Midterm book talk and review

Although there are instructions in the syllabus and I'll be giving you a rubric, I want to make a couple of comments about the midterm.

We will sign up for time slots to do the oral booktalks. You must be on time for these! (If you are absent this week, it is your responsibility to check Angel to see when you are scheduled to present. The sign up will be posted the day after class meets.)

For the review that you post:

1. Title your blog post the title of the book
2. Include the full citation for your book, using MLA format. (Although you can ignore the instructions to double space.)
3. Since there are copyright implications, do you will NOT be including pictures.
   
4. Think of the body of the review as consisting of two parts: a description/summary of the text and your response/analysis of the text. Remember that you are introducing the book to a prospective reader! What do you appreciate about the text? Is there anything about the text that you question? Since this is a short review, you will need to be deliberate in what you choose to say! Also, don't lose sight for the fact that this is a literary review, not one designed to talk about using books to teach!
   
5. You will be attaching labels to your post to indicate the genre and anything else you think appropriate. I suggest clicking on "Show all". If you see a label that works for you review, use it. Otherwise create your own.
6. Proof read your post and see how it looks up on the blog. You can edit and revise, although I will be assessing the one that you post before the midterm class session.
   

Here are some examples of book reviews. (You'll notice that some of them are longer than our 250 word limit.) What works in them for you? What doesn't?

• The Three Snow Bears. This review is more descriptive than interpretive. It would be nice to see more analysis of the illustrations, for example.
  
• The Giving Tree. This review is a little long for our purposes. I appreciate how the reviewer talks about what s/he likes and potential concerns.
• Here's a review that I wrote. (Notice that I included a picture! I should take it down...) Just as a point of reference, it is 172 words.
  
• Here are a couple of reviews from TE 448 students. (Example A , B, and C) Their focus was a little different than ours and their word limit a bit longer, but each did a nice job describing their texts and weighing in on their strengths.
  
• Here are some samples from The Horn Book. These reviews use a more complex structure. You are welcome to try this style on or go for the two paragraph review. :-)

(This is an aside, but check out this post from the editor of the Hornbook on reviewing!)

If people think it would be helpful, we can try writing a review in class.