John W. Bate Middle School's 8th grade English/language arts classes had a Literary Food Truck Festival project. The project asked that students design a food truck concept based around a book.

Requirements included a design, menu and at least one additional element per person in the group. This could be a playlist based on events from the book, marketing items or merchandise, employee uniforms, actual food or drink samples, and more.

Keva Buckley, Elaine Wilson-Reddy, Rachyl Stonebraker, and T.J. Bryant, Stonebraker’s student teacher, were the teachers who organized the project.

Buckley explained that before choosing a book, students were shown model projects and the rubric. Then they visited the library, where Library Media Specialist Lynyel Duggins had a "Blind Date with a Book" activity planned. Students could choose one of those books, or any book in the library, for their project.

"Students have been passionate and engaged from day one ... This project requires quite a lot of critical and creative thinking; that has been more challenging for some students than others, but they have tackled the challenge beautifully," Buckley said. "They have also been eager to see what other students are doing and reading."

Students spent about four weeks in class working on the project.

"We approached this with a workshop model, teaching mini lessons for specific reading skills, giving students reading time, and conferencing along the way before assessing students' ability to apply skills from lessons to their chosen books," Buckley said. "Students were given a series of guided notes that aligned with the rubric and those working with a partner or small group each had designated roles to fulfill."

Teachers "did quite a bit of planning for this project and met daily for weeks ahead of introducing it to students," Buckley said. They discussed how to introduce the project and even read their own books and completed their own projects to model them for students.

In addition to the project, students will complete activities in the BookTaco app to practice vocabulary and comprehension skills. They will also have an argumentative-style essay where they'll explain and justify the choices they made and reflect on the project.

During the festival, the adults who visited voted on various categories of awards like "Most Creative Truck Design," "Most Engaging Presentation," and more.

Special thanks to the Danville Schools Education Foundation and Alumni Association for funding the teacher grant that made this project possible.