Favorite Novels Activity for the End of the Year

Favorite Novels Activity for the End of the Year

With this end of year activity, kids get to discuss and recommend their favorite novels that they have read this year, and they also end up with ideas for titles to try over the summer.

To set up, take the novels from your class library and set them up around the room where the kids can see all of the covers.  I could see doing this activity on the day that I planned to pack up my library for the summer, maybe even having the kids help pack the books away at the end of the activity.

Pass out one or more index cards to each student.  Student should also have a sheet of notebook paper on their desks, or have their notebook open to a blank page.

On an index card, have students describe a favorite novel that they have read, telling the type of novel (modern realistic, historical, mystery, science fiction, etc), highlights of the plot and maybe a little about the characters or themes.  Caution the kids not to say the name of the novel or the names of the main characters.

After all of the students have completed their cards, have each one read a card for the rest of the class to see if they can identify the novel.  Students can probably identify the correct title if they have read it too, but other students might be able to identify it (or guess correctly) from the title and cover art.

If other students have read the same novel, take a few minutes to discuss what they liked or didn’t like about it, and who they would recommend it to.  For a novel that no one else has read, ask the student who completed the card why she would recommend it for other to read this summer.

As students listen to the book summaries and discussions, have them jot down titles of books that they might like to read themselves over the summer.

This is a fun way to close out silent reading for the year and also to get kids thinking about their summer reading.

Favorite Novels Activity for the End of the Year

Related Posts and Resources

Blog Posts about Classic Middle Grades Novels

Pictures of Hollis Woods Novel Study

Because of Winn- Dixie Novel Study - cover


Comments are closed.