Programming Librarian: Where did the idea come from?
Smith: I was sitting on the couch watching TV with my husband, also a teacher at a neighboring school, when “The Masked Singer” came on. I don’t usually watch the show, but it was so dramatic and silly that I thought it could be neat to do with the students. I did a Google searches and found YouTube videos of other schools that did a Masked Reader event. That inspired me to get some ideas out there and propose them to the school staff.
PL: How exactly does it work?
Smith: Elementary, middle and high school students were shown videos of masked teachers reading a book with their voices distorted. Like the TV show, the videos also showed clues. After each video, students filled out a Google Form with their guesses about who was behind the mask.
On the Thursday of National Library Week, students congregated in the auditorium based on grade level and had a final big reveal. The winning classes who guessed the Masked Readers correctly were rewarded with a doughnut party.
PL: Tell me about the planning process for a school-wide event like this.
Smith: I emailed staff describing the general idea with links to other schools’ Masked Singer reveals as inspiration. I was just trying to see if anyone would be interested and was stunned by the many enthusiastic replies!
Teachers were so interested in volunteering to read that we ended up doing two Masked Reader events for various school levels. Our school is small, with only 900 students K-12, and we are all in the same building, which helps everybody work together. We had nine elementary teacher volunteer readers and eight junior high/high school Masked Readers.
The teachers who volunteered to be readers worked with the elementary school tech computer teacher, who recorded the audio of them reading a book. The high school tech teacher then recorded a video of the teacher reading the book, masked in front of a green screen, adding vocal distortion to the audio recording.
The week before National Library Week, the younger kids watched two Masked Reader videos a day. Teachers made time to watch, most during Language Arts blocks. The high schoolers watched all eight videos during their half-hour advisory period. Teachers submitted their class guesses in a Google Form.
On the day of the big finale, students congregated in the auditorium to see their masked teachers one last time on stage before the big reveal. After many days of anticipation and chattering in the halls about guesses, we had our winners, and the excitement was through the roof!
I wasn’t sure how the older kids would react, but they got pretty into it too. Winning doughnuts was also part of that excitement. The local news was there to catch reactions on camera, amplifying the buzz!
PL: How were the books selected?
Smith: All books were from the school library collections. I helped facilitate the teachers' choices and set up a cart of recommendations in the library. Some teachers also chose their own books and one of the middle school teachers decided to read a poem.
Shorter books, mostly picture books, are recommended for this. High school teachers picked short stories. The key is to choose shorter texts so the audio won’t be too long.
PL: How were the masks selected?
Smith: The masks we chose were mascot heads from neighboring schools, like a wildcat (Kenton Schools) and a polar bear (Hardin Northern School). Some teachers also brought their own masks to match the theme of their story. There’s still a duck head in my office staring at me. I’m sure masks will accumulate here if we keep doing this.
PL: Do you see this as an annual event?
Smith: I can see it getting bigger and better each year! I am still shocked by the reaction locally and even nationally. Hearing kids and staff talk about it outside the classroom was so fun! It really brought everyone together.
PL: Any tips to share?
Smith: Put it out there and hype it up! All you can do is try and you may be surprised by who responds – I know I was. Our event worked smoothly and successfully because many people helped to make it happen. Everyone played a role, and I was really just a facilitator.
I also recommend planning at least a month in advance to prepare videos, edit, record audio, build any Google Forms and get the logistics down. Since I was not doing the behind the scenes work of the videos, I wanted to give those folks plenty of time to complete their editing.
Planning this around National Library Week was coincidental, but you can do this any time of the school year. It’s a fun event that gets kids to think outside the box and switch things up in their daily routine. Our event coincided with the school’s book fair and was right before state testing, so it was an energy release for the kids during a busy time.
As a member of the board of trustees of the local public library, I found this event a great reminder of the joy and importance of books and reading, especially given the current news regarding library funding in our state.
