Banned Books Week Projects
Catcher in the Rye . . . Thirteen Reasons Why . . . Harry Potter . . .
What's your favorite book? Chances are good that someone has challenged it or tried to ban it. The Shepard Academy will celebrate the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, September 22nd through September 28th .
As part of our celebration, select a "banned book" you have read and create your choice of the two products related to Banned Books Week. To prepare for your product, review the “Top Ten Challenged Books by Year: 2001-2012” and the other links to lists of frequently banned and challenged books.
Why Was My Book Banned? - Investigative Report OR Presentation
Everyone Will . . .
Research the history of your book – its bans and challenges. Use at least two credible sources to research your book. While you do not need to document your sources using in-text citations, you will need to include a bibliography which lists the sources you consulted during your research.
What's your favorite book? Chances are good that someone has challenged it or tried to ban it. The Shepard Academy will celebrate the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, September 22nd through September 28th .
As part of our celebration, select a "banned book" you have read and create your choice of the two products related to Banned Books Week. To prepare for your product, review the “Top Ten Challenged Books by Year: 2001-2012” and the other links to lists of frequently banned and challenged books.
Why Was My Book Banned? - Investigative Report OR Presentation
Everyone Will . . .
Research the history of your book – its bans and challenges. Use at least two credible sources to research your book. While you do not need to document your sources using in-text citations, you will need to include a bibliography which lists the sources you consulted during your research.
Choose a Product . . .
Choice #1 - Investigative Presentation
Investigative Presentation
Using your research, create a PowerPoint or Prezi that shares your findings. You will use the slideshow as speaker support for your presentation.
Include the following components in your presentation.
Introductory Slide
Summary Slide
Deliver a transitional sentence to introduce the idea that the book has been banned and challenged
History Slide
Deliver your thesis statement the establishes your focus (book) and purpose (reasons for bans/challenges)
2-3 Main Idea Slides
After each main idea slide, draw on your own reading experience to refute (argue against) or support the charge made against the book. Finally, deliver a transitional sentence that restates the main idea and transitions to the next point.
Closing Slide
As the closing slide is shown, deliver a conclusion that restates your thesis and summarizes your main points. As your closing, make a statement about what you've learned about the book and its history.
Bibliography Slide
Successful presentations will:
Using your research, create a PowerPoint or Prezi that shares your findings. You will use the slideshow as speaker support for your presentation.
Include the following components in your presentation.
Introductory Slide
- include the title, author, publication date, and intended audience of your book along with an image of the book's cover. Remember that the title of the book needs to be italicized every time it appears on a slide.
Summary Slide
- provide a very brief summary of the story. Use bullet points to identify the setting, main characters and conflict.
Deliver a transitional sentence to introduce the idea that the book has been banned and challenged
History Slide
- provide a general time frame of the challenges - recently, multiple years, etc.
Deliver your thesis statement the establishes your focus (book) and purpose (reasons for bans/challenges)
2-3 Main Idea Slides
- Develop your presentation with a series of slides that each addresses a reason that the book has been challenged and includes relevant examples from your research to support the points.
After each main idea slide, draw on your own reading experience to refute (argue against) or support the charge made against the book. Finally, deliver a transitional sentence that restates the main idea and transitions to the next point.
Closing Slide
- End your presentation with an image related to the book along with a relevant quotation. Consider one taken from the book or found in your research.
As the closing slide is shown, deliver a conclusion that restates your thesis and summarizes your main points. As your closing, make a statement about what you've learned about the book and its history.
Bibliography Slide
- Using MLA format, list the sources (at least two) that you used to research your book.
Successful presentations will:
- include all structural and content elements, including a bibliography slide
- demonstrate sufficient research drawn from at least two credible sources
- maintain a consistent academic (3rd person) voice - no 1st person (I) or 2nd person (you) pronouns
- contain slides that are visually appealing - limited text, easy-to-read
- contain slides that are free of mechanical and grammatical errors
- demonstrate effective vocal and physical speaking skills
Choice #2 Investigative Report
Investigative Report
Write a well-developed and logically organized 300-500 word (1 1/2 to 2 page) investigative report of your findings.
Structure your essay using these guidelines:
Introduction
(remember that the title of the book needs to be italicized
every time it is mentioned.)
the general time frames of the challenges – recently,
multiple years, etc.
2-3 Body Paragraphs
connected to the thesis statement.
Conclusion
your statement.
Bibliography
Successful essays will:
Write a well-developed and logically organized 300-500 word (1 1/2 to 2 page) investigative report of your findings.
Structure your essay using these guidelines:
Introduction
- Introduce your book – title, author, publication date,
(remember that the title of the book needs to be italicized
every time it is mentioned.)
- Include a transitional sentence to introduce the idea that
the general time frames of the challenges – recently,
multiple years, etc.
- End with a thesis statement that establishes your focus
2-3 Body Paragraphs
- Begin each paragraph with an topic sentence that
connected to the thesis statement.
- Develop each paragraph with relevant examples from your research that support your topic sentence.
- Draw on your experience reading the book to refute (argue against) or support the charges made against the book.
- End each paragraph with a concluding sentence that brings back the main idea of the paragraph and transitions to the next paragraph.
Conclusion
- Restate your thesis statement.
- Summarize your main points.
- As your closing, make a statement about what you've
your statement.
Bibliography
- Using MLA format, create a bibliography page listing the sources (at least two) that you used to research your book.
Successful essays will:
- include all structural and content elements
- demonstrate sufficient research drawn from at least two credible sources
- maintain a consistent academic (3rd person) voice – no 1st person (I) or 2nd person (you) pronouns
- be nearly free of mechanical and grammatical errors.
- contain no sentence fragments or run-on sentence
- include an MLA style bibliography listing sources consulted during research
Helpful Research Links
Office for Intellectual Freedom of the ALA - Frequently Challenged Books - lots of useful links from this page