Independent Reading Reviews (IRRS)

Once a quarter, you will be required to do an independent reading review. This is intended to be a “new” approach to the dreaded book report. You will need to do your own reading outside of the reading you do in the classrooms. You MAY NOT do an IRR on a book that was covered/read in one of your 8th grade classes, or one that you have previously read. I will give you a topic for each quarter, and your selection must fit into that topic. My goal is to get you reading for pleasure, so please select something that interests you and makes you WANT to read. This is an assignment that you will work on at home. You will RARELY be given an opportunity to do it at school. I would HIGHLY suggest you bring it with you to school to read if you finish an assignment early.

Please note: I do NOT accept late IRR assignments!

Due Dates (Topics to be given later):

Quarter 1: Biography (at least 150 pages)

  • Must have book by September 3rd
  • Assignment dueOctober 1st

Quarter 2: Newspaper or Magazine Article of your choosing (at least 2,000 words long)

  • Must have by November 5th
  • Assignment due December 3rd

Quarter 3: Any fiction novel of your choice (at least 150 pages)

  • Must have book by January 22th
  • Assignment due February 19th

Quarter 4: Free Choice (book must be 150 pages/articles must be at least 2,000 words long)

  • Must have by April 8th
  • Assignment due May 6th

You WILL receive points for simply bringing in your book/article on the date it is due. For example, for quarter 1, you MUST have your biography at school with you on September 3rd. You will receive 10 points for simply bringing it in!

The project itself is worth 50 points, and they will go in as a test/project grade!

Once you have selected, and been approved, of the book/article you will do for each quarter (based on the topic I give you), you will pick one of the choices below to report your information. Obviously, some types of reports will work better for others, depending on the reading for the quarter.

Write a Letter to the Author

This activity will include a letter written to the author of the piece you read. Your letter needs to be in business letter format (inside address, return address, greeting, body, and closing). Your letter should reflect what you liked and disliked about the piece. Letters need to be in paragraphs, and should include an: intro, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Your 1st paragraph should be a little bit about you (who you are, why you chose to read their book/article, etc.). Your next paragraph(s) should explain what you enjoyed about the story, and why (be specific with examples). Your closing paragraph should suggest to the author things you would have changed in the story, or possible ideas for a future book/article.

Interview a Character

If you choose this activity, you will be creating at least 10 questions that you would ask one of the characters if they were real (or that you would like to interview the author about if it is nonfiction). You will then need to come up with answers to those questions based on what you have “learned” about that character/person from your reading. If you choose this for a non-fiction book/article, these questions should NOT be questions that you have the answers to from reading the article/book. They should be questions that you still have after reading the piece. You will then need to either research or come up with the answers that you think the author would have to the questions you created.

Create a Comic Book

For this activity, you will create a comic book that represents the main events/summary of the piece you read. Your comic book should include a cover, title page, body (summarizing the piece), and a back cover. Comic books should be at least 8 pages long, and need to include illustrations. You may hand draw the book or create it on the computer.

Music Maker

In this activity, you will create a CD that contains songs that represent music that you think go with the piece you read. Your CD must have a typed list explaining why you chose each song, and how each song relates to the piece. You must have at least 10 songs, and the songs CANNOT contain inappropriate lyrics. Please make sure you include the name of each song, and the artist who sings it on the sheet that explains why you selected them.

Movie Trailer

For this activity, you will create a movie trailer for the book/article that you read. You can use any computer program that you are familiar with to create it. Remember: a movie trailer is usually 1 ½ to 3 minutes in length, and is a preview of the movie. You will create this preview as if the book/article you read were being turned into a movie. You must have dialogue, music, and the “actors” you would have as the “characters”. You must either burn your completed project to a disk, or save it to a flash drive.

Play the Game

For this activity, you will create a PLAYABLE board game that represents the characters and events in your selection. Your game needs to have a game board, a dice/spinner, or something you use to indicate how each player moves on the board. The game must include main events/concepts you learned from your reading as well as any characters that where a main part of the story. Your game MUST include directions on how to play. The game needs to be turned in with all parts in some type of box to hold all of the pieces.

iPad App

Research how you would create an app for iPads/iPhones/iPods. Once you have a good understanding of how this process is done, create an app (it does not have to actually be created and work). Your app should be some type of game that explains the main points/ides of what you read, the main characters or people mentioned, the theme or what you got out of it (real life application), and a summary form of the plot.

Video Game

For this activity, you will create a video game (either computer based or one that can be played on a game console). You will first need to research how people go about creating video games. Once you have a general idea of what it takes to make a video fame, then you can create the “blueprint” of it. I do not expect you to actually make a video game, but I do expect you to write out the steps you would go through if you were actually going to make one. You will need to include in your game all of the key points from what you read. Your game should include characters/people from the book, main events/points, theme/what you are supposed to get out of it, and any other information that you feel is important for me to know about what you read.