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Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan
Book Report Alternative: Creating a Childhood for a Character
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| Grades | 6 – 8 |
| Lesson Plan Type | Standard Lesson |
| Estimated Time | Four 50-minute sessions |
| Lesson Author |
Asheville, North Carolina |
| Publisher |
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LESSON PLANS
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Characters for Hire! Studying Character in Drama
In this alternative to the traditional book report, students respond to a play they have read by creating a resume for one of its characters.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: The Elements of Fiction
Students identify the elements of fiction in a book they have read and share summaries of them by writing and illustrating their own mini-book.
Grades 5 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Glog That Book!
In this alternative book report, students identify the elements of fiction in books they have read by creating glogs, interactive multimedia posters, and then share their glogs.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Character and Author Business Cards
Students respond to a book they have read by thinking symbolically to create a business card for one of the characters.
Grades 6 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Getting Acquainted with Farcebook
In this alternative to the traditional book report, students report on their novel choices using Facebook-like pages.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Summary, Symbol, and Analysis in Bookmarks
Students make bookmarks on computers and share their ideas with other readers at their school, while practicing summarizing, recognizing symbols, and writing reviews—all for an authentic audience.
Grades 4 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Creating Reading Excitement with Book Trailers
In this alternative to the traditional book report, students create book trailers using Microsoft Photo Story 3, a free downloadable software program for digital storytelling.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Hooking a Reader with a Book Cover
Students select a book to read based only on its cover art. After reading the book, they use an interactive tool to create a new cover for it.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Creating a New Book Cover
Students explore book covers of a variety of books then create a new cover for a book they have read.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Writing Resumes for Characters in Historical Fiction
Students write resumes for historical fiction characters. They first explore help wanted ads to see what employers want, and then draft resumes for the characters they’ve chosen.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Comic Strips and Cartoon Squares
Students must think critically to create comic strips highlighting six important scenes from a book they have read.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: A Character’s Letter to the Editor
Students write a persuasive letter to the editor of a newspaper from a selected fictional character’s perspective, focusing on a specific issue or situation explored in the novel.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Creating Careers for Characters
Students select a job listing for a character in a book they have read, then create a resume and application letter for that character.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Book Report Alternative: Examining Story Elements Using Story Map Comic Strips
Comic frames are traditionally used to illustrate a story in a short, concise format. In this lesson, students use a six-paneled comic strip frame to create a story map, summarizing a book or story that they've read. Each panel retells a particular detail or explains a literary element (such as setting or character) from the story.
STUDENT INTERACTIVES
Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose
The Letter Generator is a useful tool for students to learn the parts of a business or friendly letter and then compose and print letters for both styles of correspondence.
Grades 1 – 12 | Student Interactive | Organizing & Summarizing
The Plot Diagram is an organizational tool focusing on a pyramid or triangular shape, which is used to map the events in a story. This mapping of plot structure allows readers and writers to visualize the key features of stories.
Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose
The Stapleless Book can be used for taking notes while reading, making picture books, collecting facts, or creating vocabulary booklets . . . the possibilities are endless!
CALENDAR ACTIVITIES
Grades 7 – 12 | Calendar Activity | July 31
J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter celebrate birthdays today.
Students are encouraged to think about why people challenge Harry Potter books, do a Web Quest that allows them to research the issue, and decide whether the books should be banned from the public library.
Grades 1 – 5 | Calendar Activity | February 11
Students read one of Jane Yolen's books, retell the story in the form of a puppet show, research animals in the book, and document their findings with the Animal Study interactive tool.
PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY
Grades 8 – 12 | Professional Library | Journal
Fifty Alternatives to the Book Report
Offers 50 diverse suggestions intended to offer students new ways to think about a piece of literature, new directions to explore, and ways to respond with greater depth to the books they read.
Professional Library | Journal
How Comic Books Can Change the Way Our Students See Literature: One Teacher's Perspective
In this article, Versaci details the many merits of using comics and graphic novels in the classroom, suggests how they can be integrated into historical and social issues units, and recommends several titles.
Grades 8 – 12 | Professional Library | Journal
Beyond Voices of Readers: Students on School's Effects on Reading
This article summarizes and explicates research on 272 twelfth-grade students' reading autobiographies. Cope quotes from some noteworthy comments and makes some suggestions on how teachers and schools might do a better job of teaching literature.