Letterland

Sunday, March 10, 2013

The Most Amazing Dodecahedron Book Report Project Ever!



Right before Christmas, I went looking for a book report project on Teachers Pay Teachers. I wanted something that would look really awesome to my students. I had bought each one of my 4th and 5th graders,  Mudshark by Gary Paulsen  for a present, but wanted a project to go with it. I found the most amazing book report project ever!

This is what I found: Dodecahedrons!



 In the beginning I have to confess I couldn't even remember how to pronounce the name. So being a K-2 teacher for years, I wrote the phonetic spelling on the board and my students learned faster than I did. Twelve pentagons are put together to make this great shape. They are huge. Mr. Hughes makes each one fun to color and also give them a focus for each slide.


I had my students read the book over Winter break and answer some questions on an index card that went along with Mr. Hughes' project. When they came back from break, I gave each of them, all 31 of them, a copy of each shape and a detailed Student Direction Sheet which is included in this very thorough project. The packet contained 13 sheets in all.  They had to write their book report first, then color, and then cut out. I checked each step before they could go any further.


Some students did extraordinary work. My ESL students especially enjoyed this because the directions were all written out and they did not have to guess what to do through out the project. They worked independently, but spent a lot of time discussing the book while they were writing and then coloring. We used color pencils and crayons, with a few using markers.


I had protractors handy to help with the folding of the tabs. We folded our tabs outward since I found it was easier for 4th and 5th graders to put together. I had the color in each of the tabs so they would add more color to the project. We used lots of glue sticks and paper clips to keep everything together while the glue was drying. I did not help any of my students with the folding or gluing. 


This entire project took about 6 to 7 days. I didn't let them work on the book report part at home, because I didn't want the pages to get messed up in a book bag or lost. Letting part of the Dodecahedron dry over night really helped.

They were all so proud of their work!

We tried hanging them outside our room on some yarn, but they set off the alarm that evening. :(

We ended up putting some of them in the media center for all to enjoy. Then I decided to hang the rest from my Word Wall curtain. I still have them up. I love the way they look and they still let in lots of sunlight.


I smile every time I look out the window. I told my students they could take them home when they made another one. Mr. Hughes also has other Dodecahedron Projects which I am going to try out.



This was the best book report project I have ever given my students. They did not even fuss once about having to do a book report. 


Mr. Hughes can be found on Teachers Pay Teachers at this link.  I was the first person to leave him feedback on this project, so if you buy this please leave feedback! He has lots now, but everyone, even teachers :), want feedback! 

The project includes Materials List, Teacher Directions :), Step By Step Instructions for writing the book report, Step by Step Instructions for Assembly (with pictures and in color,) Tips for Displaying, and of course the 12 student pages.
Or click the cover of the Dodecahedron Book Report Project to get your copy.
Mr. Hughes has a great blog, An Educator's Life. Give yourself a lot of time to browse through his past posts.

Hope you enjoyed this post. I still have lots more to come so please follow me by email and join my blog! Oh, one last picture... one of my students during silent reading time. He never even knew I took the picture until later that day when I showed it to him.

Thanks for the visit!


24 comments:

  1. What a great posting. So fun to see this resource being used by your students AND I love the way you hung them in front of your window. (Also, LOVE the word wall curtain!).
    Thanks for sharing your adventure with us!
    -Mr. Hughes
    An Educator's Life

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    1. Thanks Mr. Hughes, I have not enjoyed a project as much as this one! Love the writing, the thinking, the discussion, and everything involved with putting the project together. Can't wait to do another one of your projects!
      Pam

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  2. You are right, this is a great resource. I used it with my 6th graders and they loved it as well.

    By the way, you have a great blog! Glad I was able to be introduced to it.

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    1. Thanks Mindy! I am so glad you enjoyed the project also. Love that it incorporated art!
      Thanks for visiting my blog!
      Pam

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  3. Hey Pam! Had no idea you had a blog... I am follower #11 :) Great resources!!

    Laura Love to Teach
    http://lovetoteach123.blogspot.com

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  4. Laura, thanks so much! I am so glad you came for a visit! This is new, just my 3rd post. Thank for following me! This is my lunch so I am going to pay you a visit now! Pam

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  5. I'm in the market for a new blog design so I checked out A Bird in Hand. That's where I found your blog. I am your newest follower :)

    Rae
    Mindful Rambles

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  6. Thanks Rae. Megan put together all my favs into this design. She is amazing... and patient! I am going to run over to your blog now for a visit! Thanks for following me! Pam

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  7. I love this project! It makes me want to teach language arts! You can see how much the kids enjoyed it. Welcome to blogging!

    Diane
    Teaching With Moxie

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  8. Thank you Diane! I wish I could show their sweet faces... they loved it. Thanks for the welcome! I look forward to your TPT store creations! Pam

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  9. I LOVE this Pam. I think I can use these with my kiddos and tie in the engineering design process. Thank you so much for sharing. I know your kiddos must feel so proud of themselves. =)

    I am happy to be a new follower of your CUTE blog. I would love for you to hop over and visit if you get the chance. I am having a BIG giveaway. =)

    Heather
    Heather's Heart

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  10. Heather, thanks so much. I loved doing this with my students. They were so happy. I wish I could have put their sweet little faces up with their projects. I will always do this. Mr. Hughes also has a get to know you project for the beginning of the year and I will definitely do that one.
    Thank you for following my blog :) I am trying not to count!
    I am heading over to your blog this am! I can't wait to visit! Pam

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  11. Impressive results...congrats to all the book reporters!

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  12. Thanks Loreen, wouldn't it be fun to do this with one of your books. (I love your books!) You could have students illustrate and write a simile or metaphor on each side. So many possibilities.
    Thanks for all the books you have written, I have used so many of them in my lessons! Pam

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  13. I am lovin' these book reports! I have to try this with my kiddos :)
    Thanks for sharing!
    Colleen
    Totally Terrific in Texas

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  14. Colleen, I feel the same way about these amazing book reports! I can't wait to do another one. My students are wanting to take theirs home, but I can't part with them until we do another set. Thanks for the comment, and I getting ready to visit your blog! Pam

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  15. Pam: I am so happy to have found your blog--and you! No one has ever commented on the lines between the cards before--which is funny because those lines are sooo important to me in a product (cutting goes so much faster when you have a little grace in where you have to cut!) Thank you SO much for the sweet comment and for connecting! (BTW, I love the dodecahedrons)

    Kim
    Finding JOY in 6th Grade

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  16. Kim, isn't that funny that we know how much time that saves! I really enjoyed your blog today. I was so glad to hear that someone else puts so much time into each product. I also do the password protected pdf's and correcting one little mistake involves more time that I want to share!
    At this rate it will take me a long time to build up my TPT store. My students are great at editing my work though. They can spot a mistake I make in a second... wish they could do the same with their work! : )
    Thanks for visiting and following me! You have always been an inspiration to me.! Pam

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  17. I've been wondering about these for a book report next year. Do you think 3rd graders could handle the project? I also love your word wall curtains!

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  18. Hi Khun Kruu! I think that 3rd graders could definitely handle this with some changes as far as monitoring. With my fourth grade students we did everything step by step. I took up the unfinished work daily so it wouldn't get lost. I kept all 'pieces' in a folder. I would do the same with 3rd, but I wouldn't give them all out at once (taught 3rd last year!) Try giving out each piece daily and let them complete it. When it comes to putting it together, you will probably need another adult in the room. I had lots of paperclips to clip together after gluing. Also, with 3rd graders I would probably glue and staple to make sure they didn't fall apart. I also reduced some by 80 percent so they weren't so big. I really like the bigger ones though! Oh, one more thing, glue half so that it can dry overnight. Makes it easier. Hope this helps.
    And thank you so much for the compliment on my word wall. This was brought about just be needing more space. I really liked the way it turned out and plan on doing this again. I want the letters to stand out more though. Thanks so much for visiting. Please do not be a stranger! as you can tell I love to talk about teaching! Pam

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  19. It is great, but how long time did it take?
    regards
    RĂ³sa from Iceland

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    1. Hi Rosa! This was a two week project. We read the book during and after class. We discussed literary features of the book during our ELA. We also discussed each of the slides as we went along and students were given time during class to complete their slides. Some finished faster than others. We all helped each other put them together. The actual gluing the slides together did not take long at all.
      Pam

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  20. as a parent of someone who had to do this, I can tell you that it was not really that great of an experience, and to put it mildly, the parents who had to do it (not me) were not too happy either.

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    1. Oh no! I actually know what you mean. Some people cannot do this very well! My co worker left my package for K-2: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Word-Family-Dodecahedron-Cooperative-Learning-Project-1596326 with a sub. I went in there to see if all was well and the dodecahedrons were pitiful! They weren't folded with a nice crease and glued on right, plus they didn't use all the circles. I tried to fix some of them, but it was too much. You have to really be good at folding and creasing, plus with anything that you put together, it has to be cut out properly to fit. I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience with this. I let my Kinders do this each year and I always cut out the circles and fold. Please try this again! If you do it like a pattern, follow all the steps, it turns out beautiful!

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