Book Report Expectations

1. Book Report Expectations
Dear Students,
Hiya. In the School Loop locker you will find a packet of over a dozen ideas to create a visual model of
your book reports. While you need to include all of the information listed below, the display of your
analysis of the novel for your book reports can take multiple forms: essay, video, poster, diorama, mobile,
or any of the other ideas included in this packet. My goal is for you to have the freedom to express
yourself in a way that you can best express your ideas. Please take this opportunity to work with other
class members to complete this project. ( I copied the ideas in this packet from Dinah Zilke’s book Big
Book of Books and Activities)
Book Report Content Requirements
A book report is more than just a simple summary of what you read. After reading your book, you should
be able to tell about the characters, setting and plot, but also about the messages and meanings that one
can find in your selection. Your report is also an opportunity for you to personally respond to the book
you read. You are welcome to use your independent reading journal as a tool to help you complete the
project.
Book Report Project – Please write in complete sentences and paragraphs, using transitional phrases.
Make sure your project is organized and uses proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar.
Every book report should include the following information:
Bibliographical Information: Author’s name, Title, Publisher, Place of Publication, Copyright date.
Vocabulary words: Choose ten words that were unknown, challenging, or especially interesting to you.
Include page numbers and dictionary definitions.
Introduction: In introducing your report, you should include the title and the author of your book, as
well as the genre (i.e. what kind of book you read – mystery, adventure, science fiction, biography, etc.).
YOU MAY PICK 4 OF THE FOLLOWING 8 OTHER ELEMENTS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR
FINAL PROJECT. I WOULD LIKE FOR STUDENTS TO HAVE AS MUCH AUTONOMY AND
CONTROL OF YOUR FINAL PROJECT AS POSSIBLE.
1) Setting: Although you should tell your reader where and when the action of your book takes
place, your analysis of setting should go beyond dates and location. You should include details about
culture, religion, and/or politics. How does the location of the story, or the relationships between people,
affect the story? (For example, if your story took place in the South in the 1920s, you would want to
point out that African Americans were treated as second-class citizens. You might also identify the
importance of Christianity and the attitudes towards the role of women in southern society as important
factors in the action of the story.)
2) Characterization: Who are your main characters? Provide a character sketch of two main
characters in the book. Although you should include physical descriptions of your characters, it is far
more important to identify personality traits. Give examples from the story to support your conclusions.
(For example, “Hector is very stubborn, since he refuses to agree with anything his parents tell him, even
though he knows he’s wrong.”). You should make these characters “come alive” for your readers.
3) Plot: Identify what happens in the beginning, middle and end of your book. What are some of
the conflicts that are present in the story, and what is the climax? This can be done even if you are writing
about non-fiction.

2. Book Report Expectations
4) Theme: Identify one or two important messages from your book. What general issues does you
book discuss? What does your author want you to think after reading this book? Use examples from the
text to support your statements. Make sure your theme statements are not too specific to your book. (For
example, if your story is about how Jeanette is ridiculed at school, but then meets George, who accepts
her for who she is, the theme is not just about being made fun of at school. This book discusses the larger
ideas of self-confidence, growth and tolerance).
5) Figurative Language: Often there are hidden meanings in the things we read. Give at least two
examples of figurative language from your story (e.g. metaphors, similes, imagery, personification,
hyperbole). Make sure to use specific quotations from the text. What is the message the author is trying
to convey? What is being compared or described? Are these examples effective? Why or why not?
6)) Affection: Which part of the book affected you the most? Why was this particular part of the
book moving for you?
7) Opinion: As you read this book, you formed an opinion about it. What did you think of this
book? Did you enjoy it, dislike it, or think it was mediocre (so-so)? Why did you form this opinion?
8) Recommendation: Would you recommend this book to others? To what type of person would
you recommend this book?
Book reports will be due quarterly during the course of the school year and will cover different
types of writing. Students will determine due dates as well as genres. All information will be
relayed to the Bowditch community through School Loop.
Cell phone – (650) 533-9806
E-mail me at kklieman@smfc.k12.ca.us
Call me at Bowditch Middle School at (650) 312-7687
I look forward to seeing and being a part of your love of literature and artistic development.
Ken Klieman