KBAR Response Ideas -From 75 WAYS TO SHARE A BOOK by Suzanne Barchers (Edited for KBAR use) 1. Write about it to a friend. 2. Make an annotated map of where it takes place. 3. Make a story map of its main events. 4. Create a crossword puzzle, using its setting and plot. 5. Tell why it would (or wouldn’t) make a great movie. 6. Explain its funniest (or most exciting) incident. 7. Pick five to 10 adjectives that describe it. Tell why. 8. Describe an incident from it as though you were an on-the-scene TV reporter. 9. Make up a limerick or haiku about it. 10. Compare it to the movie or TV version. 11. Make a time-line of its events. 12. Create a new ending for it. 13. Make up a lost or found ad for something in it. 14. Rewrite one of its incidents for a younger reader. 15. Describe the main character in 64 words. (Then give examples to illustrate.) 16. Choose a character you’d like (or not like) to have as a friend. Tell why. 17. Make believe you were one of the minor characters. How would you describe a main character? 18. Plan an appropriate meal for a main character. Explain why it's appropriate. 19. Do a cartoon strip based on a character. 20. Write a few paragraphs in a diary as if you were a character. 21. Write a poem about a character. 22. Design costumes for some of the characters. Explain why each is appropriate. 23. For stories that took place in another time, tell how one of the characters would act today, or would respond to a present day situation. 24. Tell why one of the characters should have a different role. 25. Tell what your home would be like if it belonged to one of the main characters. 26. Write a biography of one of the characters. 27. Write an interview between a character and the author, or between two characters. 28. Pick a book you think each of the main characters would enjoy reading. Tell why. 29. Guess what would have happened if a character had made an important decision differently. 30. Make a list of facts you learned from it. 31. Persuade an audience to read (or not read) it. 32. Tell why you would (or wouldn’t) recommend it to your principal, a parent, or another student. 33. List its five most interesting or critical sentences. Tell why. 34. Compare it to another book the author has written. Describe common elements, style, theme, and so forth.

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35. Write a song about it. 36. Prepare a list of its most unusual, difficult, or exciting words. Explain why. 37. Use its title and theme to write your own story. 38. Pretend to be the book and tell what you hold within you. 39. Compare it with a book of similar theme. 40. Become the author and tell why you wrote this book. 41. Plan the questions you’d use in a conference call interview with the author. 42. The author has written to you and wants to know how this book would have been improved. Write your response. 43. Write a letter of appreciation to the author, asking questions and sharing thoughts.

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