Book Report Alternative: Glog That Book!

Lesson Plans

Strategy Guides

Professional Library

 

LESSON PLANS

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   6 – 10  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

“Licensed” to Drive: Old West Figures

This lesson invites students to create a “Driver’s License” for characters that have made a contribution to western expansion in the United States.

 

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   6 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Book Report Alternative: Rewind the Plot!

In this alternative to the traditional book report, students report on their novel choices by rewinding the plot.

 

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   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: Comic Strips and Cartoon Squares

Students must think critically to create comic strips highlighting six important scenes from a book they have read.

 

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: 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.

 

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: 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: 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 a Childhood for a Character

Students explore familiar literary characters, usually first encountered as adults, but whose childhood stories are only told later. Students then create childhoods for adult characters from books of their choice.

 

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   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   5 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Glogging About Natural Disasters

After researching various natural disasters, students share their findings with each other using glogs, or through poster presentations.

 

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STRATEGY GUIDES

Grades   3 – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Using Glogster to Support Multimodal Literacy

Glogster, a Web 2.0 tool, supports development of students’ multimodal literacy skills. This guide outlines techniques for critical evaluation and creation of multimodal texts.

 

Grades   3 – 12  |  Strategy Guide

Teaching With Glogster: Using Virtual Posters in the Classroom

Why stop at paper and markers? With Glogster, a free, web-based tool, students can develop virtual posters including audio, video, text, hyperlinks, and images, and share their creations electronically.

 

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PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY

Grades   8 – 12  |  Professional Library  |  Journal

Alternative Book Reports

This article describes different ways that students can report on books they have read other than the traditional “book report.”

 

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.

 

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