7 Awesome Book Reports for Silent Reading

One of my favorite activities is silent reading.

And if you’re anything like me, you struggle with just having them enjoy the reading experience and showing some sort of accountability.

If your students are like mine, if there’s nothing “due,” then there’s no reason to do it.

So if that sounds like you and your students, I’ve got seven quick and easy book report ideas that are not only easy for your students to do, they are quick for you to grade!

I generally have my students complete one book report every two months based on their silent-reading book.

My goal is that students do a different form of book report each time one is assigned.

This can be accomplished by having students self-select from the options knowing they can't repeat any or by you assigning the format you prefer for each assignment.

#1 - Google Form

Using a simple Google Form is a great way to quickly assess whether a student understood their book.

I create a Google Form asking for the title and author of the book, a short summary of the book including the beginning, middle, and end, what the student rated the book, and a short ad promoting the book to the next student.

I assess from the Google Sheet view of the submissions and can quickly grade them all in one spreadsheet.

And because it’s a Google Form, students can quickly answer the questions without much effort.

#2 - Tiktok Book Report

This is a fun option for both me and my students.

Students LOVE Tiktok, so it’s a great way to incorporate what they love with a quick school assignment.

The task is to have students make a 60 second video about their book in a Tiktok-style video.

The key to this is to keep your requirements minimal so that students can show off their creativity.

But the end result should demonstrate understanding of the novel.

#3 - Book Trailer

Book Trailers are similar to movie trailers.

They’re meant to entice people to READ the book without giving away too much.

These are always fun for students to create and show off a bit of their creativity.

#4 - Timeline

Timelines are a simple book summary where students put the major events of the novel in chronological order.

I usually ask them to find 5 major events and place them on the timeline graphic organizer that I’ve included in the link below.

#5 - Bookworm Organizer

The bookworm organizer is just a fun, graphic way to present the same information that normally goes into a book report.

Because it’s portrayed as a goofy bookworm, it’s a bit more engaging and “fun” for students.

You can download my version in the link at the bottom of the article.

#6 - Character Analysis

Yet another graphic organizer, but this time it focuses on the analysis of a single character.

I let students choose any character from their novel and then fill out the graphic organizer to better understand that character and their role in the book.

You can download all of my graphic organizers in the link at the end of the article.

#7 -  Smash Doodle

Smash doodles are a form of student-generated graphic organizers that combine text from the book along with illustrations and doodles to show understanding of the novel.

This is an adaption from Martina Bex’s version available on her website comprehensibleclassroom.com.

I ask my students to include the following:

• title and author
• main image representing the whole book
• key scene from beginning of book including an image and a quote from book with translation
• key scene from middle of book including an image and a quote from book with translation
• key scene from end of book including an image and a quote from book with translation

reflection sentences answering two of the following:

• I was surprised that...
• I bothered me that...
• I learned that...
• I already knew that...

I’ve included a digital version of a Smash Doodle in my collection of graphic organizers, but students can also create their own version on paper.

So there are my 7 types of quick and easy book reports that I generally assign my students.

If you have any other ideas, please share them in the comments.

And don’t forget to download my FREE my Google Slide Book-Report templates and graphic organizers at imim.us/bookreport-templates.

Happy Comprehensible Input!