75 WAYS TO SHARE A BOOK by Suzanne Barchers

Using the story: 40. Design costumes for some of the characters.
1. Organize a panel to debate it. 41. Dress as one of the characters.
2. Dramatize an incident from it. 42. For stories that took place in another time, tell how one
3. Tell about it over the school PA system. of the characters would act today, or would respond to a
4. Condense it to 15, 50, or 100 words. present day situation.
5. Write about it to a friend. 43. Tell why one of the characters should have a different
6. Make a map of where it takes place. role.
7. Make a story map of its main events. 44. Tell what your home would be like if it belonged to one
8. Create a crossword puzzle, using its setting and plot. of the main characters.
9. Create a scroll or hand-rolled movie to illustrate it. 45. Write a biography of one of the characters.
10. Tell Why it would (or wouldn’t) make a great movie. 46. Write an interview between a character and the author,
11. Tell its funniest (or most exciting) incident. or between two characters.
12. Make a poster about it. 47. Create paper dolls of the main characters.
13. Pick five to 10 adjectives that describe it. Tell why you 48. Pick a book you think each of the main characters would
chose them. enjoy reading. Tell why.
14. Describe an incident from it as though you were an on-the-scene TV reporter. 49. Prepare flannel board characters.
15. Make a model of something in it. 50. Develop a game of charades based on the characters.
16. Draw objects from it and make them into a mobile. 51. Make puppets of the characters. Set up dialogue.
17. Draw a significant scene on construction paper cut to the size of a coat hanger; 52. Pantomime a character and ask the class to guess the
attach it to the hanger; then suspend from the hanger a report about the scene. book.
18. Choose an idea or scene from it as the subject of a collage. Use old magazine 53. Guess what would have happened if a character had
pictures. made an important decision differently.
19. Make up a limerick or haiku about it. Using the book itself:
20. Put an important item from it into a shoebox. Give clues 54. Make a list of facts you learned from it.
so your class can guess what the item is. 55. Persuade an audience to read (or not read) it.
21. Illustrate it with objects found at home or handmade, or with photographs you’ve 56. Tell why you would (or wouldn’t) recommend it to your
take of people, places and events. principal, a parent, or another student.
22. Create a mural about it, using charcoal, crayons, cut paper, water colors, or another 57. Tell what the book would say about itself if it could
art form. talk.
23. Compare it to the movie or TV version. 58. List its five most interesting or critical sentences.
24. Make a time-line of its events. 59. Use its theme or setting to create a postcard or greeting
25. Create a new ending for it. card.
26. Make a mosaic to illustrate one of its settings or events. 60. Compare it to another book the author has written.
27. Make up a lost or found ad for something in it. Describe common elements, style, theme, and so forth.
28. Make a peep-box of an important scene or event. 61. Write a song about it.
29. Rewrite one of its incidents for a younger reader. 62. Demonstrate something you learned from it.
30. Use sketches or photographs to recreate one of its action sequences. 63. Prepare a list of its most unusual, difficult, or exciting
Using the characters: words.
31. The U.S. President has learned that you’ve read this book and wants to know one 64. Use its title and theme to write your own story.
thing a main character discovered about life that you think all Americans should know. 65. Do a scientific experiment associated with it.
What would you tell him? Why? 66. Present a review of it to a younger class.
32. Describe the main character in 64 words. 67. Pretend to be the book and tell what you hold within
33. Choose a character you’d like (or not like) to have as a your pages.
friend. Tell why. 68. Make a bulletin board about it, showing the main
34. Make believe you were one of the minor characters. How would you describe a characters, the setting, and soforth.
main character? 69. Compare it with a book of similar theme.
35. Role play one of the characters. 70. Prepare a book jacket for it.
36. Plan an appropriate meal for a main character. 71. Have someone who has read it try to stump you with
37. Do a cartoon strip based on a character. questions.
38. Write a few pages in a diary as if you were a character. Using the author:
39. Write a poem about a character. 72. Become the author and tell why you wrote this book.
73. Plan the questions you’d use in a conference call
interview with the author.
74. The author has written to you and wants to know how
this book would have been improved. How would you
answer?
75. Write a letter of appreciation to the author, asking
questions and sharing thoughts.