http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/book-report-alternative-writing-295.html
Contribute to ReadWriteThink / RSS / FAQs / Site Demonstrations / Contact Us
- About IRA
- About NCTE
- About Verizon Thinkfinity
- Standards
- Our Advisors
- Our Authors
- Community Stories
- Promotional Materials
- News
ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.
Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.
Teacher Resources by Grade
| Kindergarten | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1st - 2nd | 3rd - 4th | |
| 5th - 6th | 7th - 8th | |
| 9th - 10th | 11th - 12th | |
Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan
Book Report Alternative: Writing Resumes for Characters in Historical Fiction
E-mail
/
Share
/
Print This Page
/
Print All Materials (Note: Handouts must be printed separately)
| Grades | 3 – 5 |
| Lesson Plan Type | Standard Lesson |
| Estimated Time | Three 50-minute sessions |
| Lesson Author |
Urbana, Illinois |
| Publisher |
|
LESSON PLANS
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Technical Reading and Writing Using Board Games
Students celebrate a novel they have read and get hands-on experience with technical writing by creating a board game based on the novel and writing the instructions for it.
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 – 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 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 6 – 10 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Blending the Past with Today’s Technology: Using Prezi to Prepare for Historical Fiction
To prepare for literature circles featuring historical novels, students research the decades of the 1930s to the 1990s and share their information using Prezi, a web application for creating multimedia presentations.
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 – 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 – 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 – 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 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: 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 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 9 – 12 | Student Interactive | Organizing & Summarizing
This tool guides students through the creation of a resume that can be saved and edited. Written and audio tips provide extra support.
CALENDAR ACTIVITIES
Grades 5 – 12 | Calendar Activity | May 23
Author Scott O'Dell was born on this day.
Students select a set of books to read and compare fiction and nonfiction books and discuss their findings as a class. Students can follow up by writing short stories about the topics they explored.
Grades 3 – 12 | Calendar Activity | June 28
Esther Forbes, author of Johnny Tremain, was born in 1891.
Students explore the genre of historical fiction by writing original works and comparing all of the finished pieces.
Grades 7 – 12 | Calendar Activity | August 29
Karen Hesse, author of the Newbery-winning verse novel Out of the Dust, was born in 1952.
Students write original short works of historical fiction in verse format, modeling the style Hesse used to write Out of the Dust.
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.