Book reports get a bad reputation which I think is unfounded. Book reports are a wonderful way to integrate writing into your curriculum, especially if the book is historical fiction. You can also think of a book report as baby steps towards literary analysis which will certainly be required of your students in high school and in college.
Bud, Not Buddy is a recent read aloud in our study of the Great Depression. (It is not on the Winter Promise list; I added it in.) I thought that since it was such a great novel, since it tied in so well to our history lessons, and since we both enjoyed it together, it would be a perfect choice for Sprite’s first official book report.
At the recommendation of Kris, I downloaded the Weekly Reader title Writing a Great Book Report from Currclick. It was well worth the $5 I spent. (Although I love physical books, it’s so convenient to download today and use tomorrow. I also like that I can reprint another copy of the pages for use a second or third time.)
It turned out to be a great step by step introduction to the elements of fiction — character, setting, and plot only –and a guide for writing a book report. Sprite really enjoyed working through the pages as she made notes about her novel.
[Maybe it’s because we use so few worksheets that when I give her something like this she thinks it is quite enjoyable. Or maybe it’s her love of writing in general. I can’t explain it.]
The workbook gives the student a chance to prewrite about the characters and later write full sentences or paragraphs about them. The same is true for plot and then a personal evaluation of the book. Once the workbook is completed, you simply merge the paragraphs together to form an essay. Sprite typed up her draft and I worked with her to make edits. The revisions were a breeze to make in electronic format, and she agreed that the time invested in typing it was worth it in the long run.
Then we worked through some of the elements of fiction more formally with Sprite making a minibook of cards on a metal ring. I used our Write Source 2000 as a reference in teaching her these terms.
I made some elements of fiction printables to share with you. There is a poster file and a banners file as individual downloads, but the SET is the whole kit and caboodle with notebooking pages, notetaking pages, minibooks or flashcards, as well as both the poster and the banners. These are in A4 paper format. (I’m sorry to my American friends using 8 1/2 by 11 paper, but I made these for our own use and have shared them here for you too. We use A4 paper in China. It’s taller and skinnier than your paper. But you can still print them on your shorter, fatter paper. The margins may simply be a little strange.)
I’ve already given her a second book report project assignment that includes more artistically creative options. It should take about three weeks to complete, and I’ll be sure to share that online too.
Do you use book reports with your children? At what age did you start? (Remember that Sprite is finishing 5th grade.)
We are just starting with doing reports (Grade 3). My daughter got inspired to do reports after reading a ‘Smart About Art’ book. I give her some pictures, a color page and a ‘Biography Poster Report’ (if it is about a person) and a blank page. She loves it. I plan to slowly move into the direction of a more formal book report. I would love to see a lot of blog-entrees on this subject from different families. I think children do profit from seeing the work of other children. Thank you, Jimmie, for connecting people all over the world.
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I really like the look of these. Thank you so much for your review on this product and showing us how it works.
If you don’t mind, I’d like to share this with some Australian homeschoolers on our forum, especially a large number of newbies we’ve had coming along.
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Thanks for these lovely printables … what a creative presentation!
It is always so rewarding to see our child/ren buzz with excitement and enjoyment!
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We have done one or two very brief book reviews that tied into a Shakespeare class but I have not totally gotten on board yet. I am investigating my options on the whole writing front at the moment. I am unhappy with the rudimentary approach of my son’s current program and am trying to find the time for a better direction for both the kids. Sage, on the other hand, just won first prize in the Book Arts Bash for writing a 7 Chapter Novel. She’s 7 yrs.old!! It’s a whopper of an achievement. This post has given me some great ideas about potential possibilities. Thanks again, Jimmie.
Thank you for putting this together. It looks wonderful. About the margins and printing in the U.S., when the print box comes on the screen be sure to check the box that says “shrink to fit on page” and the margins are perfect. Thanks again!
I feel like a celebrity being mentioned by name on one of my favorite bloggers’ blogs. 😉 I’m glad you liked the book report book. Like you, I thought it was a great step-by-step introduction. I can’t wait to use it with Josh and Megan. I can’t wait to see Sprite’s next book report!
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Thank you for the printables and the book recommendation. Both of my older children have done book reports and book reviews (5th and 7th grade) but my youngest has not done one yet (3rd). I think this resource may be an excellent introduction for him for next year and a much better way for my older son to approach a book report.
I think it’s really interesting that you have different sized paper in China! I just assumed that 8 1/2 by 11 was THE standard. Hmmm, what does that say about me?
Samantha
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We’ve done a few book reports over 2nd and 3rd grade. (Mackenzie is in 3rd this year.) Although they’re not exactly traditional book reports. I’ve been using the forms from the How to Report on Books by Evan-Moor. http://www.evan-moor.com/Search/Default.aspx?Search=how+to+report+on+books&WT.oss=how+to+report+on+books
Each form has a different focus like: how to evaluate a story ending, mapping the story’s plot, determining whether the story is fiction or non-fiction, setting, character relationships, etc. I haven’t been using them for the purpose of writing an actual report but as a springboard for introducing the different elements of a story to her. Hopefully, when she does finally have to write a real book report she’ll have an idea of things she can include in it. LOL
She generally enjoys these because a) there’s not much writing and b) the forms are cute. Presentation and the amount of writing are paramount to her happiness. LOL
And since I already have something in my currclick cart I’m going to add in this book too. It looks like something that we’ll get good use out of in the future and I don’t want to pay full price. LOL
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I can’t wait till we get to this point, we’re almost out of 1st grade.
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I’m so glad you shared this post. I’ve been looking at plans for next year and realized we’ve only covered the elements of a story once… and that was with an outside class last year. I think this is something we really need to work on. So, I’m going to use your ideas, forms, etc! Thanks so much! (I’ll be linking to your post.)
These printables look great, and I’ love to use them, but I can’t get them to print. I have tried on several different printers and I just keep getting a message from Adobe that says “The document could not be printed.” Is there some trick to printing a document created for A4 on our short, fat American paper?
I always look here first when I’m searching for a new resource, especially when it’s related to language arts or visual arts. I’m going to walk my 4th grader through this, just got it from currclick, while my two younger enjoy a special treat of some evan moore fairy tale pockets. After we do this book report we’re going to follow you’re lead and use your great printable to sink in the story elements. They all want to do story writing contests in the next few months and I’m hoping to give them a little more foundation for their efforts. Thanks for the great resources Jimmie. Did you ever post on Sprite’s other book report?