The 7th and 8th graders have been busy working on their semester test projects. I gave the students an opportunity to choose a project from a list that they would enjoy working on the best. It has been great to see the exciting items they have created. The students will be presenting these projects on the last day of school. Ryan Sousek created a comic book based on the book The Call of the Wild by Jack London. Camren Walling is creating a map of the area covered in the book The Call of the Wild. Several students are creating tests that cover the books and also time-lines. Make sure to ask your student what creative item they are working on for their final project in my class. Please see below for the selection of items that the students got to choose from:

Project Choices

Characters
Create life-sized models of two of your favorite characters and dress them as they are dressed in the book. Crouch down behind each character and describe yourself as the character. Tell what your role is in the book and how you relate to the other character you have made.

Children’s Story
Turn the novel you read into a children’s story by retelling the plot in a simple way with vocabulary appropriate for youngsters. Make sure your creation looks like a children’s book, complete with a cover, dedication page, about the author page, and colorful illustrations on each page. DO NOT use lined paper, and make sure all writing is either typed or written neatly with a marker.

Map
If the book you read involves a number of locations within a town, country, or geographical area, create a map. First, make a list of all the locations – houses, stores, streets, parks, lakes, etc, mentioned in your book’s setting. Then, draw a map showing a bird’s eye view of the area. Label important events that occur at each. Make sure your map has lots of details, is colorful, and large enough to be seen clearly. All writing should be done in black ink or marker or typed out.

Time Line
Brainstorm a list of all the major events in the plot from beginning to end and then organize them, not in the order they are written, but in the order they would have happened if the events actually took place in real life. Create a time lime using a strip of butcher paper. On your time line, write a short description of what happens for each event and, if possible, try to identify the time of each event with dates, seasons, etc. Add pictures and symbols to make your time line colorful. All writing should be typed and then glued neatly onto the butcher paper.

Test
Create a test for the book. Include a variety of kinds of questions such as true/false, multiple choice, matching, short answer, essay, or any other kind of question. Be creative, but you must have a total of fifty questions, and include all the types of questions that are listed above. Be sure to write clear directions for each section. You must type the test out. Attach a completed answer key. (Do this by copying or printing out a second copy and filling in your answers on the test.)

Comic Book
Create a comic book based on the novel you read. It should have an illustrated cover with the title and author, and be comic book size. Inside, retell the story using dialogue and descriptions of the setting and characters. Put your writing in bubbles. Create colorful illustrations that help tell the story.

Diary
Choose one main character from the novel you read and create a diary from his/her point of view that reveals all the major events in his/her life as well as this character’s feelings about these events including his/her hopes, dreams, problems, concerns, and frustrations. Fill the diary with entries that spread out over the entire period of time from the beginning of the novel to the end. Begin with “Dear Diary,’ and write from the first person point of view. (Example: Dear Diary, Today I went to see my favorite teacher, Ms. Lambley and told her what a wonderful teacher she is.) For each entry, if possible, write a date. Remember many dates of holidays can be checked on a calendar. If no dates are give, but seasons or other clues are give, then guess an approximate date. Place your entries into a cover that you create, organizing them in the proper order. On the first pages, include an information sheet identifying the full name of the character, his/her age (guess if you don’t know), birthdate (if known), where he/she lives, and any other important information.

Magazine
Create a magazine which depicts the major events, controversial issues, and significant themes developed in the novel you read. Your project should realistically portray a professional magazine. All articles in your magazine must be typed and arranged into columns. If you cut and paste the columns onto the page, Xerox the final product. You will need a colorful front cover with the name of your magazine, date of edition, a picture which relates to your most important article, and short descriptions of the kinds of articles featured in your magazine. Remember, EVERYTHING in your magazine needs to be related to the novel you read. You can have a "Dear Abby" section with letters from characters asking for advice about their problems and then responses of advice, articles related to significant events in the novel, advertisements, and anything else you might find in a magazine.

Newspaper
Create a front page to a newspaper that is devoted entirely to the book you read. The front page should look as much like a real newspaper as possible with writing in columns, headlines, a newspaper title, etc. You can include a variety of different kinds of features including horoscopes for each character, "Dear Abby" letters, comic strips, news articles, advertisements, personal ads, an obituary section, or anything else you might find in a newspaper. Everything you include; however, must be based on events and characters in the book you read. Articles must be typed.

Storytelling
Turn the novel you read into an oral story which you tape on cassette. No NOT read from the novel, but instead, retell the story in your own words. On your tape, before you actually begin your story, introduce the title and author. Be sure to use appropriate tone and volume as well as special sound effects to help make your story more exciting! You might even want to use music. Develop a different voice for each of the main characters who "speak" in your story. (ex: If you were telling the story "Little Red Riding Hood," when you came to the part where Little Red says, "My what BIG teeth you have" you would speak in a high pitch voice and then switch to a much deeper, rough voice when the wolf responds, "All the better to eat you with.") You will obviously have to skip parts of the story because a novel is very long. Create a script to use when you tell your story. Turn the script in with your tape.