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Effective Student Book Reviews
OVERVIEW

Students will explore the genre of book reviews to begin to write in a formal, crafted way about the literature they are reading.  This activity will help prepare students for more structured critical essays they will be required to write in the future.  Book reviews are a highly publishable writing genre.  In this learning activity students will create book reviews to share favorite books with other students and post them online.

A book review is a personal account account of a reading experience.  It has a real audience... readers trying to decide whether or not to read the book... and a real purpose for writing it.  In this activity students will examine what features make up an effective book review.
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TASK

The class will examine the Features of a Good Book Review (handout) and discuss these standards as they view several examples of student book reviews.

Students will use the Book Review Template (save - to your Network Folder) to complete a review of a favorite book.  Below is outline of things students should include as they craft their review:

  1. Select one of your favorite books to share with others and complete the book review template linked above.  Fill out the basic information about the reviewer (you) and include the title, author, and date of publication for your book.
  2. In a paragraph or two, tell what the story is about.
  3. Next, tell why you like the book. Explain what makes the book worth reading. Reports should be positive in tone, and only books the students consider to be worthwhile should be submitted.
  4. Include a visualization in your review (ex. image of the book's cover, an illustration from the book, draw or create a graphic or illustration of your own).
  5. Finish off your review with a recommendation:

a. your rating for this particular book. OR
b. a sentence or two about the kind of readers who might like this genre of book.

For example:

  • "On a scale of 1 to 10, this book rates an 11. You won't be able to put it down."
  • "I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure or funny books."
  • "If you want to solve an extremely exciting mystery, meet some odd people, and travel to a faraway land, read Phyllis A. Whitney's Mystery of the Hidden Hand ."
  • " Good Night, Mr. Tom is a book that is very hard to put down. At the end, I could have cried my heart out when I found out what happened. It is a truly touching story. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a sad story and doesn't mind a long story."
  • Click here to view a sample book review to help you get started.
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ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
BOOK REVIEW EXAMPLES
The Galaxy Bookshop (Hardwick, VT): Provides online access to Book Sense book reviews.  The Book Sense toolbar is located in the black, horizontal, navigation table at the top of the page... "Advanced Search'-to enter the name of any young-adult book and search for a review, or 'Browse Subjects'-to look up a review by subject, or 'Book Sense Picks'-to view books that Book Sense staff have highlighted. Bear Pond Books in Montpelier also has this feature on their website and Ryan Books in Johnson is a Book Sense partner, but they do not have a website to hold these reviews (Maybe they would like a simple page and students in the ML could add book reviews to it?)
Middle School Book Review Site:  This is a ThinkQuest project by middle school students.  You will find a wide variety of middle level books reviewed here.
Book Reviews (Librarian): This site is the work of a ML librarian.  The site is written for other librarians, but could be used to pick out elements of a good review.
The Horn Book Guide (Professional):  This site lists book reviews covering children's and young-adult books.
Children's Audio Book Reviews: National Public Radio often interviews Daniel Pinkwater and he reviews young-adult books.  This site will allow students to listen to recorded NPR broadcasts that include book-talk reviews.
EXAMPLES OF STUDENT REVIEW WEBSITES (How your class might set up a review website)
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 Review Website Example 1: These are brief reviews at the 4th grade level, but they include illustrations
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 Review Website Example 2: These are brief reviews at the 7th grade level, but they include images of students with the book.
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 Review Website Example 3: These are brief reviews at the 6th grade level.  The do not include visualizations, but they are done in a template form.
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 REVIEW SITE SPOTLIGHT: This site presents a nice collection of book reviews by students that are used as resources by their Middle School & High School Library... an idea worth pursuing as an opportunity and service for our students.
SUBMIT & PUBLISH REVIEWS
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Submit Reviews to the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
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Students can also submit reviews to Amazon.com… search for the book they select to review and submit their review of the book.

Example: The Young Man and the Sea

**Make sure that students use the 'Under 13' submission form.
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 World of Reading (Ann Arbor Library, Michigan): Students can submit reviews to an open collection of book reviews written by kids!
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DISCUSSION List questions that are important to consider in this study unit.
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CONNECTIONS List possible ways for students to go beyond the classroom walls... or bring someone new into the classroom setting.
   
ASSESSMENT

Self-Assessment:

Students will. . .
   
ARTIFACTS Student work samples will be posted here, that reflect expectations, at the end of the project.  COnsider how these will be useful when teaching this activity in the future; tie into the assessment guide (Interactive Assessment Guide).