Anyone a fan of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown? I played Linus in a couple of Charlie Brown stage shows, and directed YaGMCB once too! The Book Report scene is still one of my favorite scenes.
We just finished our Semester Finals, which this year (and last year) took the form of an End of Year Self-Selected Book Project.
I did a book project to end the year last year as well. I took what I learned from assigning the project last year and, I think, improved upon it. And the work I saw students complete was really incredible! I saw students come out of their shells in ways that I hadn’t seen all year, and it made me so proud to see and hear their language growth.
First, feedback from students last year was that they needed more time. I scheduled the project across 11 class days. This is what I ended up doing this year, but it needs some tweaking.
Goal: Students, individually or in pairs, read an entire book, prepare a presentation to convince other students to read the book, and be prepared to write a “book report”.
Day 1:
-Decide if you want to work individually or with a partner
-Decide on a book (I should have done book speed dating but, fell short on time)
-Fill out a two-week timeline of classes, noting the classes you know you’ll miss for AP exams/expected absences.
-Plan out your time: how long is the book? How much will you need to read each day? Are you willing/able to work outside of class? How much time do you anticipate needing? Will you miss your presentation day (I knew this would be likely, but we figured it all out)s
At the end of each day, I tried to do some sort of progress check to see if anyone needed help re-establishing goals and whatnot. I did tell them that by day 3 they should know whether or not their book is working for them, and if it wasn’t, I’d help them find a different book.
Day 2:
-Work towards your reading goal for the day
-Complete an Independent Textivity (Thanks, Blair for the suggestion!)
-Start considering how you want to present your book. Check out my list of suggestions (thanks AI) at the bottom of the post.
Day 3:
Game of Quotes- Señora Chase has great instructions, and here are some prompts for Spanish 4 I used, created with help from AI.
We did 3 or 4 prompts, had some laughs, and then students had time to read.
Day 4:
Book Talk- We took about 10-15 minutes to give quick info about the books everyone was reading. Additionally, I wanted to make sure that we touched on some literary vocabulary (Setting, characters, plot, conflict, genres), and other phrases to talk about books we read.
Students worked independently.
Day 5:
Complete an Independent Textivity, continue working.
I also posted a scheduler for students to schedule their presentation time if they weren’t going to be present on the day the rest of their class presented.
Day 6
-Write a 3 sentence summary of your book.
-I called on a few students to share their summaries, and afterwards I asked them to change a few details. After we heard from a few students, we heard from them again, this time they made their summary full of lies 🤥. Students’ task was to see if they could remember the original details and what their classmate changed.
-Rest of class was work time.
Day 7-10
Tbh, I don’t remember. A lot of time was spent working independently. We had a lot of events and a lot of students missing for various reasons.
Day 11
Presentation day(s)
Our last couple of days are extended periods, so I had to figure out how much time I could make available for each presentation. Thankfully, no class had more than 10 presentations, so in a 60-minute extended period, I was able to give each presentation a 5-minute presentation slot and have time for transitions from one presentation to the next.
As students presented, I took notes on their presentation so I could have some follow-up questions. However, being a sneaky snake, I did my best to ask questions that would relate to the, at the time, unknown-to-students book report prompts. Below, you’ll find the rubric I used for the presentations. I wanted to honor the work that students did on their presentations, but I really wanted to focus on interpersonal speaking skills.
| Comprehension and Response How well do I understand and respond to follow-up questions? | Demonstrates clear understanding of questions. Responds appropriately and expands with detail, clarification, or examples. Few hesitations. | Understands most questions and responds with generally appropriate answers. May include limited elaboration or occasional pauses. | Understands the gist of questions. Responses may be simple, with minimal detail or occasional misinterpretations. |
| Impromptu Language Use How clearly and effectively do I express my ideas on the spot? | Produces mostly connected ideas. Uses some transitions or sequencing words (luego, porque, entonces, pero). Errors don’t interfere with communication. | Produces simple sentences with some added detail. May use repetition or lists. Limited use of transitions. | Relies mostly on memorized or basic sentences. Lacks elaboration or linking words. May use English as support. |
| Product Presentation How prepared, confident, and engaged was I during my presentation? | Spoke with confidence and maintained audience attention. Strong pacing and expression. | Spoke clearly with some hesitation. Maintained appropriate pace and focus. | Occasional confusion or lack of clarity. May have lost focus or required prompting. |
Book Report
I chose four of Bryce Hedstrom’s Focused Book Report to use as “cold” prompts, prompts that students had not seen prior to the final. On the day of the final, students chose one of the prompts to respond to, and colorín y colorado, este cuento se ha acabado! That was it!
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed this project this year (and last year too, but that was uncharted waters for me). Next year, I’m considering how I could incorporate this project multiple times. Initial ideas are that I’d have a couple of presentation days set each quarter, and students would have the choice as to when they present. They’d still have to do independent textivities. But I think having a set procedure for getting a formal speaking assessment every quarter would give me a lot of insight throughout the year. Additionally, I think about how everything in class would tie back to supporting their presentation. But I’ve got some questions to ponder:What if first-quarter students chose their own book, and in the second quarter, they had to choose a book that someone presented on? How would I fit the writing piece in each quarter if I want to keep writing in class? Anyway, I’m looking forward to planning and thinking through the ideas.
Presentation Ideas:
Dream Cast Movie Poster – Design a cast list or poster with actors as characters and explain your choices.
Soundtrack Playlist – Create a 5+ song playlist and explain how each song connects to moments or emotions in the book.
Book Influencer Review – Deliver a dramatic BookTok or YouTube-style book review.
Character Instagram Feed – Create a fake social media feed for a character and explain each post.
Unboxing the Book – Bring in 5 symbolic items representing the story and explain their meaning.
Deleted Scene or Epilogue – Write and present a new scene that could follow or be added to the story.
Book vs. Life – Compare a situation in the book to a real-world issue and explain the connection.
Alternate POV – Retell a scene from a different character’s point of view and explain the shift.
If This Book Were… – Describe your book as a color, food, place, season, etc., and justify each metaphor.
“Shark Tank” Pitch – Pitch your book like a product and convince the class it’s worth “investing in.”
Reflective Interview – Present as a character reflecting on their internal motivations.
Judgment Day – Put a character on trial and argue for or against their decisions.
Breaking News Report – Report a major book event like breaking news; include quotes and reactions.
One Word Book – Choose a single word to represent the entire book and defend it.
Timeline of Regret – Present the character’s biggest mistakes and what they could have done differently.
Meme Review – Make or find memes that match key book moments and explain the connections.
Character Résumé – Build a résumé or college app for a character with evidence to back up each section.
Two Truths and a Lie (Book Edition) – Share 2 true quotes/events and 1 fake; classmates guess.
Red Flag, Green Flag – Rate character actions with red/green flags and explain your reasoning.
Character’s Spotify Wrapped – Build a “Spotify Wrapped” summary of the character’s emotional year.
Languageley 
Leave a comment