Grade 8 Book Report Ideas
Many eighth grade teachers struggle to select engaging methods to use when asking students to demonstrate their understanding of a text through the creation of a book report. The age-old five-paragraph theme is a tired form that few students enjoy following. Teachers can increase student excitement surrounding book report completion by allowing their eighth grade students to abandon the traditional essay form and instead ask for interesting products that demonstrate the students’ understanding of a text.
Other People Are Reading
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Character Trading Cards
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Test the students' understanding of character specifics by asking them to create character trading cards. Bring in old baseball or other collectable cards to provide students with examples. Show each student the cards, drawing their attention to the fact that the front contains a picture of the individual, while the back is filled with information. Provide each student with cardstock cut down to collectable card size.
Ask each student to select a number of characters from the book and create a card representing each character. Tell them to place the character name and a representative picture on the front of each card, and ask them to write a physical description and outline of the character's actions during the book on the back.
After the projects have been graded, you can allow students to trade their cards, collecting creations from their classmates.
Suitcase
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Measure students’ understanding of the book as a whole by asking them to pack a suitcase full of objects that a character would need as they move through the events in the book. Cut out one suitcase outline for each student, and glue the outlines to manila folders. Give each student the folder to use as their figurative suit case. Then provide each student with cardstock to use in the creation of their objects. Ask the students to select 10 things that one of the characters would have needed in their suitcase if they were packing for the book. For example, students could draw a bottle of sunscreen if the book mentioned that the character got a sunburn.
Once students have created their collection of objects, allow them to present their selections to the class. Many eighth graders enjoy standing up in front of their peers, and those who don’t can use the practice, as they will be required to make presentations in high school.
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Book Report Cereal
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Cereal is a breakfast staple for many students. Ask students to use their knowledge of cereal boxes to design their own book-inspired box. Prepare for the project by asking students to collect and bring in empty cereal boxes. You can offer extra credit to students who bring in boxes to encourage them to contribute their used boxes.
Provide each student with a cereal box, and help them cover the box with plain, white paper to create a clean canvas. Instruct students to create a book-inspired name for their cereal, and draw an attention-getting representation of the book on the front. Tell students to feature one character from the book on each of the two box side panels, and to include a picture and description of the setting on the back.
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