Creative Book Report Ideas for Beginners

Some children love to do book reports. I was one of those children. As an educator for more than 15 years, I know that this is not the case for many children. Even children who love to read books are daunted by the word “report.” By third grade children are expected to be able to write a book report that includes the title, author, setting (including place and time), characters and main events. This list is overwhelming to many children and the thought of organizing all of these ideas on that big blank paper can cause panic.

I believe learning goals can be accomplished with more creativity and less stress. The Story Express” is an example of creatively breaking down the parts and allowing children to use a variety of skills so that the writing becomes one part of fun project. “The Story Express” is simply a book report that is designed to look like a train with many cars. Because each part of the report is written on a train car, there is a visual and physical breakdown of the parts that helps students organize their ideas.

Supplies needed for the Story Express book report:
Book
Paper
Pencil
Markers
Hole puncher
Paper clips
scissors

Steps for creating a Story Express book report:

For all writing, I recommend students use pencil first and trace over later with a bold marker.

Children should cut out an engine and write the title of the book on the engine.

Students should cut out at least four train cars for the author, setting, characters and main events. Add additional cars for any additional information required for the book report.

The Story Express book report could be put together in a variety of ways including using tape or brads. My students used a hole puncher on either side of each car and connected the cars by joining then with colorful paper clips for an authentic look. Children could personalize their Story Express with smoke stacks, wheels and so on. Aluminum foil scraps are a fun way to add eye appeal to a Story Express book report.

Variations for using the Story Express book report idea to reinforce parts of speech:

Before I used the Story Express theme for book reports, I used it to reinforce parts of speech. After reading a book, I had students create a Story Express for nouns, verbs or adjectives and each of the train cars were labeled with examples of that part of speech from a book.

For example, a student read The Wolf’s Lunch and labeled a car “Nouns from The Wolf’s Lunch.” The train car included nouns the student chose from the story such as carrots, lunch, ears, nose, eyes and you.

Whether you are teaching parts of speech or introducing the book report process, the Story Express is an easy and creative way to help students get on track to organize and display what they have learned.