So you’re looking for book report ideas for your 5th grade students, and you want something that they haven’t seen or done before.
Plus, you want to make doing these book reports fun.
Well, you’re in luck!
You’re going to enjoy planning these fun book reports into your lesson plans.
The following book report ideas for 5th graders are creative and fun.
Additionally, they can serve as standards-based reading assessments, adding yet another way for you to assess students creatively.
What’s more, these book report projects boost reading comprehension, address different learning styles, and motivate students to express their understanding in a non-traditional way.
Your fifth graders will enjoy showing what they know!
Book Report Ideas For 5th Graders
Here you will find good ideas to use as book reports for 5th grade.
Make a Timeline.
One of the simplest book report ideas for 5th graders is to have them create a timeline of the main events of a fiction or nonfiction book.
This book project idea supports students in reviewing finding the main idea because they must analyze plus comprehend the book fully in order to decide which events are worth including on the timeline.
Provide a timeline graphic organizer to students, OR have them state/sketch the main events on individual 8.5 x 11 inches of blank white paper which they will then connect in order to make an elongated timeline that folds.
The second option engages students the most and makes for a nice classroom display.
Create a Storyboard.
If you’re seeking digital book report ideas for 5th grade students, utilizing online apps is a good solution.
One option is storyboardthat.com.
This engaging platform allows students to create a visual representation of their books using ready-to-use templates.
Put Together An Alphabet Book.
Alphabet books are not just for younger students. They can be used for any grade level, and fifth grade is no exception.
Alphabet books make for great differentiated instruction because students get to choose the words, phrases, and events that they include in them.
To create the alphabet book, students will follow these steps:
- Take 14 sheets of blank white paper, (8.5 x 11 inches) and cut each in half vertically.
- Arrange the now 28 sheets into a booklet and staple them on one side.
- Decorate the first page and the last page. (intro and outro pages, respectively)
- Write one letter of the alphabet in the top/bottom left or right corner of each additional page, starting with the letter A.
- Choose a character, setting, quote, event, or any relevant word from the book to represent each letter. The word must begin with that letter of the alphabet.
- Write the selected word at the top of the page, and then explain why that particular word was chosen.
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Design a Quiz.
Students enjoy being in the role of “teacher”. Creating a quiz is one way to help them feel like they’re in this position.
For this activity, students will choose a favorite book (fiction or nonfiction) and then create a multiple-choice, true/false, or essay quiz about it.
They must also create a key to accompany it.
Be sure to first review with students the different levels of questions that they should include in their assessments so that they have items from various levels of difficulty.
Having only or mostly literal questions isn’t challenging enough; the goal is for students to think deeply.
You may also want to review the complete process of drafting a quiz or test with students before they start their own.
How well students design their quizzes will inform you of how well they understood their books.
This is arguably one of the most exciting book report ideas for 5th grade students.
Do a Character Portrait.
Students will choose one of their favorite book characters and analyze him/her.
First, the student will sketch a head outline of the character.
This can be done in their reader’s notebooks or using an 8.5 x 11-inches piece of blank white paper provided by the teacher.
Inside the outline, they will write the character’s likes, dislike, strengths, weaknesses, and any other important information about the character such as where he lives, who are his friends, what makes him happy/sad, etc.
Encourage students to think beyond the literal.
Prompt them to refer back to the book in order to locate actions, thoughts, and sayings that will help them to infer the character’s many traits.
Alternatively…
Another option for exploring character traits is to have students transform a small paper bag into a character puppet.
In addition to drawing or creating the character’s face, students will write various traits of their chosen character all over the bag – with an explanation of each.
Draft a Reader’s Theater Script.
One of the best book report ideas for 5th grade is to have students write a script for a reader’s theater play.
Reader’s theaters are short plays that students perform in class in order to boost reading comprehension, vocabulary understanding, and reading fluency.
Though fifth graders may have experience performing these fun plays, it is likely that they have never written one.
So have your students write a 2 or 3-person reader’s theater script as their book report project.
They’ll base their script on a favorite book (or section/chapter of a book).
It might be helpful to first model drafting a reader’s theater script so that students can observe the entire process before completing their own.
How well they draft the script will inform you how well they understood the book.
Write a Series of Journal Entries.
Have students generate a series of journal entries from the perspective of a character.
Fifth graders will choose one character and then put themselves in that character’s shoes.
They must ask themselves questions such as…
- “If I would this character, how would I feel and think?”
- “What would I do every day?”
- “What would I eat?”
- “With whom would I associate?”
- “What things would I say?”
- “How would I interact with others?”
They will then write a series of 5 to 7 journal entries from the viewpoint of that character in their writing notebooks.
Alternatively, you could provide them with themed journal sheets to record their entries.
This book project idea is great for promoting critical thinking and deep analysis of concepts because students must step outside of themselves, thinking beyond their own personal thoughts and feelings.
What’s more, this activity helps fifth graders to understand how a person changes over time depending on certain actions and events that they experience.
Brainstorm Math Story Problems.
If you seek book report ideas for 5th grade that integrate math, you’ll love this one.
Students will create a series of math word problems with a theme based on their chosen book.
Essentially, they will select scenes or favorite moments from their books, recreating them in math story form.
The characters in the math word problems will be from their books, the problems will stem from situations in the book, etc.
Another way I have seen teachers assign this book project idea is to have students transform a cube-shaped tissue box into a reading project.
A different math word problem is written on each face of the cube. It’s kind of like a “box” book report.
Students turn the box or cube in order to complete the different word problems.
Final Thoughts On Book Report Ideas For 5th Graders
Encourage students to show what they know about a story using these fun book report ideas for 5th grade.
These project ideas are meant to engage while maximizing learning.