and school completion rates. Upwards of 40% of high school students are disengaged from learning, are inattentive, exert little effort on school work, and report being bored in school.”
Keeping high school students engaged in learning that is fun and interesting, while simultaneously addressing the critical core competencies of the high school curriculum, delivers on this motivational component. Providing opportunities where students willingly engage in literacy-building activities on a deeper level not only helps them improve their reading and writing skills, but their critical thinking and conceptual understanding skills as well.
At BookBreak, our daily mission is to offer experiences that ignite learning. We do this by showing students the power an author’s story has on learning and how they can use the program to become better readers and writers. The BookBreak program also exposes students to a variety of viewpoints and voices, which enriches learning experiences. Half or more of the featured authors are women, diverse authors, or authors from underrepresented backgrounds. We are highly committed to offering this mix of perspectives.
Whatever journey your high school students have in their future - whether it be college, vocational training, entrepreneurship, military service, or anything in life - the core skills they take away from their high school education will carry them to that next level.
Let us help your students be ready for their next step!
