How to Make a Book Report Template

Many elementary school students are often asked to write reports about books they have read. However, it can take a child a long time to organize his thoughts each time he is assigned such a project. One solution is for the parents or teacher to create a book report template that can be used over and over, guiding the student in filling in predetermined sections of information. This is a convenient way to save time and to help the child stay focused and on track.

Things You'll Need

• Word processing program Printer

Instructions

1. Open a new document in your word processor and save it under a name along the lines of "Book Report Template."

2. Write an introductory section. Start with typing "Book" on the first line and then press Enter a few times to create a blank space in which the student can fill in the information later. Repeat this step on the following lines to include "Author" and "Report Submitted By" and any other information that needs to be included, like your child's class number or section.

3. Begin a new paragraph below the introductory section written in Step 2. Call this section "Setting" and leave enough blank space for the child to write several sentences about the place and time period in which the story takes place.

4. Title the next section "Summary:" and leave enough blank space for students to write one or two paragraphs recounting the events of the book's plot.

5. Name the next section "Characters" and leave at least half a page of blank space for the student to fill in, as there are generally many actors in a story to discuss.

6. Call the following section "Themes" and leave another half a page or so blank for the child to write about any underlying ideas he picked up on throughout the story.

7. Title the last section of the template something along the lines of "My Opinion." Students are generally asked to finish the report by expressing any personal feelings or thoughts about the book.

8. Save the document again to an easy-to-find directory on your computer so that you can quickly pull up the template whenever the student has a book report to write. Either print the template and have her hand write in the information or help her type it in on the computer.