Helping others find a great book to read!How to express yourself by writing a book review!

What is the point of a review? Have you ever seen a great movie?

How about a terrible movie?

What takes longer, reading a book or watching a movie? Wouldn’t you like to find out from

somebody else which books they liked and why?

Do you ever recommend to a friend that he or she should watch a certain movie or listen to a certain song?

We can do the same with books here at SCIS!

Writing a helpful review Consider if you enjoyed the book or not You can write about strengths or weaknesses of

the book Think about the 5 Elements – Plot, characters,

conflict, theme, setting Use evidence of the 5 elements to create a short

list of the STRENGTHS or WEAKNESSES of your book

Only list points that you can prove – don’t write “it’s boring” unless you can explain WHY it is boring

What to put in a review Put your topic sentence up front! That topic sentence will tell the reader if you

liked it or not! Use your evidence of the 5 elements to help

your reader understand your opinion of the book.

Conclude with a clear “Thumbs up” or “Thumbs down” statement. Did you like this book? Tell your reader whether or not you recommend the book!!

What an unacceptable review looks like No title or author listed No evidence that you have read the

book Unsupported judgements “I hated it” “It

stinks” “Too boring” If you don’t like it, explain WHY! Ends without a clear “Thumbs Up!!” or

“Thumbs Down!!”

An example review! Take an example review from the pile. Read it with your classmates Decide if it is a helpful review or not Find evidence of the 5 elements What does the review do well, what

could it do better Share what you think!

Create a review Choose a book you have read Form a small group If you have not read any of these, it’s

OK!

Form a consensus on whether or not the group liked the book

Write bullet points sharing your opinions Let’s share

Write a review of your own!! Right now! Type up a review of the novel you

recently read You will copy this to your own portfolio And Possibly publish to the library website!