Dioramas

Knowing students well and bringing forth their talents is a wonderful thing but can be difficult when the class size is large. I had a teacher in the 7th and 8th grade for Reading/Literature. The class size was certainly over 30 to be sure, but what made this teacher great was in her offering of choices for book reports. This was back in the early '80 before choices were common. We could choose between writing a book report on for example "Of Mice and Men" or "Fahrenheit 451" or making a diorama. I always took advantage of the latter, more visual choice because in that school, there was no Art Class. I still enjoy making dioramas today.

Other book response options could be making a chart on oak tag, writing a poem or song, or even writing a new ending (beginning or middle) for the particular book. All of these options require that the students read the book, give it some careful thought and then act upon that internalization with the chosen assignment.

These dioramas were made not in reaction to a book but rather as responses to a life experiences. I no longer possess my book report dioramas but I do remember my one on "Fahrenheit 451" which consisted of a shoe box scene of a 3-D main character in his fireman gear burning a pile of tiny handmade books.