Friday, January 4, 2013

This is What Book Love Looks Like

Student created projects based on books nominated for the 2012-2013 Texas Bluebonnet Award

This is what Book Love looks like

It's January and that means time is running out for students to complete reading at least five of the twenty books nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet Award. My students are also encouraged to create original works reflecting their understanding of their favorite books. Bluebonnet Projects can be anything a student can dream up-a poster, song, rap, poem, sculpture, game, quiz, performance or digital work. I will not turn down any project as long as it shows how the student connects to their reading. Encouraging my elementary and middle school students to express themselves creatively based on their book choices has been such a positive experience and has been a great way to replace the Accelerated Reader Program that our school district discontinued funding this year. I am amazed at the level of research that students have contributed towards their projects and have learned quite a bit myself from them. Having students create Bluebonnet Book Projects began as a simple way for me to determine if students were truly reading their books and comprehending the literature. Soon, kids were asking if they could make projects for other books as their need to express themselves grew. I just hope my poster board and supplies hold out. A bonus has been that I have been able to introduce students to many technology and mechanical skills. As you can see in the picture, the die cut machine presses have been very popular for creating letters for signs. My favorite part has been observing students working in small teams conferencing with each other and dividing up tasks. They read aloud to each other and discuss passages from the story. How beautiful is that? Keep in mind, this is all voluntary work. They are discovering the secret to loving books.

Visit our Bluebonnet Book Club wiki to see how we are connecting to the Texas Bluebonnet Books.

Learn more about the Texas Bluebonnet Award

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