Writing a Book Review

For many students, one of the most difficult parts of writing is trying to come up with what to write.  At Epi Kardia, we recommend writing assignments that have a perceived purpose to the student.  These assignments are less painful –and sometimes the student may actually become so engrossed in what he is writing about he forgets that he doesn’t like to write.  As you may know, Epi Kardia is a literature-based unit study program based on Charlotte Mason methods, so in our households we spend time daily reading aloud as well as reading individually.  If you love books as we do, your students probably have some cherished books they get excited just talking about. (Choosing something to write about that a student is truly interested in gives you a head start.)

The idea of writing about books is not new –remember those boring book reports (snore!) we had to write? However, writing a book review of a well-loved, exciting book in order to convince someone else to read it is much easier to sell and much more fun to write.  For some students, posting the review on Amazon.com afterward makes it even more enticing!  This lesson is excerpted from the Ancients unit of our Middle School-1 lesson plans but could be adapted for younger or older students:

Writing a Book Review

A book review has a two-fold purpose:
—To demonstrate the author’s understanding of the book
—To use that knowledge to persuade another reader to read the book
In this book review, your student will need to answer these questions:
  • What is the story about?
  • What is the main problem (conflict) in the story?
  • What do I like best about this story, and/or,
  • How did I change as a result of this story?
  • What is the main theme or message of this story?

(Note: for many students, especially younger ones, it is very helpful to talk through the answers to these questions ahead of time. Either the student and/or teacher may take notes for the student to use when actually writing the review.)

1.  The first paragraph should be an introductory paragraph, including the title of the book and the author’s name. This should be followed by a few overview sentences stating why another student would want to read the book.  (i.e., It was one of the most exciting stories…/…had one of my favorite characters/…had an inspirational ending/…was about my favorite subject or period of history, etc.)

2. The next paragraph should tell what the story is about and include the main conflict, or problem, of the story.  (An example from the book Hittite Warrior: A young Hittite, Uriah, makes a promise on his father’s death bed and has to travel alone to foreign lands in search of a man named Sisera, whom Uriah hopes will take him in.)

3.  In the following paragraph, your student should tell about his favorite parts of the book. A few incidents will be enough–caution him about writing down too many parts or going into too much detail here.

4.  The last paragraph should include the main message of the book and should restate what the book meant to him or what he learned from reading it. Your student may want to add one final statement about why someone else would want to read this book.

Additional points:

* Don’t forget to remind your student that even professional writers have more than one
draft, so he is likely to have that, too.
*  Always encourage self-editing. You might want to create a self-editing checklist like the
one we include in the Tools CD and manuals of Epi Kardia.  This check-list can be filled out
by the student and turned in with his paper.  As your student grows older, he should grow
more accomplished at editing his own work.
* If your student enjoys drawing or painting, encourage him to include a visual aid with his
review.
* This assignment could also be done as a part of a lapbook. (If you currently use Epi Kardia
curriculum, lapbooks are explained in the Tools section of the manuals.)
* If you are using these instructions with an older student, you could use this opportunity to
teach/reteach the elements of literature such as plot, characterization, theme, setting,
conflict, climax and resolution.  Lengthen the number of paragraphs required according to
the age and writing experience of your student.

For more ideas about teaching writing, review our Reluctant Writer series.

Happy Writing!

Dana

dana-wilson



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