Book Reports As You Never Seen Before!

If you are like me, I am always looking for new and interactive ways to make book reports/literature responses (what ever name you call them) more engaging for my students.

This is the very reason that I created my Book Report Menu Kit. It provides a way for students to have choice EVERY month/quarter (the kit provides a format for both).

In that kit there is an option for "Other" where the students can design their own project. I have had some pretty amazing projects submitted over the years under the "other" section. This got me to thinking about a fun idea that I have been kicking around in my head for some time.

What if I turned one of my popular dodecahedron kits into a book report format. Hmmmm....
How would my students react to having to do 12 mini-projects (these are 6th graders mind you).

Would it be too much (dare I say it) WORK (heaven forbid)?
Overwhelming?
Take too long?
Too cheesy?
Too cutesy?

Undeterred by the prospect of critical feedback (my students are none to shy on sharing their feelings about projects/assignments- they are 6th graders after all!) I started putting together ideas on paper.

This spurred me into action and thus my Book Report Dodecahedron Kit was born. Creating it was the "easy" part. Now to get my students to buy into it.

Well, let me tell you.

We had just completed my Christmas Dodecahedron Project and I thought for sure they would balk at having to do another dodecahedron... boy was I wrong.

I am not sure what magical power a dodecahedron has, but my students never seem to tire of them. This was the 4th one we have made this year and they were still excited. Here a few shots of my kiddo working on them:

 I loved that they had to do a lot of little projects that didn't, according to them, feel overwhelming. I will say that it took about 3-4 days of 45-60 minutes each day to complete. This was the week for before winter break so there was flexibility, but, if it were to be sent home, I would totally have sent it home in small chunks, or used it as a "read-aloud time" work on project, or both. Another thought I had was to have them work on it throughout reading their book. That way it is spread out over the month and very easy to do.

Now... keeping track of all the pieces might be a different story, but I also thought about having them turn in each circle as it is completed. That way I could grade each piece at a time, and then I wouldn't be left with a HUGE pile of dodecahedrons to try and grade after presentations. That part I REALLY like!

 One of my favorite parts is having them hang around the room/hallway. They are just eye-catching, and I find that students are always under them trying to see/read what they say.

When I have sent home my dodecahedrons in the past, I just sent a note saying that if a parent wanted to keep it for a memory book, to simply remove the staples/carefully separate each tab and then you have a "booklet" of 12 circles. Easy Peasy.

Wahoo! Another successful project!

I hope this post will inspire YOU to try something new and brave in this new year. Give you and your students a NEW BEGINNING!

Good Luck and Happy New Year!

-MrHughes

P.S. If you are interested in looking at my book Report Dodecahedron Kit, click HERE or on the picture below: