After finishing a book, each student writes one word on an index card and posts it on the board under the book's title. That's it. One word.

This sounds too simple, but it requires genuine synthesis: what is the single best word to capture how this book made me feel or what it was about? "Devastating." "Hilarious." "Boring." (Boring is allowed — honest responses build trust.) Over time, a book accumulates a cluster of one-word reviews that creates a surprisingly nuanced portrait.