Book Report

[Tzunamisu]

My 5th grader just finished her first book report. She avoids pen/paper writing like a plague. She is fine with typing. So I had her create a google slide show for her book report. She did pretty well & I went thru the editing process with her. For 2021, I told her she will be doing 2 book reports every month. One book will be her choice & the other will be my pick. Is this a good idea? Are 2 books per month too much? Aside from this required book report, she actually reads a lot of fiction or non fiction books on her free time. Any suggestions or comments are truly appreciated. TIA!

 

[Aunt Kim]

That sounds fantastic!!

Some "non-book-reports" we've done are:
create a scene from the book out of Lego/Playmobil
write a poem about a character or event (one of mine LOVES to write poems)
tell a younger sibling the main storyline of the book (great at nap time)
make a book cover like the books at the library have (picture on front, "teaser" to get people interested on back, something about author inside)
build an "old-school" diorama (shoe box, cardboard, etc)
create/perform a "commercial" for the book that will make me want to buy/read it (that could also be fun to do on a Zoom call with a group/co-op - everybody "sell" their book to everybody else)
lots of times we just talked about the book, characters, problems, "what if that happened to you?" things, etc.

Have fun!

 

[Sally Matheny]

My 5th grader just finished her first book report. She avoids pen/paper writing like a plague. She is fine with typing. So I had her create a google slide show for her book report. She did pretty well & I went thru the editing process with her. For 2021, I told her she will be doing 2 book reports every month. One book will be her choice & the other will be my pick. Is this a good idea? Are 2 books per month too much? Aside from this required book report, she actually reads a lot of fiction or non fiction books on her free time. Any suggestions or comments are truly appreciated. TIA!

Hi,
I had a reluctant writer and can relate to your struggles. You know your child better than anyone. If you think two reports a month are doable, then I say go with it. I like that you're flexible in how those reports may be presented. Aunt Kim shared some great ideas! Years ago, I taught a homeschool co-op class different ways to present book reports. We did several of Kim's ideas. Also, we interviewed students who portrayed book characters asking them their perspective in a scene. Students either wrote a news story or did a video clip reporting the news. You might consider hosting a book tasting where your daughter has written a short report with just enough details to entice someone else to read the book. You can find ideas for book tastings on Pinterest.