Reading Resources and
Lesson Plans For Teachers

On this page, you will find reading resources on how to use book reports in your class. This reading resources page contains information about some of the different strategies that I have used with my own students to promote reading literature.

You can read about the three easy steps that I have successfully used with my students that has engaged them in reading books on their own. My students are excited to read their next books and begin their next projects. They think that reading is fun!

On this page, you will also find examples and photographs of many of these unique reading resources and student projects.

This web page contains over 25 different book report templates and projects. These fun reading projects come in a variety of different shapes, sizes, and themes.

I created all of the book report projects that you will find on this page for my own students. These book report projects have been tried, tested, and refined over the years as I have used them year after year with my students.

Rather than reading an explanation about the book report projects that are on my website, I'm going to share a few of the letters that I have received from teachers about these reading resources.

Name: Margaret
Grade: Year 5
From: Victoria, Australia
Comment: Dear Heidi, I just wanted to say thank you for the most amazing reading resources that I have ever come across in my thirty years of teaching. I used many of the book report projects this year and the students absolutely loved them. What was particularly pleasing was seeing some of my reluctant readers (especially the boys) really wanting to read books and complete the activities. Keep up the great work!

Name: Arlene
Grade: Grade 4
From: Ohio, United States
Comment: Thanks for the great book report resources on your website. I'd rather pay for something that I will use, instead of purchasing an entire teaching resource book and only use 1 or 2 things. My students are really excited about completing the Castle Book Report project. These are the types of activities we need, especially with inner city 4th graders who need to learn how to work together and keep engaged at the same time. I've posted your site in the teacher's lounge and will help spread the word.

Name: Shirley
Grade: Grade 1
From: Florida, United States
Comment: Just thought you would like to know that I just finished doing the rocket book report projects with my 1st graders. THEY LOVED IT!! I will be looping up to 2nd Grade with them next year, so I am saving the school bus book report for the beginning of the year. You can bet that I will be ordering others!

Name: Robin
Grade: Grade 4
From: Pennsylvania, United States
Comment: Thank you so much for letting me know about the new book report templates. I have been anxiously watching for the house book report project to be posted on your site, so I was excited to be able to purchase it today. It is absolutely adorable. I must tell you that I have received so many compliments from other teachers this year about my students' book reports that I have displayed in our school halls. I also have a student teacher and she loves all of your teaching resources too! Thank you again for all of your wonderful ideas....you make my life so much easier as a teacher!

Name: Mary
Grade: Grade 4
From: New York, United States
Comment: I feel so fortunate to have found your website. I have referred several of my co-workers to your website. Just for the month of January, there were three teachers displaying your book report projects. I have the trophy book report projects, my neighbor to the left had the computer book report projects, and my neighbor to the right had the birthday cake book report projects. Thank you so very much for all of your work!

What kinds of activities do you provide your students with after they have read a book together as a group or as a class?

The reading response projects that I have created provide students with a unique way for them to respond to the books that they have read together in a fun, yet challenging way. These projects are fun, creative, and guaranteed to help you keep your students on task.

Learning to work in cooperative groups is an important skill that we must teach our students. As teachers, we need to present our students with opportunities to work together with their classmates. On this resources for books web page, you will find many cooperative group projects based on popular children's novels.

For each book title, you will find LARGE and creative group projects for your students to complete after they have read a book together. There are also fun individual student projects available for the majority of the novels that are found on this page.

All of these individual and group projects contain the following components: direction page, first draft writing page, grading rubric, final draft templates, color final draft templates, and a five page banner for you to use as a title for your classroom bulletin board display.

I have created some unique reading incentive and sticker charts in a variety of different themes and shapes.

• Do you want to promote and encourage independent reading in your classroom?


• Are you looking for a unique way to record the number of books that your students have read?


• Do you want to encourage your students to read a wider variety of genres of literature?

My sticker charts are unique because I have designed them in fun animal and holiday shapes. You will not find any plain rectangular or square shape sticker charts on Unique Teaching Resources.

I have also designed a five page matching banner (see two examples below) for each sticker chart set for you to use for your classroom bulletin board display.

Being able to recognize and read sight words is one of the basic building blocks of learning how to read.

A sight word is a word that children can read readily without having to sound it out. To lay a foundation for learning how to read, it is imperative to introduce sight words to children.

Dr. Edward B. Fry 1000 Instant Words List (which is commonly referred to as Fry Words) are the most common words in English ranked in order of frequency.

In 1996, Dr. Fry published a book titled "Fry 1000 Instant Words." His research found that a mere 25 words make up approximately 1/3 of all items published. He discovered that 100 words comprise approximately 1/2 of all the publications written, and 300 words make up 65% of all written material.

On this reading resources page, you will find free Fry flashcards and word lists for his 1000 words, which I have divided into ten sets. There are also flashcards and a word list for Fry's 100 Picture Nouns.

The Dolch Sight Words are a list of the most frequently used words in the English language. These sight words make up 50 to 70 percent of any general text.

The Dolch list contains 220 words that have been arranged by levels of advancing difficulty, as well as a list of 95 Dolch nouns.

On this page of reading resources, you will find free Dolch sight words and flashcards for the following levels: preprimer, primer, first grade, second grade, third grade, and the Dolch nouns.

Are you looking for a list of award winning books for your students to read? On this web page you will find entire book lists for these awards:

• Newbery Medal Books (present - 1922)


• Newbery Honor Books (present - 1922)


• Caldecotte Medal Books (present - 1938)

Do you want to read an award winning novel aloud to your students?

Do you want to challenge your students to read literature that is rich with content and characters? Then, choose a Newbery award winning book that your students will surely enjoy!

The Newbery Medal is selected each year by the Association for Library Service for children. It is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published during the preceding year.

Do you want to read an award winning picture book aloud to your students?

Do you want to engage your students in literature that is rich with colorful illustrations and stories? Then, choose a Caldecott Medal winning book that will captivate your students' attention!

The Caldecott Medal is selected each year by the Association for Library Service for children. It is awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published during the preceding year.

For some of these award winning books, I have created fun and engaging group projects, as well as individual student projects. You can use the projects and reading resources found on this page to supplement these classic and award winning novels. Below you can view examples of projects from two Newbery award winning books.

Below: In the three photographs below, you will see examples of my castle group projects for the book The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman. This book won the Newberry Award in 1987. For this large castle shaped project, students describe the four main characters and the setting, problem, solution, and conclusion.