Book report ideas
Here are some ideas that I currently do in 5th grade.|
1. Cereal box. They have to cover a cereal box with paper and decorate according to their novel. On the front they have to make up a cereal name that is relevant to their book (ex. for Harry Potter you could have a cereal called Witches Brew). On the back they have to provide a summary of the novel including main characters, plot, setting, and conflict/resolution. On the top, sides, and bottom they have to create little blurbs that tell about the book. Ex. some students put a "nutritional guide" like 10% excitement, 30% suspense. Other kids do a blurb about the author. Some do advertisements. I tell them to use the real cereal box as a guide to help them decide what to put.
2. Create a newspaper for your novel. The title should be something relevant to...
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My students are required to read for 20 minutes (minimum) each night for pleasure. So for the second quarter I had my third graders do "Book Commercials." They had 1-2 minutes to "sell" the book to their classmates. They needed to be able to speak comfortably about: Title, author, the characters, the plot, the problem/solution, etc. They really enjoyed the fact that they didn't have to finish a book that didn't hold their interest and still sell the story to others. I rarely had children sell a book they didn't read all the way. And the idea of only having 2 minutes or less to summarize the story was challenging for all. It was most encouraging to see the lowest readers choose books that were a stretch and cause the higher readers to try harder. The run on "Zack Files" stories in the library was overwhelming. We...
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My daughter who is in second grade did a book report project using a coffee can. Maybe you have heard of it before. It is a fun project for the family to get involved too. Here it is: Using a large coffee can, you cover the outside with construction paper fit to the can. Then on the same paper write title, students name and draw a picture of what the book was about.Second , the student makes his/her own pocket stle glossary book choosing 10 words. You need to include: pronounciation of word, meaning and a sentence showing how you would use the word. Third, make another pocket size booklet with a summary of the book. Third, on the plastic lid, cut two vertical slits about 3 inches apart. Take a lons strip of paper and divide it into individual boxes useing a magic marker. you are on...
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We do the previous reports and a few others - my kids really love book reports!|
- mysterious box: a bit like your 'pringle' book report. 'Reader' choose 5 objects from the book; put them in box; write riddles. Other students must guess what the object is. Reader will explain what the object is doing in the book...
- photo album: kids must find pictures or photos for different parts of the story, characters.. and write a caption. They cut 'frames' out of gift wrap paper or construction paper. Sometimes they 'act' the book and ask a parent to take pictures
- puppets are another favorite: made out of paper bag or a cone of paper. Give me another grade for oral presentation!
- 'Lego' book reports are another favorite: they make a scene of the book out of Legos...
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I teach 6th grade reading, english, and social studies. I really wanted my students to learn better writing skills last year so I came up with my own book reports. Here is the layout:|
Book report #
Summary (no more than 2 paragraphs)
Critique (student's opinion and why)
I ask that these not be longer than 1 page. This makes it easy on them and also easier on me for grading. I set up a simple rubric to check by. I just grade for what I expect of them. They receive the rubric after I grade them and they have to take them home to be signed.
My students have to read 4 accelerated reader books per nine weeks (school policy). They must write 3 book reports. I also require that my students do one book project per nine weeks for the fourth book that they...
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One of my supervising teachers did Pringle's Potato Chip reports. The kids each brought a can of pringles and were allowed to munch on them while reading their books. When the cans were empty, they wiped them out. They put items in the can representing various parts of the story. When they presented their reports, they pulled the items out one at a time and told about them. They saved the title for last and the other kids tried to guess. I've also seen teachers have the kids cut "potato chips" from construction paper and write/draw responses to questions. You could also do something similar with paper bags if you don't want to use chip containers.|
I also like sandwich or hamburger book reports. Using construction paper, create the different parts of a sandwich - bread (2 slices), meat, mayo, lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles,...
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I also do a book report a month but rather than having them do a written report each month, they have to chose from one of four projects to do. Below I have attached what I will give to my 4/5 grade students for the 1st semester. I hope that is helps.
Just as in years past, you will be doing 4 book projects each semester. The dates that these projects will be do this fall are: Sept. 21, Oct 19, Nov 16, and Dec. 15. Below you will find 4 different options for you to chose from. You will read your book for 30 minutes each night (once the book has been approved by me) for one month. At the end of that month you will complete one of the projects below and present them to the class on each of the following dates. You can only use each project idea one time....
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I love book reports!!! I ask kids to write them for 2 reasons: |
1)I can be sure they actually read the book!
2) I display most reports on a special bb. Since kids want to see their work on the wall, they try really hard to make a good book report or to read a nice book everyone will ooohhh and ahhh about.
I basically ask the same thing everytime: title, author, main character, summary, opinion. But I give my students about 20 different options for presentation like mobile, puppets, mysterious box, advertisement, collage etc...We've been doing book reports every other week and everyone knows it's book report week!
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My seventh graders just finished their book reports. They had to get 15 words from the book and define them,and write 10-15 fact/ opioin statemtents and the book. The big part of the report was a project. I gave them several ideas to choose from, like: a mobile, diorama, travel brochure ( focusing on the setting), postcard ( they had to draw the setting on one side and write a letter from ane character to another on the other side), stand-up characters w/ acharacter sketch on the back, make puppets and act out an interesting part of the book, and poster advertising their book. The students had so much fun during this project. I hope this helped.|
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I have a whole list of book report alternatives.|
Here are a few!
Make up a riddle about the book or any part of it.
Plan an interview with a story character.
Write a newspaper
Write a letter to the author especially if you liked the book or have a quesiton.
Make a family tree of the main character.
Write a letter to the main character
Tell why you would like to meet a particular character.
Make a mobile about the book
Muraling - this could be done as a class, too
Cubing - I love this idea
Make a new dust jacket for the book
Time line of important events
Many more!!! Too many to share at once!
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This past year I taught 7th and 8th grade students with learning disabilities. All students selected a book within thier reading range as determined by the STAR Reader program. Once the book was completed, students had to develop a draft of their presentation on paper. They were required to include a slide for the following:|
title (1 slide)
setting (1 slide)
3 characters (3 slides)
conflict/problem (1 slide)
3 events (3 slides)
solution (1 slide)
Character analysis (how the character changed) 1 slide
All drafts had to be approved by me before they were permitted to begin the Power Point presentation.
Once the presentations were completed, each student presented their show on a big screen using an IN FOCUS projector. They Loved It!!!
This could be used for any Grade. Just adjust the requirements to meet the abilities of the...
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Depending on the book, students can respond in a variety of ways. Some books lend themselves to text to self connections..."this book (or character) reminded of ...". Text to text connectiona are another route to go. It is also fun for children to practice summarizing by "advertising" the book, similar to Reading rainbow. I wouldn't overdo home book reports, because having to respond all the time will take the joy of reading from the child. We want the kiddies to LOVE reading! I'd perhaps use class time in a writer's workshop format to model and work on 'book reports".
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Just this year, instead of traditional book reports, I started giving the kids book responses to complete every other week. This week's is a character description. I drew a basic person shape on a sheet and ran it off for each child. They need to cut it out (or they can draw their own) and trace it on poster board or something sturdier that. Next, dress the figure...draw, cut and paste, use fabric, anything and then on the back write a 3 sentence description (at least) of the character. |
There is a direction sheet and rubric that goes home with each project. The rubric has really upped the quality of the work in terms of correct spelling, neatness, following directions, etc.
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I have my students do a paper bag book report. They read a book (their choice). Then they decorate a brown paper bag with a scene from the book or draw a picture of the cover (be creative I tell them). Next they take an item from the story and place it in the bag. A sample would be Green Eggs and Ham. They would put...you guessed it, a green egg. Proceeding the student presenting would give 3 clues about the object in the bag but not before first sharing the book. This includes saying the title and author, giving a brief summary and reading a page from the book. It's a lot of fun - hope it helps!
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chris, years ago i decided that one of my goals in reading was to get kids to expand their reading horizons and read books in genres other than those in their "comfort zone". |
each month we focus on a different genre.
i talk about the genre and build it up--even my least favorite, ugh, historical fiction.
my read aloud book is from this genre, the stories or novel we read that month is from the genre, and so is the book of their choosing for their book report.
my book reports change from time to time--like this year, i want to change one to a powerpoint presentation...
but here follows the usual:
1. auto/biography--students become the person they read about (with costume and props) and present their lives (i've heard of teachers who have a wax museum--students stand there in costume--visitors are invited, and when they press some button,...
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This is going to be a long one, but I have used many of these ideas and they are great!|
BETTER BOOK REPORTS -- 25 IDEAS!
Make A Book Report Sandwich!
The teacher commissioned a friend to draw slices of ham, tomato, and Swiss cheese; lettuce leaves;
a layer of mayonnaise, and a couple of slices of bread. Then she photocopied the drawings onto
appropriately colored sheets of paper -- ham on pink, tomato on red, Swiss cheese on yellow, etc.
The sheets served as the ingredients for her students' book report sandwiches.
On the top slice of bread, each student wrote the title and the author of the book the student had just finished reading. On the lettuce, the student wrote a brief summary of the book. The
student wrote about the main character on the tomato slice. On the mayonnaise, the student described the book's setting....
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BOOK REPORT IDEAS We send this list home to parents the first day of school. And have extra copies for parent conference, because one or two will ask for another copy. Have it ready to hand to them at that time.|
1. Make a book jacket depicting the characters, setting and theme of your book. Put a short summary on the inside flap.
2. Use photographs and captions to make a family album or scrapbook.
3. Make a home movie or filmstrip.
4. Make a comic strip.
5. Make a colorful illustrated time line or map for historical books.
6. Construct a mobile
7. Construct a diorama
8. Design a set of T-shirts to suit the characters.
9. Make a clay, soap, wood, or plaster models.
10. Make a collection or keepsake box of souvenirs from the story.
11. Make a mural
12. Give a flannel board talk
13. Make a bulletin board
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Something one of my students said she did before was to decorate a plastic Easter egg to look like the main character of a book. They could do that together and have a ball with it. Just have plenty of art supplies on-hand. If you wanted something more elaborate, you could make the Easter basket the "setting" and decorate that as well. They would make nice displays in the library.|
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1. Read two non-fiction books on the same subject and compare and contrast them. |
2. If you read a book that has been made into a movie, write an essay comparing the movie version with the book.(Caution: it must have been a book FIRST. Books written from screenplays are not acceptable.)
3. Write and perform an original song that tells the story of the book.
4. Create a newspaper for your book. Summarize the plot in one article, cover the weather in another, do a feature story on one of the more interesting characters in another. Include an editorial and a collection of ads that would be pertinent to the story.
5. Do a collage/poster showing pictures or 3-d items that related to the book, and then write a sentence or two beside each one to show its significance.
6. Make a book jacket for the book or story. Include a summary...
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You can have a question of the day and a Skill of the day.|
The question of the day is used to help your students focus on the elements of their story.
* Who is the main charater? Write a description of this character.
* Does the main charatcer seem to be a real person? Tell why or why not.
* How are you a like or different from the main character in this story?
* What problem does the main character face?
* What is the main charater's main goal?
* Does the setting influence the mood the author is trying ot create? Explain
* Describe the setting in detail.
* How is the setting necessary for plot development?
* Does the author use many descripitive words to describe the setting? Name some of the words.
* Does weather play an...
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