Book of the Month Assignments

I was looking for a way to encourage the kids to read more without giving them a lot of writing assignments.  I wanted to make reading fun.  So, I came up with 12 assignments for them to do, one for each month.  The goal is for each student to read at least one book (on their reading level) each month, then complete the project to present to the class at the end.  Here's the assignment schedule I gave my class this year:

September: Poster, Due October 4, 2011.

                        For your book of the month project this month you are to make a poster to promote your book.  Your poster must be at least the size of a 8x11 piece of paper, but no bigger than a full size poster board.  On your poster, you must include the title of the book, the author’s name, and your own name.  (The book title and author must be on the front of the poster.)  Be creative!  You may draw pictures, print out pictures from the Internet, cut pictures out of magazines, etc; however, you may not use pictures from a movie or TV show.  You may NOT copy the original cover of the book.  This project will be graded on neatness, creativity, and following the directions. 

October: Write Yourself Into the Story,  Due November 1, 2011.

                        For this month’s project, you will need to choose your favorite part of the book        and write yourself into it!  You may not copy the wording of the book, put it into your   own words and add yourself to the action!  Your story must be at least 2 pages   (handwritten and double-spaced, or 1 page typed in 12 font double-spaced.)   

November: Character Interview, Due December 1, 2011

                        At the beginning of the month I will hand out a questionnaire which will need to       be filled out.  You must pretend you are interviewing your favorite character from your book and answer the questions as you imagine they would.  Every question must be answered whether the answer is specifically stated in the book or not.

December: No project.  Parent’s signature needed to confirm the book was read completely.

January: Commercial, Due February 1, 2012

                        This month, your assignment is to create a TV commercial encouraging people to read your book.  Each student will be given a scheduled time on either February 1, 2, or 3rd to act out his commercial in front of the class.  Your commercial must state the book title, author, and give a general idea of the book’s plot, it may not be longer than 1 minute.  You may use up to 2 other students as actors in your commercial; however, you may not plan your commercial during class time.  You may use props and posters in your commercial.  This project should be similar to a movie trailer and will be graded based heavily on creativity.

February: Epilogue, Due March 1, 2012

                        An epilogue is an extra chapter at the end of a book that gives you a little   bit of information about what happened to the characters after the “happily ever after.”  The assignment this month is to write your own  epilogue for the end of your story.  What do you think happened to your characters after the story ended?  Write about it!  Your epilogue must be at least 2 pages (handwritten and double-spaced, or 1 page typed in 12 font double-spaced.)                      

March: Book Cover, Due April 3, 2012

                        You will be creating your own book cover to go on your book.  You may   NOT copy the original cover in any way.  The front of the cover must include the   title of the book and the author’s name.  The back of the cover must give a brief introduction to the story, try to get people interested in reading it.  On the inside flaps you must include biographical information about the author and yourself. 

April: Cooking, Due May 1, 2012

                        For this month you must cook something your characters ate sometime during the course of the story.  To receive credit for the assignment you must turn the recipe you used, a picture of you cooking, and a brief explanation as to how the recipe goes with the story.