Visionary Teaching has previously explored the use of choice boards for student assessment opportunities. In this article, we will look at how choice board book reports help students deliver amazing projects that play to personal strengths and preferences.
Think about a traditional book report. It might be a graphic organizer asking students to identify the title, author, characters, setting, and plot. Sometimes, students are even asked to give an opinion about the book. Perhaps this approach works in some classrooms. Visionary Teaching is all about creating meaningful and engaging learning opportunities for students.
What is the real purpose of assigning a book report? Is the objective to receive a collection of submissions that uniformly address a checklist of facts about the book? Or, are we seeking to allow each learner to apply what they learned while reading the book?
When a student has a choice in how she/he will demonstrate what has been learned, she/he will likely be motivated to work longer and harder on the project. Choice also allows students to play toward their strengths and interests. This approach should yield better projects. Some students may not yet know which options are best for them. Frequent choice board activities will give learners plenty of opportunities to try different options and discover where their strengths and preferences lie.
There are so many potential options to include on a book report choice board. Artistic students may excel when given a choice to reimagine the story as a comic book or build a diorama that depicts an important scene. Students who enjoy creative writing may opt to create a top 10 list related to story content or compose an epic poem that retells the story. Musical students may summarize the book through a song. Thespians may convert a scene from the story into a one-act play. Technology-savvy learners might choose to film and edit a trailer for a movie version of the book.
Try the above six-option choice board with your students. If you are ready for even more options, check out Visionary Teaching’s Editable Book Report Choice Board file that includes a customizable template, scoring rubric, and 40 high-interest choice board activities with descriptions!
Choice boards offer you, the teacher, several advantages as well. First, you can control what is on the choice board so any option selected by students has already been pre-approved. Choice board book reports are likely to be more enjoyable for you to review, as well. You may find yourself embracing the variety of submissions across students. Best of all, you will learn so much about your students through their book reports.
Choice Board Book Reports offer amazing opportunities for students to demonstrate what they have learned in a meaningful and fun way. Further, learners will gain a better understanding of how they prefer to learn and communicate information. Start small, offering a few options to your students for the next book report. As you utilize the choice board more regularly, you can retain successful options and swap out less successful options for new activities.
Happy Teaching!
