4Remember that your audience is other students in seventh grade.
4Remember that your purpose is to "sell" them on reading the book.
You will create a project to "sell" the book to other students.
Do your best to find a book that you think would be a great summer read for at least a few other students in your class.
You have several choices for your project:
-- a book review such as you would see in a newspaper or magazine
-- an informative poster advertising the book (12" by 18", portrait orientation, not landscape)
-- an informative brochure advertising the book
-- an informative "ad" (advertisement) such as you would see in a magazine (8 1/2" by 11")
-- a web page dedicated to the book, the subject, and/or the author -- posted on our new class wikki
Required for All
Basic Information:
c title
c author
c genre(Check with the teacher to make sure you have correctly categorized your book.)
c # of pages
c your name
c your period
c the date or term (Term 4, 2009)
About the Book:
c 4 Plot: Give a summary of the plot which does not include spoilers. This means it won't give away the ending or give away other things that the reader shouldn't find out until he or she reads the book -- things that would spoil reading the book.
c 4 Characters: Who are the major characters? List them and give a very brief description for each. You could use a table such as the one I've used on my wiki page for Stand Tall.
c 4 Setting: place and time setting.
c 4 Conflict: Do tell what the major CONFLICT is and whether it is man vs. man, man vs. society, man vs. technology, man vs. nature, man vs. self, or man vs. the unknown. (These could also be stated as character vs. character, character vs. society, character vs. nature, etc. ) Explain how you know it is that type of conflict.
c 4 Theme: Identify and explain one or more major themes in the book.
c 4 Give the book a rating (1 to 5 stars), and tell why you have rated it that way.
Optional:
4Additional information about the author.
General expectations:
c You will carefully edit your work for errors in conventions including spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and correct and clear sentence structure.
c Your work will be neat and attractive.
c Work will be typed or neatly written in ink.
c You will not plagiarize another's work.
c You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.
c Illustrations will not be done on lined paper.
c Your work will show effort and understanding.
Book Review
-- Your book review could be handed in typed up, or it could be posted on a blog, web site, or wiki page.
-- Your book review should cover all the items listed above as "Required for All." It will emphasize your opinions, and should express your own understanding of the book in a lively way.
-- You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.
Here is an example of book review by a teenager about a book that Mr. Christensen enjoyed: http://www.teenink.com/Books/article/56543/Peak-by-Roland-Smith/
I just found a site where famous authors will teach you about different sorts of writing. Rodman Philbrick, author of The Mighty, teaches us how to write a book review here:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/bookrev/index.htm
Here is another passage from an example:
Raising Dragons
Billy Bannister seems like just a normal kid—except for one thing—Billy can breathe fire! Not only that, his dad used to be a dragon! Billy soon meets Bonnie, another kid who has dragon blood: Bonnie has wings and can fly. They become friends and soon discover that their principal is an evil dragon slayer out to destroy the only remaining dragons on the earth.
I LOVED this book! I couldn’t put it down, and I’ve already read the 2nd book, “The Candlestone.” There are four books in this series, “Dragons in Our Midst.” Packed with action, adventure, and Christian nuggets, this series is a perfect summer read—or for anytime!
Informative Poster
-- Include the information listed above as "Required for All." Your poster should be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship. It should be attractively illustrated. -
- -- Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may not use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.
-- You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.
-- (Your poster should measure 12" by 18", portrait orientation, not landscape. You will need to cut down a regular poster board to this size.)
Informative Brochure
-- Include the information listed above as "Required for All." Your brochure should be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship. It should be attractively illustrated. -- Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may not use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.
-- You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.
Magazine Ad
-- Include the information listed above as "Required for All." Your ad should be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship.
-- The magazine ad should be the size of a magazine page, or it could be a two-page spread. It should be attractively illustrated. Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may not use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.
-- You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.
Web Page or Blog
-- Include the information listed above as "Required for All."
-- Your page or blog should be attractive, neat, and show effort and pride in workmanship. It should be attractively illustrated. Illustrations and decorations used should be related to the book. You may use book covers or other illustrations already created by others for the book.
-- You may use short quotes from other places, but must include writing in your own words to cover the required information About the Book.
