Teachers' Corner Book Reports that Work Reading Services Center

My students are reading and reporting on the books they have read. How can I encourage them to continue reading but at the same time get away from the "book report" method? Any ideas?

There are a variety of methods that can be used for "reporting" on books. Some of the ideas can be used with the entire class, with one reading group, or with individual students. You may want to limit the choices you give your students. Choose one activity that can be done by each child about the book he/she has read, or have a group read a particular book and choose an activity on which they would like to work. Encourage your students to select different activities from the list each time they "report". You can even keep a chart showing the different types of projects on which each child has "reported".

Primary	Intermediate
Make a scene or sculpt characters from your book out of modeling clay.	Tell a story to musical accompaniment. Play an instrument or find a record.
Make posters about your book using paint, crayons, chalk, paper sculpture, cut-out pictures and real pictures.	Find beautiful passages of description for oral reading (descriptive words or colloquial language can also be read).
Make a movie of your book: make a series of pictures on a long roll of paper or use pictures that fit into a frame.	Write a book review that the school newspaper could print.
Make an original illustration for your book.	Compare two books on the same subject, two books on different subjects, or two books by the same author.
Use a flannel board and retell the story, using characters from the book.	Share books about how to make or do things, either by oral demonstrations or written directions.
Dress dolls to show characters from the book.	Report on a travel book. Give an illustration lecture, using postcard and magazine pictures.
Make a sand table scene or diorama of your book.	Give a sales talk. Act as a salesman trying to sell the book to the class, or write an entry for the want ad section of the newspaper.
Draw a mural.	Give a "chalk talk" cartooning your report.
Act out a story: work with some classmates to read the story together.	Report on a historical book by making a large pictorial time line, or draw a map charting important places in the story.
Make a miniature stage and act out scenes, using pipe cleaner dolls or puppets.	Be a reporter at a scene in the book while it is happening. A crucial scene may be described on the spot by a T.V. or radio reporter.
Write about the funniest incident, the most exciting happening, the most interesting event, the part you liked best, or the saddest part of the book.	Write a front page headline article as if you are reporting your book as a current news happening.
Write a letter to a friend, advising him to read your book.	Make a tape of sound effects which might accompany you as you read to the class from a particular selection of your book .
Make a list of new, unusual, or interesting words and their meanings.	Have a debate in the class regarding a book which one student (or group) liked and the other did not like.
Write some questions which you think other readers should be able to answer after reading the story.	Write a diary about the people and events in a book.
Pantomime scenes from the book, and encourage the class to guess what the book is about.	Keep a daily log while reading a book. Record your feelings toward the happenings, characters, and problems in the story.
Make a book jacket, and write an advertisement to accompany it to "sell" the book.	Set up a quiz show situation involving several students (or the entire class) who have read the same book.
Make a colorful pictorial time line. This is helpful with sequence objectives. Write a sentence or paragraph for each picture.	Write a letter (about your favorite book) to the editor of one of the many juvenile magazines, or write a letter about an article you read in one of their magazines. You might be lucky enough to get it published.
Design a book mark, illustrating a favorite character or part of the book.
Have several students read the same book. Assign each student a section or event to illustrate and write about. Combine these into one large book. This large book can be shared with other classes.