By Kimberly Bower
Reading for enjoyment serves a different purpose than reading for information, or reading with the need to document that reading for a teacher. Just like students, there are many books I read for enjoyment that I honestly wouldn’t be able to tell you enough about to convince you that I had actually read the book. That doesn’t mean I didn’t read it. It does mean I’m stumped when you need details. This is true for our students, as well.
For students, the problem arises when a teacher or librarian wants to know about a particular book in more detail as proof-of-reading. Students may not have read 51 books in a Summer, but it can still be hard to remember the key details on command. This is why I created the PicCollager’s Bookmark.
You will need one bookmark per book. I’ve included a place for student name, teacher name (for those who work with multiple classrooms), book information and sections to document the start and finish dates of reading. I’ve also included a line to credit a friend who may have recommended the title. If you use Twitter or Instagram in your classroom, students could add any social media usernames or hashtags as a reminder to include them in any of your posts about the work product. The purpose of this bookmark is so students can stop and jot down a key player, place or event along with noting the page number without having to stop reading for a long period of time. These are just memory joggers to help remind the reader about key details.
For an example, here is a PicCollager’s Bookmark I created for the book, The Vanishing Coin by Kate Egan with Magician Mike Lane.
After students complete a book, have them create a PicCollage to share with the class. Here’s how:
- First, open the PicCollage Kids app. Click on ‘Freestyle’.
- Next, tap on the ‘+’ and tap on ‘Background’. Select one that you like.
- Then, tap on the ‘+’ and tap on ‘Stickers’. Use the Alphabet stickers to write the title of your book.
Here’s how my PicCollage looks after these steps:
At this point, refer to your PicCollager’s Bookmark for ideas of what pictures you can add to help you remember the key details from the story. Tap on the ‘+’ to get to your choices. Here are some ideas:
- Take a photo of your book cover. Tap on the ‘+’ and select ‘Photos’. Find the photo of your book cover and tap on it. Tap on the check mark in the upper right-hand corner of the screen to add it to your PicCollage.
- Use the ‘Web Search’ to find pictures of items that are specific. In my example, I searched for ‘Book of Secrets png’ and also ‘word believe in red png’ to find those pictures on the web. I also searched for ‘carpet’ so I could put the word believe on top of it because that was something important in the story. Using ‘png’ in your search term means you want a picture without any background.
- Use the ‘Text’ to add the names of the main characters.
- Use the ‘Stickers’ to add items named on your bookmark. In my example, I added a sticker with the word ‘magic’ and a black hat on it. I also added the playing cards.
If you need students to provide some proof-of-reading, why not try the PicCollager’s Bookmark? If they loved the book, you can take it a step further and let them use their notes on the bookmark to create their own PicCollage to share as a book talk for their class.
Kimberly Bower is a Library Media Specialist in Palm Beach County, Florida. Her passion is to instill the love of reading in each and every student. She teaches library media, technology, and research skills and collaborates with classroom teachers on projects that connect classroom studies with technology-infused presentations that will help prepare students for the future. When not creating digital collages or voraciously reading, she enjoys knitting and relaxing on the beach. She is the author of the blog, O2B Heavenly Minded: Highlighting resources that entertain, encourage, enlighten, enrich and empower you to fulfill your destiny. You can also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Goodreads.
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