During silent reading each day, you will be required to read books or prepare book reports on books that you have read. During the year, you must prepare at least 5 book reports to be presented in at least 3 different ways from sections A to E. Extra credit will be given for extra reports. Below are suggested ways to report. SECTION A: WRITING 1. Write a diary as the main character would write one to explain the events of the story. 2. Write a letter to your book s author telling your feelings about the story. Mail it to the publishing company after your teacher has checked it. 3. If you were bored or disappointed by the book, write a paragraph telling why. 4. Write a description of one of the main characters. Draw a picture to go with it. 5. Write a feature news article (with a headline) that tells your story as it might be found on the front page of a newspaper in the town where the story took place. 6. Write a letter to a character in your book, asking a question or making a protest or suggestion. 7. Write a sequel to a book you have just finished. 8. Write the plot briefly but completely. It takes practice to do this in one paragraph. 9. Write an obituary, as it would appear in the local newspaper, for a character in your book that died. 10. Write a publisher s blurb to sell the 11. Write a short account of the same story plot, but use a different setting (time and place). 12. Compose a telegram, trying to tell about the book in 15 words. Then expand it to a hundred word overnight telegram. 13. Write a letter recommending the book to a friend. 14. Keep a journal as you read the book where you record your reactions, thoughts and feelings. Read this to the class when you are finished. 15. Rewrite an incident in the book, simplifying the words so a younger grade can understand. 16. Write Chapter Titles for a book that has chapters but no titles. 17. Summarize a book by writing it in outline form. 18. Write at least eight different titles for a Explain why each would make a good title. Be sure to tell what your favorite choice is. 19. Write one page on this topic: Why (a specific person) should not read this 20. Write one page on this topic: Why (a specific person) should read this 21. Write a book review for a newspaper. 22. Keep a journal as you read a After each chapter, make a prediction about what you think may happen later in the After you have read the entire book, go back to see if your predictions were correct. 23. Think about who the narrator is. Then write one scene from the point of view of another character and explain the switch. 24. Write a biography of a character in your Use details from the book as the basis for your writing. Page 1
25. Pretend you are an advice columnist in a newspaper or magazine. Write a question that a character in your book might have. Then write an appropriate response. 26. Write a letter from a character in your book to the reader explaining his or her actions in the story. 27. Create Who Am I? riddles from your book by making 5 or 6 statements about one or more characters from your After other students have guessed at the answer to your riddle, use your statements to help explain what the book is about. 28.. Create What Am I? riddles from your book by making 5 or 6 statements about one or more objects from your After other students have guessed at the answer to your riddle, use your statements to help explain what the book is about. SECTION B: SPEAKING 29. Describe the problem or conflict existing for the main character in the Tell how the conflict was or was not resolved. 30. Tell about the illustrations in a Tell how they influence the reader. 31. Suggest some changes which you think the author might make to improve the 32. Participate in a panel discussion with several students who have read the same 33. Participate in a pro and con panel made up of some students who liked the book and some students who did not. 34. Arrange a conference with your teacher where you can talk about the book and answer questions about it in front of the class. 35. Give an oral book report to the class. 36. Read orally an interesting part, stopping at a strategic point. 37. Tell the class why you did or did not like the 38. Explain how the book could be used in another subject. 39. Describe an interesting character to the class. Make him come alive to the audience. 40. Describe how the main character is like or unlike people you know. 41. Choose a monologue, a part of the story where only one person speaks. Practice it and present it to the class. 42. Pretend you are one character from the book and introduce other characters to the class. Be sure to tell how each character fit into the 43. Tell how you, as an interior decorator, would decorate a character s bedroom and why. 44. Explain what the main character would like for Christmas and why. 45. Pretend you are the author and explain why you chose the title of the 46. Tell what you think happened before the story began. 47. Describe what you think happened to the main character after the book ended. 48. Explain why you think the book should be contained in a time capsule to be dug up in one hundred years. 49. Describe an experience you ve had that was like the experience of a character in the Page 2
50. Explain why the book begins as it does. 51. Tell how the book changed your way of thinking. 52. Explain what the main character would be least likely to do and tell why. 53. Did any character change during the book? Explain how and why. 54. Pretend you are a character in the Leave a phone message for another character in the Then explain how this message would fit into the overall plot of the 55. If you could change places with one of the characters, who would it be and why. 56. Tell which character is most like you and explain why. 57. Explain how the story would have been different if some major event had happened differently. 58. Retell an event from your book from the viewpoint of two or more characters involved in the event. 59. Choose one or more illustrations from your Explain the similarities and the differences in the written text and the illustrations. Tell whether the illustrations just support the text or do they tell something more. SECTION C: ART 60. Make a map showing the story s location. 61. Design costumes for some of the characters. 64. Prepare a book jacket for your 65. Create a poster advertising the 66. Draw mini or life-size costumes for a few of the characters in your 67. Make sketches of some of the action sequences. 68. Dress paper dolls as characters in the book for a bulletin board display. 69. Create a banner advertising your 70. Make a WANTED POSTER for one of the characters in your b67. Make a bookmark that tells about your 71. Write out your title decoratively and for each letter, write a phrase about the 72. Use a computer to draw a scene from your Include captions to tell what the scene is about. Tell how this scene fits into the 73. Make a collage to tell about a character in your book or the main plot. Tell the class why you have included each part of your collage. 74. Make a mural to illustrate the Get others who have read the book to help you. 75. Draw a cartoon that tells about the 76. Create an Open Mind Portrait of a character in your book by doing the following: After reading the book, fold a large blank sheet of paper in half. On one half draw a portrait of one of the characters. Trace the outline of the portrait on the other half of the sheet without facial features. Then record words or pictures onto the portrait that describe feelings and thoughts of the chosen character. 62. Make a travel poster inviting tourists to visit the setting of the 63. Draw several illustrations to accompany the Tell the story to the class, using the pictures as aids. Page 3
SECTION D: DRAMA 77. Dress up as one of the main characters and tell the story from a first-person point of view. 78. Act out in pantomime events from the story. Let the class try to guess the story. Be prepared to tell how your drama fits into the main plot. 79. Dramatize an incident from the You may do this with others who have read the 80. Make a sales talk, pretending that members of your audience are clerks in a bookstore and you want them to push a new 81. Write a movie script of a part of a book to sell to Hollywood. 82. Construct puppets and present a show of an interesting part of the story. 83. Dress as one of the main characters and act out the part you play. 84. Do impromptu drama for a part of your Assume the role of a character in the book and act along with the teacher who will play another part. Check with your teacher first so he can familiarize himself with the 85. Prepare a taped drama of a part of a Include sound effects on the tape. SECTION E: HODGEPODGE 88. Invite three celebrities to a party for the main character and explain your choices. 89. Find a quotation applicable to your book and tell how it applies. 90. Bring a collection of items associated with the Tell how each object relates to the You may join these objects together with string or yarn to make a story braid. Make sure the objects are arranged in the proper order. 91. Make a TV commercial for your book to show to the class. 92. Make a friendship quilt out of cloth or paper. You may do this with others who have read the same Each square depicts an incident in the story. Put the squares together to make a quilt. 93. Make a dictionary containing some important words from the book and their definitions. Tell how those words are related to the overall plot. The words should be arranged alphabetically. 94. Make a list of ten important facts you learned from the book you read. 95. Read two books on the same subject. Compare and contrast them using a Venn diagram. 96. Be on the hot seat! Tell a little about the book and then answer questions from the class about the 86. Build a miniature stage setting for part of the story. 87. As a movie producer explain why you will not make your book into a movie. 97. Demonstrate how to make or do something that you learned from your story. 98. Write or tell about the most humorous incident, the most exciting happening or the most interesting event, or the part you liked best. 99. List interesting new words or expressions from the Tell why each is interesting. Page 4
100. Give a brief overview of the book but don t give away the climax. Try to make other students want to read the book after you have described it. 101. Write or tell a different ending to the story. 102. Have a friend who has read the story try to stump you with questions. Then switch spots. 103. Write questions you think anyone should be able to answer after reading the book; then try them on others. 104. Read to the class parts of a short mystery story containing clues and let them try to solve it. 105. List ten new words you learned from your book, define them, and give the sentences in which you found them. 106. Find a poem which applies to your Write it out and explain how it applies. 107. From the yellow pages of a phonebook, pick out businesses you think the main character would be interested in and explain why. 113. Create another character for the story. Tell how things would change with this character s presence. 114. Research to find new facts about the author s life. Tell how you think these facts influenced the author s writing of the story. 115. Make a calendar to show the important events in the story. 116. Make a list of questions to ask someone who has read the same Then interview that person and record his or her answers. 117. Make comparisons with the movie version of the same How is the book the same as the movie? How is it different? 118. Make a clay, soap or wood model to illustrate part of the 119. Build a diorama (table exhibit) to represent a part of the story. 108. Make a crossword puzzle using key words from your 109. Make a word search puzzle using key words from your Tell the class why you included each word. You may use the following site to help you create your puzzle. http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com 110. Create a special greeting card for a character in your Tell why you would give it to that character. 111. Pretend you are a character in your story and write a poem from that person s point of view. 112. Research to find some additional facts related to your State the facts and explain the relationship between them and the 120. Make a transparency that tells about your 121. Make a timeline of the events in the life of the main character. 122. Compare and contrast where you live with the neighborhood or town in the 123. Write a rap to tell about your Present it to the class. 124. Find an Internet website that a character in your book would be interested in. Tell the class why your character would most like that site. 125. Make up five interview questions for a character in your Tell how you think that character would answer each question. Page 5
126. Prepare a short multimedia presentation to tell about the 127. Make up a game based on your Make it so it can be played by other students. 128. Develop a questionnaire for other readers to complete before reading a book, to see if the book would be suitable for them. 129. Make a movie of a part of the 130. Develop an award for your Explain the criteria for the award and why this particular book was elected to receive it. You may find it helpful to check out the Newberry and Caldecott awards. 131. Compose a song based on the Present it to the class with the help of any willing volunteers. 132. Create a brochure to tell about your You may use a computer to help in your creation. 139. Create a report card for a character in your Determine the appropriate subject areas, assign a grade and make a comment about the character. 140. Create a Plot Profile to determine the main events of your story. List the events in order. Then determine the excitement level of each event. Then plot your results on a grid to create a profile of the plot. 141. Create a Goodies and Baddies Rating Scale for one or more characters in your Then rank the characters according to a criterion of your choice (meanest, kindest, smartest, funniest, etc.). Justify to the class your rating for each character based on the words and actions of the character in the 142. Create a Character Web for your Place the name of the main character or characters in the middle of the page. Then place the names of several other characters in the book around the central figure according to the closeness of the relationship between them. Use arrows, key words, pictures, or jottings to represent the interrelationships between them. 133. Make a computer slide show to tell about your 134. Make a time capsule for one of the characters. Explain what is in the capsule. 135. Make a job application for the main character and fill it in. 136. Make a clip art collage to tell about your 137. After reading a book, predict a future for one of the characters where they are, what they are doing, who they are with, etc. Predictions should be based on the text. 138. Write or tell ways that a character in your book is like or unlike a person you know or another character in a 143. After reading a book make up a series of Who Would Say? statements. These are statements that a character in the book might typically say, but that is not a direct quote. Have other students who have read the book guess which character would have said it. Then explain why each quote would be typical of the different characters. Page 6
144. Complete an Admiration Rating for three or more characters in your Rank the characters from most admirable to least admirable. Be ready to justify your ranking with information from your 145. Research to find information about the author of your Consider questions such as the following: Is the author male or female? When was the book written? Was the author young, middle-aged or elderly? Where did the author live when writing the book? Then explain how you think this information about the author affected the content of the 146. Create a Drammy Award for a character in your Select a character and determine an appropriate award. List the criteria for winning the award and justify from your book why your character deserves it. 147. Create a Regret and Rewind for a character in your Assume the role of a character. Consider something in the book that you would do differently if you could rewind the text and suggest the impact this might have on the final outcome. 148. Create your own way to present a book report to the class and then give it. Check with your teacher first. Page 7