Book Jacket Redesign

As I was going through my stacks of stuff, getting my classroom ready, I found some laminating to be cut.  I realized that it was something that I had intended to blog about, but had completely forgot.

In my classroom library, I have rings that hold book jackets that were created by sixth graders.  They choose the book that they most enjoyed reading throughout the year and redesign its book jacket.  I do this at the end of the year, so I choose my favorites.  I have quite a collection as I have done this a few times and on average, I have about 100 sixth graders each year.

We start by analyzing current book jackets.  I put a pile of books out for each table group and they brainstorm a list of things that they have in common.  I ask them to note what they look like and important elements that they all have.  Then, we make a master list to use as a rubric.  Usually it includes things like

• a bold title 
• author name
• quotes and reviews by authors or publications
• great use of graphics and colors (no white space)

My sixth graders this last year were awesome.  I could brag about them for paragraphs.  Each and every one of them was and is wonderful. I have so many awesome book jackets this year, I didn't know how to only share a few, but here they are:

I punch a hole in the corner and put them on rings.  Then I hang them up in the classroom library (pictures soon to come).  So when kids have free time they can take a set of jackets on a ring to their desk and see if there are any books that they are interested in reading.  Many of the reviews on the jacket are quotes from other sixth graders that also read the book.  This year, my new sixth graders will get to read jackets from the last two years of sixth graders; they are often kids they have looked up to at school.

A great way to get kids interested in literature because it isn't coming from you, but from their peers.