Elementary School Book Report Ideas
Book reports have been a part of education and school classrooms for many years. Ask anyone and they probably remember standing in front of the classroom, reading from the piece of paper on which they'd written all about the book they read. For many, this can be a terrifying experience. For others, it's dreadfully boring. Make book reporting fun and interesting by introducing creative ways to deliver the report.
Other People Are Reading
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Book in a Bag
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Children are captivated to find out what's in the bag. A "Book in a Bag" style book report allows children to add their own creative flare while telling about the book they've read. Each child uses a brown paper lunch bag and places five items in the bag that represent a character, place or event from his or her chosen story. For instance, if your child reads "Alice In Wonderland," by Lewis Carroll, she may place in her bag a small toy rabbit for the White Rabbit, a paper towel tube to represent a tunnel, a book because Alice enjoyed reading, a Queen of Hearts card to represent the Red Queen and key because Alice had to go in and out of many doors. This style of book report is visually interesting and children reading the same book are able to interpret it in their own way.
Story Collage
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Use magazine pictures to create a story collage. Children enjoy being creative and have the opportunity to do so by making a story collage. Using information about the main character, the setting and the plot, children cut out and paste magazine pictures on poster board to create a story collage. A story collage serves as a visual guide for each student to use while talking about the book he or she has read, and the collages can be hung on classroom walls afterward, giving children additional opportunity to learn about and become interested in a book someone else read.
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Create A New Book Cover
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Book cover creation is another way to deliver a book report. The creation of a new book cover allows children to describe the book they've read, in picture and word form. On the front cover, kids draw or glue pictures from magazines to make a design that visually represents the main character, setting or plot. The backside of the book cover consists of a 1- to 2-paragraph summary about the story, giving listeners enough detail about the book to pique their interest without giving the story away. These book covers can be made with white copy paper or colorful construction paper.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit book image by Pali A from Fotolia.com Empty brown paperbag isolated on white image by sumos from Fotolia.com magazine image by Angelika Bentin from Fotolia.com book cover on metal plate image by Dieter Groth from Fotolia.com
