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Mrs. Tobin's Third Grade Class |
![]() Better Than A Book Report20 Great Ideas 1. Make a diorama. Take any old box you have around and build a scene from the book. Use toys, clay, grass, dirt, whatever is handy to build the scenery, and of course, draw or paint the background. Then write a short paragraph or two or three telling about this scene. 2. Turn the book, or part of the book into a puppet show. Make the puppets yourself, use ones you have, or use dolls. (See my article on raising kids who love to read for inexpensive ideas on puppets and theaters.) Write a script and enlist helpers. Then put on the show for family and friends. Don't forget the popcorn! 3. Act out a scene from the book. Write the script and put on a show using easy costumes or signs around the neck to identify characters. 4. Do a monologue. Pretend to be a character from the book. Tell the story. You can do this aloud or on paper. If you pick someone other than the main character, you may find the story looks different from your eyes than it does to the main character. After all, the bad guy might not see himself as being so bad! 5. 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. 6. Write a new ending for the story, or add an extra chapter. This is especially good if you hated the ending. Remember, you have to use a similar style and the ending has to make sense with the rest of the story. 7. If the story involves travel, map out the journey with illustrations of what happened there. 8. If the story takes place in another country, learn about that country. Prepare a meal the characters might have eaten or demonstrate some traditions. 9. Try doing a series of newspaper articles or television news stories on the book. This is especially good for non-fiction books. You can even videotape the reports. 10. Make a mural showing scenes from the book with captions to show us what the picture is about. 11. Do a report on the author. 12. Read several books by the same author and do a comparison and contrast. Are their certain types of stories he likes to write? Are there lessons he likes to teach? Does he prefer to write in first or third person? 13. 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? 14. Read a book about an inventor or scientist. Try doing some of their experiments or using some of their inventions. Try creating your own experiments or making your own inventions. 15. For older children: Try writing a child's version of a book you like. What elements of the story will you leave out? How will you simplify the story? Be sure to decide in advance what age you are writing for. 16. Try creating quizzes or games based on popular books. Warning: Games are really hard. We did this a few years ago. It's hard to make a game that is not boring and that lasts the right amount of time. We had to keep playing the games and making changes. We also found it hard to write clear directions. It's extremely educational, though, and interesting. You can put your quiz on flash cards. Would your library be interested in having a copy of your game donated to them? 17. 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. 18. Think of five things going on in your world-pollution, racism and so on, and decide how the characters in your book would react to them. This is a way of doing a character analysis. Remember that you have to really understand the character to be sure this is how they would really react. Think about the way the main characters are the same and different. They won't all have the same reaction. 19. In a variation on the last idea, read a book that takes place in the past. Pretend your characters have found or built a time machine and come to visit you. Write a journal of their reactions to your world. You can have several of them take turns making entries. 20. Read a book about a place. Pretend you work for the tourism bureau of that place. Create ads and commercials to get people to come to that place. Look at some web sites put together by places to get ideas. How would you create a campaign for your own city?
100 More Ideas 1. Do a costumed presentation of your book. Dress either as the author or one of the characters. 31. Prepare a list of 15 to 20 questions for use in determining if other people have read the book carefully.
71. 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. 72. Tape an interview with one of the characters in the book you read. Pretend that this character is being interviewed by a magazine or newspaper reporter. You may do this project with a partner, but be sure to write a script before taping. You may choose to do a "live" version of this. 73. Write a letter to a friend about the book you read. Explain why you liked or did not like the book. 74. In The Catcher in the 75. 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. 76. Do some 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. 77. 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. 78. Write the copy for a newspaper front page that is devoted entirely to the book you read. The front page should look as much like a real newspaper page as possible. The articles on the front page should be based on events and characters in the book. 79. Make a collage that represents major characters and events in the book you read. Use pictures and words cut from magazines in your collage. 80. 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 be event, for more marks 81. Change the setting of the book you read. Tell how this change of setting would alter events and affect characters. 82. Make a paper doll likeness of one of the characters in the book you read. Design at least threes 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. 83. 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. 84. Retell the plot of the book you read as it might appear in a third-grade reading book. Be sure that the vocabulary you use is appropriate for that age group. Tape your storytelling. 85. 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. . . . 86. After reading a non-fiction book, become 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. 87. Look through magazines for words and pictures that describe your book. Use these to create a collage on a bookmark. Make the bookmark available for others to use as they read the same book. 88. Write the title of your book. Decide on some simple word--picture--letter combinations that will spell out the title "rebus style." Present it to the class to solve (I will make a transparency or copies for you.) After they have solved the rebus., invite them to ask questions about the book. 89. After reading a book, design a game, based on that book as its theme. Will you decide on a board game, card game, concentration? The choices are only limited to YOUR CREATIVITY! Be sure to include clear directions and provide everything needed to play. 90. 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. 91. Design a poster to advertise your book. Be creative. . . use detail. . .elaborate. . . use color! Can you make it 3-D or movable? 92. Make a large poster that could be a cover for that book. Imagine that you are the book and plan a way to introduce yourself. Make the group feel they would like to know you better. Organize your best points into an introduction to present to the class. Be sure to "wear" your cover! 93. Read the classifieds. Find something a character in your book was looking for or would like. Cut out the classified. Write a short paragraph telling why he or she needs/wants the item. Would the one advertised be a good buy for him or her? Why or Why not? 94. Create cutout sketches of each character in your novel. Mount the sketches on a bulletin board. Include a brief character sketch telling us about the characters. 95. Design a symbol for a novel or a certain character. 96. Gather a large collection of current events that reflect incidents that closely parallel those in your novel. 97. Write a letter to the author of your novel and explain how you feel about the book. 98. Prepare and present an oral interpretation to the class. 99. Create a poster that could be used as an advertisement. 100. Do a five minute book talk. |