On our Summer Reading Splash! website, we have a document that you can download that is full of fun book report ideas. I remember back to when I was in school - we would receive a form to fill out about each book we read. The forms were all the same, the only difference was the book information that we would put on it. These got very repetitive and boring after awhle. When I first started homeschooling my oldest daughter, I remember searching for some book report alternatives. Some of the ones listed on that downloadable form are ones that I found. Wow - book reports really can be fun!
Sharon, from PA, a homeschooling mom of 2 girls (ages 12 & 17), sent me the following book report ideas and I wanted to share them with you:
Book Report Sandwich
Cut out large shapes to represent all the ingredients of a sandwich.
Top slice of bread - create a book cover type picture.
Mayo - Title and author
Cheese - Write a paragraph about the setting. Where does the story take place? What era?
Lettuce - Describe the plot of the story.
Tomato - Paragraph describing the main character
Ham - Write a summary paragraph about the book.
Pickles - What was the climax of the story? Don't give away the ending!!
Bottom slice of bread - Why would you recommend this book to others? What was your favorite part of the story?
You can create the layers and copy onto colored printer paper for younger kids or have older students make their own. Paragraphs can become sentences or be dictated to a parent to make this idea something all ages can use.
Stack the layers as if you were making a sandwich and clip or staple together. Makes a great report to share with the family on a picnic or over lunch!!
Another fun idea is to create a book jacket to fit around a coffee can. Include pictures, title, author and student name. Write a brief summary paragraph to cover the lid. Fill the can with things that were part of the story. For instance, plastic or beanie animals, insects or people, toys, balls, plastic food. (Please remind the children not to put anything perishable in their can - TRUST ME ON THIS!) After they have gathered 6-7 items to put in their can, they can present an oral report about their book using all the things in the can to help describe the book. This is great for those who don't like to write or need the comfort of holding something in their hands while talking to a group of people.
A variation on this would be to have the child create a scavenger hunt with the things in their can providing clues to lead to the next item. When all the items have been found, have the student tell everyone about their can and how the items relate to the story. Or, the can intro could be given before the hunt and as each thing is found the child could tell about how it is part of the story.
Sharon says: Hope you enjoy these report ideas! We sure did!! As a matter of fact, I've enjoyed remembering about these activities so much I think we'll do them again! I'll just up the requirements to challenge my high schooler!
