Book Report Alternatives

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Book reports — we've all been there: "Summarize the plot." "Describe the main character." Explain the most important conflict." Yawn!

What if we responded to reading with a 21st century twist? We could pique student interest and give kids a chance to show off reading, writing, and technology skills!

Here are some possibilities. Some integrate technology; others are inspired by it.

A Bookish Proposal - Students examine uncommon places where books are sold and create proposals to sell and/or display particular books in local venues. Includes an article from the New York Times.

Digital Booktalk - Students create trailers, as if their books were movies. This site provides support for trying this with your students.

Mrs. Ojeda's MyLitSpace Assignment - Students create a MySpace page reflecting people and events from their reading. Requires MS-Word or compatible application for access.

Ten Questions - Students interview the main character of the book they've just read.

Twitter Book Reports - A suggestion for writing book reports in the style of a popular social networking site. Includes a link to a model.

What do you need? - This approach imitates a Facebook meme and requires Google. It should be appropriate for middle school and above.

Other book report ideas - Follow links to lots of nontraditional ways to respond to reading!

I would also love to share my Book Review Unit with anyone who requests it. Just comment below with your e-mail address or send it to grammaticallydelicious@yahoo.com and I will send the assignment, rubric, and modeled example right out.

Tech Freak Finds a New Love!

As my new pride and joy sits on the counter waiting for me to come 'give it a little love' after it finishes its first battery charge, I feel like I have to make a few comments about my feelings as I opened the Amazon box that arrived about an hour ago.


I was honestly thrilled to death to hear the dogs bark at the Fed Ex truck as it made its way up my long driveway. I never say that about the dogs! I could not wait to get into the box and see my new friend. I was especially excited because I had ordered about six books last night (way too easy to do, by the way) after I found out that Amazon would 'send' my books to my Kindle en route to my home.



What do I think, now that it is out of its box? I love how it feels. It is light, but very sturdy feeling, just like Amazon promised. It is super, super easy to use. I did not look once at the 'get started' instructions that came with it. The books they promised were all there, just waiting for me. I am now dying to pick it up and get reading.


The only drawback so far - I miss the 'flipping through' of the new books. I kind of guessed I would have that feeling. I like to sit and look at my new purchases all stacked up on my counter. I like how books feel and smell. I just like books. I am probably just feeling a little out of joint because my new prize has to sit and charge before I can carry it all over the house while I go about my day.


We will see. It is definitely just what I expected. I just have to get over what it felt like to order paper books! Stay tuned for what I think of using it.