List of Alternatives to the Traditional Book Report (From Various Sources

List of Alternatives to the Traditional Book Report (from various sources – compiled by Jennifer L. Bell)

SCULPTURE. Create a sculpture of a character. Use any combination of soap, wood, clay, sticks, wire, stones, old toy pieces, or any other object. An explanation of how this character fits into the book should accompany the sculpture. INTERVIEW. Interview a character from your book. Write at least ten questions that will give the character the opportunity to discuss his/her thoughts and feelings about his/her role in the story. However you choose to present your interview is up to you. SCRIPTED DRAMA. If you are reading the same book as one or more others are reading, dramatize a scene from the book. Write a script and have several rehearsals before presenting it to the class. MINIATURE STAGE. Build a miniature stage setting of a scene in the book. Include a written explanation of the scene. SKETCHES. Make several sketches of some of the scenes in the book and label them. PANTOMIME. Describe the setting of a scene, and then do it in pantomime. Give special attention to movement and facial expressions to convey the meaning of the scene. “PLAY DRESS UP”. Design costumes for dolls and dress them as characters from the book. Explain who these characters are and how they fit in the story. Or Dress as one of the characters and act out a characterization. MOVIE PITCH. Imagine that you are the author of the book you have just read. Suddenly the book becomes a best seller. Write a letter to a movie producer trying to get that person interested in making your book into a movie. Explain why the story, characters, conflicts, etc., would make a good film. Suggest a filming location and the actors to play the various roles. You may only use books which have not been made into movies. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE. Write a feature article (with a headline) that tells the story of the book as it might be found on the front page of a newspaper in the town where the story takes place. MASTERPIECE BOOK. Read the same book as one of your friends. The two of you make a video or do a live performance of MASTERPIECE BOOK REVIEW, a program which reviews books and interviews authors. (You can even have audience participation!) TRAVEL BROCHURE. If the story of your book takes place in another country, prepare a travel brochure using pictures you have found or drawn. Invite tourists to visit the setting of the book. What types of activities would there be for them to attend? COMPARE PRINT TO SCREENPLAY. Read a book that has been made into a movie. (Caution: it must have been a book FIRST. Books written from screenplays are not acceptable.) Compare the book to the movie or television version of it. What aspects of the book have been altered for the visual performance and why? Do these alterations make the story "better"? Why or why not? POSTER. Make three posters/sketches about the book using two or more of the following media: paint, crayons, chalk, paper, ink, real materials. SONGWRITER. Write and perform an original song that tells the story of the book. Write the lyrics and music or adapt words to a melody by someone else.

“LIVE” NEWS REPORT. Be a TV or radio reporter, and give a report of a scene from the book as if it is happening "live". BOOK JACKET. Design a book jacket for the book. I STRONGLY suggest that you look at an actual book jacket before you attempt this. It should include an attractive picture or cover design, an original summary of the book, information on the author and illustrator, and information about other books by the author. On the 'cover' they illustrate a cover for their report (this is usually any picture that they want that will describe the story - not the cover of their book). On the inside flap they write a description of the main character. On the inside back flap they write a description of either the setting or the problem (she switches it every now and again). On the back 'cover' they write a summary of their story. NEWSPAPER. 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, comics, and a collection of ads that would be pertinent to the story. COLLAGE. 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. Use magazine picture, sketches, or your own artwork. BOOK TALK. Do a book talk. Talk to the class about your book by saying a little about the author, explain who the characters are and explain enough about the beginning of the story so that everyone will understand what they are about to read. Finally, read an exciting, interesting, or amusing passage from your book. Stop reading at a moment that leaves the audience hanging and add "If you want to know more you'll have to read the book." If the book talk is well done almost all the students want to read the book. COMIC STRIP. Draw a comic strip of your favorite scene. MOBILE. Make a mobile about the story. RETELL THE STORY. Retell the story in your own words to the class and explain what you learned from the story. GRAFFITI. Write Graffiti about the book on a "brick" wall (your teacher can make a brick-like master and then run this off on red construction paper.) Cut your words out of construction paper and glue them on the wall. TIMELINE. Make a time line of the major events in the book you read. Be sure the divisions on the time line reflect the time period in the plot. Use drawings or magazine cutouts to illustrate events along the time line. You could present this to the class, taking us through time--event. FLOW CHART. Make a flow chart of all the events in the book. MESSAGE BOARD. Make a message board. CHARACTER MAP. Do character mapping, showing how characters reacted to events and changed. CHARACTER TRAITS. Create a chart with three columns. Each column is headed with the name of one of the book's characters. As the student reads the book, he or she can keep a record of the traits each character possesses and include an incident that supports each trait. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION. Make a graphic representation of an event or character in the story.

VENN DIAGRAM. Make a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the people, events or settings in your story. OR Make a Venn diagram on the ways you are like and unlike one of the characters in your story. MOVIE ADVERTISEMENT. Make a poster advertising your book as a movie so someone else will want to read it. Cast the major character in the book with real actors and actresses. Include a scene or dialogue from the book in the layout of the poster. Remember, it should be PERSUASIVE; you want people to come see the movie. CHARACTER TREE. Make a character tree, where one side is event, symmetrical side is emotion or growth. QUOTE. Choose a quote from a character. Write why it would or wouldn't be a good motto by which to live your life 20 YEARS FROM NOW. Write about one of the character's life twenty years from now. POSTCARD. Send a postcard from one of the characters. Draw a picture on one side. Write a message from one of the characters to a beloved grandparent or friend on the other. PLAN A PARTY. Plan a party for one or all of the characters involved. Complete each of the following tasks: (a) Design an invitation to the party which would appeal to all of the characters. (b) Imagine that you are five of the characters in the book and tell what each would wear to the party. (c) Tell what food you would serve and why. (d) Tell what games or entertainment you will provide and why your choices are appropriate. (e) Tell how three of the characters will act at the party. (f) What kind of a party is this? (birthday, housewarming, anniversary, etc.) (g) Choose gifts for one of the characters involved (the guest of honor). Tell why you chose them. CLIMAX. Draw a picture of the setting of the climax. Why did the author choose to have the action take place here? If events were different, how would the ending of the book be different? CONFLICTS. Stories are made up; on conflicts and solutions. Choose three conflicts that take place in the story and give the solutions. Is there one that you wish had been handled differently? TRIP. Pretend that you are going to join the characters in the story on the journal. What things will you need to pack? Think carefully, for you will be there for a week, and there is no going back home to get something! LETTER. Write a letter (10-sentence minimum) to the main character of your book asking questions, protesting a situation, and/or making a complaint and/or a suggestion. Write the return letter from the main character in response to your letter. IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Rewrite the story and divide it into 8 parts. Make this parts into a little book of 3 folded pages, stapled in the middle (Outside paper is for title of book.) Older children can put it on the computer filling the unused part with a square for later illustrations. WORD WALL. Make a chart of interesting words as a whole class activity. Categorize by parts of speech, colorful language, etc. GAMEBOARD. Make game boards (Shoots and Ladders is a good pattern) by groups, using problems from the book as ways to get ahead or to be put back. By playing your game, members of the class should learn what happened in the book. Your game must include the following: a game board, a rule sheet and clear directions, events and characters from the story. Groups exchange boards then play.

SUMMARIZATION. Write a one sentence summary of each chapter and illustrate the sentence. BOOKMARK. Mark a bookmark for the book, drawing a character on the front, giving a brief summary of the book on back after listing the title and author. QUIZ. Write a multiple choice quiz of the book with at least ten questions. CASTING CALL. Imagine the director-producer wants a casting director to make recommendations. Decide who would be the actors and actresses. Include photos and descriptions of the stars and tell why each is "perfect" for the part OR Choose the actors and actresses from people in the classroom. Write a report to convince the producer of the selections. NEW CHARACTER. Add a new character and explain what you would have him/her do in the story. Why would he be put there? What part would he serve? RESEARCH. Research on a topic brought up in your book. Use two other sources to research and write a report on an issue from the book. OBITUARY. Write an obituary for one of the characters. Be sure to include life-time accomplishments. JOB APPLICATION. Choose a job for one of the characters in the book and write letter of application. FAVORITE PET. You must give up your favorite pet (whom you love very much) to one of the characters in the book. Which character would you choose? Why? GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER. Invite one of the characters to dinner, and plan an imaginary conversation with the person who will fix the meal. What will you serve, and why? GOVERNMENT OFFICE. Nominate one of the characters for an office in local, state or national government. Which office should they run for? What are the qualities that would make them be good for that office? A DAY IN THE LIFE OF … Pretend that you can spend a day with one of the characters. Which character would you choose? Why? What would you do? LOST SCENE. Write a scene that has been lost from the book. GRAVESTONE. Make a gravestone for one of the characters. PARALLEL STORY. What other story could have taken place at this same time and setting? Write the plot and about 4 or 5 characters in this new book. MURAL. Paint a mural of the story or parts of it. SCALE MODEL. Make a scale model of an important object. Making an object from the story to scale presents many challenges. For example, try a go-cart, a match-lock gun, or any other item. CLOCK. Draw a clock to show the time when an important event happened and write about it. EDITS. Write another beginning or ending for the story. (Think of a new adventure for the main character.) LOST OR FOUND ADVERTISEMENT. Make up a lost or found advertisement for a person or object in the story. ROAD MAP. If the book you read involves a number of locations within a country or geographical area, plot the events of the story on a map OR Make a map showing where the story took place. Make sure the map is large enough for us to read the main events clearly. Attach a legend to your map. Write a

paragraph that explains the importance of each event indicated on the map. Think about building a relief map by using clay, sand, or papier-mâché. FLANNEL BOARD. Make a flannel board story. SCIENCE EXPERIMENT. Do a science experiment associated with the book. MOSAIC. Make a mosaic picture using seeds, shells, etc. CARVING. Do a soap carving of a character or animal from the story. OR Make a balsa wood carving of a character or animal from the story. DEMONSTRATION. Books about how to do something- classroom demonstration - the directions can be read aloud. SCRIPTED INTERVIEW. Write a script for an interview with the main character or a conversation between two characters. Include at least ten questions that will give the character the opportunity to discuss his/her thoughts and feelings about his/her role in the story. However you choose to present your interview is up to you. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Write a biographical sketch of one character. Fill in what you don't find in the text using your own imagination. “WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY”. Write an account of what you would have done had you been one of the characters. CLOTHESLINE. Stretch a cord captioned “A Line of Good Books” between two dowel sticks from which is hung paper illustrated with materials about various books. BULLETIN BOARD. A bulletin board with a caption about laughter or a picture of someone laughing at excerpts from funny stories rewritten by the children from material in humorous books. BOOK PEN PAL. Be Book Report Pen Pals and share book reports with children in another school. TV TALK SHOW. Participate with three or four classmates in a television talk show about the book. READING JOURNAL. As you're reading the book, keep a two-sided reading journal. The left side should have quotes from the book and page numbers. The right side should have your questions, thoughts, observations, revelations, etc. SIMILAR LYRICS. Find a song or a poem that relates to the theme of your book. Explain the similarities. COMIC BOOK. Draw a comic-book page complete with bubble-style conversations showing an incident in your book. ID CARD. Make an ID card which belongs to one of the characters. Be sure to make the card look like the cards for that particular state. Include a picture and all information found on and ID card. Don't forget the signature!! ******This gets them researching what ID cards /Driver's Licenses look like; as well as thinking about the character--especially the signature. I have seen kids ask each of the other students to sign the character's name to find the one that would most likely belong to the character. 20 QUESTIONS. Prepare a list of 15 to 20 questions for use in determining if other people have read the book carefully. Must include some "thought" questions. "How?" "Why" PICTURE BOOK. Rewrite the story as a picture book. Use simple vocabulary so that it may be enjoyed by younger students.

WORD PUZZLE. Create crossword puzzles, word games, and acrostics incorporating unfamiliar vocabulary words, characters, and settings. Include at least 25 entries. Distribute to the class. BE THE TEACHER. Pretend you are a teacher. Prepare a lesson that will teach something you learned from the book. It could be a "how-to" lesson or one on content. Plan carefully to present all necessary information in a logical order. You don't want to confuse your students! Present your lesson to your students. How did you do? If you taught a "how-to" lesson, look at the final product to see if your instructions to the class were clear. If your lesson introduced something new, you might give a short quiz to see how well you taught the lesson. BANNER. Make a banner of cloth or paper about your book. WANTED POSTER. Make a "wanted" poster for one of the characters or objects in your book. Include the following: (a) a drawing or cut out picture of the character or object, (b) a physical description of the character or object, (c) the character's or object's misdeeds (or deeds?), (d) other information about the character or object which is important, (e) the reward offered for the capture of the character or object. GEOGRAPHY. Research and write a 1-page report on the geographical setting of your story. Include an explanation as to why this setting was important to the effect of the story. ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN. Design an advertising campaign to promote the sale of the book you read. Include each of the following: a poster, a radio or TV commercial, a magazine or newspaper ad, a bumper sticker, and a button. MY FAVORITES. Find the top 10 web sites a character in your book would most frequently visit. Include 2- 3 sentences for each on why your character likes each of the sites. STORYBOARD. Complete a series of five drawings that show five of the major events in the plot of the book you read. Write captions for each drawing so that the illustrations can be understood by someone who did not read the book. LESSONS LEARNED. List five of the main characters from the book you read. Give three examples of what each character learned or did not learn in the book. “DEAR SALLY SUE”. Write a letter to a friend about the book you read. Explain why you liked or did not like the book. TOURGUIDE. Imagine that you have been given the task of conducting a tour of the town in which the book you read is set. Make a tape describing the homes of your characters and the places where important events in the book took place. You may want to use a musical background for your tape. HOMETOWN HERO. Research on the hometown of your book's author. You may be able to find descriptions of his or her home, school, favorite hangouts, etc. What else is of interest in the town? Imagine that you are conducting a tour of the town. Make a tape describing the places you show people on the tour. You may want to use a musical background for your tape. PROVERBS. Make a list of at least ten proverbs or familiar sayings. Now decide which characters in the book you read should have followed the suggestions in the familiar sayings and why. DIFFERENT PLACE. Change the setting of the book you read. Tell how this change of setting would alter events and affect characters.

PAPER DOLLS. Make a paper doll likeness of one of the characters in the book you read. Design at least three costumes for this character. Next, write a paragraph commenting on each outfit; tell what the clothing reflects about the character, the historical period and events in the book. AN ISSUE FROM THE CHARACTER’S PRECEPTIVE. Pick a national issue. Compose a speech to be given on that topic by one of the major characters in the book you read. Be sure the contents of the speech reflect the characters personality and beliefs. WISHFUL THINKING. Complete each of these eight ideas with material growing out of the book you read: This book made me wish that..., realize that..., decide that..., wonder about..., see that..., believe that ..., feel that..., and hope that... THE PERFECT GIFT. Choose an interesting character from your book. Consider the character's personality, likes and dislikes. Decide on a gift for him or her... something he or she would really like and use. Design a greeting card to go along with your gift. In the greeting, explain to your friend from the book why you selected the gift. SYMBOL. Design a symbol for a novel or a certain character. CURRENT EVENTS. Gather a large collection of current events that reflect incidents that closely parallel those in your novel. BAG BOOK REPORT. Use a brown grocery bag, color the front with a picture from the book, title and author. Fill the bag with a minimum of 10 objects which will be pulled out one at a time while the student is describing the story to the class. For example, a small dog statue or picture from a magazine can represent Lassie. Encourage the students to be imaginative and to not use too many pictures. POETRY. Summarize the book in poem form with rhyme (minimum 20 lines). Write a limerick or a short poem about one of the characters or some event in the book. TITLE DISCUSSION. Discuss in depth the relevance of the title. Write a paragraph telling about the title. Is it appropriate? Why? Why not? CAUSE AND EFFECT. Discuss cause and effect relationships you found in the book. DICTIONARY. Create a dictionary of unfamiliar words and phrases. TOP 10. List ten things you learned from this book. EMAIL PARTNER. Partner up with some who's reading the same book. Divide the book into four parts. When you've read the first quarter, write a letter to your partner about your questions, thoughts, observations, revelations, etc. Your partner is to respond. Do the same for the next three sections of the book. When you finish, print out your letters and responses (each partner is to have four letters and four responses). POINT OF VIEW. Write the story in the book from a different point of view. Take an entire story (or part of it) and write a version as someone else would tell it. “DEAR DAIRY”. Write the diary that one of the characters might have written. Imagine you are the person in your book. Write a diary for a few days or weeks as she or he would have done. Include thoughts and events that might have kept before, during, or after the book's events. Remember that the character's thoughts and feelings are very important in a diary. CHARACTER SKETCH. Write a character sketch of someone from the book. This might be the central character or a minor supporting character in the story. Tell what he looked like, but also include favorite

color, horoscope sign, sports liked, and even a bumper-sticker or a T-shirt. Include a FULL (physical, emotional, relational) description of three of the characters in the book. You may draw a portrait to accompany each description. PARODY. Write a parody of the book. This kind of humorous imitation appeals to many students. Parody the entire book or one scene. COMMERICAL. Write and produce a promotional commercial for the book. RADIO DRAMA. Convert the book into a radio drama. Remember to include vivid language and sound effects. Give a live or taped version about the story - or a scene from it - as a radio play. Don’t forget an announcer! PUPPET SHOW. Make simple puppets (stick puppets, finger puppets, paper bag puppets, and so on) or complex puppets (marionettes) and present the story or an exciting scene from it. Write a script and enlist helpers. TELEVISION SERIES. Write and produce a miniseries for television. Think of a popular television series that a book or part of it would fit. Then convert it to that series and give the segment before the class. MASKS. Use body masks and present a scene from the book. Make full-sized cardboard figures with cutouts for the face and hands. Use them to dramatize the scene. CHARADES. Play charades based on various book members of the class have read. Review standard charade signals. Divide into teams. Then have the students draw titles of books or the names of characters in the books, concentrating on those that have been most popular. PLASTER OF PARIS. Mold plaster relief designs. Pour plaster into a form over various objects and then antique or shellac them to make interesting displays. LIFE-SIZED CHARACTERS. Make life-sized paper-stuffed animals, people, or objects found in the book. Cut out two large sheets of wrapping paper in the shape desired. Staple the edges almost all the way around. Stuff with crumpled newspaper, finish stapling, and paint. If the life-sized model is one of the characters from the book, dress them as they are dressed in the book. Crouch down behind your character/object and describe yourself as the character/object. Tell what your role is in the book and how you relate to the other characters. WEAVINGS. Make hand looms and weavings that portray a design in the book. Almost anything - from paper plates to forked sticks - will make a loom when strung with yarn, rope, or cord. Check art and craft books for directions. Then use the creations as wall hangings or mobiles. TIE-DYE. Create batik designs with wax and old sheets of tie-dye materials. When dry and ironed, use them for wall hangings, curtains, and costumes. ROLL MOVIE. Make a “roll movie” of the scenes or events from a book. Put a series of pictures in sequence on a long strip of paper. Attach ends to rollers and place in a cardboard box. Print simple dialogue to accompany the frames. Make a television box show of ten scenes in the order that they occur in the book you read. Cut a square form the bottom of a box to serve as a TV screen and make two slits in opposite sides of the box. Slide a butcher roll on which you have drawn the scenes through the two side slits. Make a tape to go with your television show. Be sure to write out a script before taping or performing live.

ANIMATION. Make an animation of a scene on an adding machine tape. To get animation, draw a sequence of pictures with each one showing a bit more movement than the preceding one. When this is rolled quickly, it gives the appearance of motion. SCREEN PRINT. Print a design from the book using a variety of materials. Here, too, the process may be simple or complicated. Use potatoes or other raw vegetables to carve and use. Or try plastic meat trays and silk-screen prints. COMPARE VERSIONS OF THE SAME STORY. Contrast different versions of one story or several stories with similar themes. ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION. Have a roundtable discussion on a topic from the book. Use one of the bibliographies of books on a particular topic (death, loneliness, handicaps, heroes and heroines, and so on). Have the group present summaries of their books. TALKING MUSEUM. Make a talking display of a book. Tape a dialogue or description about an event, scene, or character. T-SHIRT. Design and make your own t-shirt of an illustration about the book. CONTRACTOR. Construct a building from the book. Work together with others to build an item from the story that they have read also. ARCHITECH. Complete scale drawing of the rooms portrayed in the book. Use graph paper with a set scale and design places portrayed in a book. CULTURAL GAME. Learn to play a game mentioned in the book. Teach it to the rest of the class. (This might be an old-fashioned game or one from another country.) QUILT. Ask others in the class to design and create squares for a quilt. Depict favorite scenes or characters. Then stitch/draw/paint the quilt together. The individual squares may be drawn with marking pens or done in stitchery. The quilt may be a wall hanging, a curtain for a private reading area in the room, or presented to the school as a class gift. LITERARY MAP. Make a literary map of the author’s works and life. Use references, biographical, and autobiographical materials (articles, books, interviews) to create an informative and colorful map. COMPARE LIFE STYLES. As a group project, have the students compare the way of life in the book to present day living in their community. This can be presented in panel format. For example, the methods of transportation, fashions, foods, customs, religious practices, types of government can be compared to their modern counterparts. OUTSIDE THE ENGLISH CLASS. Show how a historical novel could be used in a history class or how a science fiction novel could enliven a science course. NOVEL COURT. Hold a "mock trial" to permit one of the characters to defend what he has done in some controversial scene in the book. Let members of the class deliberate as the jury and arrive at a verdict. You are a prosecuting attorney putting one of the characters from the book you read on trial for a crime or misdeed. Prepare your case on paper, giving all your arguments. Do the previous activity, but find a buddy to help you. One of you becomes the prosecuting attorney; the other is the defense. If you can't find a buddy, you could try it on your own. PERSONAL TASTE. Select one character from the book. If he/she were living today, what kind of clothes, books, records, movies, etc. would he/she select? Why would he/she do so?

FUNCTION AS AN EDITOR. Treat the book as a manuscript and rewrite the pages (or chapter) you consider "weak". What needs to be redone to make the book stronger? TRADING PLACES. Write a short paper explaining why you would or would not like to change places with one of the characters in the novel. ONCE UPON A TIME. Write a fairy tale about some event or character in the book. CREATE A DOSSIER ON A CHARACTER. Pretend that you are a foreign spy sent to report on your chosen character. Compile into a secret file general and specific information regarding your character. Don't forget the photo. PUBLISH A YEARBOOK. Create a yearbook based on the people and events in your book. Refer to a real yearbook for ideas on layout and sections. COMPILE A SCRAPBOOK OR A MEMORY BOX. Choose one of the major characters in your book, and, as that person, put together a scrapbook or memory box of special memories and mementoes. Be true to your character. THE FORTUNE COOKIE REVIEW. Explain why their messages, given to each of the novel's characters, are amazingly appropriate. MAKE A BOOK REPORT SANDWICH! Obtain drawings/pictures for slices of ham, tomato, Swiss cheese; lettuce leaves; a layer of mayonnaise, and 2 slices of bread. Then, photocopy 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. Students stapled together their sandwich layers.

 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.  The student shared the book's climax on the Swiss cheese.  On the ham slice, the student described the plot.  On the bottom piece of bread, the student drew a favorite scene from the story.

CEREAL BOX. Create a cereal box about the book. Include the title and author, sentence summary or slogan, significant illustration, puzzle or game, main characters with their importance, and description of the setting. THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN! Write a review of the book he or she just finished reading -- in the style of a movie review. Conclude by awarding a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on the book. You could plan a lively interaction (“Ebert and Roper”) about the book, which could be videotaped for all to see! SURFIN' THE NET. Where did the story take place? When did it take place? Surf the Net to find five Internet sites that others might check out before they read the book so they will know more about the book's setting or time period. CARD CATALOG. Create a Card Catalog. After reading a book, complete an index card with information about the book. The front of the card includes details such as title, author, and date published along with a two- to three-sentence synopsis of the book. On the back of the card, the student writes a

paragraph critiquing the book. Rate the book using a teacher-created five-star rating system. Completed cards are kept in a card file near the classroom bookshelf. CONCENTRATION. Choose 14 things, characters, or events that played a part in the book and create two cards that have identical pictures of each of those things. The two remaining cards are marked Wild Card! Then turn all 30 cards facedown and mixes them up. Choose a partner with whom to play according to the rules of Concentration. CHARACTERS COME TO LIFE! Each student creates life-size "portraits" of one of the characters from a book just read. The portrait should include a written piece that tells about the character. The piece might also include information about events, traits, or conflicts in the book that involve that character. Hang the students' portraits in a class gallery. PROVE IT IN 5 MINUTES! You have 150 seconds (2½ minutes) to give an oral presentation in which you share information about a book's plot and characters. Conclude the presentation by offering an opinion and recommendation about the book. Then students in the audience have 150 seconds to question the you about the book. THEME REPORT. Select a concept or a thing from the book and to use library or Internet resources to explore it further. Write a two-page report that shares information about the topic. CHARACTER COMPARISON. Select one character from the book they're reporting on and then answer the following questions: (1) What traits does this character have that I do not have? (2) What traits do I have that the character does not have? (3) What traits do the two of us share? Consider all kinds of traits -- physical appearance, personality, character, and outlook on life. Use a Venn diagram to organize your thinking about your personal traits and those of the character they selected. For this character sketch comparison, write the characteristics that apply only to the book character in Circle A and characteristics that apply only to themselves in Circle B. Write characteristics that apply to both characters in the area where the two circles intersect. PROP. Construct a prop that would be used in a movie version of the book. The prop must be detailed, true to the nature of the book, and life-size. QUIZ SHOW. Select a popular television game show. Write the prompts/questions. Have classmates serve as contestants. STORY WHEEL. Make a short wheel to show important events in the story and important characters in the book. MINI BOOK REPORT. Create a mini book report. Fold the drawing paper in half, then in half again. When you unfold the paper, you will have four boxes of equal size. Then cut the paper in half along one of the folds, slip one piece of the paper inside the other, and staple the fold to create an eight-page book. The following items may be included:  Cover -- a new cover design for the book.  Inside cover -- blank, no text.  Page opposite the inside cover -- title, author, and other important information about the book.  Center spread -- a picture of a favorite part of the book along with an explanation of why that is a favorite part.  Next page -- five vocabulary words (and their definitions) that are important in the book; the words might offer other students an indication of the reading level/difficulty of the book.  Inside back cover -- blank, no text.

 Back cover -- a teaser written to entice others to read the book. SCAVENGER HUNT BOOK REPORT. Search the book read for words and/or sentences that match the scavenger hunt criteria, which focuses on grammar and phonics skills. The following are examples of the kinds of words students might be looking for; the last few items on the list might require writing two sentences from the book:  a three-syllable word  a contraction  a compound word  a word with a silent e at the end  a word with a suffix that required doubling the final consonant before adding the suffix  a word with a suffix that required dropping a silent e before adding the suffix  the longest word in the book  a word that includes the letters -tion  a four-syllable word  a word that includes a silent letter other than e  an adjective  a word with a prefix  a sentence that includes a simile  rhyming words (students might write two sentences, highlighting the rhyming words)  synonyms (students might write two sentences, highlighting the synonyms)  antonyms/opposites (students might write two sentences, highlighting the opposites)

NOW YOU ARE COOKING! Locate a recipe for a food dish that plays a role in a book or one that represents the setting of the book. When they share the food with their classmates, explain how the dish relates to the book. BEFORE AND AFTER. Write a brief report about what they think a book will be about -- based on the book's cover -- before they actually read it. After reading the book, students write a brief explanation of the book as it actually is. BOOK REPORT RECIPE. Write a "recipe" for a good book. Provide students with a "recipe card” format for their book reports. Each book report should include 1 cup of plot (Tell briefly what the story is about, but don't give away the ending), 2 teaspoons of characters (Who are the main characters? Describe them briefly.), 2 tablespoons of excitement (Select a short passage from the book that describes something exciting that happened. Try to find a passage that has the main character in it.). Mix thoroughly and bake. When cool, frost with this special icing: 1/2 cup of opinion (What did you like about the book? What didn't you like?), 1 teaspoon of recommendation (Whom do you think would enjoy this book? Why?). Finally, sprinkle on the following information: title of book, name of author, name of publisher, number of pages, and literary genre. BIRTH SIGN BOOK REPORT. Provide students with a simple explanation of some of the personality characteristics of the Zodiac/Horoscope Signs or the 12 animal birth signs of the Chinese Zodiac. Then, select a character from the book read. As you read the character traits of the birth signs, consider under which sign the selected character was born. Explain why they came to that conclusion. $5 WORDS. Write a paragraph to describe why you liked or did not like the book. Use a dictionary or thesaurus to find in their critique five "50-cent words” (small, unexpressive words) and replace those

words with "5-dollar words” (words that convey their thoughts more specifically, descriptively, or dramatically). ADJECTIVE-LY SPEAKING. Locate five or ten (depending on grade level) sentences in the book that include excellent adjectives/descriptions. “BOOK FLOAT”. Design a "book float" based on a recent book that they have completed. They will decorate the shoe box to go with the book and it will be like a float in a parade. They will use proper capitalization and punctuation. Main idea and summary will be two of the skills used in this activity. Materials needed: empty shoe box, construction paper or gift wrap paper, scissors, crayons, pencil, paper, miscellaneous natural materials (rocks, sand, evergreen clippings, etc., as needed), and other miscellaneous materials (craft sticks, etc., as needed). Each student is asked to choose a recent book they've read and decorate an upside down shoe box to correspond with a scene from the book or the book's general theme (planets, pioneers, biography, horses, etc.) The students need to visualize this as a "float" in a parade—a book parade. Each project will be graded according to the following instructions and requirements: 1. All advertisement on the shoe box should be covered. 2. The title of the book should be neatly displayed on one side of the "float". This title should be written in correct form with the proper words capitalized and the whole title underlined (for example: Little House on the Prairie). The author's name should also be written after the title. 3. A neat and brief summary of the book should be on the other side of the "float". 4. The student's name should be written neatly on the back of the "float". 5. Natural materials or student-made decorations should be used to build the scene on the shoe box, not purchased materials like little cars, Indians, etc. 6. The book about which this float is made should be at least 40 pages long and on an appropriate reading level.

BOOK FESTIVAL. Explain that groups will be designing festivals and writing proposals for particular books that all group members have read. Using the lists created during the Do Now/Warm Up activity, divide students into groups of no less than two and no more than four students according to books read in common. If possible, each group should represent a different book. To design their festival, groups should research the book and author to develop the following required aspects (all relating to the body of work), as well as their own ideas for the celebrations (written on the board for easier student access): name of the festival, date of the festival, location of the festival, book discussion questions, a lecture series of at least two guest speakers, music for a concert, menu of food to be served, contests to be played, and clothing from the time period in which the book was set. Once research is completed, students should divide up the work to write up descriptions of the required aspects as well as whatever else they have created for the festival. Festival proposals can be presented in a future class. DIORAMA. Construct a diorama (three-dimensional scene which includes models of people, buildings, plants, and animals) of one of the main events of the book. Include a written description of the scene. TRIARAMAS. Put the students into groups of four and pick a story. Each member of the group make a scene in their room from the story. Triaramas are made from 9" square construction paper. Fold diagonally twice. Open. There should be an X fold pattern on the paper. Cut from one corner to the middle on a fold line. Overlap the bottom triangles and glue or staple. Background should be drawn on the top two triangles before gluing. Then decorate like you would make a diorama, scenes from the book. Quadraramas can be made by attaching four triaramas together.

INFO-SPHERES. Materials: Scissors, glue, markers, a length of string, a 9x12 sheet of colored paper, a hole puncher and assorted craft materials. (1) You need to create a large (symmetrical) flower with only four petals on the 9x12 sheet. (2) On one petal: Write the title of the book, the author's name, and your name. (3) On the second petal: Write the name of the main character. Describe this character using three verbs, three nouns, and six adjectives. (4) On the third petal: Write a brief summary of the book's plot. (5) On the last petal: Describe the setting of the book. Use words and/or pictures to tell where and when the story took place. Construction: (1) Carefully cut out the flower. (2) Using a hole puncher, make a hole in the center of the flower. (3) Choose an object from the book that symbolizes the story. Use colored paper and other craft materials to create a figure to represent that object. The figure must be small enough to fit inside the completed ornament. (4) Tie one end of the string to the top of the figure; thread the other end of the string through the hole. (5) Glue the ends of the four petals together by carefully curing each strip around the center figure and then overlapping the tips. ILLUSTRATOR. Scan a chapter into your computer and then make illustrations for it. Remember that the characters need to look the same in every scene and have to wear the same clothes unless they have changed them. After you finish, write or tell what you learned about being an illustrator. Read some books or articles on illustrators to learn more about their jobs. CHARACTER JOURNEY. Read several novels about the same characters. Did the author have the characters grow or change throughout the books? What were they like in the first book? What were they like in the last book? In what ways are they the same? In what ways are they different? What events in the books caused the changes to happen? WEBPAGE. Create a web site with reviews of your favorite books. A book review is a little different from a book report, but you can put either kind on your page. BOOKS ALIVE! Use PowerPoint or other software to create book reports. Include the following information in their work (written on the board or copied into a handout for easier student access): book title, author, main characters (if applicable), basic plot summary, without the ending of the story (if applicable), purpose of the book (besides pleasure, if applicable), reasons why peers may enjoy this book or want to read it, and drawings or pictures related to the book that may interest classmates. THE BOOK STOPS HERE. Our class has become a respected committee of Rockwood School District book purchase advisors. Each of you has been assigned a book to read, review and recommend (or not) for purchase. Your responsibility should not be taken lightly; Rockwood is careful with every penny it spends, yet wants the best for its students. You are yourself, but you are to imagine you are presenting to the eight-member Rockwood School Board. Explain the required components of your three to seven minute presentation. You may order your information in any sequence that seems logical. (1) Vital statistics (title, author, copyright, publisher) along with an overview of its contents which demonstrate your careful reading of the entire book. For a nonfiction book, you will tell what kinds of information are presented, as well as the organization and emphasis of that information. For a fiction book, give a plot summary which highlights conflict, resolution, main characters and point of view; (2) readability. Here talk about things like reading and interest level ease of use, special features, logic of organization, etc; (3) relevance. How does the information presented relate to your research? What information was useful -- how, and to what degree? How much did it matter to your overall effort that you read this book and why? (4) desirability for purchase. Why or why shouldn't we spend limited funds on this book?

*Note: If you have any other suggestions for alternative assignments, please share them with your teacher. 14