Eight Reading Activities Your Students Will Love
Gaging whether our students have been reading independently or not is hard work. It is hard when we teach in person; it is even harder now that we are teaching remotely. In a recent blog post, we wrote about How to Assess Independent Reading During Remote or Hybrid Learning. In the post, we talked about some strategies and activities that we have assigned in order to make our assessment of our students independent reading easier.
Studies show that students do better on assignments that they have voice and choice in creating. We hope that by giving students several options to show their understanding of the book that they are reading (independently, in book clubs, or a whole class novel) that they will shine like the diamonds they are.
Reading Activities:
1. Character Mood Tracker - Students are tasked with thinking about the emotions of one of the main characters in their story. They are to write a list of the dominant emotions their character faces. Next, using a device with a camera, take pictures of their face that they think shows the emotions on their list. (ie. happy, sad, excited, surprised, etc) .
Then they put their images together in a document on their computer or device and explain the emotion below the image and when the character would have felt this way.
2. Character Interview - Students have a chance to interview their favorite character from their story. Some ideas for them to think about are which character they would choose from the book they are reading that interests them. The chosen character should be one that they want to learn more about. Next, they should think about how the author describes the character’s personality. Doing so may give insight into what kinds of questions to ask and how the character would answer the questions. Last, students will write some interview questions to ask their character. After writing the interview questions, they need to write answers for each of the questions as they imagine how their character would answer them. We like to give them this interview with Jason Reynolds to get an idea of what a good interview looks like.
3. Book Jacket - Have students create a book jacket for the book they have been reading. There are so many elements to a great book jacket. These include:
Front Cover - Include: Title of Book, Author, Draw or create a cover for the book.
Book Spine - Include: Book Title, Author’s Last Name, Publisher.
Back Cover -Choose ONE Option:
1. Write a review of the book as if you were a fellow author or book review company. How many stars would you give this book out of five? Why?
2. Write a summary of the book from the perspective of one of the the main characters.
3. Create a short teaser for the book. Include interesting details, quotes that you loved, fun plot points, and brief character descriptions. DON’T spoil the book for interested readers.
4. Inside Rear Cover Flap-About the Author Instructions: Provide details about the author including his/her name, education, other books that they have written etc. Make sure that this is written in your own words
4. Character Diary Entry - A diary entry is very similar to a personal letter. You write about things that happened (to you), about your problems, about your feelings, hopes and plans for the future.
Directions:
A diary entry should be in first person from your selected character’s point of view.
The entry should include a summary (retold by the character) of what happened in the particular chapter/short story OR elaborate on a major scene.
Language for diaries is informal and personal, and very honest.
A diary entry helps you as a reader CONNECT with a character. It also proves your understanding of what a character goes through: thoughts, actions, and emotions. The character must express their inner feelings about what’s happening to them.
5. Character Instagram Post - Students are tasked with creating several instagram posts from a character’s point of view. The Character Instagram assignment we created has explicit directions and a template that students can choose to use. However, students do not need to be tied to the template. They can also choose to create their own version of the assignment and be as creative and artistic as they would like. The template is just a guide.
6. Comic Book Activity - Many novels have been rewritten into graphic novels in the past few years. This creates a wider fan base for many of the stories that we read. Students can reimagine one scene from their novel and turn it into a comic strip. They can draw the comic strip or use an online app or website to create their comic. We like this story board creator.
7. Map the Plot - Students could complete a plot diagram for their story. They can use a template found online or make up their own. Remind students that the plot is the story’s skeleton. It is a series of related events, each one growing out of another. Most plots consist of four parts:
1. Basic situation - In the beginning of the plot, you meet the main characters and find out what they want. You also discover the central conflict that advances the story or moves it forward.
2. Series of events - As the plot advances, one or more of the characters struggles to work out or resolve the conflict.
3. Climax - The most suspenseful part of a story, the point in which the conflict is decided.
4. Resolution - The last part of the story, where the loose ends are tied up.
8. Character Tweet - Students can choose two characters from the book they are reading and write 3 tweets for each with responses in the comments from the other characters.
If you think these activities sound like fun, you should check out our Interactive Reading Analysis Choice Board. The choice board resource includes the various reading choice assignments listed above, plus a reading selfie activity. The choice board is interactive. Because the assignments are linked, when a student clicks on their choice, it will take them to the assignment. Our students always turn in such amazing work when they complete the reading choice activities. Whether you buy our complete unit, or make your own from the directions above, we hope that your students love the reading assignments as much as ours do!
Happy teaching!