Book Bentos

RU 548 #BookBentos

Technology + Literacy + Art + Interactivity + Discoverability

Follow the links below to get started

What Is A #BookBento?

#BookBento Examples

#BookBento FAQs

Important Documents

#BookBentos Began As A Meme

1. What is a Book Bento?

Using traditional Japanese Bento Boxes as an inspiration, readers on Instagram began creating and sharing photographs of books, surrounded by objects that are in some way significant to that book, its characters and/or plot. Just as with traditional Bentos, care is taken to organize the items in the photo symetrically and with visual appeal in mind. #BookBentos are a fun way to share your reading life, but more importantly, they are a creative strategy for enticing readers to explore new titles and stretch their own reading lives. A quick search for the hashtag #bookbento on Instagram (and other social media) will yield numerous, beautiful results.

Traditional Japanese Bento Boxes are used to compartmentalize foods in ways that are both convenient and beautiful. They empthasize symmetrry and visual appeal

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Interactivity + Readers

1. What is a Book Bento Cont...

In 2017, Lisa Highfill and Rachel Kloos shared their use of Hyperdocs to create interactive #BookBentos. For this class, we're going to expand on their idea by creating READER focused, interactive #bookbentos using either the tool ThingLinkEDU or Genial.ly. Like traditional #BookBentos, the photographs (or digital images) you create will be focused on elements of the book. However, the tags you include, will place a far greater emphasis on READERS. This resource + the checkbric for this assignment will further explain these requirements, but the key philosophy underpinning this work is simple: if we believe that reading has the potential to change lives, then every opportunity we have to share a book (either virtually or through traditional readers' advisory) also represents an opportunity to connect a potential touchstone reader to *that* book: the one that will transform them as both a reader and a human. With this in mind, it's important that we always approach this work with potential touchstone readers (as opposed to books) at the heart of everything we do.

#BookBentos for this class will be interactive and will focus on READERS.

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Getting Started:

1. What is a Book Bento?Cont...

If it is your week to create a #BookBento for this class, (See Canvas shell for more info) here are the steps for getting started:

1. Decide on the book from that week's reading list that you wish to use for your #BookBento
2. Gather related items and create your image.
3. Decide which tool you'd like to use to transform your photo into an interactive #BookBento.
4. Once your photo is uploaded, begin adding tags.
5. Change the share settings on your final product, so that your classmates can view it.
6. Add your completed bento to our #BookBento Padlet.

Steps in creating a #bookbento for RU548

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Book: The Benefits of Being An Octopus by Ann Braden

2. Sample Book Bentos

I've used genial.ly to create this #bookbento. Take a few minutes to click through/read each tag. These are the same tag types that will be required elements of YOUR #BookBentos. How many do you count? Hint: if you're having trouble viewing the #bookbento itself, click the "full size" icon in the bottom left corner to expand. When finished, click the escape key on your keyboard to return to these instructions.

Note: I've used both physical and digital elements to create this #bookbento. Be creative! But also keep inmind the components of symmetry and visual apeal. Your bento should both intrigue and inspire!

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2. Sample Book Cont...

Click the image to explore #BookBentos from previous semesters. Note: the requirements for this assignment have changed over time, so these examples may not meet expectations for this semester. However, this will give you a good idea of what other students have created in the past and will perhaps even provide you with some creative inspiration.

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3. #BookBento FAQs

• Do I need a physical copy of the book in order to create a #bookbento?

• Can I use a different tool to create my #bookbento?

• Do I have to share my #bookbento on social media?

• Does my #bookbento have to be about books we read in this class?

• How will my #bookbento be graded?

• I'm nervous about this project. Any advice?

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Don't see your question? Be sure to reach out to me via Canvas. I'm here to help.

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4. Assignment Checkbric

Grading CriteriaClick the image to the left to view the checkbric for this assignment. Note: while these links should be current, the most complete/up to date version of these documents is always located in Canvas.

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