Book Bento Boxes In Progress

Mrs. Desmond's College Photography class came to the library last week to create Book Bento Boxes. It was part history lesson,  part English lesson, and part photography lesson. The students learned what a bento box is - a Japanese term for single-serve take away meal that is served in a box, traditionally lacquered wood with separate sections for different portions. Applying this structure to a literature response strategy results in book bento boxes. Students selected their favorite books and got to work brainstorming what objects they would include in their boxes (the box structure can be somewhat flexible in this strategy and most do not have compartments for different portions). The requirements were: 5-7 physical objects that hold meaning or represent something from the book (no photos of objects); the photo had to be square, and make it clever.

Mrs. Desmind went over flat lay photography. She discussed lighting, background, props, composition (symmetrical vs asymmetrical).  The students reviewed her cell phone rules - no flash, no filter, no zoom! Below are photos of the students putting their book bento boxes together to be photographed. 

The students will be presenting their book bento box photographs to the class later this week. The presentation will also comprise a written component including: a summary of the book, a review of the book, an explanation for why they selected the artifacts, and specifics about how the artifacts are important to the story. We will be displaying the final book bento box photographs throughout the library to promote reading.