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Creative End of Novel Project Idea for High School

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When I was looking for a creative end of novel project idea for high school English, I had a thought: it doesn’t have to be super artsy or involve a million different steps – I can simply ask them for something that they already love to give! Yep, that’s right – I asked them for their opinions on the novel and we wrote book reviews! Now, stay with me here…

As a high school English teacher, I’m always looking for two things:

  1. Ways to help my students to become better writers
  2. Ways to help my students actually engage with the literature that they read 

The book review novel project idea for high school English checked off both of these! 

Also, I’m also constantly battling the copy/paste, AI use, and ChatGPT battle with my students. …and if you’re like me, you have a handful of students trying to hide because they never even cracked the book to be able to write about it.  The cool thing was, my students were so anxious to give their opinions about the book, that even my reluctant readers started asking questions about the novel. A SERIOUS WIN IN MY BOOK! 

The creative end of novel project idea for high school was simple! I just needed to show them what a book review was and how to write one! 

Here’s how I did this:

1. I gave them a simple overview and an example.

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Many of my students thought that a book report and a book review were the same thing. I spent some time explaining to them that a book review is not really about summary, it’s about evaluation and recommendation. My high school students liked the fact that this creative novel project idea allowed them to have a platform for their thoughts. They also enjoyed getting to “grade” the writer on things like writing style, structure, and literary merit. It was so fun for me to see which students highly recommended the book – and which ones gave it a one star review. I asked them questions to assist in their thinking as writers such as:

  • Who would this book be a good fit for?
  • How are the lessons in this book usable in everyday life?
  •  What would make the book better?
  • What do you think that the author was trying to accomplish with this book? 

2. I showed them Goodreads.com for inspiration.

I was shocked to learn that none of my students were using goodreads.com! Before they started writing their own reviews, I had them scroll through Goodreads.com and check out the book reviews there. They read book reviews from the novel that they were reviewing, and for other books. This was also a great opportunity for them to be exposed to other books that they might not have heard of, but they wanted on their to be read list.

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Having them look through goodreads.com helped them as they tried to understand the difference between summary and evaluation. Also, they were able to see that book reviews aren’t always written like a stuffy professor is speaking. They really enjoyed getting to see reviews from other students who both loved and hated the book! 

3. I provided them with a simple writing outline to make it a little less scary.

I have found that examples of writing are great, but my students still need me to break up the writing into manageable chunks. I came up with a quick outline on a Google Doc for them to use as they thought through the writing process. I had them do a pre-writing brainstorm, and then tackle specific questions that required them to only write 1-3 sentences.

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At the end of their outline, all they had to do was copy/paste the sentences together and format their paper. They were shocked that their paper was finished by the time they completed the easy outline. 🙂 You can check out all of the outlines, notes, and even a video presentation that I made for my students as they worked through their project here!

I’m looking forward to tweaking this novel project idea for high school English by making it a little more creative. I’m thinking that I’d like to have them try their hand at editing videos on Canva where they review the books, creating book talk podcasts, or even creating TikToks where they review novels! Let me know if you try this idea in your high school English classroom – or if you add a creative spin on it! 

Dr. Lily Gates