Is there anything more terrible than a traditional book report?! Forcing kids to write a summary and/or reflection about their book seems so boring…the only thing a traditional book report does, is kill a love of reading.
There are so many alternatives out there that are engaging and would provide excitement for students. Any of these can be adapted to work in a book club setting as well. Maybe you decide to have students choose their own culminating activity as they finish their book club. Remember our purpose as teachers: to encourage and help grow our students’ love for reading!
Acrostic Poems: Students can write an acrostic poem that represents a relevant word or message about the text
Character Playlist: Using sites like Grooveshark, students can create playlists of songs that represent each character in their book
Movie Trailers: Students can use iMovie or Animoto to create book trailers to share with the class and recommend their book to their classmates
Travel Brochure: Students can create a travel brochure to “sell” the setting and characters that a potential “vacationer” can experience on this trip into the book’s location
Artifacts: Have students bring in 3-5 artifacts that represent different aspects of the story and have them explain why they choose them
Advice Columns: Students can write an advice column for a character’s problem in the story
Billboards: Students can create a billboard ad that advertises their book. They can use programs such as Big Huge Labs or Canva
Book Jackets: Design an original book cover, complete with a new title and blurb for the back of the book
Blind Date with a Book: Give students plain paper that is not see-through, such as butcher paper, and have them each wrap the book they read like a present. Have them write words or short phrases that describe the book on the paper without giving away the title of the book or its author (and, of course, no spoilers)
Comic Strip: Have students condense the book they read into a comic strip/graphic novel or a picture book. Challenge them to tell the whole story in the new format, not just one section of the book
Windy City Literacy 