Alternatives to Book Reports

1. Design an advertising campaign to promote the sale of the book you read. Include each of the following in your campaign: a poster, a radio or TV commercial, a magazine or newspaper ad, a bumper sticker, and a button.

2. Write a scene that could have happened in the book you read but didn't. After you have written the scene, explain how it would have changed the outcome of the book.

3. Create a board game based on events and characters in the book you read. By playing your game, members of the class should learn what happened in the book. Your game must include the following: game board, rule sheet and clear directions, events and characters from the story on cards or on a game board.

4. Make models of three objects which were important in the book you read. On a card attached to each model, tell why the object was important in the book.

5. If the book you read involves a number of locations within a country or geographical area, plot the events of the story on a map. Make sure the map is large enough for us to read the main events clearly. Attach a legend to your map. Write a paragraph that explains the importance of each event indicated on your map.

6. Complete a series of five drawings that show five of the major events in the plot of the book you read. Write captions for each drawing so that the illustrations can be understood by someone who did not read the book.

7. Design a movie poster for the book you read. Cast the major characters with real actors and actresses. Include a scene or dialogue from the book in the layout of the poster. Remember, you are trying to convince someone to see the movie based on the book, so your writing should be persuasive.

8. Make up a test for the book you read. Include ten true-false, ten multiple choice, and ten short answer essay questions. After writing the test, provide answers to your questions.

9. Select one character for the book you read who has the qualities of a heroine or hero. List these qualities and tell why you think they are heroic.

10. Imagine that you are about to make a feature-length film of the novel you read. You have been instructed to select major characters in the novel from your English classmates and tell why you selected each person for a given part. Consider both appearance and personality.

11. Plan a party for the characters in the book you read. In order to do this, complete each of the following tasks: a) Design an invitation to the party which would appeal to all of the characters. b) Imagine that you are five of the characters in the book and tell what each would wear to the party. c) Tell what food you will serve and why. d) Tell what games or entertainment you will provide and why your choices are appropriate. e) Tell how three of the characters will act at the party.

12. List five of the main characters from the book you read. Give three examples of what each character learned or did not learn in the book.

13. Obtain a job application from an employer in your area, and fill out the application as one of the characters in the book you read might do. Before you obtain the application, be sure that the job is one for which a character in your book is qualified. If a resume is required, write it. (A resume is a statement that summarizes the applicant's education and job experience. Career goals, special interests, and unusual achievements are sometimes included.)

14. You are a prosecuting attorney putting one of the characters from the book you read on trial for a crime or misdeed. Prepare your case on paper, giving all your arguments and supporting them with facts from the book.

15. Adapt the prosecuting attorney activity outlined above to a dual-role project: In one role, present the prosecuting case, and in the other present the case for the defense. If a classmate has read the same book, you might make this a two-person project.

16. Make a shoebox diorama of a scene from the book you read. Write a paragraph explaining the scene and attach it to the diorama.

17. Pretend that you are one of the characters in the book you read. Tape a monologue (one person talking) of that character telling of his or her experiences. Be sure to write out a script before taping.

18. Make a television box show of ten scenes in the order that they occur in the book you read. Cut a square from the bottom of a box to serve as a TV screen and make two slits in opposite sides of the box. Slide a butcher paper roll on which you have drawn the scenes through the two slide slits. Make a tape to go with your television show. Be sure to write out a script before taping.

19. Make a filmstrip or slide-tape show picturing what happened in the book you read. You can make a filmstrip by using Thermofax transparency material, but be sure it is narrow enough to fit through the projector. You will have to work carefully on a script before making your tape.

20. Tape an interview with one of the characters in the book you read. Pretend that this character is being interviewed by a magazine or newspaper reporter. You may do this project with a partner, but be sure to write a script before taping.

21. Make a book jacket for the book you read. Include the title, author, and publishing company of the book on the cover. Be sure the illustration relates to an important aspect of the book. On the inside flap or on the back of your book jacket, write a paragraph telling about the book. Explain why this book makes interesting reading when writing this "blurb."

22. Write a letter to a friend about the book you read. Explain why you liked or did not like the book.

23. Make a "wanted" poster for a character in the book you read. Include the following: a) a drawing of the character (you may use a magazine cutout), b) a physical description of the character, c) the character's misdeeds, d) other information about the character that you think is important, e) the reward offered for the capture of the character.

24. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield describes a good book as one that "when you're done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." Imagine that the author of the book your read is a terrific friend of yours. Write out an imaginary telephone conversation between the two of you in which you discuss the book you read and other things as well.

25. Imagine that you have been given the task of conducting a tour of the town in which the book you read is set. Make a tape describing the homes of the characters and the places where important events in the book take place. You may use a musical background for your tape.

26. Make a list of at least ten proverbs or familiar sayings. Now decide which characters in the book you read should have followed the suggestions in the familiar sayings and why. Here are some proverbs to get you started: He who hesitates is lost. All's fair in love and war. The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine.

27. Write the copy for a newspaper front page that is devoted entirely to the book you read. The front page should look as much like a real newspaper page as possible. The articles on the front page should be based on events and characters in the book.

28. Make a collage that represents major characters and events in the book your read. Use pictures and words cut from magazines in your collage.

29. Make a time line of the major events in the book you read. Be sure the divisions on the time line reflect the time periods in the plot. Use drawings or magazine cutouts to illustrate events along the time line.

30. Change the setting of the book you read. Tell how this change of setting would alter events and affect characters.

31. Make a paper doll likeness of one of the characters in the book you read. Design at least three costumes for this character. Next, write a paragraph commenting on each outfit, tell what the clothing reflects about the character, the historical period, and events in the book.

32. Pick a national issue. Compose a speech to be given on that topic by one of the major characters in the book you read. Be sure the contents of the speech reflect the character's personality and beliefs.

33. Retell the plot of the book you read as it might appear in a third-grade reading book. Be sure that the vocabulary you use is appropriate for that age group. Variation: Retell this story to a young child. Tape your story-telling.

34. Complete each of these eight ideas with material growing out of the book your read: This book made me wish that, realize that, decide that, wonder about, see that, believe that, feel that, and hope that.

Source:

34 Alternatives to Book Reports from Ideas for Teaching English in the Junior High and High School, ed. Candy Carter & Zora Rashkis. Urbana, IL NCTE 1980