After a brief hiatus to get my classroom and teaching life together, I’m officially back. And what better way to get back into the swing of things than show you a little of what I’ve been up to?
Today, I’m going to share you with one of my favorite projects that I cooked up this summer for my AP Literature class. It pairs two of my favorite literary obsessions: subscription boxes and Bookstagram culture.
For those of you that know me, you know I’m a huge fan of subscription boxes. My guiltiest pleasure of course is a well-curated book subscription box. My two favorites are definitely OwlCrate and OnceUponABookClub.
For my AP Literature class, the students have to read two independent books a quarter. One that is AP level and one that is simply for pleasure. I always want to make sure that my students remember that even though we are doing heavy-duty analysis and tearing apart AP level books on the daily, that they signed up for this class because they love reading.
With the heavy work load, I’ve always attempted to make the non-AP independent reading fun. However, I’ll be honest, it hasn’t worked out too well for me in the past. Students would make videos, but we’d never have enough time to view them. Students would give presentations, but we’d never have time to go through them. Students would hand in complicated projects, but I’d never have time to grade them. The list goes on. So, this summer I set out to make a project that would be fun for them to do as well as fun for me to grade.
Enter the Bookstagram Independent Reading Project:
I’m seriously in love with this idea! It combines my love of subscription boxes as well as introduces students to bookish culture after they leave high school!
If you are not familiar with Once Upon a Book Club’s INSPIRING new twist on the traditional book box, see my description of it for my kid’s below.
For those teachers out there, here are the full requirements for the project.
Oh, don’t you worry…there’s more. I’m also attempting to make this more of a social media based project. So, I’m going to attempt to have the kids promote their own “unboxing” photos. the winner will get a fun prize (I’m thinking Funko Pop figurine or Barnes and Noble gift card). I figured this would help promote some social media skills as well as attach it to the real reading world!
So, what do you guys think? Below is watermarked PDF of the project. Feel free to use it in your own classroom, just please credit Lit & Love in the footer area. If you use it, I’d love to hear how your kids liked it 🙂 Happy back to school!
Watermarked Bookstagram Independent Reading Project
If you would like a editable copy, please shoot us an email at litandloveblog@gmail.com or comment below with your email!
What was your favorite book project from school? How did your teachers help you learn to love to read?
Lit & Love,
Related Articles:
Of Monsters and Men: Review of This Savage Song
Cobblestone, Parchment, Mom: Creating a Personal Universe Deck
Freewrite Friday: Using Word Sprints to Fuel Your Writing
Lit & Love 
Reblogged this on Amanda M. Orozco and commented:
EXCELLENT and FUN lit project for students!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! Glad you like the project 🙂 My kids are loving it too!
LikeLike
Share this on TeachersPayTeachers! It’s amazing!!! ❤
LikeLike
Amy,
I wish there was a “love” button on WordPress. This is the best idea EVER!!! Can I be one of your students?! The world needs more teachers like you that come up with new and creative ways like this to engage students in literature. Will you be sharing your students finished projects, or at least let us know how the project goes?!
Also, I obviously need to subscribe to the Once Upon A Book box!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awww shucks 🙂 Yes, you are welcome to be my student (be careful what you wish for), and, yes, I’ll make sure to post an update (late October) to let you know how the projects go (with pictures!). Thanks for all the nice words! -Amy
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will be looked forward to it!
LikeLike