Pencil to Paper Book Reports

Lesson Six   

Overview:    It is a challenge to teach young children how to access information and put it into their own words.  This lesson provides a simple and basic type of report that can be written and shared by primary grade students.  They will be exploring factual information and reading non-fiction books and using the Internet to locate information.  The reports allow young students to develop a feel for writing and to see themselves as writers with important information to share with their audiences.

Duration:  Two Class Periods

Objectives:

Students will organize factual information while participating in research

Students will record their discoveries and share their reports with other students

Materials: 

Unit Resources an assortment of age appropriate non-fiction books, real example of topic whenever possible, Animal Book Report Graphic Organizer, overhead projector, sentence strips, markers, paper and pencil.

Activities:

Access prior knowledge; ask the students what they already know about a particular animal.  Explain that each student or group of students will be gathering information to make a book report about an animal; but first you will demonstrate by selecting an animal that the class as a whole will be discussing and finding information about.

Ask the students to tell you what they know about the animal you are reporting about.  Write down their answers on sentence strips even if they are incorrect. After discussion is over, read a non-fiction book about the animal.  Afterwards you will ask the students to identify which sentence strips contain factual information and which sentence strips are incorrect. 

Using an overhead projector display the Animal Book Report Graphic Organizer worksheet.  With the help of the students complete the organizer based on facts learned from the book you just read.

Explain to the students that they will be reading a book about an animal of their choice and completing a graphic organizer about the animal.  This graphic organizer will serve as the guideline for their book report.

Students will transfer their information from the graphic organizer to Flip Book that will be their final product.  The Flip Book will have a picture illustrated by the student for each one of the categories asked in the graphic organizer.  When the student "flips" the page he/she will see the answer to the questions.

Assessment:

Graphic organizer and flip book.

Home Learning:

Students with computer and internet access can practice writing book reports at this internet site.  http://scholastic.com/kids/homework/sandwich.asp  These reports can be printed and brought in to class.

Extension:  visit this site to create online book reports and activities

http://bookhooks.com/index.cfm

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