Lesson 6: Novel Study

Skill Lessons

Writing a Book Review

Pages 166–171 in Writers Express provide a good overview of how to write a book review. At the end of this lesson, you will write a book review about either The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle or Shiloh. You will want to tell readers three things:

1. What the novel you read is about

2. Whether you thought the book was good (why or why not)

3. Whether you would recommend it for another fifth-grade student to read (why or why not)

You should use specific examples from the book to support your statements. Remember, don’t just tell what you think, also tell why you think it. If you say that the characters were realistic, you must tell why you think so and where in the novel you saw evidence. You may use direct quotes from the book if you would like.

You should deal with the main elements of literature (plot, characters, and setting) and include other elements that seemed important to you, such as conflict, point of view, tone, mood, and theme. You should not include all the elements of literature in your discussion. Instead, focus on the three main elements and maybe one or two of the others.

You may use any prewriting strategies that work for you, but submit only your final draft of the writing. Before you begin, review the active reading documentation you wrote as you read (sticky notes, literature log, etc.). Decide what things you want to include in your answer. When you tell what your book is about, don’t try to tell every detail. Decide on the important events. When you discuss why you did or didn’t like the book and why you would or wouldn’t recommend it, you will probably talk about the other elements of literature.

Use the guidelines for a constructed response that you learned in this lesson. Go back to the discussion on writing constructed responses, if you have forgotten what those are.

Now it is time to complete the lesson 6 progress evaluation.