The Book Cover Creator is designed to allow users to type and illustrate front book covers, front and back covers, and full dust jackets. Students can use the tool to create new covers for books that they read as well as to create covers for books they write individually or as a class. Students can use text tools to add formatting to their titles and book notes, add shading to background areas of the cover, and draw original images to illustrate their covers and dust jackets. The tool is easy to use, made even easier with the Book Cover Planning Sheets, printable PDFs that students can use to draft and revise their work before creating and printing their final book covers or dust jackets. For additional ideas on how to use this tool, see Tips for Using Book Cover Creator.

Visit this interactive tool at: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/bookcover/.

ReadWriteThink Lessons That Use This Tool

Blurring Genre: Exploring Fiction and Nonfiction with Diary of a Worm (6-8)
Students often believe that fiction writers make everything up, seldom realizing how research is incorporated into entertaining writing. They may believe that research only applies to school writing. In this lesson, students incorporate facts into a variety of text types, creating a class book similar to Diary of a Worm.

Book Clubs: Reading for Fun (3-5)
Students reading on their own and just for fun? Sure! This lesson explores how small groups of students decide to meet every other day to discuss what they've read in a "just for fun" book club they've organized—and that they control.

Book Report Alternative: Creating a New Book Cover (3-5)
This lesson plan invites students to critically observe book covers and dust jackets and learn more about what they include. Students are then given the opportunity to recreate a cover or a dust jacket for a book and compose an accompanying rationale for the changes they make.

Book Report Alternative: Hooking a Reader with a Book Cover (6-8)
In this lesson, students select a book to read based only on its cover art. After reading the book, they analyze the cover and use an interactive tool to create a new cover for it.

Building a Matrix for Leo Lionni Books: An Author Study (K-2)
In this author study, students listen to four books by Leo Lionni and discuss the literary elements of each story. With each new read-aloud story, students identify similarities and differences in the stories and work in groups to add illustrated information to a story matrix. Finally, students compare two stories of their choice.

Collaborating on a Class Book: Exploring Before-During-After Sequences (K-2)
In this classroom project, students and the teacher produce a class book through a group-writing activity, focusing on a basic before-during-after sequence of events. In this case, the book focuses on the carving of the class jack-o-lantern, though the lesson plan could be customized for explorations of other items in the classroom.

Collaborative Stories 2: Revising (K-2)
Using a story which has been written collaboratively by students, the teacher leads a shared-revising activity to help students consider content when revising, with students participating in the marking of text revisions.

Daily Book Boosts (3-5)
Each day at the end of their independent reading time, students give Book Boosts, one-minute raves about books they’ve read. These Book Boosts are easy ways to suggest a multitude of titles to students, and they act as a way for students to have something to think about as they read.

Draw a Story: Stepping from Pictures to Writing  (K-2)
Students draw a series of pictures that tell a simple story that includes character action, problem and solution. They ‘read’ their story to others, transcribe it into writing, and create an accordion book with the drawings and writing. The activity supports the transition from oral to written storytelling.

Exchanging Ideas by Sharing Journals: Interactive Response in the Classroom (3-5)
Pairs of students alternately respond to literature in literature journals, developing ongoing written dialogues that include making connections and predictions, stating opinions, asking and answering each others’ questions, and enhancing responses with drawings. The lesson works well with independent reading and/or literature group structures.

Exploring Irony in the Conclusion of All Quiet on the Western Front (9-12)
After reading All Quiet on the Western Front, students discuss the novel’s two-paragraph, ironic ending, which repeats the book’s title. They will then compose alternate titles and endings for the book, modeled on the original, and design new book covers that features their new titles.

It Doesn’t Have to End That Way: Using Prediction Strategies with Literature (K-2)
After listening to the beginning of a story, students use details in the text, personal experience, and prior knowledge to predict the way the story will end. Students create illustrations of the story’s ending that reflects their predictions.

Judging a Book by its Cover: The Art and Imagery of The Great Gatsby (9-12)
Francis Cugat’s 1925 cover art for The Great Gatsby and artwork by El Greco mentioned in the novel are the focus of prereading and postreading activities in this lesson plan. Students explore the novel’s allusion to art and its use of visual imagery and conclude their study by designing their own cover for the novel.

Leading to Great Places in the Elementary Classroom (3-5)
A story’s lead begins the reader’s adventure; yet it can just as likely end that odyssey if those opening words do not immediately entrance the reader. This mini-lesson examines types of leads in prominent children's literature and asks students to try their own hand at writing leads.

Looking at Landmarks: Using a Picture Book to Guide Research (3-5)
Using the picture book Ben’s Dream as an inspiration, children put their research skills to work. The book illustrates ten landmarks from around the world, without identifying the names of the landmark. In their related inquiry, students learn more about the monuments presented in the book, publish information about them and share that knowledge with others.

Opening the Door for Reading: Sharing Favorite Texts to Build Community (3-5)
Students focus on reading and creating classroom displays focused on favorite texts in this lesson plan. The class explores environmental print then focuses specifically on a teacher-created display that focuses on a favorite book. After exploring the teacher’s display, students create presentations on their own favorites. By sharing favorite books in this way, teachers and students build community by getting to know one another while simultaneously exploring works of literature.

Safety Tips With Officer Buckle and Gloria (K-2)
This lesson uses the book Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann to encourage students to recognize potentially dangerous situations and decide upon safe solutions. They then create posters to communicate their messages.

The Day Jimmy’s Boa Taught Cause and Effect (K-2)
Students can often better understand cause and effect if they look at the effect first and then ask, “What caused this?” Trinka Hakes Noble’s books about Jimmy and his boa constrictor are a wonderful way to introduce the concept of cause and effect since the stories are often told in reverse order.

Writing Poetry with Rebus and Rhyme (K-2)
This lesson encourages young students to use their developing knowledge of rhyming words to write rebus poetry modeled on rebus books, which substitute pictures for the harder words that young students cannot yet identify or decode.

Zines for Kids: Multigenre Texts About Media Icons (3-5)
Using ReadWriteThink.org online tools, students write short pieces in a variety of genres about a favorite media icon. After working with each tool, students print out their work and assemble the documents into their own zines.