Use these creative student choice book report ideas for upper elementary and done-for-you resources to provide a student choice book report unit in your classroom!
In the past several years, a great emphasis in education has been student-choice. Experts have narrowed in on the idea that if students have some say in what they do, they will be more invested in the process.
As teachers, it is often hard to wrap our minds around student choice for many reasons…
- What if the students make a choice that doesn’t cover the required standards?
- What if they make a choice that I can’t support (for example something related to technology)?
- How can I create a timeline that works if everyone is working on something different?
These concerns are valid and often hinder us from moving forward with student-choice projects at all.
However, student choice book reports in upper elementary are about to get a whole lot easier with these 4 book report ideas (3 of which are fully built out resources you can download and implement today)!
Student Choice Book Report Idea #1 | T-Shirt Book Report
As far as student choice book report ideas for upper elementary aged kiddos go, this one is probably the most interactive!
With the T-Shirt Book Report, students will design a shirt as a visual representation of their book with a story element book report form to help guide students through a book report process that lets you as the teacher know they are getting what they need from the activity.
The T-Shirt Book Report Activity Kit is available in the store, and is fully built out to include a scoring rubric, book report form, as well as anything else you need to make this a done-for-you option for a student-choice book report unit.
What I love most about this student choice book report idea for upper elementary is that on the day of the presentation, the students get to wear the shirts to school which allows them to talk about their books to others even more!
Teacher Tip: Although the students or school may need to supply the t-shirts for this activity, don’t forget that often this is exactly the type of activity the parent-teacher organization enjoys funding!
For a closer look in the T-Shirt Book Report, take a gander at this blog post!
Student Choice Book Report Idea #2 | Envelope Accordion Book Report
This Envelope Accordion Book Report resource is a unique format for students to try. Students who like organization and a straight-to-the-point activity, will enjoy the interactive, but direct nature of this style of book report.
Using 6 long, business-sided envelopes, each student will create an envelope book that has a special spot for each of the elements needed to complete their book report.
To learn more about how to create an envelope book, this post goes into a lot of detail!
Again, this resource is fully built out with step-by-step photo directions that students can use as they work through the project independently.
Although there are no wear-able components to this project, accordion books are great for displaying around the school or at open houses.
I personally like pairing this option with some of the others on this list because it appeals to a different learning and personality style than the T-Shirt Book Report or the Roll-The-Dice Book Report.
Student Choice Book Report Idea #3 | Story Map Stretch Book
Wow your students with this origami style book report.
Although a smaller scale than the other ideas on this list, this student choice book report idea is still just as effective as any of the others.
Using this resource kit, students can write and draw about any fiction book selections and identify the same story elements as any of the other resources on this list.
To create the stretch book, simply follow the instructions in this blog post!
Stretch books leave students with plenty of room to write about each story element and draw a small picture, but if you want students to expand on their ideas, you can also make the scale bigger by using the back of wrapping paper or butcher block paper.
After the presentation, you can easily display these projects fully stretched out anywhere you would normally hang up student work.
Note: Sometimes creating the actual stretch book is difficult for students under 4th grade, but that just means they might need some help with assembly. If this is something you can help them with, then this can be a great option for students in any grade level that discusses these story elements.
Student Choice Book Report Idea #4 | Roll-The-Dice Book Report
Although we don’t have this idea built out as a resource, you can use the resource materials from one of the other book report ideas to help guide students through this process.
With the Roll-The-Dice Book Report, the fun isn’t only in the creation of the project, but also in the delivery of the project.
Students will use a cube-shaped box to complete the same 7 story elements as any of the other book reports. I know what you’re thinking…how is that possible, a cube only has 6 sides. Don’t worry! We’ve thought about that. Students will put the 7th element (their review) on the inside flap of the lid of the box.
When it is time for the students to present their project, they’ll roll their dice, and they’ll talk about the element that shows on the top of the dice. Now, obviously, they may roll the same element more than once, and that’s okay. They’ll just simply roll again.
After they have finished talking about all the elements on the outside of their dice, students will finish up the project by talking about the review by opening up the box.
For this project, I really like this style of box (Amazon affiliate link) because they create good cubes, have a large lid for students to write their review on, and provide enough space on the sides for the students to write about and draw pictures for each element.
These four student choice book report ideas for upper elementary provide a great place to start for any teacher who is interested in offering more student choice projects but doesn’t know where to start….but don’t stop there. After going through these options with students, see if they have any additional ideas for ways to present their book report findings. You can use the resources and handouts to support lots of other book report ideas as well!
