Book Report Using iPads

Lesson Plan for Grade 3, English Language Arts/Writing

Prepared by Mrs. Gaddis

OVERVIEW & PURPOSE

Students will identify the elements of a comprehensive book report. Students will
create a book report and present it to the class. They will also use a class-generated set
of criteria to self-ass and evaluate the book reports of peers.

EDUCATION STANDARDS

ELAGSE3RL1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text,

referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers
ELAGSE3RL2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from
diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain
how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
ELAGSE3RI2: Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and
explain how they support the main idea.
ELAGSE3RL3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or
feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

OBJECTIVES

Students will:

Identify the elements of a comprehensive book report.

Create a book report and present it to the class.

Use a class-generated set of criteria to self-assess and evaluate the book

reports of peers.

MATERIALS NEEDED

Class set of iPads

iPad Keyboards

BrainPOP Application

Kids Book Report Application

VoiceThread Application

Printed class set of BrainPOP activity pages

Printed class set of student-generated book report criteria for scoring and
assessment

StoryBuddy Application

Vimeo Application

PREPARATION
Compose a list of book report criteria to use for your own reference as you facilitate
students' discussion. Determine how many days you plan to allot to this lesson. You
may also want to conduct several activities to get students excited about sharing their
opinions on various books before they are introduced to the formal book report
format. You could read aloud a book to the class and have students share their
thoughts about it on the VoiceThread App using written or audio comments, or even a
drawing or image. Encourage students to share opinions and ideas about books they're
reading for class assignments and/or in their free time using the VoiceThread app. Get
the class used to the idea of sharing things they liked, disliked, and learned when they
read so that book reports become a natural and enjoyable part of their routine reading
experiences!

ACTIVITY
1. Brainstorm what students know about formal book reports. What is their
purpose? Guide children to understand that book reports are a chance to share
stories and information you enjoy, and help other people discover books they
might love, as well.
2. What do students think makes a compelling report on a book? If students do not
have prior experiences with reports, talk about the information they would
typically share when recommending a good book to a friend. Share real-world
examples of book reports in the form of online book reviews and blog posts, or
even clips from the book reports given on the app StoryBuddy. Encourage
students who do have background knowledge and experience to think of
outstanding presentations they've seen and talk about what made them
interesting. Record their responses.
3. Students will watch the BrainPOP Book Report Video through the BrainPOP app.
4. Ask students to consider what they learned from the movie and revisit their
original list of book report criteria. You may want to include criteria for being
an attentive audience member during others' reports and discuss specifically
2

what that looks like. Students who have more experience with book reports may
want to talk about original and creative book report ideas; use the In Practice
FYI page as a springboard for discussion.
5. Tell students that they will have the opportunity to create and present a report
on the book of their choosing using the Kids Book Report app. Explain any
deadlines or special instructions you have for the assignment. You may wish to
type the class' list of book report components and provide each student with a
copy. The list might also include a grading scale that explains how many points
each component is worth.
6. Provide very young students and/or those who are emerging English
readers/writers with the BrainPOP Jr. activity page as a guide for their reports.
More advanced students may use the BrainPOP activity page to help them
organize their thoughts and ideas prior to writing a formal report.
7. Check in with students regularly as they read their books and form their
reports. Keep the class list of components displayed for student reference. You
can use various BrainPOP resources to reinforce expectations and keep students
motivated and excited about sharing their reports. The BrainPOP Jr. sequence
game can help students review the steps in creating a book report, and the
BrainPOP experiment helps them prepare for the oral presentation.
8. When students are ready to present their reports from the Kids Book Report
app, review the criteria for book reports as well as audience participation. Have
students assess themselves as well as their classmates through informal class
discussion and/or by writing down feedback on photocopies of the report
criteria that students generated.
9. Once students have presented their book reports on the iPads, they can then
print them out.
10. Display the reports (and, if possible, a copy of the books students read) in your
class library to encourage students to read the books their peers recommended.
You could also take a digital photo with the iPads of each child holding his/her
report and book and display it online or in the class library as a reminder of
each book title and the person who reported on it.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY
You may wish to record students' presentations and publish them to a class blog,
website, or a free application such as the Vimeo app. Encourage students to leave
comments on the video entries after they've read one another's book
recommendations and provide their own thoughts and opinions. If you've already
incorporated the VoiceThread App into your reading routines, inspire students to
continue their book discussions and create new ways to share what they're reading.

RESOURCES
https://educators.brainpop.com/lesson-plan/book-reports-lesson-plan/