Magazines - Writing Reviews!

This interesting and engaging lesson enables students to know what reviews are and why people read them, understand the features that make effective reviews, and write their own interesting and appropriate reviews. In particular, students learn to use a range of appropriate features in writing their own magazine reviews, including facts and opinions, jargon, connectives, and statistics. There are easily enough resources here for 2-3 lessons on this topic.

Over the course of their learning journey, students:
- Define and exemplify what reviews are;
- Understand why people read reviews;
- Understand and categorise the different techniques used by reviewers;
- Identify the features of reviews in model examples;
- Analyse the effect of techniques in reviews upon the reader;
- Use a wide-range of techniques in writing their own reviews;
- Peer and self assess each other's review attempts.

The resources include:
-Visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint;
-A colourful and helpful 'Writing Reviews' Help-Sheet;
-Pointless Jargon Game;
-Techniques cards for defining the key key features of reviews;
-Connectives worksheet;
-Blank book review template and film review template;
-A model example (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone);
-Helpful and comprehensive step-by-step lesson plan.

All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final page of the slide.