how to do a one pager book report

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6 Tips for Using One-Pager Book Reports

I first heard of one-pager book reports when I was thrust into the world of high school English. I had been an elementary school teacher up until that point. (That is a story for another day.) Not having been in a high school English classroom for around eleven years, I utilized Pinterest and Instagram as my teachers. Yes, Instagram. I quickly “followed”  numerous high school English teachers to see their latest strategies, methodologies, and ideas to help my students to read and love reading.

One idea that I had never seen before that I saw on Instagram was the one-pager book reports. A one-pager is an alternative to a standard book report essay or writing assignment. Once a student is finished reading a book independently, or when the whole class is finished reading an assigned novel, students will complete a one-pager. 

A one-pager is made up of various sections. Sections include summarizing a novel, making connections, and reviewing any ELA standards taught while incorporating art. It is meant to be creative, and it contains pictures and quotes, and allows students’ imaginations to guide them through. Some sections that are present in a one-pager are characterization, setting, theme, important quotes, or pictures that symbolize various characters. The beauty of a one-pager is that the sections can vary based on teacher or student needs. 

My high school and middle schools students have tackled many one-pagers over the years. I feel like I have finally figured out the best way to approach them. Here are my tips. 

Tip 1: Keep It Simple

Keep it simple. When I first assigned a one-pager, it blew up in my face to be honest. I had bought one on Teachers Pay Teachers. It came with a plethora of requirements and ideas, prewriting pages, and templates. I followed the lessons step by step, but my students ended up confused and irritated. At the end, we all wanted to throw away those one-pagers. 

The next year, I realized that I needed to make sure to keep it simple. I threw away the prewriting pages and cut the list of requirements in half. I gave students two templates instead of several and then gave them the flexibility to go from there. It went so much smoother. When tackling one-pagers, make sure the requirements are less than more, offer clear-cut requirements, and try not to confuse students with so much prewriting work, which leads me to Tip 2.

Tip 2: Focus on Concepts

I realized that the prewriting work of researching quotes and answering a bunch of questions before making a one-pager is not necessary. If your novel unit has been taught solidly, students are already well-prepared ahead of time to complete their one-pager. 

Depending on what the requirements are, it is better to use the time to complete mini-lessons to review the concepts of the one-pager requirements. For instance, if the one-pager you assign has a couple of sections on indirect and direct characterization, it is a good idea to spend time reteaching that concept. 

If you are having students complete a one-pager to culminate an independent book project, students can answer questions based on the sections/requirements of the one-pager while they read their book. For instance, if a requirement is for students to draw the setting or find a picture representing the setting and include one quote to demonstrate the setting, have students do that  in a graphic organizer while they read their novel. 

Tip 3: Show Examples

Show examples! There are a plethora of one-pager examples online. Just do a quick google search. I also show students various one-pager examples from my own students over the years for them to get an idea. 

I have used different one-pager requirements depending on the novels I have taught. Some contain different sections than others. I first show students a ton of different examples so they can see the imagination, creation, and aesthetic appeal I want them to utilize and achieve. Then, I show them an example of a specific one-pager that they will be required to complete. Sometimes, I complete one myself so students can see the goal they are achieving. 

Here is an example of when my middle schoolers completed a one-pager report after reading Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. 

Tip 4: Provide Templates

Provide templates. Some students are ready to tackle this idea, but there is one thing holds them up. That is where to place each section on a report. I like to provide templates specific to their required one-pager in order for them to visually have a place for each requirement. It is super simple to do this. You can divide a piece of paper into the number of requirements by either drawing or creating boxes on Google Slides or Docs. 

Some students will choose not to use a template, but the important part is that a template is there in order not to have students hung up on the placement of sections. 

Tip 5: Let Them Be Creative

Allow space for them to be creative. Next, go over the requirements thoroughly, ensuring students understand each section by either reviewing or reteaching concepts through mini-lessons. Then, allow students to have the time to work on it. Students can listen to their own music in-class or you can play Starbucks music on YouTube. However, give your students the space to create and use their imaginations. A one-pager is a way for them to connect to their reading on a deeper, personal level. By using art to do this, they are connecting both parts of their brain to achieve this. 

Allan Paivio’s dual coding theory states that the brain processes things two ways: visually and verbally. When combining language with art, students remember things more and create a more powerful connection to their reading.

By completing a one-pager in class, students can readily ask you questions as well.

Tip 6: Display Work

Display or present one-pagers. I find that students love to see the finished products of their classmates. It is so interesting to see how each individual student takes their own approach to the same requirements and how each student presents the information differently. Oftentimes I have students present their one-pager to the class, and then I will display them for a while. It also helps inspire them for when they may complete another one-pager.

Grab our newest product today! These simple-to-use and easy-to-follow one-pagers are perfect for upper elementary to even high school students. The templates are for fiction or non-fiction books. Also, the templates are very specific and act as a map for the student.

• Each template comes with a very detailed  EDITABLE  rubric to help guide the students along as well.
• Finally, this includes an  EDITABLE  sign and bulletin board border for a bulletin board display to show off those amazing one-pagers.
• With the fiction one-pager, you will be able to accurately assess your students on theme, symbolism, setting, and character traits among other items.
• With the non-fiction one-pager, you will be able to accurately assess your students on non-fiction text features, setting, key information, and facts among other items.
• These one-pagers will allow your students to use originality and creativity to demonstrate their understanding of a book.

If you have not yet used one-pagers in the ELA classroom, I encourage you to explore them. I am including the very one-pager and template I have used most recently with my middle schoolers. One-pagers empower students to use their creativity and imagination, while thinking outside of the box, to connect to their reading.

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20 One-Pager Examples, Plus Advice for Using Them With Your Students

A single page of notes can be a real game-changer.

One-pagers and Sketchnotes have become incredibly popular in recent years, and it’s easy to see why. Rather than just jotting down words on a page, students use one-pagers to visually represent key points and takeaways. They’re fun to create and have a real impact on memory and comprehension. Here’s how to use them, plus lots of terrific one-pager examples to inspire you and your students.

What Are One-Pagers?

Source: Chomping at the Lit

One-pagers invite students to think deeply about a text and produce a single page to represent its most important aspects. They usually include some images, doodles, or other graphic elements, giving them the alternate name Sketchnotes . One-pagers are often full of color and may include more images than words, depending on the student. They’re most commonly used in ELA classrooms but can be helpful in other subjects too.

This note-taking concept was pioneered by AVID , a group that seeks to prepare all students for college. As one-pagers caught on, teachers found that students who used one-pagers made a deeper connection to the text and had better retention of key concepts. AVID’s guidelines encourage students to share their one-pagers with one another, helping to inspire learning in a variety of visual ways.

How To Get Started With One-Pagers

Source: Spark Creativity

One problem teachers face when encouraging kids to use one-pagers is that some students don’t feel “artistic” enough. They may also not know where to start. When teaching kids to use Sketchnote one-pagers, provide more direction at first. Start by showing kids one-pager examples (see below). Ask what they notice about these Sketchnotes. Some characteristics they might note:

• The information and images fill the whole page.
• They’re colorful and full of illustrations.
• The illustrations don’t need to be expert, they just help emphasize a connection.
• Words are carefully chosen to highlight key concepts.

Some kids will take the idea and run with it right off the bat. Others will need a little more help. In this case, offering one-pager templates like these from Spark Creativity can really help.

You can also share these specific directions from AVID , which provide guidance on what to include on each page. Giving students a clear list of what to cover will increase confidence and free them up to be creative. For example, in English Language Arts, you might ask students to:

• Sketch one visual symbol that represents the text’s main theme.
• Write out two quotations that show the author’s style.
• Include a sketch and a sentence representing the setting.
• Make connections between the text and current events using sketches and text.
• Examine one or two main characters and their development.
• Identify three symbols through sketches or text.
• Include a statement about one thing they connected with in the reading.

One-Pager Examples and Ideas

Here are some outstanding one-pager examples on a variety of texts and topics. Note the incredible array of styles, which you can use to remind kids that there’s no one right way to use Sketchnotes. Encourage them to be creative!

Simple DNA One-Pager

Source: @sciencelessonsthatrock

We like this one-pager example because it shows students that you don’t need to be an expert artist to create something meaningful.

Poetry One-Pager

Source: @prestoplans

Here’s an example of how a template can provide students with strong guidance to get them started. This one-pager has more words than illustrations, but it’s still colorful and engaging.

Digital One-Pager

Source: @readitwriteitlearnit

One-pagers can go digital too! Try a whiteboard tool like Jamboard to make the process easy.

The Outsiders One-Pagers

Source: @wonderingwithmrswatto, The Outsiders

Source: @wonderingwithmrswatto, Digital The Outsiders

Take a look at these two different one-pager examples, one handwritten and one digital—and both effective!

Symbols One-Pager

Source: @studyallknight

Here’s another terrific way to use a template. Students can sketch the symbol, then add in handwritten notes for more info.

Beowulf One-Pager

Source: @gretazefo

This note-taking option really gives artistic students a chance to shine! Just make sure they add enough information (graphic or text) to help them make connections with what they’ve read.

The Great Gatsby One-Pager

Source: @mrsreganreads

Sketching characters from books can bring them to life for readers. Highlight a few quotes that truly express their personalities.

Power Profiles One-Pager

Source: @laumom

Students can use one-pagers to demonstrate what they know. They make interesting alternatives to essays or book reports.

Because of Winn-Dixie One-Pagers

Source: @enrichingelementary

Note that although each student used the same basic template (hand-drawn too, so don’t worry about making copies!), they each created something different and meaningful to themselves.

Fahrenheit 451 One-Pager

Source: @mudandinkteaching

Encourage students to add at least some images to their Sketchnotes, even if they’re as simple as stick figures or outlines. This engages different parts of the brain than just writing words does, and it deepens recall.

Letter From Birmingham Jail One-Pager

Source: @thehodgenator

Even when writing text, try to use a variety of colors and styles for emphasis. Just shading a background can draw the eye to something important.

Geography One-Pager

Source: @wmscl4

One-pagers are terrific for comparing and contrasting information, like this one comparing how geography affects the lives of people in China and India.

The Running Dream One-Pager

Source: @mayor_james

We love the idea of adding a word cloud to a one-pager! If you’re making a digital version, try these word cloud generators .

Intro One-Pager

Source: @nowsparkcreativity

One-pagers are such a fun way to do a getting-to-know-you activity on the first day of class.

Frayer Model Vocab One-Pager

Source: @missjackiesroom

The Frayer model graphic organizer is a terrific lead-in to more creative one-pagers, and a nice way to get students more comfortable with the format.

Inaugural Address One-Pager

Source: @mrsprzbooks

The main image choice can set the tone for an entire one-pager analysis.

USA One-Pager

Source: Teach With Tina

Don’t be afraid to try one-pagers in any class, for any topic!

Want to share more one-pager examples or ask for advice? Join the conversation in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, get our free reading comprehension strategies bundle ..

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8 Creative Ways to Use Sketchnotes in Your Classroom

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Top 7 One-page Book Report Templates with Samples and Examples

Utsav Sinha

Wondering why a one-page book report is vital for businesses and organizations? Here's an interesting fact: Reports with drama and suspense can capture readers' attention more effectively. Adding these elements to your summary report can increase engagement by up to 40%. Decision-makers can save time without missing important details by condensing a gripping storyline into just one page. This concise summary gives you a bird's-eye view of the book's plot and lets busy professionals quickly grasp its essence.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the thought of writing a book report? Well, you're in luck! SlideTeam has put together a collection of one-page book report templates that will make the process a breeze. These templates are designed to help you showcase your thoughts and insights about any literary masterpiece, no matter how complex. Your book reports will stand out with their user-friendly layouts and eye-catching designs.

Let’s explore the templates on offer!

Template 1: One-page Drama Suspense Book Report PPT Template 

Hey there, bookworms! If you're looking for a way to quickly assess a book before you read it, check out this template. It covers all the essential elements of a book report, including the title, genre, summary, main events, conclusion, and main characters. You can even add your sections if you want.

If you're looking for a way to quickly and easily summarize a book, our one-page drama suspense book report template is perfect for you. Download the template, fill in the information, and you're ready!

Download now

Template 2: One-page Summary Book Report Example PPT Set

This one-page fiction book report template will give you all the information you need to decide if a book is right for you. It includes the title, author, main characters, and story summary. You can also add your thoughts and insights, such as your favorite characters or the main event in the story.

It is a great way to help students enhance their cognitive skills. Students can learn to think and develop solutions by discussing the issues in the story. They can also write about their favorite characters and the main event in the story, which will help them to understand the book better.

Template 3: One-page Non-fictional Book Report PPT Slide

Here’s a professional and efficient tool to streamline your book review process. This template is designed to help you quickly and easily summarize the key ideas in any non-fiction book.

It includes an example of a well-written one-page book report highlighting the storyline and underlying themes. This will ensure that your readers thoroughly understand the book, even if they only have a few minutes to spare.

This makes it perfect for presentations, reports, or any other situation where you must share your thoughts on a non-fiction book.

Template 4: One-page Book Report Example PPT Set

This template is a great way to improve your organization's efficiency and professionalism. This PPT Design makes it easy to create concise and visually appealing book reports that will impress your audience. You can also add your content and images to make the reports more engaging.

It includes slides for a book report's essential elements, such as the plot, characters, themes, and analysis. This makes creating a comprehensive and informative report easy on just one page.

Whether you're presenting to clients or colleagues, our One Page Book Report Example PPT Template is a great way to showcase your book knowledge and impress your audience.

Template 5: One-page Intense Action Thriller Book Report PPT Template 

Want to present your action-thriller book reports in a dynamic and efficient way? This PPT template is perfect for you. It's designed for organizations and businesses and will enhance your professional image.

This template is sleek and easy to use, so you can quickly summarize the most gripping plot twists, compelling characters, and heart-pounding moments of any action-packed book. It's also versatile so that you can customize it to your liking.

With this template, you can create concise, impactful, and engaging presentations. Your colleagues and clients will be impressed with your presentations, and you'll be sure to leave a lasting impression.

Template 6: One-page Fiction Book Report PPT Presentation

If you want to make your organization's presentations more captivating, we've got just the thing for you - our Page Fiction Book Report PPT Template. It's the perfect solution to summarize your favorite works of fiction in just one slide, saving you time and impressing your audience. 

Our template looks sleek and professional; you can customize it to match your branding guidelines. It covers essential elements of a book report, from the plot to the characters, themes, and analysis, so you can create comprehensive and informative details in just one page. 

Whether you're presenting to clients or colleagues, our One Page Fiction Book Report PPT Template is a fantastic way to showcase your knowledge of a book and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Template 7: One-page Action Book Report PPT Template 

Are you tired of writing long, boring book reports? This PPT template is the perfect solution for you! 

The template is designed to be both professional and visually appealing. It includes pre-designed sections for key takeaways, analysis, and recommendations to add your content easily. The intuitive layout makes it easy to locate your presentation, and the visually appealing slides will help your audience stay engaged.

So what are you waiting for? Invest in success and download our One Page Action Book Report PPT Template today!

Here are some of the benefits of using the template:

• It is easy to use and navigate.
• It is visually appealing and engaging.
• It is customizable to match your corporate identity.
• It is efficient and saves you time.

Over To You

We've explored seven of the best one page book report templates available online and provided examples and samples to help get you started. With a suitable template, it can be easy to quickly create a high-quality finished product that will impress your teachers or professors. Whether you are writing a summary for school or just want to know more about a book before deciding if it is worth reading, we hope these templates have helped make the process easier and more enjoyable.

FAQS on Book Report

What should be on a one-pager book report.

A one-pager book report is a concise and focused document that summarizes the key elements of a book. It should include the following sections:

• Title and Author: The title of the book and the author's name.
• Summary: A summary of the book's plot, highlighting the main events and key themes.
• Characters: The main characters in the book and their roles.
• Theme/Meaning: The central theme or message of the book.
• Style/Writing: The author's writing style, whether engaging, descriptive, or thought-provoking.
• Personal Opinion: The writer's opinion of the book, including whether they enjoyed it and why.
• Recommendations: A recommendation of the book to a specific audience or a mention of similar books.

How do I write a book report?

To write a book report:

• Start with an introduction that includes the book's title, author, and a concise overview.
• Summarize the main plot points without spoilers.
• Analyze the book's themes, characters, and writing style.
• Evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, and support your opinions with examples.
• Conclude by summarizing your main points and offering your overall assessment and recommendation.
• Proofread and revised for clarity and coherence.

What is a one-pager book review?

A one-pager book review is a concise and condensed summary and analysis of a book that fits onto a single page. It is a brief and focused review that highlights the book's key elements and provides a snapshot of its content and your evaluation. A one-pager review typically includes the book's title, author, and a summary of the plot, main characters, key themes, and your personal opinion or assessment of the book. It often incorporates visual elements such as images, symbols, or quotes to enhance the presentation.

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A Beginner's Guide to Writing a Book Report (with Examples)

Last Updated: March 13, 2024 Fact Checked

Researching Your Book Report

Outlining your book report, writing your book report, reviewing and revising your book report, sample book reports & summaries, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Jake Adams and by wikiHow staff writer, Raven Minyard, BA . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,418,009 times.

A book report is a short essay that summarizes and analyzes a work of fiction or nonfiction. Writing a book report may not seem fun at first, but it gives you a great chance to fully understand a work and its author. In this article, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about how to write a book report, from choosing a book and outlining to drafting and editing your final paper.

Things You Should Know

• Read the entire book and take notes on important themes, characters, and events. Use your notes to create an outline with evidence that supports your analysis.
• Include the title and author in your intro, then summarize the plot, main characters, and setting of the book.
• Analyze the author’s writing style, as well as the main themes and arguments of the book. Include quotes and examples to support your statements.

• For example, find out if your teacher wants you to include citations, such as page numbers from the book, in your report.
• Ask your teacher how much of your paper to devote to summary versus analysis. Most book reports are direct summaries with objective analysis rather than your personal opinions. In contrast, a book review or commentary is more opinion-driven.

• Some popular books for book reports include To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Animal Farm by George Orwell, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Choose a book at your grade level.

• Author: Who wrote the book? Do you know any other works by this author?
• Genre: Is the book fiction or nonfiction? If it’s fiction, is it historical, fantasy, horror, etc.? If it’s nonfiction, is it a biography, memoir, science, etc.?
• Audience: Who would find this book appealing? Is it intended for a specific age range or gender? Do you typically enjoy books like this?
• Title: Does the title catch your interest? Does it fit well with the book’s content?
• Book Cover/Illustrations: What does the book cover convey and does it accurately represent the book? How do you feel when you look at it? If the book has illustrations, what are they and do they hold your interest?

• Take breaks while reading to keep your attention sharp. Try to find a pace that is comfortable for you. If you get distracted after 15 minutes, read in 15-minute intervals. If you can go an hour, read for an hour at a time.
• Give yourself enough time to read the entire book. It’s very difficult to write a book report if you’ve just skimmed over everything. Don’t procrastinate!
• Don’t trust online book summaries. You can’t guarantee that they are accurate or true to the text.

• For example, look for a sentence that clearly describes a main setting in the book, such as “The castle was gloomy and made out of large black stones.”

• Introduction: Introduce the title, author, and publication information. Include a brief overview of the book’s genre and main theme, and state your purpose for writing the report.
• Summary: Concisely summarize the plot or central idea, highlighting main events, characters, and conflicts. Focus on important aspects while avoiding spoilers.
• Analysis and Evaluation: Evaluate the author’s writing style and use of literary devices, like foreshadowing, metaphors, imagery, etc. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the book and use quotes and examples from the text.
• Themes and Messages: Identify the book’s main themes or messages and how they develop through the course of the book. Provide specific quotes and examples.
• Character Analysis: Analyze the main characters in the book, their development, and their relationships. Explain their motivations, personalities, and significance to the story. Provide examples and quotes to support your analysis.
• Personal Reflection: Depending on your teacher’s instructions, you might share your personal opinions and discuss what you liked and disliked about the book. Reflect on how the book relates to broader themes or issues.
• Conclusion: Summarize your main points and conclude with your final thoughts or reflections on the book.
• Bibliography: If required, include a works cited page or bibliography listing all the sources you used to write your book report.
• Outlining takes time, but it saves you more time once you reach the editing stage.
• Some people prefer to outline with pen and paper, while others just type up a list on the computer. Choose the method that works best for you.

• Be careful not to overuse quotes. If it seems like every other line is a quote, try to dial back. Aim to include a maximum of one quotation per paragraph. Quotes and examples should still take a backseat to your summary.

• For example, you’ll likely need to focus primarily on discussing the most important characters or the characters that appear most frequently in the text.
• When you are finished with your outline, go back through it to see if it makes sense. If the paragraphs don’t flow into one another, move them around or add/delete new ones until they do.
• Also, check to see if your outline covers all of the major elements of the book, such as the plot, characters, and setting.

• For example, a sentence summary might state, “This book is about the main character’s journey to Africa and what she learns on her travels.”
• Don’t take up too much space with your introduction. In general, an introduction should be 3-6 sentences long, though in rare cases, they may be longer or shorter.

• Use vivid language when you can and include plenty of details. For example, you might write, “The farm was surrounded by rolling hills.”

• For instance, if the main character moves to Africa, you might describe what happens before the move, how the move goes, and how they settle in once they arrive.

• For example, you might write that the main character is “a middle-aged woman who enjoys the finer things in life, such as designer clothes.” Then, connect this description to the plot summary by describing how her views change after her travels, if they do.
• Expect to introduce the characters in the same sentences and paragraphs as the plot introduction.

• You might write, “The author argues that travel gives you a new perspective. That is why her main characters all seem happier and more grounded after visiting new places.”
• For fiction, determine if the author is using the story to pass along a certain moral or lesson. For example, a book about an underdog athlete could encourage readers to take chances to pursue their dreams.

• For example, an author who uses lots of slang terms is probably going for a hip, approachable style.

• Some teachers require, or strongly suggest, that you include the author’s name and the book title in your concluding paragraph.
• When writing a conclusion , don’t introduce any new thoughts. Any important points should be made in your body paragraphs. Save the space for your recap.

• Before you submit your paper, make sure that you’ve spelled the author’s name and any character names correctly.
• Don’t trust your computer’s spell check to catch all the errors for you. Spell check can be helpful, but it isn’t perfect and can make mistakes.

• If you’re nervous about asking, try saying something like “It would be great if you could go over my book report and make sure that it reads smoothly.”
• Remember, no one’s first draft is perfect, so don’t get upset if someone suggests you do something differently. They want to help make your report the best it can be, so don’t take constructive criticism personally.

• For example, double-check that you are using the correct font, font size, and margins.
• Once you've finished proofreading, revising, and checking that you've addressed all the requirements, you're ready to submit your book report!

• Even though your book report is your own work, avoid using “I” too much. It can make your writing feel choppy. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• It might be tempting to watch the movie or read the online notes instead of reading the book. Resist this urge! Your teacher will be able to tell the difference. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

• Calm down and walk around if you get too frustrated while writing. If you write a book report while angry, you're more likely to misspell things!
• Choose a unique book. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson is an absolute no. Everyone chooses those. Try something different!
• Write when anything comes to mind! You don't want to lose your ideas!

• Give yourself plenty of time to write your report. Don’t wait until the last minute or you may feel rushed. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
• Stealing or using another person’s work is considered plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Make sure that the work you submit is all your own. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.aresearchguide.com/write-book-report.html
• ↑ Jake Adams. Academic Tutor & Test Prep Specialist. Expert Interview. 24 July 2020.
• ↑ https://grammark.org/how-to-write-a-book-report/
• ↑ https://library.valleycollege.edu/elements_of_book_report.pdf
• ↑ https://takelessons.com/blog/steps-to-writing-a-book-report
• ↑ https://www.infoplease.com/homework-help/homework-center-writing-book-report
• ↑ https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-setting
• ↑ https://www.tcc.edu/wp-content/uploads/archive/writing-center-handouts/essay-types-plot-summary.pdf
• ↑ https://www.cornerstone.edu/blog-post/six-steps-to-really-edit-your-paper/

About This Article

To write a book report, start by introducing the author and the name of the book and then briefly summarizing the story. Next, discuss the main themes and point out what you think the author is trying to suggest to the reader. Finally, write about the author’s style of writing, paying particular attention to word choice and the overall tone of the book. For tips on editing and polishing your paper before turning it in, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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A Simple Trick for Success with One-Pagers

May 26, 2019

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Listen to my interview with Betsy Potash ( transcript ):

Sponsored by Chill Expeditions and Kiddom

Have you heard the whispers about one-pagers in the online teacher hallways? The concept of a one-pager, in which students share their most important takeaways on a single piece of blank paper, has really taken off recently.  

The one-pagers I see on Instagram draw me in like a slice of double chocolate mousse cake. The artistry students bring to representing their texts on a single piece of paper, blending images and ideas in creative color, is almost hypnotizing for me. Perhaps you’ve had the same experience.

But it’s the very beauty of the models that get posted that can drive students and teachers away from the one-pager activity. Sure, it’s great for super artistic students , we tend to think, but what about everyone else?

Turns out it CAN be great for everyone. As long as you know how to structure it.

What Is a One-Pager?

Let’s backtrack a bit and talk more about what a one-pager is. It’s pretty simple, really. Students take what they’ve learned—from a history textbook, a novel, a poem, a podcast, a Ted Talk, a guest speaker, a film—and put the highlights onto a single piece of paper. AVID first developed this strategy, but now it’s widely used in and out of AVID classrooms.

But why is this seemingly simple assignment so powerful?

As students create one-pagers, the information they put down becomes more memorable to them as they mix images and information. According to Allan Paivio’s dual coding theory, the brain has two ways of processing: the visual and the verbal. The combination of the two leads to the most powerful results. Students will remember more when they’ve mixed language and imagery.

Plus, one-pagers provide variety, a way for them to share what they’ve learned that goes beyond the usual written options. Students tend to surprise themselves with what they come up with, and their work makes for powerful displays of learning. Plus, they’re fun to make. Let’s not pretend that doesn’t matter.

So, assuming you’re sold on trying this out, you’re probably wondering what exactly goes into a one-pager?

Students might include quotations, ideas, images, analysis, key names and dates, and more. They might use their one-pagers to make connections to their own lives, to art or films, to pop culture, to what they’re learning in their other classes. They might even do it all. You’d be amazed at how much can fit on a single piece of paper.

Many teachers create lists of what students should put inside their one-pagers. Knowing they need two quotations, several symbolic images, one key theme, etc., helps guide students in their work.

The Art Problem

When creating one-pagers, artistic students tend to feature more sketches, doodles, icons and lettering. Students wary of art tend to feature more text, and can be reluctant to engage with the visual part of the assignment at all.

It was this issue—the issue of the art-haters—that first drew me into one-pagers two years ago. I had seen some stunning one-pagers posted in my Facebook group, Creative High School English . But the comments that followed were always the same. “That’s amazing work! But so many of my students don’t like art….”

Those comments struck a chord with me. For years I had dealt with comments from some of my own students about their distaste for artistic materials when I would introduce creative projects. No matter how much I explained that it was the intention behind their choices that mattered, I always got some pushback if there were any artistic elements involved in a project.

Was there a way to tweak the one-pager assignment so every student would feel confident in their success?

Another problem was one of overall design: Though they knew they needed to hit all the requirements their teachers listed, students still seemed to be overwhelmed by that huge blank page. What should go where? Did colored pencils really have to be involved?

A Simple Solution: Templates

As I thought about the problem, I wondered if students would feel less overwhelmed if they knew what needed to go where. If the quotations had to be in the middle, the themes in the upper left, the images across the bottom, etc. I began to play around with the shapes tool in PowerPoint, creating different one-pager templates.  

Then I began shaping my requirements, correlating each element with a space on the paper. Maybe the border could be the key quotations. The center would feature an important symbol. The themes could go in circles around the center. I developed a bunch of different templates for varied ways to respond to novels. Then I tried podcasts. Films. Poetry.

As I shared these templates with other teachers, I kept getting the same feedback: “It’s working!”  

That little bit of creative constraint actually frees students to use their imagination to represent what they have learned on the page without fear. They know what they need to put down, and where, but they are also free to expand and add to the template. To choose their own colors. To bring out what is most important to them through their creativity and artistry. And those super artistic students? They can just flip the template over and use the blank page on the back.

Beyond Novels

There are so many ways to integrate this creative strategy into your classroom. While one-pagers lend themselves beautifully to final assessments after reading independent novels, literature circle selections, or whole class novels, that’s really just the beginning.

You can use them to get to know students better, as with a name tent or “about me” one-pager at the beginning of the year. One school used templates to have every student create a one-pager about their own lives, collecting them all into hallway displays as part of a project they called “Tell your Story.”

You can also use them to help students focus in on the most important information in nonfiction articles and books. One EFL teacher in Croatia used the templates to have students share key takeaways from articles they read about social media. Not only did students have to analyze the text deeply to figure out what was most important, but the dual-coding theory suggests the process of creating the one-pagers will help them remember the information better.

Another great use for one-pagers is to keep students focused while absorbing media. When students are watching a film, listening to a podcast, or even attending an assembly with a guest speaker, they can be creating one-pagers as they listen, a kind of formalized version of sketchnotes.

Simple Steps for One-Pager Success

Whenever you’re considering your options for assessment, throw one-pagers into the mix. The steps below should help you in creating an assignment for which every student has a roadmap to success.

1.    Choose the elements you want your students to put onto their one-pagers. For example, quotations, key themes, literary elements, discussion of style, important characters or dates, connections to other disciplines, connections to their lives, connections to modern culture.

2.    Create a layout using the shapes tool in PowerPoint or something similar (or grab a free set of templates here or here ).

3.    Connect your instructions to your layout. Make it clear which elements should go in which area of your template.

4.    Create a simple rubric with the key categories you want your students to succeed with. With literary one-pagers, I use “Textual Analysis,” “Required Elements,” and “Thoroughness.”

5. As you introduce the assignment, show students some examples of one-pagers to give them a sense for how they might proceed.

6.    Give students time to work on their one-pagers in class so they can ask you questions. Consider providing some artistic materials if you can, or inviting students to bring them in. You can always let them complete the work at home if necessary.

7.    Do a gallery walk of the one-pagers before you collect them, or have them present to each other in small groups. The students will learn a lot from seeing each other’s representations.

8.    Create a display after you grade the one-pagers with your rubric.

You can find more of Betsy’s great ideas on her website, Spark Creativity .

Come back for more. Join our mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration that will make your teaching more effective and fun. You’ll get access to our members-only library of free downloads, including 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half , the e-booklet that has helped thousands of teachers save time on grading. Over 50,000 teachers have already joined—come on in.

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Categories: Instruction , Podcast

Tags: assessment , English language arts , teaching strategies

58 Comments

Using this for assessment is also a great idea to provide an idea of student learning. Can you comment on how you use these for assessment and how you assess the one-pagers? Thanks!

Hi Kim, I think one-pagers make a great closing assessment for many units. They provide a chance for kids to really sum up everything they’ve learned, whether it’s from a novel, a series of poems, a part of history, etc. I think it helps a lot to grade them from a clear rubric – if you download my free set of templates, it includes the rubric I designed. You might want to grab it, just to help you design your own if you prefer. Hope this helps! Betsy

i think the students really help between to encourage other students to be creative and loyal to others and make up your own ideas.

Can you share a link to your rubric templates?

Hi Tish, you can go to A Simple Trick for Success with One-Pagers and find the links to the rubrics. If you look at the captions under the images, there’s a link to download them directly. Hope this helps!

I assess one-pagers against our education department’s rubric for written work – we have one for personal response (ideas + presentation) and another, more elaborate one for essays (content + support + form/structure + choices + correctness). It transfers nicely to one-pagers, and provides enough buffer for the kids who fear the artistic components. Here are our rubrics: https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/edc-2019-2020-ela30-1-scoring-guide.pdf

Hi there! This is awesome! Do you have any samples or formats for a math class? Algebra 1 and Geometry? I can see this more so with geometry since there’s lots of shapes and visuals. Thanks for your help and input!

I had students make a math one (I teach 6th grade) as a 2nd semester review. They had to include 3 things from each unit from that semester. Since we had 5 units, they broke the paper up into 5 sections.

Hi Brittany, That sounds like a wonderful review! Did you encourage them to bring in some visuals and color to help bring the concepts to life? I hope it went well! Betsy

Hi Janice, I’m afraid I don’t have any examples for math, but I think it would work very similarly. I would suggest template sections on main ideas from the unit, illustrations of the main ideas, connections to students’ own lives and the modern world, connections to other math concepts, etc. I hope that’s helpful! Betsy

I love this idea! I’m wondering how to tweak it to use in our math classrooms. Time to start experimenting. Thank you for this!

This is so helpful. I am a math teacher and a mother. My teenage son would come to a screeching halt whenever he had to generate a visual representation, because he dd not know how. I finally convinced him that, since the teacher had not *taught* him any art, and would not be *assessing* him on the artistic merit of his work, that, for instance, tracing was an ok thing to do. We expect kids to “do art” when they have not been taught how to, and some of them are not in a position (for whatever reason) to spontaneously “do art.” Why is this? (BTW, I hold a BFA.)

Hi Johanna, I hear you! It’s sad for me how little artistic outlet our students get these days, if they don’t choose to follow it on their own. It’s one reason I love this type of assignment, that can let those who flourish with art fly, and provide some reasonable small steps for those who feel intimidated by it. I’m glad you found these ideas helpful! Betsy

I’ve been hearing about these for a while! So glad to see this break down of the activity. I think creating templates is such a wonderful idea to help those students who struggle to see themselves as creative. I had my writing students create infographics this past semester, and showing them all the templates on canva really helped them feel more comfortable with creating their own examples of the genre. I’m definitely going to give this activity a try, potentially as a shareable attachment to their short autobiographies at the beginning of the semester. Thanks for the idea!

Erika, I’m so glad you find the template idea helpful! I couldn’t agree with you more about how helpful it is to share some structure ideas when approaching a design task – I love Canva too. I’ve seen some great results with one-pagers reflecting kids’ own lives, so I hope the autobiographical one-pagers will turn out well for you!

Another way to get around the “art” issue, is to use digital templates online such as the pre-set templates available on platforms like Pictochart, or create your own to share and use within Google Classroom. Encourage students to use free graphics from Copyright Commons approved sites, create comic strips to import from tools such as Pixton, etc. Another way to increase student engagement and engage in multimodal meaning making…

What great ideas! I love giving kids the option to go digital if they feel comfortable in that design space, and these are a lot of wonderful specific options. Thanks!

I teach high school physics. I can think of ways for astronomy and earth science but what of Newton’s laws or projectile motion. A section for equations. A definition perhaps. What else? Any suggestions?

What about sections that illustrate some of the principals, and a section that shows examples of practical applications of the scientific laws in students’ own lives?

I’m a science teacher, too. I know someone who assigned “Newtoons”, where kids had to think of a real world example and apply Newton’s laws to it in the form of a cartoon. Perhaps that could be incorporated into a one pager?

I think I will check out Newtoons

I would love some advice on how to use this with college math students.

Hi Lauren, I think it can be adapted to math with pretty similar template sections. You could have sections for main concepts, key equations, connections to other math or science concepts, connections to the real world, etc. And throughout, you could encourage students to create visuals that demonstrate the information to go with their text. I hope that’s helpful! Betsy

I went digital with one pagers this spring. Students used Adobe Spark to create and published on a class Padlet. Voila! No art supplies needed (and by May, few are to be had!).

Digital is a great option for one-pagers! Canva would be another fun place to experiment for those without access to Spark.

One other alternative is to pair up two students for the one-pager. One student could be more artistic/visual and the other more textual. Such a pair would have to learn to cooperate, communicate, and build on each other’s strengths. The process could be just as important as the product. Alternatively, each person in the pair could separately come up with various parts of the design. They would then meet to choose which elements to include or re-design to make the one-pager.

Tim, This is a great idea! Thanks for sharing.

Hi, I love having students gallery Walk their one pagers, but not sure what sort of accountability piece to have students complete as they do the gallery Walk and examine each other’s works. Any suggestions would be great!

Hi Courtney, I may have some suggestions for you for this. When my students do gallery walks, they usually complete a graphic organizer that sits with the work of each author. There are two forms I like to use: the Glows and Grows and the TAG sheet. The format is up to you but it can be as simple as a 2- or 3-column table on a page. The Glows and Grows is just two categories: One glow telling what the author did well, and one grow telling what they can do to make their work even better. The TAG sheet is similar but takes it one step further. T- Tell something you liked, A- Ask a question, G- Give a suggestion. I find that both these tools help students recognize good practices in their work of their peers, help them to spot errors that they might want to avoid, and give solid feedback that they respect because it’s coming from their peers. Hope you find this helpful!

What a cool way to let each student play to their own strengths. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for this simple break down. I do a lot of writing and I’d like my students to be more reflective of what they learn from each assignment, particularly when we address a new style of writing. Any suggestions on how to use this with writing?

Hi Lauren, There are a few solid ways to use one-pagers around writing. One is to use it as an argument writing activity, or pre-writing. You can create a template where there are places for main ideas, counterarguments, quotations, and a thesis, all to be shared through both text and imagery. Another option would be to get meta and create a one-pager that is actually about the type of writing the student has just tried out and reflects the work they did and what they need to improve. With this type of template, you could create space for the main structures of the writing, what the student excelled at, and what they need to work on for the next iteration. Again, all to be shared through both text and imagery. Yet one more option would be to create a series of mini-one-pagers throughout the year that reflect writing type. So you could teach them the structures of different types of writing and have them create small illustrated versions to put together as a guide for themselves moving forwards. At the end of the year, they’d have a little book illustrating argument writing, opinion writing, compare and contrast, etc. Hope those ideas help! Betsy

I love one pagers and have used them for the last few years both with and without the template. I also taught my students how to make an infographic this year using Canva and they loved it. I think next year, I will combine the two and have them make their one-pager electronically so that both the artistic kids and the non-art lovers can be equally successful.

I have been doing projects similar to these for many years:))) Love the way you broke the ideas into steps and defined the process. Templates are great!!!!

I provide the option of collaging from magazines for my students who see themselves as less artistically inclined. They can do just collage or combine collage elements with some of their own drawings. I find this makes them feel less insecure about their drawing abilities. An unintended bonus is that some students have realized that they can be artistic without having to put pencil or paint to paper.

Love this idea of a collage for an option! I am trying one pagers this year in history to review units prior to quizzes and tests.

Love these. I have often used the Frayer model – with adaptions- for math and science concepts and or just terminology.

I used One-Pagers with my AP Human students as an end of year review. Students had to do one One-Pager per chapter. My students told me this was the best review and the most enjoyable work they did all year. They really felt this prepared them for the AP exam. Even the non-artistic students did a beautiful job!

I am using this as a project for a movie we’re watching. I’m allowing them to utilize the template or free-style, as I have quite the range of skill and anxiety in my class. Thank you for sharing.

Vickie, We are glad to hear that you’re planning to use one-pagers in your class. Let us know how it goes with your students.

How do you encourage students to use images? In providing a checklist of items I wanted students to include, somehow the One-Pagers my students recently completed for social studies included mostly text. Do I also require a certain number of images? amount of color? When I used One-Pagers last year, they were much more successful. I don’t recall how my prompt was different. I use your marvelous templates (thank you) and examples (thank you again) and the directions that identifying specific information needs to be considered. What is missing? Why aren’t the images a focus? How might I change my prompt.

With appreciation, Lisa

Hello! What is the research behind one-pagers? I would like to incorporate this method into my classroom.

This is wonderful, and it’s exactly what my students need! I’ve wanted to incorporate one-pagers into our units, but my anti-art, special ed students have balked at the idea. Thanks for sharing these templates!

Stacy, We are glad that this is exactly what you needed for your students!

I agree with all of you

I love this concept of a one pager to summarize a lesson. I teach kindergarten and can see how the students can use this technique to introduce themselves to the class.

I have never heard of the concept of using one-pagers in a classroom, though I can vaguely remember doing something very similar in a high school English class. After reading this blog post and listening to the interview, I am very excited to work this into a lesson plan that I am currently working on! Thank you for the tips and information on how to do these correctly.

I’ve tried to incorporate one pagers in my high school history classes but have struggled with how to use them effectively. The students were often intimidated or overwhelmed and the lessons seemed to flop every time. Thank you for the walk through of your process and templates. My attempts were missing the structure/parameters my students needed to be successful. I’m excited to tweak my lessons for next year and use the strategies you discussed.

Does anyone know of research related to using digital tools to write and draw and does this help or hinder learning?

Hello there. I am 14 years old. i need some help unfortunately with completing a one pager for school online. Do you know where I could go?

– Bella

Hey Isabella,

We’re sorry to hear you’re having trouble with this. Our advise is to reach out to your teacher or classmates – they should be able to help you. Good luck!

HI! Just wanted to give you a heads up that the AVID link at the beginning of the post is not working–it routed me to website that looked like a professional soccer club. I am not sure which one because the website is in Chinese, or Korean, or Japanese, or some other language I don’t know well enough to recognize! Thanks!

Hey Kelly, Thanks so much for the heads up! The link has been updated.

hey kelly , thanks so much for the heads up and thanks for everything.# love it give you the deets.

This will be my first use of a one-pager. Your information will be most valuable as I present it to the students..

This is an amazing idea! As I was reading my brain was coming up with all kinds of way I could adapt this further for Special Education when some students needs a different way to express what they’ve learned throughout a unit. I feel like so many people shy away from artistic projects so that they don’t pressure those “less artistic” students when they should be supporting their creative processes by making these projects more accessible. Wonderful read.

Hi Lauren, There are a few solid ways to use one-pagers around writing. One is to use it as an argument writing activity, or pre-writing. You can create a template where there are places for main ideas, counterarguments, quotations, and a thesis, all to be shared through both text and imagery. Another option would be to get meta and create a one-pager that is actually about the type of writing the student has just tried out and reflects the work they did and what they need to improve. With this type of template, you could create space for the main structures of the writing, what the student excelled at, and what they need to work on for the next iteration. Again, all to be shared through both text and imagery. Yet one more option would be to create a series of mini-one-pagers throughout the year that reflect writing type. So you could teach them the structures of different types of writing and have them create small illustrated versions to put together as a guide for themselves moving forwards. At the end of the year, they’d have a little book illustrating argument writing, opinion writing, compare and contrast, etc. Hope those ideas help! Betsy

woah that is soooooo cool!!!

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How to Write a Book Report

Use the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide:

Book Report Fundamentals

Preparing to write, an overview of the book report format, how to write the main body of a book report, how to write a conclusion to a book report, reading comprehension and book reports, book report resources for teachers .

Book reports remain a key educational assessment tool from elementary school through college. Sitting down to close read and critique texts for their content and form is a lifelong skill, one that benefits all of us well beyond our school years. With the help of this guide, you’ll develop your reading comprehension and note-taking skills. You’ll also find resources to guide you through the process of writing a book report, step-by-step, from choosing a book and reading actively to revising your work. Resources for teachers are also included, from creative assignment ideas to sample rubrics.

Book reports follow general rules for composition, yet are distinct from other types of writing assignments. Central to book reports are plot summaries, analyses of characters and themes, and concluding opinions. This format differs from an argumentative essay or critical research paper, in which impartiality and objectivity is encouraged. Differences also exist between book reports and book reviews, who do not share the same intent and audience. Here, you’ll learn the basics of what a book report is and is not.

What Is a Book Report?

"Book Report" ( ThoughtCo )

This article, written by a professor emeritus of rhetoric and English, describes the defining characteristics of book reports and offers observations on how they are composed.

"Writing a Book Report" (Purdue OWL)

Purdue’s Online Writing Lab outlines the steps in writing a book report, from keeping track of major characters as you read to providing adequate summary material.

"How to Write a Book Report" ( Your Dictionary )

This article provides another helpful guide to writing a book report, offering suggestions on taking notes and writing an outline before drafting. 

"How to Write a Successful Book Report" ( ThoughtCo )

Another post from ThoughtCo., this article highlights the ten steps for book report success. It was written by an academic advisor and college enrollment counselor.

What’s the Difference Between a Book Report and an Essay?

"Differences Between a Book Report & Essay Writing" ( Classroom)

In this article from the education resource Classroom,  you'll learn the differences and similarities between book reports and essay writing.

"Differences Between a Book Report and Essay Writing" (SeattlePi.com)

In this post from a Seattle newspaper's website, memoirist Christopher Cascio highlights how book report and essay writing differ.

"The Difference Between Essays and Reports" (Solent Online Learning)

This PDF from Southampton Solent University includes a chart demonstrating the differences between essays and reports. Though it is geared toward university students, it will help students of all levels understand the differing purposes of reports and analytical essays.

What’s the Difference Between a Book Report and a Book Review?

"How to Write a Book Review and a Book Report" (Concordia Univ.)

The library at Concordia University offers this helpful guide to writing book report and book reviews. It defines differences between the two, then presents components that both forms share.

"Book Reviews" (Univ. of North Carolina)

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s writing guide shows the step-by-step process of writing book reviews, offering a contrast to the composition of book reports.

Active reading and thoughtful preparation before you begin your book report are necessary components of crafting a successful piece of writing. Here, you’ll find tips and resources to help you learn how to select the right book, decide which format is best for your report, and outline your main points.

Selecting and Finding a Book

"30 Best Books for Elementary Readers" (Education.com)

This article from Education.com lists 30 engaging books for students from kindergarten through fifth grade. It was written by Esme Raji Codell, a teacher, author, and children's literature specialist.

"How to Choose a Good Book for a Report (Middle School)" (WikiHow)

This WikiHow article offers suggestions for middle schoolers on how to choose the right book for a report, from getting started early on the search process to making sure you understand the assignment's requirements.

"Best Book-Report Books for Middle Schoolers" (Common Sense Media)

Common Sense Media has compiled this list of 25 of the best books for middle school book reports. For younger students, the article suggests you check out the site's "50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12."

"50 Books to Read in High School" (Lexington Public Library)

The Lexington, Kentucky Public Library has prepared this list to inspire high school students to choose the right book. It includes both classics and more modern favorites.

The Online Computer Library Center's catalogue helps you locate books in libraries near you, having itemized the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries.

Formats of Book Reports

"Format for Writing a Book Report" ( Your Dictionary )

Here, Your Dictionary supplies guidelines for the basic book report format. It describes what you'll want to include in the heading, and what information to include in the introductory paragraph. Be sure to check these guidelines against your teacher's requirements.

"The Good Old Book Report" (Scholastic)

Nancy Barile’s blog post for Scholastic lists the questions students from middle through high school should address in their book reports.

How to Write an Outline

"Writer’s Web: Creating Outlines" (Univ. of Richmond)

The University of Richmond’s Writing Center shows how you can make use of micro and macro outlines to organize your argument.

"Why and How to Create a Useful Outline" (Purdue OWL)

Purdue’s Online Writing Lab demonstrates how outlines can help you organize your report, then teaches you how to create outlines.

"Creating an Outline" (EasyBib)

EasyBib, a website that generates bibliographies, offers sample outlines and tips for creating your own. The article encourages you to think about transitions and grouping your notes.

"How to Write an Outline: 4 Ways to Organize Your Thoughts" (Grammarly)

This blog post from a professional writer explains the advantages of using an outline, and presents different ways to gather your thoughts before writing.

In this section, you’ll find resources that offer an overview of how to write a book report, including first steps in preparing the introduction. A good book report's introduction hooks the reader with strong opening sentences and provides a preview of where the report is going.

"Step-by-Step Outline for a Book Report" ( Classroom )

This article from Classroom furnishes students with a guide to the stages of writing a book report, from writing the rough draft to revising.

"Your Roadmap to a Better Book Report" ( Time4Writing )

Time4Writing offers tips for outlining your book report, and describes all of the information that the introduction, body, and conclusion should include.

"How to Start a Book Report" ( ThoughtCo)

This ThoughtCo. post, another by academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming, demonstrates how to write a pithy introduction to your book report.

"How to Write an Introduction for a Book Report" ( Classroom )

This brief but helpful post from Classroom  details what makes a good book report introduction, down to the level of individual sentences.

The body paragraphs of your book report accomplish several goals: they describe the plot, delve more deeply into the characters and themes that make the book unique, and include quotations and examples from the book. Below are some resources to help you succeed in summarizing and analyzing your chosen text.

Plot Summary and Description

"How Do You Write a Plot Summary?" ( Reference )

This short article presents the goals of writing a plot summary, and suggests a word limit. It emphasizes that you should stick to the main points and avoid including too many specific details, such as what a particular character wears.

"How to Write a Plot for a Book Report" ( The Pen & The Pad )

In this article from a resource website for writers, Patricia Harrelson outlines what information to include in a plot summary for a book report. 

"How to Write a Book Summary" (WikiHow)

Using Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone as an example, this WikiHow article demonstrates how to write a plot summary one step at a time.

Analyzing Characters and Themes

"How to Write a Character Analysis Book Report" ( The Pen & The Pad )

Kristine Tucker shows how to write a book report focusing on character. You can take her suggestions as they are, or consider  incorporating them into the more traditional book report format.

"How to Write a Character Analysis" (YouTube)

The SixMinuteScholar Channel utilizes analysis of the film  Finding Nemo to show you how to delve deeply into character, prioritizing inference over judgment.

"How to Define Theme" ( The Editor's Blog )

Fiction editor Beth Hill contributes an extended definition of theme. She also provides examples of common themes, such as "life is fragile."

"How to Find the Theme of a Book or Short Story" ( ThoughtCo )

This blog post from ThoughtCo. clarifies the definition of theme in relation to symbolism, plot, and moral. It also offers examples of themes in literature, such as love, death, and good vs. evil.

Selecting and Integrating Quotations

"How to Choose and Use Quotations" (Santa Barbara City College)

This guide from a college writing center will help you choose which quotations to use in your book report, and how to blend quotations with your own words.

"Guidelines for Incorporating Quotes" (Ashford Univ.)

This PDF from Ashford University's Writing Center introduces the ICE method for incorporating quotations: introduce, cite, explain.

"Quote Integration" (YouTube)

This video from The Write Way YouTube channel illustrates how to integrate quotations into writing, and also explains how to cite those quotations.

"Using Literary Quotations" (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison)

This guide from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Writing Center helps you emphasize your analysis of a quotation, and explains how to incorporate quotations into your text.

Conclusions to any type of paper are notoriously tricky to write. Here, you’ll learn some creative ways to tie up loose ends in your report and express your own opinion of the book you read. This open space for sharing opinions that are not grounded in critical research is an element that often distinguishes book reports from other types of writing.

"How to Write a Conclusion for a Book Report" ( Classroom )

This brief article from the education resource  Classroom illustrates the essential points you should make in a book report conclusion.

"Conclusions" (Univ. of North Carolina)

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Writing Center lays out strategies for writing effective conclusions. Though the article is geared toward analytical essay conclusions, the tips offered here will also help you write a strong book report.

"Ending the Essay: Conclusions" (Harvard College Writing Center)

Pat Bellanca’s article for Harvard University’s Writing Center presents ways to conclude essays, along with tips. Again, these are suggestions for concluding analytical essays that can also be used to tie up a book report's loose ends.

Reading closely and in an engaged manner is the strong foundation upon which all good book reports are built. The resources below will give you a picture of what active reading looks like, and offer strategies to assess and improve your reading comprehension. Further, you’ll learn how to take notes—or “annotate” your text—making it easier to find important information as you write.

How to Be an Active Reader

"Active Reading Strategies: Remember and Analyze What You Read" (Princeton Univ.)

Princeton University’s McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning recommends ten strategies for active reading, and includes sample diagrams.

"Active Reading" (Open Univ.)

The Open University offers these techniques for reading actively alongside video examples. The author emphasizes that you should read for comprehension—not simply to finish the book as quickly as possible.

"7 Active Reading Strategies for Students" ( ThoughtCo )

In this post, Grace Fleming outlines seven methods for active reading. Her suggestions include identifying unfamiliar words and finding the main idea. 

"5 Active Reading Strategies for Textbook Assignments" (YouTube)

Thomas Frank’s seven-minute video demonstrates how you can retain the most important information from long and dense reading material.

Assessing Your Reading Comprehension

"Macmillan Readers Level Test" (MacMillan)

Take this online, interactive test from a publishing company to find out your reading level. You'll be asked a number of questions related to grammar and vocabulary.

"Reading Comprehension Practice Test" (ACCUPLACER)

ACCUPLACER is a placement test from The College Board. This 20-question practice test will help you see what information you retain after reading short passages.

"Reading Comprehension" ( English Maven )

The English Maven site has aggregated exercises and tests at various reading levels so you can quiz your reading comprehension skills.

How to Improve Your Reading Comprehension

"5 Tips for Improving Reading Comprehension" ( ThoughtCo )

ThoughtCo. recommends five tips to increase your reading comprehension ability, including reading with tools such as highlighters, and developing new vocabulary.

"How to Improve Reading Comprehension: 8 Expert Tips" (PrepScholar)

This blog post from PrepScholar provides ideas for improving your reading comprehension, from expanding your vocabulary to discussing texts with friends.

CrashCourse video: "Reading Assignments" (YouTube)

This CrashCourse video equips you with tools to read more effectively. It will help you determine how much material you need to read, and what strategies you can use to absorb what you read.

"Improving Reading Comprehension" ( Education Corner )

From a pre-reading survey through post-reading review, Education Corner  walks you through steps to improve reading comprehension.

Methods of In-text Annotation

"The Writing Process: Annotating a Text" (Hunter College)

This article from Hunter College’s Rockowitz Writing Center outlines how to take notes on a text and provides samples of annotation.

"How To Annotate Text While Reading" (YouTube)

This video from the SchoolHabits YouTube channel presents eleven annotation techniques you can use for better reading comprehension.

"5 Ways To Annotate Your Books" ( Book Riot )

This article from the Book Riot  blog highlights five efficient annotation methods that will save you time and protect your books from becoming cluttered with unnecessary markings.

"How Do You Annotate Your Books?" ( Epic Reads )

This post from Epic Reads highlights how different annotation methods work for different people, and showcases classic methods from sticky notes to keeping a reading notebook.

Students at every grade level can benefit from writing book reports, which sharpen critical reading skills. Here, we've aggregated sources to help you plan book report assignments and develop rubrics for written and oral book reports. You’ll also find alternative book report assessment ideas that move beyond the traditional formats.

Teaching Elementary School Students How to Write Book Reports

"Book Reports" ( Unique Teaching Resources )

These reading templates courtesy of Unique Teaching Resources make great visual aids for elementary school students writing their first book reports.

"Elementary Level Book Report Template" ( Teach Beside Me )

This   printable book report template from a teacher-turned-homeschooler is simple, classic, and effective. It asks basic questions, such as "who are the main characters?" and "how did you feel about the main characters?"

"Book Reports" ( ABC Teach )

ABC Teach ’s resource directory includes printables for book reports on various subjects at different grade levels, such as a middle school biography book report form and a "retelling a story" elementary book report template.

"Reading Worksheets" ( Busy Teacher's Cafe )

This page from Busy Teachers’ Cafe contains book report templates alongside reading comprehension and other language arts worksheets.

Teaching Middle School and High School Students How to Write Book Reports

"How to Write a Book Report: Middle and High School Level" ( Fact Monster)

Fact Monster ’s Homework Center discusses each section of a book report, and explains how to evaluate and analyze books based on genre for students in middle and high school.

"Middle School Outline Template for Book Report" (Trinity Catholic School)

This PDF outline template breaks the book report down into manageable sections for seventh and eighth graders by asking for specific information in each paragraph.

"Forms for Writing a Book Report for High School" ( Classroom )

In this article for Classroom,  Elizabeth Thomas describes what content high schoolers should focus on when writing their book reports.

"Forms for Writing a Book Report for High School" ( The Pen & The Pad )

Kori Morgan outlines techniques for adapting the book report assignment to the high school level in this post for The Pen & The Pad .

"High School Book Lists and Report Guidelines" (Highland Hall Waldorf School)

These sample report formats, grading paradigms, and tips are collected by Highland Hall Waldorf School. Attached are book lists by high school grade level.

Sample Rubrics

"Book Review Rubric Editable" (Teachers Pay Teachers)

This free resource from Teachers Pay Teachers allows you to edit your book report rubric to the specifications of your assignment and the grade level you teach.

"Book Review Rubric" (Winton Woods)

This PDF rubric from a city school district includes directions to take the assignment long-term, with follow-up exercises through school quarters.

"Multimedia Book Report Rubric" ( Midlink Magazine )

Perfect for oral book reports, this PDF rubric from North Carolina State University's Midlink Magazine  will help you evaluate your students’ spoken presentations.

Creative Book Report Assignments

"25 Book Report Alternatives" (Scholastic)

This article from the Scholastic website lists creative alternatives to the standard book report for pre-kindergarteners through high schoolers.

"Fresh Ideas for Creative Book Reports" ( Education World )

Education World offers nearly 50 alternative book report ideas in this article, from a book report sandwich to a character trait diagram.

"A Dozen Ways to Make Amazingly Creative Book Reports" ( We Are Teachers )

This post from We Are Teachers puts the spotlight on integrating visual arts into literary study through multimedia book report ideas.

"More Ideas Than You’ll Ever Use for Book Reports" (Teachnet.com)

This list from Teachnet.com includes over 300 ideas for book report assignments, from "interviewing" a character to preparing a travel brochure to the location in which the book is set.

"Fifty Alternatives to the Book Report" (National Council of Teachers of English)

In this PDF resource from the NCTE's  English Journal,  Diana Mitchell offers assignment ideas ranging from character astrology signs to a character alphabet.

• PDFs for all 136 Lit Terms we cover
• Downloads of 1939 LitCharts Lit Guides
• Teacher Editions for every Lit Guide
• Explanations and citation info for 40,890 quotes across 1939 books
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How to Write a Book Report (+ Book Report Example) 

Download for free, specific tips for writing effective book reports..

Write better book reports using the tips, examples, and outlines presented here. This resource covers three types of effective book reports: plot summaries, character analyses, and theme analyses. It also features a specific book report example for students.

How to write a book report (+ book report example) 

Whether you're a student looking to show your comprehension of a novel, or simply a book lover wanting to share your thoughts, writing a book report can be a rewarding experience. This guide, filled with tips, tricks, and a book report example, will help you craft a report that effectively communicates your understanding and analysis of your chosen book.

Looking for a printable resource on book reports? See our Printable Book Report Outlines and Examples

What is a book report? 

Book reports can take on many different forms. Writing a book review helps you practice giving your opinion about different aspects of a book, such as an author's use of description or dialogue.

You can write book reports of any type, from fiction to non-fiction research papers, or essay writing; however, there are a few basic elements you need to include to convey why the book you read was interesting when writing a good book report.

Types of book reports 

Three types of effective book reports are plot summaries, character analyses, and theme analyses. Each type focuses on different aspects of the book and requires a unique approach. These three types of book reports will help you demonstrate your understanding of the book in different ways.

Plot summary

When you are writing a plot summary for your book report you don't want to simply summarize the story. You need to explain what your opinion is of the story and why you feel the plot is so compelling, unrealistic, or sappy. It is the way you analyze the plot that will make this a good report. Make sure that you use plenty of examples from the book to support your opinions.

Try starting the report with a sentence similar to the following:

The plot of I Married a Sea Captain , by Monica Hubbard, is interesting because it gives the reader a realistic sense of what it was like to be the wife of a whaling captain and live on Nantucket during the 19th century.

Character analysis

If you choose to write a character analysis, you can explore the physical and personality traits of different characters and the way their actions affect the plot of the book.

• Explore the way a character dresses and what impression that leaves with the reader.
• What positive characteristics does the character possess?
• Does the character have a "fatal flaw" that gets him/her into trouble frequently?
• Try taking examples of dialogue and analyzing the way a character speaks. Discuss the words he/she chooses and the way his/her words affect other characters.
• Finally, tie all of your observations together by explaining the way the characters make the plot move forward.

In the novel Charlotte's Web , by E. B. White, Templeton the rat may seem like an unnecessary character but his constant quest for food moves the plot forward in many ways.

Theme analyses

Exploring the themes (or big ideas that run throughout the story) in a book can be a great way to write a book report because picking a theme that you care about can make the report easier to write. Try bringing some of your thoughts and feelings as a reader into the report as a way to show the power of a theme. Before you discuss your own thoughts, however, be sure to establish what the theme is and how it appears in the story.

• Explain  exactly  what theme you will be exploring in your book report.
• Use as many examples and quotations from the book as possible to prove that the theme is important to the story.
• Make sure that you talk about each example or quotation you've included. Make a direct connection between the theme and the example from the book.
• After you have established the theme and thoroughly examined the way it affects the book, include a few sentences about the impact the theme had upon you and why it made the book more or less enjoyable to read.

In the novel Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry , by Mildred Taylor, the theme of racial prejudice is a major catalyst in the story.

How to write a book report

1. Thoroughly read the book

Immerse yourself in the book, taking the time to read it in its entirety. As you read, jot down notes on important aspects such as key points, themes, and character developments.

2. Identify the main elements of the book

Scrutinize the book's primary components, including its main themes, characters, setting, and plot. These elements will form the basis of your report.

3. Formulate a thesis statement

Compose a thesis statement that encapsulates your personal perspective about the book. This should be a concise statement that will guide your analysis and give your report a clear focus.

4. Create a detailed outline

Plan the structure of your book report. This outline should include an introduction, body paragraphs each focusing on a different aspect of the book, and a conclusion.

5. Craft the introduction

The introduction should provide basic information such as the book's title and author, and present your thesis statement. It should engage the reader and make them interested in your analysis.

6. Write the body of the report

In the body of your report, discuss in detail the book's main elements that you identified in step 3. Use specific examples from the text to support your analysis and to prove your thesis statement.

7. Write a strong conclusion

Your conclusion should summarize your analysis, reaffirm your thesis, and provide a closing thought or reflection on the overall book.

8. Review and edit your report

After writing, take the time to revise your report for clarity and coherence. Check for and correct any grammar or spelling errors. Ensure that your report clearly communicates your understanding and analysis of the book.

9. Include citations

If you have used direct quotes or specific ideas from the book, make sure to include proper citations . This is crucial in academic writing and helps avoid plagiarism.

10. Proofread

Finally, proofread your work. Look for any missed errors and make sure that the report is the best it can be before submitting it.

Book report example 

Below is a book report example on the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

In  To Kill a Mockingbird , Harper Lee presents a thoughtful exploration of racial prejudice, morality, and the loss of innocence. Set in the small, fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, the book centers around the Finch family - young Scout, her older brother Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus. Scout's character provides a fresh perspective as she narrates her experiences and observations of the unjust racial prejudice in her town. Her honesty and curiosity, coupled with her father's teachings, allow her to grow from innocence to a more profound understanding of her society's inequalities. The plot revolves around Atticus Finch, a respected lawyer, defending a black man, Tom Robinson, unjustly accused of raping a white woman. As the trial progresses, it becomes clear that Robinson is innocent, and the accusation was a product of racial prejudice. Despite compelling evidence in Robinson's favor, he is convicted, symbolizing the power of bias over truth. The theme of racial prejudice is a significant part of the book. Lee uses the trial and its unjust outcome to critique the racial prejudice prevalent in society. For example, despite Atticus's solid defense, the jury's racial bias leads them to find Robinson guilty. This instance highlights how deeply ingrained prejudice can subvert justice. The book also explores the theme of the loss of innocence. Scout and Jem's experiences with prejudice and injustice lead to their loss of innocence and a better understanding of the world's complexities. For example, Scout's realization of her town's unfair treatment of Robinson demonstrates her loss of innocence and her understanding of societal biases. Overall,  To Kill a Mockingbird  is a compelling exploration of the harsh realities of prejudice and the loss of innocence. Harper Lee's intricate characters and vivid storytelling have made this book a classic.

The above is an excellent book report example for several reasons. First, it provides a clear, concise summary of the plot without giving away the entire story. Second, it analyzes the main characters, their roles, and their impacts on the story. Third, it discusses the major themes of the book - racial prejudice and loss of innocence - and supports these themes with evidence from the text. Finally, it presents a personal perspective on the book's impact and overall message, demonstrating a deep understanding of the book's significance.

Book report checklist

Always  include the following elements in any book report:

• The type of book report you are writing
• The book's title
• The author of the book
• The time when the story takes place
• The location where the story takes place
• The names and a  brief  description of each of the characters you will be discussing
• Many quotations and examples from the book to support your opinions
• A thesis statement
• The point of view of the narrator
• Summary of the book
• The main points or themes discussed in the work of fiction or non-fiction
• The first paragraph (introductory paragraph), body paragraphs, and final paragraph
• The writing styles of the author
• A critical analysis of the fiction or non-fiction book

Don't forget! 

No matter what type of book report you decide to write, ensure it includes basic information about the main characters, and make sure that your writing is clear and expressive so that it’s easy for audiences in middle school, high school, college-level, or any grade level to understand. Also, include examples from the book to support your opinions. Afterward, conduct thorough proofreading to complete the writing process. Book reports may seem disconnected from your other schoolwork, but they help you learn to summarize, compare and contrast, make predictions and connections, and consider different perspectives & skills you'll need throughout your life.

Looking for more writing resources? You can find them in our creative writing center .

Featured Middle School Resources

Related Resources

10 Steps to Writing a Successful Book Report

• Writing Essays
• Writing Research Papers
• English Grammar
• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

A book report should contain the basic elements, but a good book report will address a specific question or point of view and back up this topic with specific examples, in the form of symbols and themes. These steps will help you identify and incorporate those important elements in a process that takes three to four days.

How To Write a Book Report

• Have an objective in mind, if possible. Your objective is the main point you want to argue or the question you plan to answer. Sometimes your teacher will offer a question for you to answer as part of your assignment, which makes this step easy. If you have to come up with your own focal point for your paper, you may have to wait and develop the objective while reading and reflecting on the book.
• Keep supplies on hand when you read. This is very important. Keep sticky-note flags, pen, and paper nearby as you read. Don't try to take "mental notes." It just doesn't work.
• Read the book. As you read, keep an eye out for clues that the author has provided in the form of symbolism. These will indicate some important point that supports the overall theme. For instance, a spot of blood on the floor, a quick glance, a nervous habit, an impulsive action--these are worth noting.
• Use your sticky flags to mark pages. When you run into any clues, mark the page by placing the sticky note at the beginning of the relevant line. Mark everything that piques your interest, even if you don't understand their relevance.
• Note possible themes or patterns that emerge. As you read and record emotional flags or signs, you will begin to see a point or a pattern. On a notepad, write down possible themes or issues. If your assignment is to answer a question, you will record how symbols address that question.
• Label your sticky flags. If you see a symbol repeated several times, you should indicate this somehow on the sticky flags, for easy reference later. For instance, if blood shows up in several scenes, write a "b" on the relevant flags for blood. This may become your major book theme, so you'll want to navigate between the relevant pages easily.
• Develop a rough outline. By the time you finish reading the book , you will have recorded several possible themes or approaches to your objective. Review your notes and try to determine which view or claim you can back up with good examples (symbols). You may need to play with a few sample outlines to pick the best approach.
• Develop paragraph ideas. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence and a sentence that transitions to the next paragraph. Try writing these first, then filling out the paragraphs with your examples (symbols). Don't forget to include the basics for every book report in your first paragraph or two.
• Review, re-arrange, repeat. At first, your paragraphs are going to look like ugly ducklings. They will be clunky, awkward, and unattractive in their early stages. Read them over, re-arrange and replace sentences that don't quite fit. Then review and repeat until the paragraphs flow.
• Re-visit your introductory paragraph. The introductory paragraph will make the critical first impression of your paper. It should be great. Be sure it is well-written, interesting, and it contains a strong thesis sentence .

The objective: Sometimes it is possible to have a clear objective in mind before you start . Sometimes, it is not. If you have to come up with your own thesis, don't stress about a clear objective in the beginning. It will come later.

Recording emotional flags: Emotional flags are merely points in the book that bring about emotion. Sometimes, the smaller the better. For example, for an assignment for The Red Badge of Courage , the teacher might ask students to address whether they believe Henry, the main character, is a hero. In this book, Henry sees lots of blood (emotional symbol) and death (emotional symbol) and this causes him to run away from the battle at first (emotional response). He is ashamed (emotion).

Book report basics: In your first paragraph or two, you should include the book setting, time period, characters, and your thesis statement (objective).

Re-visiting the introductory paragraph: The introductory paragraph should be the last paragraph you complete. It should be mistake-free and interesting. It should also contain a clear thesis. Don't write a thesis early on in the process and forget about it. Your point of view or argument may change completely as you re-arrange your paragraph sentences. Always check your thesis sentence last.

• Examples of Great Introductory Paragraphs
• How to Write a Great Book Report
• How to Write a Response Paper
• How to Start a Book Report
• The Ultimate Guide to the 5-Paragraph Essay
• How to Develop a Research Paper Timeline
• The Introductory Paragraph: Start Your Paper Off Right
• 6 Steps to Writing the Perfect Personal Essay
• Tips for Writing an Art History Paper
• How to Write and Format an MBA Essay
• How to Write a Research Paper That Earns an A
• How to Write a Great Process Essay
• How to Understand a Difficult Reading Passage
• How to Remember What You Read
• How to Write a Good Thesis Statement
• What Is Expository Writing?

Business growth

Business tips

11 one-pager examples and how to create your own

One of my responsibilities as a marketer at an agency is sending monthly performance reports to my clients. They're busy people, so I include an executive summary at the beginning of each report that consolidates seven pages of detailed information into a few key bullet points—the "must-knows."

One-pagers serve the same function as these executive summaries. They boil down a lot of business information into one concise summary, enabling stakeholders or investors to quickly review important information and make important decisions—to invest or not invest, to use your offering or not, whatever the case may be. Needless to say, they need to pack a punch.

Here, I'll walk you through what should be included (and where) in these strategic documents, as well as share some one-pager examples and templates to help guide you through the creation process.

Table of contents:

What is a one-pager?

One-pagers can be for either internal or external use. For example, you may share an internal training one-pager with your employees or a startup plan one-pager with potential investors.

How to make a one-pager 

Think of a one-pager as a resume for whatever you're one-paging: it should tell the readers everything they absolutely need to know about you—in an aesthetically pleasing way.

Depending on the type of one-pager, you might include different elements, but here's a breakdown of the general elements you should include in each section of your one-pager. Keep scrolling for more examples of how these components would look in action. 

Since we read English top-to-bottom and left-to-right, organize your one-pager accordingly. At the top of your one-pager, include:

Company name and/or logo: Regardless of the type of one-pager, this is important for immediate brand recognition.

Headline: Give your audience a reason to keep reading. Write an attention-grabbing headline that hints toward 1) what your one-pager is about and 2) why they should care.

Brief overview of your product, service, project, or concept: It only needs to be a sentence or two.

Problem statement: Clearly state the issue you want to solve. It may be an overarching problem your business solves or a specific knowledge gap your one-pager fills.

Solution: Briefly explain how your offering or information provided in the one-pager solves the problem you previously stated.

If you think of a one-pager as a sandwich, the middle is the meat. Pack this section full of value:

Key benefits/features: This is where you'll highlight the benefits or features of your offering. What makes it unique? What problems does it solve? What are the specific features customers will love? 

Target market: Who is the audience of your one-pager? What are their needs and pain points? The more specific you can get, the better.

It's time to wrap it up and give people one last takeaway. Include these components at the bottom of your one-pager:

Future objectives: Outline your general plans for the future. What are your goals for the next year, three years, or five years? How are you working to achieve these goals? 

11 one-pager templates

I had my design team create almost a dozen one-pager examples—and templates to go along with them. As we run through them, I'll also share a few examples from the wild to get your creative gears turning. 

1. General one-pager/company one-pager

A general one-pager is like a company overview you'll share with customers and works well for general networking events or conferences. It includes all the standard one-pager elements I mentioned before: 

Company name and logo

Brief overview

Problem statement

Key benefits/features

Target market

Future objectives

2. Startup one-pager

Media attention/social proof

Investment stage

3. Pitch presentation one-pager

Startups, project managers, consultants, and non-profits can all use a pitch presentation one-pager to summarize the benefits they offer their audience. 

This one-pager serves as a quick reference guide, allowing presenters to succinctly convey their message, capture the audience's attention, and pique their interest. It's also a leave-behind for potential investors, partners, or clients to facilitate follow-up discussions. It should include: 

Market research summary

Team details, including specific expertise

4. Strategic plan one-pager

A strategic plan one-pager not only helps stakeholders easily digest your goals—it also serves as an accountability measure. It prevents people from leaving your presentation and immediately forgetting what your objectives are and how you plan to achieve them. 

Companies can use this one-pager to create organization-wide clarity, and non-profits can use it to appeal to donors. Make sure to include:

Key metrics

5. Product one-pager

Product one-pagers are invaluable for marketing and sales teams, enabling them to present essential information in a clear and compelling way to potential customers or stakeholders. They can even be used as an internal resource for new hires. Here's what to include:

Product name

Unique selling proposition

Timeline for launch (if new)

6. Company report one-pager

This one-pager can be used internally as an employee handout or post-summary during an annual company meeting. It can also be shared with external stakeholders to give a glimpse into the company's performance and future outlook. It should include:

Financial highlights

Achievements

Future challenges

7. Investor update one-pager

Give your investors the rundown on performance and the current goings-on of your business with a nice one-pager that breaks it all down. This concise update tells investors what they need to know—and nothing more. Here's what investors like to see: 

Progress toward milestones

Current challenges

Potential asks

8. Employee orientation one-pager

When I start a new job, I mentally prepare to be bombarded with a lot of information on the first day. Give new hires an employee orientation one-pager, so they have a quick overview of the key details they'll want to remember. Provide information like: 

Company culture

Leadership overview

Onboarding timeline

Key contacts

9. B2B one-pager

Decision-makers at businesses are busy, and a one-pager can cut through the noise to clearly communicate what your company does and why it's valuable (leave the jargon at home). Weave these elements into your one-pager:

Customer testimonials

Value proposition

10. Marketing one-pager

A marketing one-pager is an internal document that helps keep your company's teams aligned on branding and marketing. It's a snapshot of critical elements like:

Brand colors

Brand voice

Marketing goals

Customer personas

11. Consulting services one-pager

This type of one-pager is used by consulting firms to present their services, expertise, and value proposition to prospective clients. It offers a quick look into the consultancy's offerings to show clients how it can address their specific needs and challenges. These one-pagers typically include:

Client testimonials

Contact information

One-pager examples in the real world

Those templates will hopefully give you a head start, but let's take a look at some real-life examples of how people use and design one-pagers. Check out this variety of examples from real companies with details on what I think they particularly nail in their one-pagers.

General one-pager

In this general one-pager, Threekit briefly explains what it does and how it integrates with Salesforce. More specifically, it uses a variety of visual elements, from mockups to illustrated icons, to break up the text and display what the company's 3D product configurator looks like in action. 

Each component is also clearly defined with three separate background colors, which makes it easy to scan. Minimal copy is used while still getting the point across, and there's a clear visual hierarchy with the largest title and image at the top of the page.

Product one-pager

This product one-pager from CAT is a little more text-heavy, but it uses callout boxes and illustrations to break things up—plus, the bullet points make it easier to scan. The eye-catching header image is impressive, and there's also a clear headline and CTA.

B2B one-pager

Consulting one-pager

The example below is technically two pages, but it packs a lot of info into it. Clear headers help explain what services the company offers and the value those services hold. It also establishes credentials with customer testimonials and stats like "18B+ investment in security R&D and 3,500 cybersecurity experts." These elements help prospective clients feel secure about choosing them as a partner.

One-pager best practices

Just because you've managed to cram some important information onto one page doesn't mean it'll be effective. Here are some best practices to make sure your one-pagers have the effect you want them to:

Be concise: If you can't read a sentence on your one-pager without taking a breath, it's too long. Keep the copy short and sweet, so you don't defeat the whole purpose of a one-pager.

Appeal to your audience: Keep your reader in mind while creating your one-pager. If you're speaking to your customer base, avoid the corporate jargon. If you're speaking to investors, make sure to include the numbers that matter to them.

Include white space: While you may feel tempted to use every inch of space you have —don't. Empty space around text and visuals keeps your one-pager from looking cluttered and your reader from feeling overwhelmed.

Write a compelling headline: Like anything else you write, you need to grab the reader's attention right away. Make it immediately clear what value your one-pager will provide.

Tell a story: Like a good story, your one-pager should have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Every component should connect to tell the story in a clear and engaging way.

Follow formatting guidelines: It's called a one -pager for a reason. Stick to one side of a page. Also, ensure it can be easily distributed physically and digitally by sticking to a standard letter (8.5 x 11") format.

Get creative with distribution: Of course, one-pagers are great for physical handouts, but think beyond that. Can you share the content on your website or social accounts? Can you adapt the content to be sent as an email newsletter? Choose a distribution method that makes sense for your audience.

Related reading:

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Cecilia Gillen

Cecilia is a content marketer with a degree in Media and Journalism from the University of South Dakota. After graduating, Cecilia moved to Omaha, Nebraska where she enjoys reading (almost as much as book buying), decor hunting at garage sales, and spending time with her two cats.

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How to Use One Pagers with Literature and Informational Texts

Are you googling one pagers because you’re trying to avoid grading yet another stack of essays? I don’t blame you. That’s how I started, too. Or, maybe you are wondering whether a one pager is the right assignment for your students? Maybe it’s that you’re not sure how to create one, when to assign it, or how to provide structure? One pagers can be meaningful as a creative response to literature. Sprinkling them into your ELA curriculum is a powerful way to ask students to reflect upon what they have read. Plus, it lightens your grading load. Keep reading for tips that will help you assign a one pager in your secondary classroom. (P.S. – They aren’t just for ELA!)

WHAT IS A ONE PAGER?

As its name indicates, a one pager is a single page response to a text. They typically focus on showcasing the theme of a narrative or the topic of an informational text. Students include a variety of information to show they can think critically about a story, poem, book, article, video clip, or other text. For example, students might include important quotes, analysis, symbolism, figurative language, themes, images, doodles, connections, questions, and more. One pagers move students beyond basic comprehension to a more mature way of thinking about a text.

WHY ASSIGN A ONE PAGER?

I find one pagers valuable ways to check for understanding. Perhaps you want to see how students are thinking about what they have read. Assigning a one pager can give teachers the insight while still allowing students creativity in expression. One pagers also ask students to move beyond summarizing to a deeper level. Besides, one pagers are an excellent way for non-ELA teachers to promote literacy. Any time students are reading a text (even in science, history, or art class, for instance), they can create a one pager in response.

WHEN SHOULD I ASSIGN A ONE PAGER?

One pagers are excellent forms of differentiation. I enjoy using them as an option for students to respond to a text. Perhaps you’ve just finished grading essays and can’t stand the thought of drowning in yet another stack (already!). One pagers are usually quick and easy to grade, but they still require that students are thinking and making meaning. One pagers are excellent complements to choice reading units, poetry units, short story units, whole class novel units, literature circles, and book clubs. Want to see how students are relating the central idea of paired texts? Use a one pager!

WHAT SHOULD I AVOID WITH A ONE PAGER?

Creating too few or too many guidelines..

It’s important to think about the age of your students. Most middle school students need structure and guidance; students who are not used to thinking from an abstract angle can struggle. Because one pagers are not concrete, teachers need to be specific in their expectations with younger students. High school students who are comfortable with creative thinking and who are used to coloring outside the lines thrive with less scaffolding.

GRADING ON ARTISTIC ABILITY. 

It can be easy to get caught up in beautiful one pagers. If you’ve ever made one yourself, you understand how difficult they really are. It’s important to encourage students for their creative thought process – not their creative drawings or beautiful coloring.

DESIGNING RUBRICS BASED ON EFFORT. 

With creative assignments, it’s important to validate students’ thinking. When we design rubrics based off of perceived effort, we undermine the content students create. A one pager rubric should reflect skills that are tangible and measurable. For example, I would not include a category for “Effort.” Instead, I would include a category for “Content.” Within that category, it would be reasonable to ask students to cover the page with their reflection on the text. It’s something you can measure. Either the page is covered, or it’s not. Effort, on the other hand, is much more difficult to grade objectively.

USING IT TO “PROVE READING”.

Like most reading projects, one pagers don’t “prove” students have read something. Granted, it’s extremely difficult to create an exemplary one pager without a solid understanding of a text. Still, when I assign one pagers, it’s because I want to see how students are analyzing and synthesizing a text. I use them as a way to measure learning toward standards…not a way to  force reading. If you are concerned students aren’t reading a text, the best thing you can do is to confer with them as regularly as possible.

UNDERESTIMATING THE TIME THEY TAKE.

Creating an inspiring one pager takes time. If you’ve never tried to make one before, I encourage you to take on the task before assigning it to students. The first time I did this I was struck by two facts:  mine was terrible …and it took way longer than I expected . I still believe they are worth the time and energy, but creating my own example gave me better perspective for what I should expect from students. Plus, I understood I needed to provide them more class time than I originally anticipated in order to complete the work.

TIPS FOR ONE PAGER SUCCESS

Complete one yourself.  .

Making a one pager was a humbling experience for me. It really gave me insight into my students’ struggles. What was in my head is not what came out on paper. This experience resulted in a more empathetic and appreciative view of the one pagers I graded.

BRAINSTORM WITH STUDENTS.  

Come up with a list of expectations for the assignment. Then, with students, brainstorm possible content to include. Secondary students have fabulous ideas and can inspire one another. Plus, discussing possibilities as a group gives teachers the opportunity to identify appropriate content and redirect students if necessary.

ANALYZE EXAMPLES.  

It’s hard to visualize a one pager without looking at examples . I google “one pager examples” and display some of the search results on the projector. I’ve also saved some examples to Google Classroom so that students can view them from their iPads. As we study the images, students begin to see how different they are. We note what works and what doesn’t. We talk about examples that exceed expectations and those that don’t.

USE TEMPLATES.

Scaffold students’ experience with one pagers by providing templates. Use the templates to help students brainstorm and make a strategic plan for how they will maximize their space. The first time I assigned a one pager, I made all the mistakes…and found out that students don’t always know what to do with a blank page. That’s when I created these materials , which supported their thinking and led them toward the standards.

DON’T BOX YOURSELF IN.  

It’s important that you don’t go into the one pager assignment thinking there are “rules.” There really aren’t! You can be as creative as you want, and students can, too. If they want their one pager to incorporate a mind map or a collage, that works. If you want them to add texture, don’t hesitate. Do you want students to create a one pager that incorporates multiple texts? Awesome! You do you.

USE THE ONE PAGER TO PROMOTE LITERACY.  

It’s all about creating a literacy culture. We need secondary students to appreciate reading – to want to read. Providing students with a variety of ways to respond to a text is a way to achieve that goal. Saving the one pager for special occasions will help to ensure students don’t become burnt out with it. If you feel brave, allow students to work in partners to create a collaborative one pager. Many will love the social aspect of responding to reading. Building positive relationships between reading and how we ask students to respond to literature is a huge step in the process of building a community of readers.

RELATED RESOURCE:

One pagers are a valuable tool for any teacher. They should not replace all traditional essays, and they shouldn’t be assigned after every course text, but they are a wonderful alternative when used modestly. This resource contains scaffolded tools for getting started with literary and informational text one pagers .

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One-Pager Templates and Ideas for Your Next Classroom Activity

When was the last time you did one-pager activities in the classroom?

A one-pager is one of the versatile learning tools that teachers like you can employ in the classroom.

One-pagers are typically defined as a one-page document that outlines a subject, such as a method, a system, a plan like daily schedules , or a problem.

How to use one-pager templates

You can use one-pagers for various subjects and topics.

Your objective in creating a one-pager is to deliver a single-page document that incorporates a few key points, and is straightforward enough that somebody with no prior knowledge of the topic can understand your primary points.

Plus, you can customize one-pagers using tools and free templates to be used for any grade level.

If you’re looking for one-pager examples, ideas, and templates you can use for your next classroom activities , you’ve come to the right place.

Let’s get started so that you can create a one-pager today with Piktochart!

Creating one-pagers table of contents

What is a one-pager activity in school.

• What should a one pager for school include?

What if your students aren’t too enthusiastic about one-pagers?

• How to use one-pagers in the classroom
• 1. Use one-pagers to help students understand concepts.
• 2. Explain classroom rules and procedures with a one-pager.

3. Use one-pagers to help your students introduce themselves in class.

• 4. Encourage students to share key takeaways from an article or essay they’ve read online or on social media.
• 5. Present important historical events and milestones through one-pagers.

6. Make character analysis activities more fun in your English class with a one-pager.

7. help students understand and learn new words by incorporating one-pagers during vocabulary lessons..

• 8. Encourage students to present book report takeaways and learnings through a one-pager.

  Get a free Piktochart account  for access to the templates below. 

A one-pager classroom activity is when you ask students to outline, share, or illustrate what they’ve learned about a topic or idea on a single page to represent the main ideas of the lesson.

By asking students to create one-pagers to share their learnings, you invite them to deeply consider the most important points, content, and visuals representing the most significant elements they have absorbed.

How to entice students to create one-pagers

Asking students to include additional mediums like images, doodles, or other visuals to express themselves should be encouraged!

As it adds an eye-catching element to their otherwise solely writing project.

As a teacher, you can require students to follow a page structure and specify important aspects, or give them free rein on how to present their one-pagers.

No matter what you decide, providing guidance and the right tools is critical.

Here are a couple of one-pagers and examples from the classroom:

What should a one-pager for school students include?

The elements to include in your one-pager depend on the purpose of your assignment or classroom activity.

However, effective one-pagers for school students often include the following:

• Visuals like drawn images, illustrations, or cut-outs from magazines
• The main idea is written in text or illustrated as a visual
• Phrases, sentences, or quotes supporting the main idea
• Borders or frames
• Key benefits, facts or elements
• Important dates

Your students don’t have to excel in art to create wonderful, engaging one-pagers, including key information.

One-pagers can include a range of elements from creative visuals, graphs , and charts to thought-provoking copy; the beauty of a one-pager and the plethora of one-pager templates available allows the creator to display whatever medium they prefer to convey their message.

As highlighted by teacher Betsy Potash in her piece A Simple Trick for Success with One-Pagers , you might encounter some pushback from students about one-pagers because of the required artistic elements.

According to Potash, the simple solution to this pushback is using one-pager templates students can easily modify!

“That little bit of creative constraint actually frees students to use their imagination to represent what they have learned on the page without fear. They know what they need to put down, and where, but they are also free to expand and add to the template. To choose their own colors. To bring out what is most important to them through their creativity and artistry. And those super artistic students? They can just flip the template over and use the blank page on the back,” Potash shares.

And now for the fun part!

How to use one-pagers and templates in the classroom for students

Here’s a preview of Piktochart’s one-pager templates for education , plus ideas on how to use them to engage students.

1. Use one-pagers to help students understand concepts and ideas.

For example, the one-pager template below explains design thinking as a concept.

Using different templates and one-pagers for this type of classroom activity also helps teachers gauge students’ understanding of the idea or concept tackled in their class.

2. Explain classroom rules and procedures by creating a one-pager.

Introducing classroom rules during the first few days in class is the groundwork for how the rest of your school year will pan out.

Involving students in creating class rules is an excellent way to instill a sense of ownership and responsibility.

Why not come up with a classroom activity where students create their own one-pager of classroom rules and ideas, to then have them explain each rule to everyone in class afterward?

Explore our class schedule maker and make daily, weekly, or monthly schedules . The template below is a good start for students to start creating!

If you’re looking for About Me worksheets, a one-pager template fits the bill!

Here are a couple of all-about-me templates condensed into a one-page document to help you get started.

4. Encourage students to share key takeaways or a core value from an article or essay they’ve read online or on social media.

Aside from helping students understand a piece of an essay or the point of an article, this activity also helps them improve their skills by distilling information into insights.

The one-pager templates below are perfect for high school and middle schoolers.

By providing your students with the right tools, encouraging them to create a unique one-pager, and giving them the freedom to write content from their experience to make their projects their own, you’ll surely create a fun project for your students that they will enjoy!

5. Present important historical events and milestones through one-pager templates.

The template below is a good one-pager idea for your history class writing project.

Here are some examples and one-pager templates that you can use for your fiction analysis or literature class.

Use these examples and templates for your next language and communications class.

8. Encourage students to present book report takeaways and learnings through one-pager templates.

Here are a couple of examples from Twitter, plus a one-pager template you can use in class.

We hope this article, chock-full of one-pager templates, has inspired you to get started today with a creative writing project for you and/or your students!

We hope the above ideas will stir your creativity to engage students in the classroom !

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Book Report Writing

Book Report Writing Guide - Outline, Format, & Topics

15 min read

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Guide to Craft an Outstanding Book Report Outline

Creative and Excellent Book Report Ideas for Students

Writing a book report can be a challenging task for students at all levels of education. Many struggle to strike the right balance between providing a concise summary and offering insightful analysis.

The pressure to submit a well-structured report often leaves students feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about where to begin. Unlike a book review that is longer and more detailed, the purpose of writing a book report is to summarize what happened in the story. 

In this blog, we will learn the book report writing, providing you with step-by-step instructions and creative ideas. Whether you're a reader or just starting your literary journey, this guide will help you write book reports that shine. 

So, let's dive in!

• 1. What is a Book Report?
• 2. How to Write a Book Report Outline?
• 3. How to Write a Book Report?
• 4. Book Report Formatting
• 5. Book Report vs. Book Review - How Do they Differ from Each Other? 
• 6. Book Report Templates for Different Grades
• 7. How to Write a Book Report for High School?
• 8. How to Write a Book Report for College Level?
• 9. Book Report Examples
• 10. Book Report Ideas

What is a Book Report?

A book report is a written summary and analysis of a book's content, designed to provide readers with insights into the book's key elements. It's a valuable exercise for students, offering a chance to look deeper into a book's characters, and overall impact. Why are book reports important? They serve as a way to not only showcase your reading comprehension but also your critical thinking skills. They help you reflect on the book's strengths and weaknesses, and they can be a great tool to start a discussion.

How to Write a Book Report Outline?

Before you start writing a book report, it's crucial to create a well-organized outline. A book report outline serves as the roadmap for your report, ensuring that you cover all essential aspects. Here's how to create an effective book report outline:

How to Write a Book Report?

Writing an effective book report is not just about summarizing a story; it's a chance to showcase your analytical skills.

Let’s go through the process of creating a compelling book report that will impress your instructor.

How to Start a Book Report

To start a book report follow the steps below:

• Pick the Perfect Book  Selecting the right book for your report is the first crucial step. If you have the freedom to choose, opt for a book that aligns with your interests. Engaging with a book you're passionate about makes the entire process more enjoyable.
• Dive into the Pages Reading the book thoroughly is non-negotiable. While summaries and online resources can be helpful, they can't replace the depth of understanding gained from reading the actual text. Take notes as you read to capture key moments and insights.
• Document Key Insights Keeping a physical notebook for jotting down important points and insights is a tried-and-true method. This tangible record allows for quick reference when you're ready to write your report.
• Collect Powerful Quotes Quotes from the book can be the secret sauce that adds weight to your report. Choose quotes that align with your report's themes and ideas. These quotes will serve as evidence to support your analysis and perspective.
• Craft Your Report Outline An book report outline serves as your roadmap for creating a structured and coherent report. Ensure it includes all the vital elements, from basic book information to your in-depth analysis. An organized outline keeps your writing on track.

Writing Your Book Report

Now that you've completed the preliminary steps, it's time to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). Follow these guidelines for an exceptional book report:

• Introduction: Open with a captivating introduction that introduces the book, its author, and your main thesis. This initial "hook" draws readers in and sparks their interest.
• Plot Summary: Concisely summarize the book's plot, including key events, main characters, and the overall narrative. Offer enough information for understanding without revealing major spoilers.
• Analysis: The core of your report, where you dissect the book's themes, characters, writing style, and any symbolism. Back your insights with book quotes and examples, revealing the author's intentions and how they achieved them.
• Conclusion: Summarize your main points, restate your thesis, and share your overall evaluation of the book. End with a thought-provoking statement or recommendation to leave readers engaged and curious.

Book Report Formatting

When it comes to formatting a book report, simplicity and clarity are key. Here's a straightforward guide on the essential formatting elements:

Book Report vs. Book Review - How Do they Differ from Each Other? 

The table below highlights how is a book report different from a book review :

What are the SImilarities between Book Report and Book Review?

Here are the things that are added in both a book report and a book review.

• Bibliographic details
• Background of the author
• The recommended audience for the book
• The main subject of the book or work
• Summary of the work and the only difference is that in the review, a critical analysis is also added

Due to the similarities, many students think that both of these are the same. It is wrong and could cost you your grade.

How to Write a Nonfiction Book Report? 

Writing a nonfiction book report may seem daunting, but with a few simple steps, you can craft an informative report. Here's a streamlined guide:

• Read Actively: Carefully read the chosen nonfiction book, highlighting key information. For instance, if you're reporting on a biography, mark significant life events and their impact.
• Introduction: Begin with the author's name, the book's publication year, and why the author wrote the book. Create an engaging opening sentence, such as "In 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,' Rebecca Skloot delves into the fascinating world of medical ethics."
• Focused Body: Structure the body into three paragraphs, each addressing crucial aspects. For instance, in a report on a science book, one paragraph could cover the book's key scientific discoveries.
• Concluding Thoughts: Share your personal opinion, if applicable. Would you recommend the book? Mention reasons, like "I highly recommend 'Sapiens' by Yuval Noah Harari for its thought-provoking insights into human history."

Writing a nonfiction book report requires adhering to facts but can still be enjoyable with a strategic approach.

How to Write a Book Report without Reading the Book?

Short on time to read the entire book? Here are quick steps to create a book report:

• Consult Summary Websites: Visit websites providing book summaries and analyses. For instance, SparkNotes or CliffsNotes offer concise overviews.
• Focus on Key Details: Select 2-3 crucial aspects of the book, like major themes or character development. Discuss these in-depth.
• Consider a Writing Service: Utilize professional writing services when time is tight. They can craft a well-structured report based on provided information.
• Offer a Unique Perspective: Differentiate your report by approaching it from a unique angle. For example, explore a theme or character relationship that hasn't been extensively covered by peers.

While challenging, writing a book report without reading the book is possible with these strategies.

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Book Report Templates for Different Grades

Students studying at different levels have different skills and ability levels. Here is how they can write book reports for their respective academic levels.

How to Write a Book Report for an Elementary School?

The following are some book report templates that you can use for your primary or elementary school.

How to Write a Book Report for Middle School

Here are the book report worksheets that you can use to write your middle school book report.

How to Write a Book Report for High School?

Writing a high school book report includes the following steps:

• Read the book thoroughly and with purpose.
• Make an outline before writing the report as a pre-writing step.
• Follow the guidelines and the given format to create the title page for your report.
• Add basic details in the introduction of your book report.
• Analyze the major and minor characters of the story and the role they play in the progress of the story.
• Analyze the major and significant plot, events, and themes. Describe the story and arguments and focus on important details.
• Conclude by adding a summary of the main elements, characters, symbols, and themes.

How to Write a Book Report for College Level?

Follow this college book report template to format and write your report effectively:

• Understand the Assignment: Familiarize yourself with the assignment and book details to ensure proper adherence.
• Read Thoroughly: Read the book attentively, noting essential details about the plot, characters, and themes.
• Introduction: Craft an informative introduction with bibliographic details. 
• Summary: Summarize key aspects like setting, events, atmosphere, narrative style, and the overall plot. 
• Plot: Cover the entire story, highlighting essential details, plot twists, and conflicts. 
• Conclusion: Summarize the story and assess its strengths and weaknesses. Unlike a review, a book report provides a straightforward summary.

Book Report Examples

Book Report of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Book Report of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

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Book Report Ideas

Basic ideas include presenting your narrative and analysis in simple written form, while more creative ideas include a fun element. Some notable books to choose from for your book report writing assignment are mentioned below:

• "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
• "1984" by George Orwell
• "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
• "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
• "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
• "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
• "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
• "The Diary of Anne Frank" by Anne Frank
• "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Need more ideas? Check out our book report ideas blog to get inspiration!

To Sum it Up! Crafting a good book report involves striking the right balance between introducing the book, summarizing its key themes, and avoiding spoilers. It's a delicate art, but with the right guidance you can grasp this skill effortlessly. 

Need expert assistance with writing your book report? MyPerfectWords.com is here to help you out!

If you're asking yourself, "Can someone write my essays online ?"Our professional writers have the answer. We can write a custom book report according to your personalized requirements and instructions. Get a high-quality book report to help you earn the best grades on your assignment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the parts of a book report.

A book report often contains different sections that describe the setting, main characters, and key themes of the story. A common type is an expository one which details what happened in detail or discusses how people feel about it.

Is a report a summary?

No, a summary is more detailed than a book report. A book report is usually based on a short summary of the book, while a standalone summary is more detailed and could have headings, subheadings, and supporting quotes.

How many paragraphs should be included in a book report?

The book report is a typical assignment in middle and high school, usually with one introduction, three body, and one conclusion paragraph.

The number of paragraphs could vary depending on the academic level, with an expert or professional book report having more than three body paragraphs.

How long is a book report?

It should not exceed two double-spaced pages, be between 600 and 800 words in length. Your book report is a written reflection on the content of a novel or work of nonfiction.

How do you end a book report?

Sum up your thesis statement and remind the readers of the important points, one final time. Do not add any new ideas or themes here and try to leave a lasting impression on the reader.

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Dr. Barbara is a highly experienced writer and author who holds a Ph.D. degree in public health from an Ivy League school. She has worked in the medical field for many years, conducting extensive research on various health topics. Her writing has been featured in several top-tier publications.

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Keep reading

How to Write a One-Pager: A Handy Guide

Table of contents

Meredith Sell

What’s harder than writing long? Writing short. And if you’re trying to write a one-pager, you know this from experience.

It’s not easy to quickly sum up a company or its offerings in a digestible way for readers who’ve never heard of the company before. It’s not easy to take overwritten corporate language and trim it into accessible, punchy copy that catches attention and clearly communicates its point.

It’s not easy, but someone has to do it. And that someone is you.

So where do you even start with writing a one-pager? Do you envision its design and craft the content with that in mind? Do you write long and, over multiple iterations, trim it down shorter and shorter, until it fits on a standard sheet of letterhead? Is there anything special about one-pagers that you should know before you get started?

If you’re asking a version of any of these questions, you’ve landed on the right blog. Here, we cover the different elements that go into a one-pager, how to approach the writing process, and lessons you can take from real one-pagers out in the wild.

To begin, let’s make sure we’re on, well, the same page.

What Is a One-Pager?

One-pagers. One-sheets. Fliers. Handouts. Any of these terms might be used to refer to a single-page printout that is used by a company for any number of purposes.

In business, one-pagers are often used as sales and marketing tools, but they can also be used internally to inform staff of product updates, new offerings, recent report findings, or new procedures.

Sales and marketing one-pagers are typically written to quickly introduce prospects to a company, product, or service. Salespeople or marketers may distribute them at conferences or digitally as PDFs.

A one-pager’s audience is based on the one-pager’s goal:

• Is the one-pager aiming to secure investors for a new startup? Those investors are the target audience.
• Is the one-pager part of a campaign to increase sales of a particular product? The prospective customer is the audience.
• Is the one-pager supposed to give staff a well-rounded understanding of a new offering? You’ll be writing to those staff , whether salespeople, marketers, or other roles.
• Does the one-pager provide an update on profit-and-loss, new product development, or some type of internal report to higher ups? Those executives or managers are the target audience.

The myriad purposes of a one-pager mean they can be written in a variety of ways, but they always have one thing in common: they don’t take up more than a single page. That single page may be printed on front and back, but there’s only one sheet, not staples, no folds. This makes one-pagers a cost-effective, easy-to-transport piece of marketing collateral — perfect for your traveling sales team.

Are there one-pagers outside of the business world?

Yes. Educators may assign students to write up “one-pagers” — single-page reports on a book or subject — as a homework assignment. In certain industries like screenwriting, individuals create one-pagers to introduce themselves and their work. In both of these cases, the written product is contained on a single sheet of paper, but these types of one-pagers are distinct from what’s used in business.

This article is about one-pagers for business.

The Writing Process: From 60 to One.

Don’t let the length deceive you. Writing a single (designed) page of snappy, to-the-point copy isn’t as easy as firing up Google Docs and pouring your heart into 500 words (if that’s even easy). 

Every well-crafted one-pager starts with more information than can possibly fit on a single page. It’s up to the writer to prioritize that information, eliminate what the audience doesn’t need, and shape the rest into coherent, digestible bites.

This multi-step process will help you pen a one-pager out of a ream — or maybe just 60 pages — of notes.

1. Define the purpose/goal.

You’ve been tasked with writing this particular one-pager for a reason, so take the time to clarify and understand that reason. 

• Will the one-pager be used as training material for new staff? 
• Does it school existing staff on a new product — or new features that have been added to an existing product?
• Will the piece summarize internal research or report findings for mid-level managers to help them better support their team?
• Is it summing up management changes and their effect on productivity for C-suite executives?
• Does it highlight a brand-new service for new or existing customers?
• Will it be in a booth at an upcoming industry conference, where potential partners or customers will be in attendance?

Speak with the person who decided a one-pager was needed and ask questions to clarify what they want to use the one-pager for. What purpose do they see it serving? What step do they want their audience to take after reading the one-pager?

Once you have a clear idea of the one-pager’s goal, you’re ready for step 2.

2. Define the audience.

As discussed earlier, the audience is directly related to the one-pager’s goal. If you understand the goal, you should know — at least broadly — who the audience is.

But knowing the basic audience identity isn’t quite enough. You also need to know:

• How familiar the audience is with the one-pager’s subject matter
• If they have an existing relationship with the company/product/service/etc.
• Why they might be interested in the company/product/service/etc.
• What they need to know about the subject matter in order to take the next step
• What their pain points or concerns are that the company/product/service addresses

Let’s say you’re writing a one-pager about a new attachment for a KitchenAid mixer. You’d want to consider these specific questions:

• Does my audience already own a KitchenAid mixer? Or is this contraption a way to sell them on the mixer as well?
• What is the baking/mixing problem that this new attachment solves? What sort of things does the audience make that brings them up against this problem?
• Are these advanced bakers who use a mixer in an industrial kitchen? Or are these hobby bakers who mainly bake for their friends and family at home?

All of these questions will help you better understand your audience, and ultimately write to them in a compelling way.

3. Gather information.

You’ve already gathered a bit of information about the one-pager and its audience. Now you need to gather information about the one-pager’s subject matter.

Your information-gathering process should be guided by what you know about the one-pager’s purpose and audience, but it’s better to cast a wide net and gather as much information as possible than to be too narrow in your research.

Here are a few lists to guide you:

Company One-Pager

Introduces investors to the company, its mission, the problems it seeks to solve, and its products and services from a bird’s-eye view.

• Any existing marketing collateral for the company
• About page copy from the website (and any notes from when that copy was being crafted)
• Interviews with executives/founders about why they started the company, what they’re seeking to accomplish
• Relevant facts and statistics about the company’s industry, the gaps it intends to fill
• Existing mission/value statements
• Product/services pages from the website (and any notes)

Product/Services One-Pager

For external sales and marketing use, introduces prospective customers to the product/services.

• Any existing marketing collateral for the product/services
• Information on competitor product/services to help identify differentiators
• Relevant facts and statistics about the industry, gaps filled by product/services
• Customer pain points and how the product/services address them

Report Fact Sheet

Summarizes major findings of internal reports for higher-ups.

• Full report
• Documentation on why the report was conducted, why it was needed
• Interviews with report researchers and analysts for further insight on major findings

Pro Tip: Once you’ve gathered all of these materials, upload them into Wordtune . The tool will summarize your materials and help you pick out important facts and content.

Get Wordtune for free > Get Wordtune for free >

Gather as many existing materials as possible to inform your one-pager. Then supplement those with live interviews to provide more context, address any gaps, answer your lingering questions, and make sure you’ve properly understood the other materials.

Chances are, your one-pager is a short version of something that already exists, so make sure  you closely read whatever that is — whether it’s a website, single webpage, lengthy report, or something else.

4. Boil it down.

Now that you’re positively overloaded with information, it’s time to start cutting things out and summarizing what’s important. Whether you have 5 pages of notes or 10 or 60, you need to finish with a single page — max 1.5 pages — of concise copy. 

What does the audience need to know? What are the most important and most compelling pieces of information based on your audience’s interests and needs?

Use your understanding of your audience and the one-pager’s goal to cut out the information you don’t need. Then, make a list of the information you absolutely do need.  

Start playing with how you can convey that information in concise, direct ways. Maybe some facts can be grouped together or described with a single statement. Others may need to stand on their own.

Pro Tip: Once you’ve written out some of the facts and narrative of your one-pager, plug the content into the Wordtune Editor and use the rewrite or tighten functions to cut the fluff.

5. Determine the structure.

There’s a lot of room for variation and creativity in one-pagers, but your structure should be determined — first and foremost — by your audience’s needs and your one-pager’s goal. 

You’ll want foundational information to be prominently displayed, with supportive facts and fleshed out narrative falling below in the design hierarchy.

Go through your list of needed information and arrange it according to importance. Use that list to sketch an outline. You can start thinking about design at this step as well.

Here’s a working outline for example:

Company Name

[basic description of company, highlighting the needs it’s meeting locally] 

• Bullet points: Year-over-year growth in geographic reach, profitability, and overall customer base
• Quote from positive review
• Graphic illustrating number of repeat customers
• Statement about how we show up for our customers
• Call to action
• Website & contact info

6. Go beyond sentences.

The best one-pagers utilize design and copywriting in tandem to make an engaging, interesting piece. Instead of being filled with text from top to bottom, you’ll want your one-pager to have a mix of narrative and short-form copy.

Here are a few different types of content you can play with:

• Bullet points
• Mini infographics
• Pull quotes
• Headings/subheadings
• FAQs/Q&A
• Annotated illustrations (especially helpful for product one-pagers)

As you sort through your info list, brainstorm the best ways to convey each piece of information. Could multiple facts be combined into a single statement or claim? Could some be represented through a designed infographic section? What approach will make the most sense to your audience while also engaging their attention?

Pro Tip: Wordtune Editor can help you find alternate phrasings to unnecessarily long copy. Just highlight the text you want to refine and click on the “shorten” arrows.

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How To Write a Book Report?

• Smodin Editorial Team
• Published: May 30, 2024

It doesn’t matter whether you’re in middle school or tackling a college-level project; writing a book report that’s clear and impressive isn’t easy. But this isn’t entirely true, as you need to know how to go about it.

In this guide, we will walk you through different steps to writing a book report. From preparing to writing an engaging plot summary to creating a strong critical analysis, we’ll share different examples and the best ways to write a book report that can earn you good grades.

Keep reading on with these easy tips, and you’ll soon master the steps and impress your teachers and professors!

1. Preparing To Write a Book Report

Before you start writing a book report, a little preparation can go a long way in making the writing process easier.

The first step in learning how to write a book report is gathering all the information you need. Once you’ve gotten it together, it’s a simple matter of organizing your thoughts. Follow these steps.

• Read the book : Start by reading the entire book, even if it’s non-fiction, to understand the story and important plot points. Take notes while reading to identify the main characters, major themes, and key events. Be sure to highlight memorable passages or specific examples that stand out.
• Understand the assignment: Make sure you know the requirements, like the correct font, word count, and any specific guidelines. Find out whether the book report should include a critical analysis, personal opinion, or character analysis.
• Outline your report : Create a basic outline to help guide your writing. Divide your report into logical sections, like an introductory paragraph, plot summary, body paragraphs, and concluding paragraphs. This also involves jotting down key elements to include in each section, like a thesis statement or the main points of your argument.
• Research background information : Google the book’s title, author’s writing style, publication date, and brief description to get some more context. You might also want to explore the book cover to see how it might influence your understanding of the book.
• Organize your thoughts: Studies have found a direct link between note-taking and academic success, showing just how important notes can be in various contexts. Arrange your notes to focus on the main themes, important aspects of the plot, and your personal thoughts. Then, think about how you’ll analyze the author’s writing style and use of literary devices.

2. Write the Introduction

The introduction sets the stage for your entire book report. It’s your best chance to grab the reader’s attention while giving them key background information and framing your main points. Here’s how you can create an introductory paragraph that captivates readers and leaves them wanting to learn more.

• Introduce the book : Always start with the book’s title in quotation marks or italics, then include the writer’s name right after. It’s also important to provide the publication date and any historical context that’s relevant to understanding the book, like ongoing conflict or a recent invention.
• Provide a brief overview : Provide a very concise summary of the entire book to give readers an idea of what to expect. Highlight the book’s genre and a brief description of the setting. You should also mention whether it’s a fiction or non-fiction book.
• Present the thesis statement : This is pretty much the central point or argument that your report will make. This may require some practice, but formulate a clear thesis statement that reflects your analysis of the book. Your thesis should reveal the main themes, key elements, and specific examples that you’ll discuss in the body paragraphs.
• Engage the reader : Open with a catchy hook, like a vivid quote from the book or an interesting fact about the author. You could also pose a question or make a surprising statement related to the book’s major themes. When doing this, be sure to use vivid language to make the reader curious.
• Stay clear and concise : Avoid loading the introduction with too many details. Remember that you want to leave the reader with just enough, so they crave more information. Keep it brief and focused.
• Practice your thesis statement : Don’t just stick with the first thesis statement that you create. Revise it a couple of times until it illustrates your main argument in a way that’s clear and interesting.
• Be specific : Make sure the thesis statement is specific and directly relates to the analysis you’re about to present.
• Preview the structure : Give a hint of what readers will find in the body paragraphs, like theme analysis or character analysis.

3. Write the Plot Summary

When your plot summary has been written well, readers will get a nice idea of the story. They’ll also learn important aspects of the book’s events and themes.

• Always start with the basics. Briefly state the book’s title and the main character’s name.
• Provide a brief summary of the setting to help readers visualize where the story is happening.
• The next step is outlining key events, which involves identifying the major happenings or plot points that define the story.
• Sum up how the plot develops from the beginning to the climax and resolution, focusing on the book’s central conflict and main events.
• Avoid spoilers: For longer book reports, be careful not to reveal too much about the ending.
• Stay true to the story: Ensure your summary accurately represents the author’s writing style and the book’s themes.
• Keep taking notes: As you write the summary, refer back to the notes you made while reading. This will ensure you’ve captured all the key points.

While writing the plot summary, it’s important to keep it concise and clear. Don’t try to squeeze in every single detail; highlight only the essential plot points. If relevant, mention significant literary devices that the author used. This is often elements like foreshadowing or symbolism but don’t go into too much detail while mentioning these.

Connect major events to the book’s major themes or underlying message. This will help show how the actions of the main characters shape the story’s progression.

Throughout this, it’s also important to stay neutral and be chronological. The plot summary should be an objective recount of the story, not a subjective critique. Save personal opinions for the analysis and conclusion. Along with this, be sure to present the story’s events in the same order as they happen in the book. This helps keep the flow logical.

4. Write the Analysis

Writing a strong analysis can take your book report to another level. It can also show how well you understand the book’s themes, characters, and key details. Here’s how to craft a thoughtful analysis:

• Highlight the main themes: Identify the book’s primary themes and how they impact the story. You then have to explain how these themes affect the main character and their development throughout the story. Provide specific examples that illustrate how the author explores these themes.
• Conduct a character analysis: Focus on the main character, explaining their motivations, what makes them tick, and their role in the plot. After doing that, analyze how their actions shape the story and how they evolve over time. Discuss relationships between the main character and others to reveal more about the book’s relationship dynamics.
• Examine literary devices : Book reports often fall short when they overlook the writing style and use of literary devices. Unpack the symbolism, imagery, or motifs that deepen the book’s themes or enhance the plot. Mention how these devices contribute to the overall impact of the book.
• Offer critical insights : Break down the way the author writes to influence the book’s tone. It’s important to compare the book with other works by the same author or similar books to offer perspective. Give the reader a brief book review within the report that highlights its strengths and weaknesses while supporting your analysis.
• Stay focused on key details : Keep the analysis aligned with your thesis statement and only discuss relevant points. Be sure to organize your analysis in a way that makes sense to the reader.

5. Write the Conclusion

The conclusion is the final step in the process and if you get it right, you could have a pretty good report on your hands. This section should neatly wrap up your book by summarizing key points and providing a final thought. Here’s how to go about it.

• Restate the thesis statement : Begin your conclusion by restating the thesis statement but differently. The goal here is to summarize your main argument, tying it to your analysis of the book’s theme, characters, and plot.
• Recap key points : Provide a concise summary of the key points you discussed in the body paragraphs, like the main themes, character development, and writing style used. You should also highlight the most crucial insights that your book report offered without creating repetition.
• Connect to the introduction : Tie your conclusion back to the introductory paragraph by referring to the initial hook or question posed at the start. This will create a satisfying sense of closure in your report.
• Offer final thoughts : If appropriate, share your personal opinion about the book as a whole and whether it met your expectations. Suggest who might enjoy reading this book and offer recommendations.
• Leave a strong impression : End your conclusion with a powerful statement that makes the reader think about the book and your analyses. You could also consider linking the book’s themes or lessons to broader ideas or other books.

Additional Tips for Writing a Book Report

Before you rush to start writing, here are some practical tips to keep in mind:

• Find an interesting book : Pick a book that genuinely interests you. Your enthusiasm will reflect in your writing and keep you motivated throughout the writing process.
• Don’t read tired: This is a big mistake as you won’t be able to effectively digest all that the book has to offer. Remember that this is a book report and not just reading for enjoyment. So, always opt to read with fresh eyes to accurately identify key elements and take notes.
• Use quotations sparingly : Only include the most impactful quotes that directly support your analysis.
• Find a different angle : This is particularly applicable if you’re doing a report on a popular book. Try to bring in a new perspective or interpretation that shakes things up a little. Mind you, it’s important not to force it. The new perspective that you bring should still make sense in line with the book’s themes.
• Stay on topic: When a book is interesting, it might be tempting to want to include and link every single element. Don’t do that. Ensure each paragraph aligns with your thesis statement and provides valuable insights.
• Proofread and revise : Check for clarity, spelling, and grammar errors to ensure your report is polished and well-structured.

Make Writing a Book Report Easy With Smodin

Smodin provides AI-powered tools that simplify writing a book report. Here are some features that could help:

• AI Writer : Generate high-quality, structured text complete with references, making it a lot easier to write your book report.
• Summarizer : Quickly create concise note summaries. Helps you condense key details into a brief overview for your report. You can also use this to provide a good overview of the book.
• Citation Machine : Automatically generate accurate references in MLA and APA formats. Adds credibility to your analysis.
• Homework Solver : Use this tool to find answers to any questions you have while preparing your report.
• AI Grader : Get detailed feedback to help you refine your arguments and writing style.

And there you have it, everything you need to know about how to write a good book report. Trust us: if you follow these steps, you’ll confidently craft each section and leave your assessors with a book report that’ll be the golden standard.

Remember to find an engaging book, organize your ideas, and use practical tools like Smodin to make the writing process easier.

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Blog Human Resources 7 One Pager Examples with Ideas and Templates

7 One Pager Examples with Ideas and Templates

Written by: Jennifer Gaskin Oct 11, 2023

The humble one pager has a simple name, but in reality, it’s anything but one dimensional.

That’s because teachers, business owners, sales teams and training managers can all make use of this utility player document.

Let’s learn more about one pagers and explore tips for creating your own, whether it’s to sell your company’s services or help reinforce training materials .

Click to jump ahead:

What is a one pager, what should a one pager include, 7 one pager examples, how to write a one pager.

One pager is a single page of content, most often no larger than a letter- or A4-sized sheet of paper. Because they have such broad uses, though, what’s actually in a one pager will depend on your needs and the purpose of the materials.

In a business context, we most often see one pagers used to summarize the services a company offers. They’re also often used to aid in employee training and development . And that brings us to the overlap between training and education, as a teacher might use a one pager as a learning tool for their students.

(Not sure visual training content works? Let us change your mind.)

The exact content of a one pager will depend on why it’s needed and who’s creating it. I assume you’ve landed here because you’re looking for one pagers related to some aspect of business.

So for now, I’m going to focus on how businesses tend to use one pagers. (I’ll talk more about educational one pagers later.)For a business, a one pager can have pretty much limitless applications. But here are the most successful uses I’ve seen and the types of information you should include in each:

A company one pager is meant to describe what your business does, whether that’s selling goods or providing a service.

For a successful company one pager, all companies should include a few things:

• Mission/values statement
• Services offered
• Value proposition
• Contact information

Many companies use their basic one pager as a sell sheet, particularly if they are known for making one or two main products.

But a sell sheet should include things like:

• Your pricing model
• Project timelines (if applicable)
• Product or service specifications
• Ordering information

Product flyer

A close cousin to a sell sheet, a product flyer is essentially a sell sheet for a particular good or service that you create or sell. What distinguishes them from sell sheets is they focus on a singular good or service rather than all the goods or services your company sells.

Product flyers should have:

• Logo (company and/or product logo, if applicable)
• Photos of your product (or images that represent your services)
• Product specs
• Sale information (if applicable)
• Purchasing information
• Contact information/social media

Investor pitch

If you’re looking for financial backing for your company, you’re probably going to create a pitch deck . But if you distill that information into a single page too, it can help set you apart from other potential investments — it shows you have a firm grasp on your unique value proposition and business plan and you respect the time of those you’re pitching.

Consider including the following in your investor pitch one pager:

• Logo (or the name of your business if you don’t have a logo yet)
• Unique value proposition
• Market analysis and revenue projections
• List of officers and key team members
• Launch timeline
• Fundraising goal

Standard operating procedure

One pagers are incredibly useful when learning how to do something new, whether you’re just starting a job or you’re taking on new responsibilities. Give your employees a leg up by creating standard operating procedure one pagers written tutorials they can refer back to. These types of one pagers can help them commit tasks to memory so they become second-nature.

An SOP one pager should have:

• Description of document’s purpose
• Summary of procedures or specific task
• Policies and procedures necessary to understand task

A training one pager may be quite similar to a standard operating procedure one pager. But it has the specific purpose of ensuring team members know how to tackle a new task, technology or process. Also called job aids , these types of one pagers are closest in purpose to those used for education: their goal is getting information to stick.

The specific content will vary, but generally training one pagers should include:

• Name of task
• List of steps to complete task
• FAQ about task
• Contact information if help is needed

Sales report

One pagers are perfect for summarizing lengthy material. This is why they’re so useful in training materials , which we just explored. But they can also be used to highlight important aspects of broader information or data, such as sales data. Your company may have a seemingly endless number of sales- and revenue-related data points… summarizing it all in a one pager can make the material easier to digest.

Here’s what a sales one pager could include:

• Quarter/annual/fiscal year
• Income and expenses
• Year-over-year change (or month-over-month/quarter-over-quarter)
• Projections
• Return on investment
• Important milestones/events

Project report

What is a one pager for a project? Similar to a sell sheet or product flyer, a project report one pager summarizes key information about an ongoing (or upcoming) project. One pagers are excellent tools for keeping your team on track during any project.

Include things like:

• Images of project (if applicable)
• Timeline, including noting if team is falling behind
• Projected new timeline (if applicable)
• Key team members

Now that we’ve explored the different business and training applications of one pagers, let’s take a look at some examples — both inside and outside of a corporate context.

Business one pager s

Here are some general business one pager examples:

This project one pager focuses on a product launch. Note how different departments are color-coded. This allows team members to see what areas they’re responsible for at a glance.

Use your product flyer, sell sheet or even investor pitch one pager to compare your product or service to a chief competitor with a comparison one pager. Seeing key specs side-by-side can really make your products stand out.

Showcase the variety of products or service your company offers with this product flyer one pager template. Make sure you have high-quality photos (or use icons and graphics to represent your services).

Take a page (ahem, one page) from this real estate sales flyer for your next sell sheet. Summarize key points in the bulleted list and highlight the contact information for your sales team.

Give potential customers a 35,000-foot view of your business by creating a company one pager using a template like this one. Include your logo, hours, contact information, website and address to give the reader all the most important details.

Training and development one pager s

Ensuring team members have the skills they need and follow the right procedures is an ideal use for one pagers in a business of any size. Here are a few examples and templates to get you started:

While this one pager was designed to keep track of equipment, you could easily modify it to make sure other procedures — particularly ones you’ve recently put in place — are followed. Research has shown that writing things on paper (or a tablet) can improve information retention, so your training and development one pagers should be printer-friendly.

Create individualized learning and development plans for your employees with this template. Modify it to list things like courses they’ll complete, certifications they can earn or new tasks they want to take on.

Keep track of training and development schedules with a one pager that lists each person’s sessions and how long they’ll last.

Learning and development in a professional setting can sometimes feel isolating, particularly if team members are on their own throughout the training process. But by creating a training one pager like this, the whole team can see where their peers stand and provide moral support and motivation.

Use a flyer design like this to make sure everyone at your company knows that learning and development opportunities are available — whether you offer them in-house or provide outside tools.

Education one pager s

I’m not a teacher, but I know one pagers are also quite popular in education, from elementary school to college. While they’re similar in some ways to those used in business, they typically vary in one big way: students make them, rather than teachers.

An education one pager is a document that a student creates to show what they’ve learned. They can be used in place of tests or quizzes or as a companion to a more traditional written assignment. They often include drawings or other artistic depictions (here are some cool examples of creative one pagers made by students ).

Project one pagers

A project one-pager provides a high-level overview of a specific project and is designed to capture the key details of the project.

Want to make sure everyone’s on the same page for your upcoming project? A project one pager is just what you need. It squeezes all the important bits onto a single page – perfect for those who want to get the gist without getting overwhelmed.

If you’ve got stakeholders in the mix who are a bit crunched for time and not keen on diving into the nitty-gritty project docs, I’ve got your back. Check out this example of a project one-pager to make sure you catch all the important stuff.

You can also use a project one pager to help divide job scope by clearly outlining responsibilities and tasks for each team member or department. It’s like a simple guide that keeps things organized and everyone in check.

Company one pagers

A company one-pager is a brief document that gives a snapshot of essential information about your company.

It’s like the quick intro to your business – from what the company does to its mission and a glimpse of its achievements. The one-pager is the go-to cheat sheet for anyone wanting to understand your business in a nutshell.

Consider putting together a company one-pager to share what services you offer. It’s a simple way to highlight what makes your business unique and help clients or partners understand how your services differ from competitors.

Product one pagers

Ever feel like explaining your product is like untangling a knot of spaghetti? Imagine a concise, one-page document summarizing your product’s magic: what it does, who it helps and why it’s special.

And that, is exactly why you need a product one pager.

Instead of sifting through loads of info, your customers get a quick overview of what the product is and why they might be interested – all neatly packaged in one page. It’s like the go-to guide for products, keeping things straightforward and easy to grasp.

You’re not just limited to selling stuff—it could be a service or, in this case, even a cool business startup course!

Alternatively, you can craft a product launch one-pager to outline your marketing strategy and organize the launch of your new product.

Personal one pagers

Personal one-pagers are documents that provide a snapshot of an individual’s key details, achievements, and skills.

They are similar to resumes but are typically more visually appealing and designed to give a quick overview of a person’s professional background, expertise and personal brand. Personal one-pagers can be used in job applications, networking events or as part of a personal branding strategy .

Imagine it as a sort of personalized business card, but way more fun. It’s your chance to move beyond the usual “hi, I do X” and highlight what makes you, well, you.

If you’re a freelancer or contractor, think of personal one-pagers as a handy way to share what you’re good at, highlight past projects, and let them know about the services you offer. Just like this example here:

The goal of a one-pager is to quickly and effectively communicate your message, so brevity and clarity are essential. You want the reader to grasp the key points in a matter of seconds.

Here’s a general outline for creating a one-pager:

• Header: Start with a clear and eye-catching title at the top of the page and include your name or the name of your organization.
• Introduction: Provide a brief introductory paragraph or a few sentences that explain the purpose and context of the one-pager.
• Problem statement or opportunity: Clearly state the problem you’re addressing or the opportunity you’re seizing. This is the “why” of your project.
• Solution or idea: Present your solution, idea or project in a concise manner. Explain how it addresses the problem or leverages the opportunity.
• Key benefits: Highlight the key benefits or advantages of your solution. This can include things like cost savings, increased efficiency or market advantages.
• Key features or components: List the most important features, components or elements of your project or product. Bullet points work well for this section.
• Target audience: Describe the target audience or customers for your project. Who will benefit from it, and who is it designed for?
• Market opportunity (if applicable): If your one-pager is for a business idea or startup, provide some information about the market opportunity, such as size, growth,and trends.
• Implementation plan or timeline: If relevant, outline the steps or timeline for implementing your project. This can include key milestones or phases.
• Call to action: Conclude with a clear call to action. What do you want the reader to do next? Contact you, invest, or take some other specific action?
• Contact information: Provide your contact information, including email, phone number and any relevant social media or website links.
• Visual elements (optional): Consider including visuals such as charts, graphs, images or infographics to make your one-pager more engaging and informative.
• Formatting and design: Keep the layout clean and easy to read. Use a legible font, appropriate font size and simple colors. Ensure that the document is well-organized.
• Proofread and edit: Carefully proofread your one-pager for spelling and grammar errors. Ensure that it conveys your message clearly and concisely.
• Review and feedback: Before finalizing your one-pager, have someone else review it to get feedback and make improvements.

One-pagers excel in business communication with their compact size and versatility

As we’ve explored, you can create a one pager for your business that highlights your services, convinces an investor to give you money or helps keep your team’s skills sharp.

Whether you’re an executive or a learning and development professional, you can create all of these one pagers and more with Venngage for Business.

Simply sign up for a free account , choose a template from our library of professionally designed options and create your own in just a few clicks!

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How to Create a One-Pager: A Guide for Our End-of-Semester Challenge

Tips, links and encouragement for expressing yourself creatively on the Times topic of your choice.

By Katherine Schulten

Now updated for 2023-24, with last year’s winners as mentor texts.

Are you participating in our one-pager challenge ? If so, you might already know you’re allowed to choose any article, opinion essay , video , graph , photo collection or podcast from The New York Times that was published this year, and that you can respond to it in almost any way you like. All you have to do is show us — via words and images — how you engaged with the ideas and information in the piece.

But where do you begin? Here are some steps you can take to find a meaningful piece, review it carefully and react to it authentically, and then figure out how to create an illustrated one-page response that expresses what you’d most like to say.

Here are the steps:

1. choose something from the new york times., 2. make notes about your thoughts and reactions., 3. decide what you want to say., 4. check out some teen-created examples., 5. design your one-pager..

If your family, school or local library has a subscription to The Times, whether print or digital, you might begin by exploring and saving the stories that jump out at you. Here is a guide we created in 2020, “ 21 Things Teenagers Can Do With a New York Times Subscription ,” that can offer ideas and introduce you to corners of nytimes.com that you might not know existed.

If you don’t have a subscription, you can explore via The Learning Network, since we publish many daily features, all of which link to free Times content. (Keep in mind that you need to choose something published in 2023 or early 2024 if you are participating in our challenge, which runs from Dec. 6 to Jan. 10.)

Here are some options:

We have created a special collection just for this contest. Our latest edition of Teenagers in The Times contains over 75 links to articles that published this fall about young athletes, artists, activists and more. There is something on the list for everyone.

Search our site, or scroll through its features, looking for topics you care about. For instance, if you start with our writing prompts you’ll find pieces on fandoms , friendship , learning from failure , phones in school , ChatGPT , mental health , gun violence , celebrity relationships and much, much more.

Or, check out our multimedia offerings to find films about the joys and challenges of growing up , stuttering , how to be a good listener , and what it means to be young, Black and queer today . Or, find graphs about football and C.T.E ., electric cars , Spelling Bee words or global temperatures .

Finally, you can take a look at our lesson plans, each of which links to multiple Times pieces on topics like hip-hop history , applying to college in the era of A.I., the Israel-Hamas war , Latino cooking , the child-labor crisis , and what it’s like to be 13 years old today .

Once you find a topic, click in to find the related Times piece. We don’t care what you choose, or whether you loved it or hated it. We care about your engagement with the ideas and information.

So whether you were moved by an article, enlightened by an podcast, irked by an editorial or inspired by a video, find something in The Times that genuinely interests you and explore why, as honestly and originally as you can.

Before you decide what belongs on your one-pager, read, watch or listen to the piece several times. As you go, make notes about your thoughts and reactions.

Our post Annotating to Engage, Analyze, Connect and Create , published in 2015 back when The Learning Network was a blog, offers many ideas for creative ways to do this, but here are some starting questions:

What do you notice?

What do you wonder?

What words, lines or details jump out at you? Why?

What emotions are you feeling as you explore the text?

How does this text connect to you or to your world?

How does it connect to other things you have read, seen or heard?

What do you admire about this piece? Does it offer you any lessons for something you might want to create?

Is there anything you don’t like about this piece? What and why?

What, if anything, is missing from this piece? Why?

What is your overall reaction to it? Why?

After you’ve noted your first reactions, step back and think about your selection some more. You might discuss it with others, or click on any links within it to read related information. You might follow up on some of the questions it raised for you, or see if other news sources have covered the topic differently. Or, you might focus on how the piece changed your understanding of an issue or idea, and why. What might you do with this new information?

Video from the article, “ TikTok Is Dead (Maybe). Long Live TikTok Dance. ”

Now the creative fun begins. Read over your notes and annotations and decide what is most important or interesting for you to capture about your selection.

Here are two ways to think about what belongs on your one-pager.

Pick responses that all follow a theme:

Let’s say you’re a video game fanatic and skimmed The Times looking for news you could use. Maybe you read “ 12 Video Games Releasing This Fall ” and learned about some you had never heard of — or remembered some of your favorite games of the past. Or, maybe you were fascinated by “ Russia Takes Its Ukraine Information War Into Video Games ” and how propaganda is appearing in Minecraft and other popular games and discussion groups. Perhaps you’ve even started to notice some of that propaganda in the games you play. Or, maybe you’re fascinated by the connection between gaming and A.I., so you devoured this article about how A.I. can help you design your characters . Whichever of these articles you chose, your one pager could focus on what you learned from it, or how it helps you as a player, or what you now understand about how the video game industry is changing.

Or, let’s say you read a Modern Love essay , and most of your responses are about the language you admired, the flashes of humor in the piece, the introduction of words that were new to you, and your observations about the author’s use of point of view. Your one-pager might then be focused on the writer’s craft and what you can learn from it for your own work. You might even try imitating a mentor sentence from the essay in a section of your one-pager.

Or, pick a range of your most interesting, original, insightful or useful responses:

Maybe your responses were all over the place. Maybe you are a TikTok dance enthusiast, so you read the article about the evolution of dance trends on the app, and how influential they’ve been. That might remind you of other TikTok dance videos, past or present — and you might then be able to apply some of what was in the Times piece to those. Maybe you think the Times reporter missed some key information that should have been in the article. Or maybe you clicked on the links in the piece and have been captivated by information about new artists, dance subcultures, or some of the issues around creative crediting that have arisen. Any and all of these thoughts and observations can lead to great responses, and become part of your one-pager.

Take a close look at the image above. It was one of 15 winners of our 2022-23 contest . (You can click to enlarge this image and the three below to help study details.)

“How to Save Yourself From ‘Task Paralysis’” is by Vivian Wang, a 15-year-old from India, who wrote in her accompanying process statement, “My goal was to make my one-pager focused, like an infographic, but with the playful energy of a children’s book.”

Did she succeed? Which elements here are more “infographic” and which are more “children’s book”?

Here are some more things to notice about her work, and some questions for you.

Things to notice: This student chose a piece that was “news she could use” — information applicable to her own life — then she made her thinking about it visible through word and image. She summarized key points from the piece, then applied them to her own struggles, pulling out the sentences and details that she wanted to remember. She illustrated each segment with appealing animal characters that get across the emotions the article explores — worry and confusion, but also relief.

Questions for you: What New York Times pieces would constitute news you could use? Perhaps something from the Health section ? Tips and tricks from the Gameplay section if you enjoy word games? Ideas from the Food section if you cook? How can you both impart what you learned and show how it connects to your own life?

Below, three more of our winners, with their own “Things to notice” and “Questions for you.” But we encourage you to look through all 15 and choose the ones you like best. Then, drill down to try to name exactly what each student did that you admire. Finally, ask yourself questions about how you could borrow those ideas and strategies for your own work.

Things to notice: “How Wild Turkeys Find Love” was one of the few laugh-out-loud submissions we received, and that alone moved it forward in the judging rounds. But look closely, because everything about this submission works, starting with the cleverness of Kylie Doherty’s method. By taking lines from a science article about the mating habits of turkeys and translating them into comic illustrations, this student both surfaced important facts in the article and took the information in an imaginative new direction. Even the “new word I learned” is funny, as is (of course) the related illustration. Note the attention to detail, too, like the hearts and turkey tracks that form the border.

Questions for you: Can you make a comic out of a Times article? As you can see from this one, your drawings don’t have to be elaborate. Try illustrating scenes that express some of your favorite facts from a science, politics, sports or arts-related article. Don’t be afraid to express your sense of humor!

Things to notice: This one-pager about parkour-activists marries the content of the original article and the visual display of that information so perfectly that it’s a pleasure to follow this student's thinking. And yet, as dynamic as the illustrations are, the comments are just as interesting. Throughout, Mythri Margam engages with both philosophical and practical questions about the article, coming to the conclusion that this is a “noble cause.”

Questions for you: Does the article you’ve chosen lend itself to a dramatic visual display? If so, how can you choose a color palette and create illustrations that are equally dramatic and help tell the story for you? As for your written comments, what big-picture questions does the Times piece raise for you? How did you wrestle with them as you read?

Things to notice: This one-pager effectively summarizes a problem and helps us focus on the important questions around it. The illustrations are simple but effective, and show that you don’t have to have spent hours in art classes to express your ideas visually. The use of shape and color alone help our eyes move around the page. But notice that Shannon Hitscherich’s most elaborate comment is about what she feels the Times piece is missing. That’s a reaction our judges especially admire, both because we know it demands close reading, and because it always makes us think.

Questions for you: If you’re unused to expressing yourself visually, we have three questions. 1. What colors and simple shapes might express what you want to say and help your words pop? 2. Do you know another student who can help? You are allowed to work in pairs for this contest. 3. What digital tools can you use? If you look at the full list of last year’s winners, you’ll see that several are created that way. (Just make sure you follow our rules about copyright, and note that we do not allow A.I.-created images.)

Not enough examples? If you’d like to see still more, here are some links to one-pagers from around the web:

NCTE | The Magic of One-Pagers

Cult of Pedagogy | A Simple Trick for Success with One-Pagers

Spark Creativity | One-Pagers Roundup: Examples to Inspire

We Are Teachers | 20 One-Pager Examples, Plus Advice for Using Them With Your Students

Finally, below is a slide show of fun one-pagers made in 2022 by students at Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Ill. Teachers there regularly bring their students to respond to our writing prompts, so we emailed the school that fall and asked them to do us a favor. We wanted a few teenagers to try our challenge before we made the first one public, and we wondered if any students there might volunteer. A few who had never done a one-pager before raised their hands, and, though their teachers offered this as an optional final assignment, they did not otherwise guide it. We love all the different directions these students’ work took. Which inspire you most? Why?

Now that you have seen several examples, you’re ready to create your own. You are welcome to work with a partner, but each of you can submit only once.

As you’ve seen from the examples in Step 4, you do not have to have a background in art to make an excellent one-pager. Stick figures, simple graphics and the use of color can do all the visual work needed to highlight your thoughts. What we’ll be focusing on is your engagement with the ideas and information in the text. Use the space on your page to make visible what happened to you as you engaged with your selection and made meaning from it.

Here are a few questions to help you plan:

How can you divide up your page to accommodate everything you want to say?

How can you use elements of design like color, shape and line to emphasize your ideas?

Will you have one central illustration, or several smaller ones?

How can you make the most of space like the borders of the page, but use it in such a way that your work is still legible?

How does this one-pager trace your thinking about the topic and show highlights from it? How does it show connections between those ideas?

Good luck, and remember to submit by Jan. 10, 2024. We can’t wait to see what you make!

The images for the photo collage in this post all come from Times pieces from this year. Photo credits (from left to right): Top row : Eric Hartline/USA Today Sports, via Reuters Con; Illustration by Nicolás Ortega, photograph by Getty Images; Charlie Riedel/Associated Press; Ritchie B Tongo/EPA, via Shutterstock; Carmen Abd Ali for The New York Times; Rose Wong. Middle row: Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times; NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI); Warner Bros.; Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times. Bottom row: Simon Bailly/Sepia; Cassidy Araiza for The New York Times; Illustration by Jon Key; Bryan Anselm for The New York Times; Erin Schaff for The New York Times; Amy Lombard for The New York Times.

Katherine Schulten has been a Learning Network editor since 2006. Before that, she spent 19 years in New York City public schools as an English teacher, school-newspaper adviser and literacy coach. More about Katherine Schulten

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What is a one-pager? Examples, rules, template

Communication is key to being a great product manager, and one of the most common questions we get is, “What are you working on next?”

A one-pager is a great way to align the various departments in your business and ensure that your products have the support they need to be successful.

What is a one-pager?

A one-pager is a succinct and strategic document, typically restricted to a single page, designed to provide a comprehensive overview of a product, project, or idea to foster alignment and clarity among stakeholders.

Unlike lengthy traditional business documents, a one-pager distills the essence of the matter in a clear, concise manner, making it an essential tool for efficient communication and decision-making in fast-paced business environments.

Presenting key details, objectives, and the value proposition in a condensed format enables stakeholders from various departments to swiftly grasp the essence of the initiative and rally behind it.

How are one-pagers used in product management?

Put yourself in the shoes of a head of sales: a product manager comes up to you and says, “Oh, by the way, we’re launching this big new feature tomorrow. Just thought I’d let you know.”

Your first reaction would probably be to express frustration; only finding out about a new feature the day before release means that you’re now pressured to come up with all of the documentation and training for the team to support this new feature in one day. Have we got the right marketing materials? How do we sell this thing? What does it even do?

There are still so many unanswered questions that it’s unlikely this feature will get the support it needs to succeed. This is a surefire way to frustrate everyone involved in building your product.

As a product manager, there are many different departments that you have to interact with — engineering, sales, customer support, implementation, marketing, etc. — and you need a way to quickly get all of these disparate departments aligned on what you’re doing so they can support the product development process effectively.

A one-pager enables you to distribute a single, concise document that everyone can read and understand to know what’s being worked on. If anyone has a question about the new feature, they can just quickly and easily refer to this document to understand exactly what you’re delivering and why.

What a one-pager isn’t

To better understand what a one-pager is, it’s good to review what it isn’t.

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A one-pager is not a:

Project plan

Product requirements document (prd), business case.

Project plans are a relic of the old waterfall way of working — that is, having a specific project plan created by a project manager, with timelines and Gantt charts to show what specific deliverables will be completed and when. These tend to be very static documents and don’t mesh well with the modern way of product development.

Product requirements documents (PRDs) tend to follow a priority system, such as MoSCoW, detailing the specifics of both the feature and functionality. These can be many pages long and are generally used word-for-word as a guide for the engineering team to deliver a new solution.

PRDs are often fairly immutable. They are written upfront and then pushed into the delivery cycle. This is essentially a rebranded version of a project plan.

A business case generally is a larger, more formal document that outlines financial investment and returns for a product as well as target markets, competition, financial projections, and marketing strategies for a feature. Generally, this type of document is used to get buy-in from an executive team for a long-term project that’s delivered using waterfall.

All of these forms of documentation are outdated and don’t work well in conjunction with modern software development practices. They’re all too slow and cumbersome to be useful, and they tend to be extremely prescriptive with their descriptions. That’s where the idea of the one-pager comes in.

Popular one-pager models

There are a few different ways you can frame a one-pager. One traditional way is to create a succinct PRD, but as we discussed earlier, this type of documentation is outmoded. Even the mere mention of the word “requirements” can be enough to set a poor precedent for the business (think “customer requirements” for a contract deal).

So what are some alternative, more modern models we can turn to?

The Amazon press release

The shape up pitch document, the lean canvas.

According to Ian McAllister , a Director at Amazon , they use the idea of ‘working backwards’ and start with an internal press release announcing the product. This document gives a high-level view of what the new product will do and how it’s better than previous or alternative solutions. He also mentions that there should be no technical speak or specifications as this is a document that should be targeted at the customers who will use the product, and not just to engineers who might be building it.

Some of the benefits of the press release are that it’s easy to manipulate, understandable by a wide range of audiences, and forces the Product Manager to articulate the benefits and customer problems in a very narrow scope. The fact that this is designed to be a short document also means that it’s easily editable before any technical work gets completed, to make sure that the end result will actually deliver the right level of value to customers that the PM expects.

As with anything, there are also downsides to this approach, one of which is that the press release might corner the engineering team into trying to solve a problem that is technically extremely complex, I’ve seen this happen when someone comes up with a fantastic idea and everyone agrees that it would be a game-changer only to get to the engineering team and find out that you’d have to invent completely new technology to enable it – this could be either complex or even impossible depending on the situation.

The Shape Up methodology calls for using a pitch document  to present at the betting table for assessment. They describe the pitch as follows:

The purpose of the pitch is to present a good potential bet. It’s basically a presentation. The ingredients are all the things that we need to both capture the work done so far and present it in a form that will enable the people who schedule projects to make an informed bet.

Here is an example of what a pitch document looks like:

The key elements inside the pitch document are:

• Problem — The raw idea, a use case, or something we’ve seen that motivates us to work on this
• Appetite — How much time we want to spend and how that constrains the solution
• Solution — The core elements we came up with, presented in a form that’s easy for people to immediately understand
• Rabbit holes — Details about the solution worth calling out to avoid problems
• No-go — Anything specifically excluded from the concept: functionality or use cases we intentionally aren’t covering to fit the appetite or make the problem tractable

Again, there are positives and negatives to this type of one-pager. It is a clear and succinct document that can be shared among the team to gain alignment quickly. It also helps you consider the potential pitfalls of the project and set limits on what you’re going to work on (using the “no-go” section).

The negatives are that this type of document might not have enough of the business side of the proposition to convince other departments of the relevance of the problem to the overall business objectives.

A Lean Canvas is a single, visual document that outlines all the critical aspects you need to consider when moving from a potential idea to a mature business:

The Lean Canvas has become quite synonymous with one-pagers. It sounds great on paper (pun intended), but it’s showing its age a bit when compared to the slightly more modern alternatives listed above.

There is also the obvious fact that a lean canvas tends to be landscape on an A3 page, which is stretching the whole concept of a one-pager in general.

There are also some superfluous sections in the Lean Canvas that can be removed to make it more streamlined, specifically the “unfair advantage,” “early adopters,” “cost structure,” and “revenue streams” information. Those are more business-specific and don’t need to be part of a product development one-pager.

4 rules for creating one-pagers

From the examples above, there are many different ways to approach the one-pager, but it’s important to follow a few key rules:

• Keep it to one page! If you find yourself spilling onto page two, then you need to spend more time understanding the problem so you can articulate it more concisely
• What is the customer’s problem?
• How is this problem related to our business objectives?
• What are our solution options?
• How will we measure success?
• The one-pager is a living document. Always be looking to make it more effective.
• Share this document early and often within your business to make sure all departments get a chance to add their input, as well as to maintain strong alignment between all your teams

How to create a one-pager (3 steps)

So the question you’re probably asking is: ‘What’s the best one-pager for me?’

As with everything, it depends. Whichever model you decide to use as a template, it’s important to follow some simple rules when creating a one-pager for your business. It’s likely that the one-pager you developed for a business that you worked at previously can’t be used exactly the same way at the next business, which is where the idea of a living document comes into play.

Being able to use some core ideas and guiding principles means you can create a new one-pager that fits in wherever you end up working, no matter the structure. The steps below serve as a good starting point and template when creating your own one-pagers:

• Answer key questions
• Share early and often
• Create a living document

1. Answer key questions

• What is the customer problem we’re trying to solve?
• What’s the current solution (if any)?
• How does this relate to our business objectives (for the quarter/OKRs)?
• What are our solution ideas? (do we need links to tech docs)?
• How do we market this?

2. Share early and often

There’s no point in developing a streamlined one-pager that is still only siloed within the product management team. It’s important that as soon as there’s enough content in the document, it gets shared amongst all the different departments so that they can comment and add their feedback and knowledge before it gets to any prioritization meetings.

3. Create a living document

There’s nothing worse than putting something into practice with the idea that this is the final answer and never evolving it. This is the pitfall that companies have fallen into over the last 30 years with software development, so it’s important to not let that type of thinking seep into other areas of the business, such as when we document problems to be solved by our business.

One-pager template

Use the following template should help you get started building a one-pager:

• Write a concise description of the problem that the customer is facing here.
• Are customers using a workaround? Can you manually do this in the background for them? Are there any third party apps that they are using to get around this right now?
• Why is solving this problem right now important for our business? What objective are we looking to hit by solving this problem?
• Describe a basic solution idea, maybe a wireframe or fat marker sketch. If you need more detail you can link out to a technical document done by an engineer.
• What marketing materials will we need to launch this? E.g. FAQ, how-to, pricing, marketing site updates, updated sales decks, etc.
• What metrics will we use to measure whether or not we’ve successfully solved this problem for our customers?

You can access this one-pager template as a Google Doc here (to use the template, first select File > Make a copy from the main menu).

One-pager example

The following is an example of what a one-pager might look like for a new product feature:

• Many users struggle with organizing their saved content, leading to inefficiency and frustration.
• Users currently use third-party bookmarking tools or manual folder systems, which do not integrate well with our platform.
• By addressing this problem, we aim to increase user engagement on our platform by 20 percent and reduce the churn rate by 5 percent within the next quarter.
• Introduce a “Smart Organizer” feature that automatically categorizes saved content based on keywords, source, and user preferences. [Link to wireframe]
• Launch a teaser campaign on social media highlighting the benefits of “Smart Organizer”
• Host webinars to demonstrate the feature and gather initial feedback
• Update our FAQ section, create how-to guides, and integrate the feature’s details into our marketing materials and sales decks
• 25 percent increase in saved content within the first month
• 15 percent reduction in third-party bookmarking tool mentions in our feedback system
• 10 percent increase in user satisfaction regarding content organization

Key takeaways

For product managers, a one-pager is one of the most effective ways to achieve alignment between different areas of your business and rally teams around a singular customer problem that the business wants to solve. It is a modern form of internal communication that is much more concise and effective than old methods such as PRDs and project plans.

When coming up with your one-pager template, there are quite a few examples out there with different structures, from Amazon’s “press release” approach to the Shape Up “pitch document” method. But what’s more important than using a template is that the content works for your specific business situation.

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Book Report Writing for Students

Report generator.

Writing a report is normal for students in elementary, high school and even for college. Although there are many different kinds of reports that will be asked by the teachers to be submitted by the students, there will always be that one kind of report that is common all throughout your entire school life, and that is a book report.

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In elementary, you are typically given a specific format to follow so that it will be easier for the teacher to track as to whether the student is following the instructions or not. This format is also useful in helping the students with how they should organize the structure of their book report, from beginning till end. There are many ways of preparing your report. But, it is best if you follow these steps listed below as it may make your life a lot easier. You may also see the  report writing examples to give you a better idea.

How to Write a Book Report

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Researching and Outlining Your Report

1. follow the requirements of your assignment..

Even though you will be exercising your own creativity in this book report, keep in mind that there are still instructions that should still have to be followed. If there are any clarifications or questions that you would like to raise to your teacher before beginning the assignment, it would be the perfect time to do so. You may also see free report examples .

• One of the things that you would need to clarify with your instructor is whether citations and page numbers are necessary items to be added in the book report.
• Try to ask your instructor on how much of the book report should be dedicated to the summary of the story. After all, most book reports are direct summaries with only a few opinions mixed in. You may also see incident reports .

2. Read the Entire Book.

What’s the point of writing a book report if you know nothing about the book itself? If you are more visual than imaginative, I would suggest you watch an adapted screenplay of the said book in order to cut down the “boringness” you might feel when you read it. But, keep in mind that movies (no matter how well-told) will always leave out some details or scenes that are found in the novelization. But then again, it is entirely up to your discretion. You may also see monthly reports .

• If you have the ability to read without getting bored, then I would suggest you read the whole thing in one go to keep the momentum going. If you need a break or need to eat, then do so while reading if it is something impossible to put down even for a second.
• Do not even think about skimming the book. Capture the moment of the scenes being offered to you. Read about every detail and allow your imagination to take flight. You may also see activity reports .
• Last but never the least, allow yourself to never read book summaries online. They can never be trusted. You will never know what they might have left out. It is better if you commit time to reading the whole thing than being a killjoy.

3. Take Careful Notes when Reading.

If there is a specific plot twist that gets to you, write it down. If there is a scene that created a huge impact, write it down. If there is a character that you can relate to, write it down. Write down what you like. Write down what you hate. Take notes while you read them. If you do not want your momentum to be ruined, you can always go back to it when you are done. You may also see formal reports .

• When you are finished with your outline, go back through it to see if it makes sense. Reorganize and restructure the whole outline if you have to. Do not forget that this is just a guide for you, and it can be changed.
• Outlining does take a bit of time, but it will save you time in the proofreading stage. You may also see book reports .

4. Create an Outline.

An outline does not have to be too complicated. It can even only be a couple of one-liners from the story so as to give you the gist of what you need to include in that certain area. Indicate what each paragraph will discuss and the details from the work that you’ll include. Outlines can change from time to time. You may also see short reports .

Intermix Examples and Quotations from the Text.

As you construct your outline, try to pair any general points of the summary with specific details from the book. This will show your teacher that not only have you read the book, you understand it. Vary your examples and keep your quotations brief. You may also see expense reports .

Don’t Try to Cover Everything.

This is probably both impossible and improbable for two reasons. First, if you attempt to cover everything in the story, people might as well just read your book report instead of buying the book itself since the plot and everything else is already explained. And second, there is a tendency that you might leave out some important details in the process, even if you have covered everything. This is just a summary. You may also see service reports .

For example, you’ll likely need to focus primarily on discussing the most important characters or the characters that appear most frequently in the text.

My Book Report Sample 1

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 Writing the Body of Your Report

1. open with an informative intro paragraph.

Start strong and end strong. First impression matters, so make it count. If you are still in elementary, then it is best not to try too hard at making an attention-grabbing sentence. But, if you are in college or high school, you might be able to think of something. But it is important to include the author’s name and the book title in the first paragraph. You may also see management reports .

• Try not to take up too much space with your introduction. It should be more than two and generally less than ten sentences long.

2. Describe the Book’s Setting

This is a great way to start the body of your paper because it will set the stage for everything else that you’ll discuss in your report. Describe the locations mentioned in the book so that your teacher will know exactly what you are referring to. You may also see status reports .

• Add color and life to the summary. If the place was smelled like the stench of death and decay, by all means, add it there.

3. Include a General Plot Summary

This is where you need to describe the exact outcome of the book in less than two paragraphs. The plot summary should mention all major events that took place and how each event impacted the characters. You may also see performance reports .

4. Introduce Any Main Characters

The book revolves around its characters (both protagonists and antagonists). Make sure when you are describing your characters, give every detail on how they look like, their actions and the skills they possess. You may also see investigation reports .

5. Examine Any Main Themes or Arguments in Your Body Paragraphs

Look for the ‘big ideas’ as you are reading. In a fiction work, pay attention to the character’s actions and how they follow certain patterns if they do. In a nonfiction work, look for the author’s primary thesis statement or argument. What are they trying to prove or suggest?

• For example, you might write, “The author argues that travel gives you a new perspective. That is why her main characters all seem happier and more grounded after visiting new places.”You may also see recruitment reports .
• For a fiction work, watch to see if the author is using the story to pass along a certain moral or lesson. For example, a book about a fictional underdog athlete could be used to encourage readers to take chances to pursue their dreams. You may also see medical reports .

6. Comment on the Writing Style and Tone.

Different writers and authors have different personalities and have different writing styles. If you think that the author was sort of informal or too casual when he wrote the book, note that down. Language is considered a vital aspect of writing a book, depending on who your audience is as well. You may also see consulting reports .

Book Report Sample Format 3

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Finishing Up Your Report

1. write a concise conclusion.

Start strong and end strong. When everything else is forgotten, at least the readers have something they can remember from your summary. Include a few quick sentences summarizing the entire book. You can also make a final statement about whether you’d suggest the book to other readers and why. You may also see visit reports .

• Don’t introduce any new thoughts in this final paragraph. Save the space for your recap.

2. Proofread Your Paper.

Double check the content of your paper to make sure everything is intact. Typos, grammatical errors, punctuation marks. You can also try to read your paper out loud so that you may be able to identify some points that you are missing. You may also see sales reports .

3. Polish Your Final Report.

Once you’ve made the necessary corrections, print out a clean version of your report. Read through it slowly and carefully. Look for any typos or minor errors. Compare your report to the guide sheet to make sure that you’ve followed all of your teacher’s directions. You may also see project reports .

Writing a book report does not have to be too complicated. It can even be as simple as the ones found above. Keep in mind that the simpler and more colorful your book report is, the better it is. You may also see employee reports .

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

Generate a report on the impact of technology in the classroom on student learning outcomes

Prepare a report analyzing the trends in student participation in sports and arts programs over the last five years at your school.

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