We all remember doing book reports in elementary school. It was fairly standard. You read a book and you write a summary on it or do some type of creative project. This past spring, I assigned a biography book report. I followed the normal prescription: choose a book about someone you’re interested in, and write an essay. What was unusual this year was the pushback for reading a biography book. The internet offered more information and recent content than reading an outdated book. It was also becoming increasingly difficult to find books that were at students’ reading levels on people they wanted to read about. Additionally, some of my students chose people who may not have books written about them. One student wanted to research a fashion designer from a reality TV show!

I had to concede and become flexible about the “book” part of the book report. I encouraged my students to read multiple easier books and to research online. I encouraged them to stay away from Wikipedia as a primary source and to cite all other websites used. In the case of the fashion designer, this student managed to conduct an interview when he came to town for Fashion Week (yes, really!).

I’m not sure what I’ll do this year for the biography book report. I really like the creative project tied with it, it encourages reading outside of school, and the students enjoy choosing and researching a person of interest. However, there is an imbalance of work — some kids are researching minimally online and turning in an essay compared to other students who read and research a lot more. The writing and information quality is very different and I want to figure out a more equitable system.

Until then, it may be the death of the biography book report and the rise of the biography report.