When the Novel Is Over
Follow-up activities for teachers once students have completed reading one or more of the novels in my series: "What Made Them Famous?"

1. PANORAMA: Make a large mural illustrating the novel from beginning to end. Assign each student in the class ten pages. The student can decide what scene from those ten pages he or she can illustrate on the mural.

2. BUDDY JOURNALS: Students can pretend that they are characters from the book and begin writing to one another in their journals.

3. ENDING CHANGE: Change the ending of the story and discuss how that change would have changed the book.

4. REPRODUCE THE BOOK: Each student is given a blank piece of paper and a section of the book to illustrate. Put your illustrations together in book form then ask your librarian to display the book in the library.

5. NOVEL TABLECLOTH: By dividing a white sheet of cloth into squares (enough squares for each chapter in the book or for each child.) They can illustrate a chapter or a favorite scene from the book. This activity is best suited to a book that does not have chapter titles. In the case of my books, all chapters have titles however, students can rename the chapters. Place students into groups and have them brainstorm possible new chapter titles and the illustration that would represent that new title.

6. MAKE AN APRON: In the form of your favorite or least favorite character.

7. BIOGRAPHY BOXES: After completing a study of the main character of the book, students create these unique boxes as a book report. They need to be given a pattern for a cube that will eventually be cut out and glued together. The following could be an example as to what they need to write on each side: 1) the title and author of the book, a drawing of the biography's subject, and the student's name; 2) the person's greatest accomplishments; 3) a sequential list of 7 important events in the person's life; 4) any weakness, failure, or disappointment that the person had or experienced; 5) important people in the person's life; and 6) the student's choice of something important about the person.

8. CALL AN AUTHOR: Work out beforehand a series of questions you would like to ask me, then, we can arrange a conference call.

9. CARTOON STORY / COMIC STRIP: Using at least six pictures, design a cartoon or comic strip depicting an episode from the book. It can be displayed like a comic book or on a roll like a television cartoon.

1O. TRAVEL POSTER: Produce a travel brochure inviting people to come to the setting of the book.

11. WANTED POSTER: Make a wanted poster of some character in the book that you did not like, i.e. the "bad guy" or "villain" in the book.

12. BOOK JACKET: Design and decorate a book jacket. Use a lot of color and exciting pictures. Write a short blurb about the book to put on the inside cover. Try to match the mood of the book, for example if the book is mostly about wars, then make the cover warlike. Ask the librarian to display the book jacket to encourage others to read your.

13. PLACEMATS: Make a set of four place mats depicting different scenes from the book. Laminate the placemats before they go home.

14. KEY: Design a key to your book. This is an illustration in the form of a key to show the major elements about your book.

15. DICTIONARY: Make a vocabulary list of unusual words from the book.

16. MOBILE: Make a mobile illustrating the theme and characters from the book.

17. THE CHARACTER LINE-UP BANNER: Draw a banner including as many characters from the book as possible.

18. BOARD GAME: Design a board game about your book. Be sure to include rules on the face of the game.

19. LIFE-SIZE CHARACTER: On a large piece of white paper draw a life-size picture of your main character.

20. FLOOR PLAN: Draw a floor plan of the house/cabin/vessel/castle in which the main character lives.

21. REPRODUCE A FINE WORK OF ART: This work of art needs to be from the period in which your setting takes place.

22. MODEL: Make a model using either clay, cardboard, toothpicks, paper-mache, salt and flour, baker's dough, soap, or of wood. The model can be of any aspect of the book.

23. COSTUME YOUR CHARACTER: Draw a picture of your character in a native costume.

24. COLLAGE: Make a collage picture of part of the book.

25. MAP: Make a map at least 24cm x 36cm of a scene in which an event takes place. It can be in poster form or it can be a relief map out of clay or a mixture of flour and salt.

26. CREATE A NEWSPAPER: Design a newspaper around the theme of your book. Look at a number of old newspapers to get some idea of layout. Include advertisements as well as articles.

27. POSTER: Make a large illustration of something in the book. Use paints, chalk, pastels, crayons, or any other medium. See if the librarian will hang it in the library.

28. UNCLE SAM POSTER: Make a poster trying to get others to read your book. It can be in the tradition of the 'Uncle Sam Poster' trying to get people to join the Armed Forces.

29. DIORAMA: Make a diorama or book float of one of your favorite episodes from the book.

30. SLIDE SHOW: Make a slide show depicting an episode from the book or from the setting of the
book.

31. FILM STRIP: Make a film strip using a scene out of the book.

32. MOVIE/VIDEO: Make a movie or video recreating some scene from the book. If you wish you may use a partner or a group of friends to help you recreate the scene.

33. DOLL: Make a doll, bear, or toy depicting someone or something from the book. It could be made out of rags, an old sock, or material.

34. BULLETIN BOARD: Make an eye-catching and interesting bulletin board encouraging the class to read the book. The display could also be about the author's life. (Check my biography link.)

35. ADD A CHAPTER: Using the same style as in the book, add another chapter. This should be an episode which is believable in terms of what happened before. The same characters with the same personalities should appear.

36. REWRITE A CHAPTER: Take a chapter and rewrite it, fitting it in with what went on before and after in the story. Write it in your own words.

37. PLAYWRIGHT: Rewrite a chapter of the book as a play. Students can perform it with one or more or their friends.

38. SONG: Using the tune of a familiar song, write a song about the book. Students may get friends to help them sing it to the class.

39. BE A SCIENTIST: Write a factual report on some scientific aspect of your book. For example, if the book includes horses in the story, write about real horses and compare them to the pretend horses of the book. Explain something specific to the class about horses.

40. BE AN HISTORIAN: Do a factual report on the historical time depicted in the book. Why was this time important? How was it different from life today?

41. BE A BIOGRAPHER: Do research on a person from the book and write a short biographical sketch on that person. This could include the author of the book.

42. BE ADVENTUROUS: Write an adventure story using the characters and setting from the book.

43. HERO STORY: Find out about what a hero is. Write a short story including the major elements of the hero story.

44. BOOK REPORT: Read another book in the same series, "What Made Them Famous?" now compare and contrast them both.

45. POEM: Write a poem about the characters or events in the book.

46. RIDDLES AND STUMPERS: Try to stump the class. Write question clues about the book.

47. ADVOCACY: Tell all the reasons why something in the book should be so, why the characters should be liked, why a conflict exists, why the setting is right for the story.

48. ADVERTISEMENT: Write an advertisement regarding something in the book. It could be for a lost animal, a help wanted, or a for sale advertisement.

49. BE A SEMANTICIST: Create a list of cat words or bear words or any list of pretend words dealing with the subject of the book.

50. HIEROGLYPHIC SCROLL: Using a communication device of the times depicted in the book, write a scroll with a key.

51. LETTER TO A CHARACTER: Using correct form, write a letter to someone in the book.

52. LETTER TO THE AUTHOR: Using correct form, write a letter to the author. Tell me how you liked the book. Tell me how you would have changed the book.

53. CROSSWORD PUZZLE: Using characters, events, places and things from the book, make a crossword puzzle using the best definitions you can find as the clues.

54. ESCAPE PLAN: Write a plan to run away from the setting. Make it complicated.

55. DIARY: Pretend you are a character from the book. Write a daily log, journal or diary.

56. OPINION: Write your opinion about something in the book. Remember to be honest.

57. SOLUTION: Write your solution to a problem in the book. Be sure that the problem is identified first.

58. PROPHECY: After finding out what a prophecy is, write one regarding something in the book.

59. LUCKY YOU: Your magic charm will allow you to accompany the student in the story. Choose with whom you are going and then write the story of your adventure.

60. GENIE: Think of an event in the story. How might magic have helped in the outcome? If you were in the story, what would you have wished? Use your imagination. Remember, through magic anything can happen.

61. LOST: You and certain characters from the book are lost in Disneyland. Imagine what that would be like. Write your adventure.

62. TWO POEMS: Read two poems on the theme of the book. Compare and contrast them.

63. BE THE TEACHER: Create a worksheet. It could be a word search, secret code, maze, shade-in, etc…..

64. JOB DESCRIPTION: Write a job description with regards to what some character in the book does.

65. SCIENTIFIC CHANGE: Change some scientific development in the story and discuss how that change would have affected the book. For example, what if there had been electricity in the time of Laura Ingalis Wilder or what if there were no cars in a present-day story?

66. SOCIOLOGICAL CHANGE: Change some sociological custom in the story and discuss how that change would have changed the book.

67. HISTORICAL CHANGE: Change some important historical fact in the story and speculate on what things would be like in view of that change. For example, how would the story be different if some slain leader had lived?

68. TIME CHANGE: How would this story be different if it had been 200 years later or 200 years earlier?

69. FINANCIAL CHANGE: Change the financial status and tell what the characters would have been like. What if Scrooge had been poor? What if Oliver had been rich?

70. FIRST-PERSON STORIES: Become something else. Try to get the feeling of this being and write about it. Try thinking from the point of view of that being. Tell about what you like and dislike. For example, be the family pet in the book or a little mouse in the house observing the story. You could also be a rock, a plant, or the main character. Write from their point of view.

71. SURVIVAL TRIP: If you were a character from the story and had to take a survival trip, what would you like? Make a list. Prioritize the items on the list. In your new place, what would your government be like? What laws would you have and who would make the decisions? Would it be you who enforced the laws? What kinds of homes would you have? Who would work and what would they do?

72. BUSINESS VENTURE: Your main characters are going on a business venture. What do they have to do? Design ads or posters, tickets to sell, etc..

73. INVENTION: Design something that could fit into the story. It could be a trap, a fancy vehicle or a trick car, a machine, or a factory to fit into the plot & era or the book.

74. SECRET CODE: Develop your own secret code. Write a letter to one of the characters of the story in your own secret code. Share the code with someone else so that they might decipher the letter.

76. HOTEL: The characters in the book are going to stay the weekend at your hotel. Plan menus, prices of rooms, tips, and all expenses. Will the characters like the hotel? Why or why not?

77. JOURNALISM: Pretend that you are on the staff of the Wall Street Journal. Write a newspaper article about the story.

78. INTERVIEW CHARACTERS: Interview one of the characters in the book. Write it up.

79. INTERVIEW RELATIVES: Interview pretend relatives of the characters in the book. What information do they give you? Write up your interview.

80. NEWS ARTICLE: Write an article on events that could have happened during the time/setting of the book.

81. EDITORIAL: Write an editorial giving reasons for or against some issue in the book.

82. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Write a letter to the editor expressing your opinion about some issue in the book.

83. FEATURE ARTICLE: Write a feature article about something in the book such as Darwin's dedication to classification of animal and plant species.

84. "HOW TO" ARTICLE: Write an article on how to do something from the book.

85. BOOK REVIEW: Plan and give an oral book review. (Minimum of five minutes)

86. DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION: Read a serious, dramatic selection from the book and give its interpretation in your own words.

87. HUMOROUS INTERPRETATION: Read a humorous selection from the book and give its interpretation in your own words.

88. ORATORICAL INTERPRETATION: If there is one, read a speech from the book and give its interpretation in your own words.

89. PERSUASIVE SPEAKING: Tell the class the reason for a particular character's action in the book.

90. DEBATE: With a partner, debate the pros and cons of some issue in the book.

91. TAPE RECORDING: Tape record (audio only) an exciting part of the book for younger students to listen to.

92. ORACLE: Tell the story as a legend or myth.

93. PUPPET SHOW: Do a puppet show on a scene from the book using either handmade paper bag puppets, stick puppets, or professionally purchased puppets.

94. SALES TALK: Persuade the class that we need to purchase something from out of the book-something that our classroom just has to have.

95. T.V. COMMERCIAL: This is just a shorter version of the 'sales talk.'

96. SKIT OR PLAY: Plan and dramatize a scene from the story. Recreate a whole chapter or a shorter selection. You may memorize it (a play) or ad-lib it (as in a skit.)

97. FLANNEL-BOARD STORY: Make the figures and tell the story using a flannel board.

98. MOCK TRIAL: Put one of the characters on trial for something he or she did in the book. For example, in The Black Pearl, a character is put on trial for stealing the pearl. Is he guilty or innocent? Have fellow classmates serve as judge, attorneys, defendant, witnesses, jury, bailiff, etc…

99. RADIO BROADCAST: Give a radio program about the novel. Use special effects, etc...

100. TELEVISION SHOW: Choose your favorite television show and write it up using the characters from the book.

101. POEM: Read, memorize, or recite a poem from the book or you could recite an original poem that you have written about the book.

102. MOVIE: Make a home movie of a chapter or scene from the book.

103. VIDEO: Make a video of a chapter or scene from the book.

104. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: Play some music typical of the era about which the book is written.

105. ORIGINAL MUSIC: Compose some music typical of the era.

106. PERSONAL OPINION: Write about or tell the class whether the book is real or imaginary, fact or fantasy, truth or fiction, actual or pretend. Give examples to support your statements.

107. THEME MURALS: Make a large mural in the form of the theme picture and have the students paste smaller pictures inside it. For example, if the book is about a sailing ship draw a large ship to accommodate the student's pictures.

108. SAMPLER: Make a sampler or it could be a sign with a saying on it that represents your book. It can be the main theme of the book or the main idea of any given character.

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