Book Report Alternative: Rewind the Plot!

Materials and Technology

Student Interactives

Printouts

Websites

Preparation

 

MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

• Classroom with LCD projector and whiteboard/interactive whiteboard
• Computers with printing and Internet capabilities
• Novels for the students—either from the school library or the classroom library
• Poster board and markers if computers will not be available for students to create word processing documents.

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STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Writing & Publishing Prose

Printing Press

The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers.

 

Grades   1 – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Organizing & Summarizing

Plot Diagram

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.

 

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PRINTOUTS

• Notes on Plot Structure
• Example of Rewinding the Plot Notes
• Example of Completed Statement
• Movie Examples
• Plot Structure Pyramid Example
• What Will I Read Next?
• The Reader’s Guide to Understanding Plot Development

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WEBSITES

• If You Watch X Backwards, It’s About Y
  

  This website provides the origin of these one-liners that reverse the chronology of movies and television shows.  Because not all examples are school appropriate, this website is for the teacher to gain background knowledge.  Use the Movie Examples printout to share examples with students.

• Watching Movies Backwards
  

  Several popular movies that appeal to teens and preteens have been chronologically reversed at this website.  The Movie Examples are taken from this website.

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PREPARATION

1. Examine the website If You Watch X Backwards, It’s About Y to understand the origin and nature of this type of reverse chronological writing.
2. Download the Plot PowerPoint Presentation, the Movie Examples, and the Example of a Completed Statement to a computer with projection capabilities.
3. Make one copy for each student of the printouts What Will I Read Next?, Notes on Plot Structure, and Example of Rewinding the Plot.
4. Make one copy for each small group of The Reader’s Guide to Understanding Plot Development that you will use in session one.
5. Reserve time in your school’s computer lab or library for Session Two that will occur after students have been given time to read their independent novel choices.
6. Decide which way students will share their completed “If you read ____, it’s about _____” statements.
   • If they will create posters, have markers and posterboard ready.
   • If they will use Read Write Think Printing Press, test that it will run on the computers.  Technical support is available for the Flash plug-in.
   • If they will use a word processing program, sign up for a wiki Wikispaces where you can create a class page to be able to project their documents.
7. Test that the Plot Diagram will run on the computers.  Technical support is available for the Flash plug-in.
8. If possible, have the  Plot Diagram tool and if using the Read Write Think Printing Press bookmarked on the computers.  If that is not feasible, you can sign up for a wiki at Wikispaces where you can create a class page for the links or you can simply tell the students the addresses of the tools.
9. Prior to this lesson, the class should have read together at least one novel, short story, or poem that can be used to trace the plot in Session 1 as an example.  Complete the statement to the selection(s), “If you read ____ backwards, it’s about ____” to serve as an example.

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