4th Grade Book Report Ideas
Inevitably, all school-aged children are assigned a book report. Your fourth grade students may find composing and giving a book report publicly a daunting task. Giving them an out-of-the-box way of expressing what they learned about the book will make it easier on your students to give a book report.
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Poetry
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Allow your students to write a book report in the form of a rhyme or poetry. This is an entertaining way of telling what the book is about while allowing the students that extra bit of creativity. Using poetry will give your students leeway in expressing how the book made them feel. Give them the option of composing a rap-like song about the book and allow them to incorporate a classmate in their recitation. Use a book report form that you've printed off the Internet to help your student organize his thoughts about the book to better accommodate constructing a poem.
Graphic Novel
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If your students have expressed an interest in a book that had a number of pictures -- such as "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" -- allow them to make a report in the form of a graphic novel. They should include a synopsis of the plot. A graphic novel will allow students to express themselves with their own artwork. Since writing a graphic novel is labor intensive, make sure you set a page limit.
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Artwork
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There are many kinds of artwork that can be incorporated into a book report, including a diorama, a short video where students act out pivotal scenes from the book, a collage that represents the events and characters, or a poster that advertises the book in a promotional campaign. Give students the option of enhancing their book report by creating a new dust jacket cover that better illustrates the story. A time line of the book's story is an interesting book report option. If your timeline is for a book of historical fiction, you can ask them to include other events that were happening during the book's time period.
Rewrite
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If your students did not like the story they were assigned, allow them to present a book report which includes "How It Should Have Ended." Constructing a story that satisfies your student's idea of what the book should have been will give her a better idea of what it takes to construct a book. Give your students time to read both the original ending and their own re-write. Ask them to include illustrations for some extra pizazz.
Interviewing the Characters
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Ask your students to create a book report by imagining what the characters think about the book. Alternatively, they can "interview" the characters from the book. An interesting way of doing this is to ask the antagonist for his version of events. Students can organize a talk-show format where the protagonist and the antagonist take turns giving their sides of the story. Or have students stage a mock trial in which the antagonist is tried for his crimes. This is a great activity for engaging the class's interest in the text.
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