Book Report Star.

My children write a lot during the day. They write in language arts and English. They also write reports in social studies and science. With all this writing, I feel like they should have the opportunity to get creative with some of their reports. Pinky had to do a book report and didn't want to write a traditional one. She decided to make a book report star. Because I don't know how to make the star, she made a photo tutorial on how it's done. 

First you need 6 sheets of paper. Pinky used construction paper. If you want a multicolored star, you will need different colors. Pinky likes two colors so she used three sheets of each color. 

Take one sheet of paper at a time and follow these next steps with each one. 

Fold one of the top corners down until it makes a triangle like the picture below. 

Cut off the end of the paper so that you have just the triangle portion. 

Starting from one of the folded corners, cut a one inch strip leaving it connected at the top.  Then do the same with the opposite corner. Be sure to leave enough space at the top so that the strips don't tear off while you are putting the star together. 

Move towards the center of the fold by approximately one inch and cut strips the same way you did with the first two, leaving them connected at the top. 

Move towards the center of the fold another inch and cut two more strips leaving them connected at the top. After cutting the three pairs of strips, unfold your paper. It should look something like the photo below. 

This would be a good time write on the strips. Pinky used 4 sheets of paper for the main characters in her book. She wrote on the strips on both sides. She included character descriptions, strengths, weaknesses and main events they were apart of in the book. She used the other two sheets for plot, moral of the story, climax, conflict and solution..ect. When you are finished writing on the strips, take the corners of the center and staple them together in the middle. 

Flip the paper over and do the same thing to the next set of strips. 

Turn the paper over again and do the same thing to the next set of strips. 

Turn the paper over one more time and do the same thing to the last set of strips. 

After you have completed all of the sections of the star. Pick two sections that you want to be next to each other and staple them together, side by side. It works better if you staple a small side to a big side. 

Staple another one to one of the sections making a cluster of three sections side by side. 

Staple the ends of all three sections together. 

After creating another cluster of three, staple the the ends of both clusters together. 

Staple the sides together so that the two clusters are completely connected. 

When you are finished connecting the sides, your star should look like this. 

We like to hang ours from the ceiling in our school area. Pinky organized her star so that the characters were together on the bottom and the parts of the story were on the top. You can organize yours however you would like. It's a fun and quick way to display everything your child has learned from their book or lesson. 

This is the one Pinky made. She forgot to write on the strips before making the star so her handwriting isn't the best. But, I can still read it. I think she gets an A for creativity and organization. 

I love creative reports. I will be sharing more with you as we go through the year. Have fun with reports and writing. Kids will be more open to reading, writing and learning if they know there is a fun activity at the end of all of their hard work. It is also rewarding to display something they have created. All of my children enjoy doing creative reports.