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Book reports can be creative and fun for all students. For many kids, book reports are dreaded and tedious. It doesn't have to be that way! As a homeschooling mother of four, I have had the opportunity to find ways to give them a love for reading and evaluating their books without the stress of it feeling like a drag to them. In my college education in becoming a teacher, I have found new and exciting ways to bring everything to life, especially reading and writing.

First, I make sure they choose a book that interests them. It needs to be appropriate for their grade level, a book too hard will be frustrating for them, and a book too easy will be boring and not as educational. Each day they read a certain amount of the book. Then they write me a letter in a journal telling me what happened that day and what they liked and didn't like. I will then write back to them. Depending on their age, they can draw a picture that describes the book, they can act out a scene from the book, or they can make a model of something in the book out of clay.

The book can be integrated with another subject as well. If they are learning about the Native Americans in Social Studies, and a child loves animals, he or she can read a book about animals back then or horses, and so on. If you are teaching any subject, you can find a book for any child in that area that they are interested in with a little thinking and research.

After the book is finished, they will write a short review of it, listing the book title, author, and publishing information, again, depending on the age. They can create their own journal of reviews, create a stapled homemade book about each one with illustrations, or they can simply write it up on paper the old fashioned way.

For those of you homeschooling, trips to the library can find a book for free and makes for a great getaway once a week. For teachers, the school library is great and encourage parents to take their kids to the city library. If you need books in your home, I have found many bulk lots of books on eBay lately. Kids books are selling for great prices in large quantity.

Hands on activities allow for their multiple intelligences to shine through for those kids who need more kinesthetic activities. Asking them to apply something out of the book to what they know in life teaches them to read between the lines, so to speak. If the opportunity is there, they can add their review to book review websites if they are old enough to do so.

The other possibility, if you have students who hate book reports is, don't call it that. Call it something else. They can do "book exploration" or "reading workshop". They can hold discussions with their fellow students to spark new ideas and get feedback on what they have already done.

Teaching kids to read and analyze information is vital to their understanding in the real world as adults. They will benefit from it for a very long time.

Learn more about this author, Robin Canada.
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