The Booka Kucha EduProtocol offers a spin on the traditional book report. The name for this EduProtocol pays homage to a Japanese presentation format called Pecha Kucha:
The PechaKucha 20x20 presentation format is a slide show of 20 images, each auto-advancing after 20 seconds. It’s non-stop and you've got 400 seconds to tell your story, with visuals guiding the way. PechaKucha was created in Japan in 2003 by renowned architects, Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham. The word “PechaKucha” is Japanese for “chit chat.”Ideally, in a class of thirty, each student will be reading a book of their choice at any given time, but it can be difficult to hold thirty different students in thirty different books accountable for reading. This activity is designed so that each student develops their own book report at the same time as their classmates, regardless of the page number the student is reading. Everybody pauses the reading at the same time, develops four slides based on where they are in the book at that moment, and presents three of the slides within a one-minute snapshot (three slides at twenty seconds each). This allows the teacher to grade everyone in about one period and encourages a culture of reading the the classroom. Done regularly (weekly, bi-weekly), the Booka Kucha provides a format to easily document student reading progress while helping students to analyze their own reading at a deeper level.
- Three different settings in the book
- Or three different characters
- Or three important events
- Or three conflicts within the book
Example: Using Wonder, by RJ Palacio, a student will identify three conflicts within the book:
- Slide 1: Title Slide--Name of the book, author, illustrator, student's name, and number of the last page read
- Slide 2: Conflict One--man (Auggie) against himself (a facial deformity)
- Slide 3: Conflict Two--man (Auggie) against the world
- Slide 4: Conflict Three--man (Auggie) against man (Julian, antagonist)
Academic Goals
- Foster interest in peer-reviewed books and a class culture of reading.
- Practice presenting in a concise and systematic manner.
- Include weekly or bi-weekly comprehension reflections.
Teacher Big Ideas
- Booka Kucha brings a component of both book talks and lit circles to book reports.
- Finding one conflict or element in a book is easy; identifying two or more is the challenge!
- Presentations are easy to grade and manage in real-time.
- Fast presentations: A one-minute (three slides at twenty seconds each) presentation per student should take about a forty-minute class period, or less, for the entire class to present and be graded.
- ALL students complete a BookaKucha once weekly or bi-monthly to develop fluency and to ensure exploration of a wide variety of book themes.
Step 1: Choose a theme for this round's BookaKucha. Below are some suggestions for three-slide presentations:
- three characters
- three lessons learned
- three wishes the characters would make and why
- three settings in detail and why the setting is important to the story
- three conflicts from the following themes:
- man vs. nature
- man vs. society
- man vs. self
- man vs. man
- man vs. reality
- man vs. god
Step 1: Students create their presentations using this format:
- Slide 1: Student name, current page number, and bibliography-type citation that includes the name of book, author, and other relevant citation information
- Slide 2: One image and description
- Slide 3: One image and description
- Slide 4: One image and description
Step 3: Students present only slides two, three, and four, with each slide automatically advancing after twenty seconds (three slides at twenty seconds each equals a one-minute presentation).
Step 4: Grade presentation in real time using a rubric and provide immediate feedback to student (i.e. one "I wonder" and two "Hallelujah" statements to frame feedback providing one growth point and two positive praises for the student.
Tip: When a student presents a slide in five seconds, don't forward to the next slide. Wait the full twenty seconds so that the students will eventually learn the timing of twenty-second intervals. Eventually, we want the student fo fill the time allotted.
Variations
Adapting for Littles
In this protocol, students choose their own prompt for their book by using a bingo board. This way, they are provided choice while working through a variety of comprehension activities.
Instructions
Provide a bingo board for each student to track progress. Be sure you spend time teaching the different responses before asking students to work independently on prompts. The bingo board may have as few as three items repeated three times, or it may be more complicated, like the one on the slide below.
Adapting for Littles
Littles can tackle the bingo board as well. Make sure they fully understand how to do each of the responses you choose to include on the bingo card and then slowly introduce auditions to the board as the class is exposed to and masters each prompt. Even two items repeated several times on a bingo board is fun for littles. Or try a class bingo board and work through it as a whole team!
Tip: When a student presents a slide in five seconds, don't forward to the next slide. Wait the full twenty seconds so that the students will eventually learn the timing of twenty-second intervals. Eventually, we want the student fo fill the time allotted.
Variations
- Allow two to three students reading the same book to develop a shared BookaKucha.
- Make choosing the literary device a fun event. Let a student draw it from a hat or spin a spinner to determine the theme of the week.
- The following week, students add to their existing slide deck rather than begin a new one. Rotate by month, quarter, or by the book so that one book is in one slide deck.
- Introduce BookaKucha slowly (i.e. one to two slides from a shared book until kids understand the protocol.
- Pause the reading to allow students time to think about their reading.
- This activity is a snapshot over time; snapshots reflect growth.
- To record growth, consider archiving randomly selected weeks in student portfolios for comparison over the course of the year.
- The template may be built by the teacher to guide the students, but let the students to the work of building content.
- Older students may do well with an outline instead of a template.
- Remember that the first attempts will be lacking but will improve over the following weeks.
Adapting for Littles
- Shorten the slide deck. One slide with an image, and a short "sharing" of the book is enough.
- Provide a few images at the beginning for students to choose from. The image does not need to match the book; for example, using an image of Marc Brown's Arthur character is not necessary. Encourage children to look for an image that represents the book's big ideas.
- Be flexible on the time and don't advance the slides too abruptly. The goal for younger students is standing up in front of a screen and talking while facing the audience. Using paper notes with one or two key points is acceptable.
- Immediate feedback is imperative for student growth.
In this protocol, students choose their own prompt for their book by using a bingo board. This way, they are provided choice while working through a variety of comprehension activities.
Instructions
Provide a bingo board for each student to track progress. Be sure you spend time teaching the different responses before asking students to work independently on prompts. The bingo board may have as few as three items repeated three times, or it may be more complicated, like the one on the slide below.
Adapting for Littles
Littles can tackle the bingo board as well. Make sure they fully understand how to do each of the responses you choose to include on the bingo card and then slowly introduce auditions to the board as the class is exposed to and masters each prompt. Even two items repeated several times on a bingo board is fun for littles. Or try a class bingo board and work through it as a whole team!
