Teachers - Alternatives to Book Reports - For the Artists in Your Classroom

Artists abound in classrooms! Yours included, I imagine. If you want to provide your students with alternatives to traditional book reports that will appeal to their artistic traits, here are some suggestions (and each is worded exactly the way I have given them to students, on specially-created handouts):

1. Demonstrate some of the art techniques used in Caldecott Award books. What and where are some of the sources from which you can learn about these techniques? Talk to your teacher, the librarian, and/or your art teacher. Write some of the ideas you have. Also, write down the names of some of the techniques you have learned about and want to explore further.
2. Use a box of 64 crayons to create a picture (or a series of pictures)about your book. You may illustrate scenes, characters, events, or whatever gives others a sense about what your book was REALLY about. You will have an opportunity to display your pictures on the bulletin board or wall of your classroom. Begin by writing some of the ideas you have for what you will draw.
3. Prepare a book jacket that illustrates the kind of book as well as the story in the book that you read. Remember, a book jacket has an enticing summary of the book on the inside front or on the back. Be sure to include this part. Begin writing and sketching some of your ideas. (Teachers, See if your librarian will let you replace the original book jacket with the "new and improved" one. Or, maybe a recommended book wall can be created to display the projects.)
4. Paint life-size book characters. Begin by having a friend lie on a large sheet of paper while you trace around his or her figure. Then, paint or make clothes for your characters that are the same as ones they wore in the book, or ones that they would pick out to wear. Brainstorm and write down which character(s)are you going to paint? Why?
5. Take (or draw) pictures that tell the one episode of the book that you read. Display your pictures for others to enjoy. Begin writing (or sketching) out some of your ideas. Think about the idea that "a picture paints a thousand words." What kind of pictures will best represent the ideas of your story?
6. Do a new set of illustrations for the book you read - or, if it didn't have any illustrations, then create some! Plan the type of media you will use carefully. Begin planning and writing down which ideas and scenes from the book you want to illustrate.
7. Create a colorful picture(using torn construction paper)that represents the book or one of the stories within your book. Begin writing out some of your planning.

You will be delighted to see the students engage in these book report alternatives, plus they will be much more indicative of the students' understanding of the books they are reading. Have some fun, and if you want to access the full-color version (immediately downloadable) of *80 Alternatives to Book Reports* as well as scores of free resources that you can use to build reading, writing, and learning in your classroom, including PowerPoints, PDFs, and Word documents, just go to...

** http://www.OwningWordsforLiteracy.com - and you can click on the Downloads tab.

To get numerous articles with teaching tips (for free), just go to

http://www.ArticlesforTeachers.com and see what's there for you to use in your classroom.

(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., "The Ph.D. of Productivity"(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!

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