I assigned the students of my 4E a summer read to choose from the the following classics:
- Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray Black Cat edizioni *
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World oppure i italiano classici mondadori
- Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451
- F.S.Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Black Cat edizioni
- Emily Brontë Wuthering Heights Black Cat edizioni
- Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness Black Cat edizioni
At the beginning of the school year I posted the assignment of 18 alternative Book Reports the students could choose from. I was fed up with the usual book report and during my summer seminar at Harvard I was given this inspiring idea by professor Carla Beard whom I thank.Here’s some of their works:
- Use thewallmachine.com to make a fake Facebook page of a main character in the book. Here’s Dorian Gray by Filippo. Great handling of humor!!
Dorian Gray by Davide d. Dorian Gray by Enrico S. Dorian Gray by Davide
Here’s THE GREAT GATSBY explained in a Facebook page! By Enrico B., Federica, Andrea D., Nicole & Michael. A big team!
- Write a letter to the main character of the book. Write the letter he or she sends back. Letter to Dorian Gray by Matteo. Dorian’s text message by Gaia.
- Find the top 10 web sites a character in your book would most frequently visit. Include an explanation of why each would be of interest. Add screenshots of the websites to explain.WEBSITES Dorian Gray by Giovanni y by Francesco 10websitesDorian Gray.
- Make a travel leaflet inviting tourists to visit the setting of the book. What types of activities would there be for them to attend. TRAVEL LEAFLET Dorian Gray by Stefano C. Dorian’s LONDON by Simone.
- Find a song or a poem that relates to the theme or events of your book. Explain the similarities. Dorian Gray & Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark 🙂
I’m very satisfied with the outcomes of this activity as it was the first time I’ve given this assignment – a sort of trial both for you and for me. Most students chose Wilde or Fitzgerald’s novel ignoring the other ones.
It’s interesting to notice that in this class nobody chose the book trailer, as they did in other classes (girls who are supposed to be less technological), some students chose a non digital option ( a beautiful newspaper front page or a letter using old-looking paper) and a lot of boys chose the face facebook page. All in all it required quite a lot of commitment in terms of time but it was definitely worth! Let’s keep it up 🙂