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Book Review Template

Book Review Template

Subject: English

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

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Last updated

4 June 2017

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4 Different Book Reviews 2 Page Book Review for an in-depth review. Standard Book Review - use it every time. Book Review for Non Fiction Book Review with snazzy pencils to rate that book!

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  • Book Review Template And Guide For Ks1 English Creative Writing

Book review template – KS1 resource

Rachel Clarke

Three-page PDF

This free downloadable book review template enables KS1 pupils to offer opinions based on first-hand experiences. Naturally, you shouldn’t expect pupils to review every book they read. However, encouraging them to reflect on their reading from time to time is a useful activity.

Book reviews provide valuable practice at using the subordinating conjunction ‘because’. This makes them particularly useful teaching tools for meeting the writing requirements of KS1.

Book review template

This download contains three separate book review templates. Each one requires the pupil to write the book’s title and author at the top.

  • Use the provided words to write a sentence about the book
  • Draw something from the book you liked
  • What is the book about?
  • Which bits did you like best?
  • Give the book a star rating

Sheet three

  • What were your favourite parts? Explain why
  • Explain why other people should read this book

Rachel Clarke is the director of  Primary English Education Consultancy Limited . This activity is one of a selection of templates created by Rachel for her templates resource pack . Browse more World Book Day ideas for schools.

Book review template

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Literacy Ideas

How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide

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WHAT IS A BOOK REVIEW?

how to write a book review | what is a Book review | How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide | literacyideas.com

Traditionally, book reviews are evaluations of a recently published book in any genre. Usually, around the 500 to 700-word mark, they briefly describe a text’s main elements while appraising the work’s strengths and weaknesses. Published book reviews can appear in newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. They provide the reader with an overview of the book itself and indicate whether or not the reviewer would recommend the book to the reader.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A BOOK REVIEW?

There was a time when book reviews were a regular appearance in every quality newspaper and many periodicals. They were essential elements in whether or not a book would sell well. A review from a heavyweight critic could often be the deciding factor in whether a book became a bestseller or a damp squib. In the last few decades, however, the book review’s influence has waned considerably, with many potential book buyers preferring to consult customer reviews on Amazon, or sites like Goodreads, before buying. As a result, book review’s appearance in newspapers, journals, and digital media has become less frequent.

WHY BOTHER TEACHING STUDENTS TO WRITE BOOK REVIEWS AT ALL?

Even in the heyday of the book review’s influence, few students who learned the craft of writing a book review became literary critics! The real value of crafting a well-written book review for a student does not lie in their ability to impact book sales. Understanding how to produce a well-written book review helps students to:

●     Engage critically with a text

●     Critically evaluate a text

●     Respond personally to a range of different writing genres

●     Improve their own reading, writing, and thinking skills.

Not to Be Confused with a Book Report!

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BOOK REVIEW AND A BOOK REPORT?

book_reviews_vs_book_reports.jpg

While the terms are often used interchangeably, there are clear differences in both the purpose and the format of the two genres. Generally speaking, book reports aim to give a more detailed outline of what occurs in a book. A book report on a work of fiction will tend to give a comprehensive account of the characters, major plot lines, and themes in the book. Book reports are usually written around the K-12 age range, while book reviews tend not to be undertaken by those at the younger end of this age range due to the need for the higher-level critical skills required in writing them. At their highest expression, book reviews are written at the college level and by professional critics.

Learn how to write a book review step by step with our complete guide for students and teachers by familiarizing yourself with the structure and features.

BOOK REVIEW STRUCTURE

ANALYZE Evaluate the book with a critical mind.

THOROUGHNESS The whole is greater than the sum of all its parts. Review the book as a WHOLE.

COMPARE Where appropriate compare to similar texts and genres.

THUMBS UP OR DOWN? You are going to have to inevitably recommend or reject this book to potential readers.

BE CONSISTENT Take a stance and stick with it throughout your review.

FEATURES OF A BOOK REVIEW

PAST TENSE You are writing about a book you have already read.

EMOTIVE LANGUAGE Whatever your stance or opinion be passionate about it. Your audience will thank you for it.

VOICE Both active and passive voice are used in recounts.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF TEXTS

how to write a book review | movie response unit | How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide | literacyideas.com

⭐ Make  MOVIES A MEANINGFUL PART OF YOUR CURRICULUM  with this engaging collection of tasks and tools your students will love. ⭐ All the hard work is done for you with  NO PREPARATION REQUIRED.

This collection of  21 INDEPENDENT TASKS  and  GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS  takes students beyond the hype, special effects and trailers to look at visual literacy from several perspectives offering DEEP LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES by watching a  SERIES, DOCUMENTARY, FILM, and even  VIDEO GAMES.

ELEMENTS OF A BOOK REVIEW

As with any of the writing genres we teach our students, a book review can be helpfully explained in terms of criteria. While there is much to the ‘art’ of writing, there is also, thankfully, a lot of the nuts and bolts that can be listed too. Have students consider the following elements before writing:

●     Title: Often, the title of the book review will correspond to the title of the text itself, but there may also be some examination of the title’s relevance. How does it fit into the purpose of the work as a whole? Does it convey a message or reveal larger themes explored within the work?

●     Author: Within the book review, there may be some discussion of who the author is and what they have written before, especially if it relates to the current work being reviewed. There may be some mention of the author’s style and what they are best known for. If the author has received any awards or prizes, this may also be mentioned within the body of the review.

●     Genre: A book review will identify the genre that the book belongs to, whether fiction or nonfiction, poetry, romance, science-fiction, history etc. The genre will likely tie in, too with who the intended audience for the book is and what the overall purpose of the work is.

●     Book Jacket / Cover: Often, a book’s cover will contain artwork that is worthy of comment. It may contain interesting details related to the text that contribute to, or detract from, the work as a whole.

●     Structure: The book’s structure will often be heavily informed by its genre. Have students examine how the book is organized before writing their review. Does it contain a preface from a guest editor, for example? Is it written in sections or chapters? Does it have a table of contents, index, glossary etc.? While all these details may not make it into the review itself, looking at how the book is structured may reveal some interesting aspects.

●     Publisher and Price: A book review will usually contain details of who publishes the book and its cost. A review will often provide details of where the book is available too.

how to write a book review | writing a book review | How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide | literacyideas.com

BOOK REVIEW KEY ELEMENTS

As students read and engage with the work they will review, they will develop a sense of the shape their review will take. This will begin with the summary. Encourage students to take notes during the reading of the work that will help them in writing the summary that will form an essential part of their review. Aspects of the book they may wish to take notes on in a work of fiction may include:

●     Characters: Who are the main characters? What are their motivations? Are they convincingly drawn? Or are they empathetic characters?

●     Themes: What are the main themes of the work? Are there recurring motifs in the work? Is the exploration of the themes deep or surface only?

●     Style: What are the key aspects of the writer’s style? How does it fit into the wider literary world?

●     Plot: What is the story’s main catalyst? What happens in the rising action? What are the story’s subplots? 

A book review will generally begin with a short summary of the work itself. However, it is important not to give too much away, remind students – no spoilers, please! For nonfiction works, this may be a summary of the main arguments of the work, again, without giving too much detail away. In a work of fiction, a book review will often summarise up to the rising action of the piece without going beyond to reveal too much!

how to write a book review | 9 text response | How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide | literacyideas.com

The summary should also provide some orientation for the reader. Given the nature of the purpose of a review, it is important that students’ consider their intended audience in the writing of their review. Readers will most likely not have read the book in question and will require some orientation. This is often achieved through introductions to the main characters, themes, primary arguments etc. This will help the reader to gauge whether or not the book is of interest to them.

Once your student has summarized the work, it is time to ‘review’ in earnest. At this point, the student should begin to detail their own opinion of the book. To do this well they should:

i. Make It Personal

Often when teaching essay writing we will talk to our students about the importance of climbing up and down the ladder of abstraction. Just as it is helpful to explore large, more abstract concepts in an essay by bringing it down to Earth, in a book review, it is important that students can relate the characters, themes, ideas etc to their own lives.

Book reviews are meant to be subjective. They are opinion pieces, and opinions grow out of our experiences of life. Encourage students to link the work they are writing about to their own personal life within the body of the review. By making this personal connection to the work, students contextualize their opinions for the readers and help them to understand whether the book will be of interest to them or not in the process.

ii. Make It Universal

Just as it is important to climb down the ladder of abstraction to show how the work relates to individual life, it is important to climb upwards on the ladder too. Students should endeavor to show how the ideas explored in the book relate to the wider world. The may be in the form of the universality of the underlying themes in a work of fiction or, for example, the international implications for arguments expressed in a work of nonfiction.

iii. Support Opinions with Evidence

A book review is a subjective piece of writing by its very nature. However, just because it is subjective does not mean that opinions do not need to be justified. Make sure students understand how to back up their opinions with various forms of evidence, for example, quotations, statistics, and the use of primary and secondary sources.

EDIT AND REVISE YOUR BOOK REVIEW

how to write a book review | 9 1 proof read Book review | How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide | literacyideas.com

As with any writing genre, encourage students to polish things up with review and revision at the end. Encourage them to proofread and check for accurate spelling throughout, with particular attention to the author’s name, character names, publisher etc. 

It is good practice too for students to double-check their use of evidence. Are statements supported? Are the statistics used correctly? Are the quotations from the text accurate? Mistakes such as these uncorrected can do great damage to the value of a book review as they can undermine the reader’s confidence in the writer’s judgement.

The discipline of writing book reviews offers students opportunities to develop their writing skills and exercise their critical faculties. Book reviews can be valuable standalone activities or serve as a part of a series of activities engaging with a central text. They can also serve as an effective springboard into later discussion work based on the ideas and issues explored in a particular book. Though the book review does not hold the sway it once did in the mind’s of the reading public, it still serves as an effective teaching tool in our classrooms today.

how to write a book review | LITERACY IDEAS FRONT PAGE 1 | How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide | literacyideas.com

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

BOOK REVIEW GRAPHIC ORGANIZER (TEMPLATE)

how to write a book review | book review graphic organizer | How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide | literacyideas.com

101 DIGITAL & PRINT GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS FOR ALL CURRICULUM AREAS

how to write a book review | digital graphic organizers 1 | How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide | literacyideas.com

Introduce your students to 21st-century learning with this GROWING BUNDLE OF 101 EDITABLE & PRINTABLE GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS. ✌ NO PREP REQUIRED!!! ✌ Go paperless, and let your students express their knowledge and creativity through the power of technology and collaboration inside and outside the classroom with ease.

Whilst you don’t have to have a 1:1 or BYOD classroom to benefit from this bundle, it has been purpose-built to deliver through platforms such as ✔ GOOGLE CLASSROOM, ✔ OFFICE 365, ✔ or any CLOUD-BASED LEARNING PLATFORM.

Book and Movie review writing examples (Student Writing Samples)

Below are a collection of student writing samples of book reviews.  Click on the image to enlarge and explore them in greater detail.  Please take a moment to both read the movie or book review in detail but also the teacher and student guides which highlight some of the key elements of writing a text review

Please understand these student writing samples are not intended to be perfect examples for each age or grade level but a piece of writing for students and teachers to explore together to critically analyze to improve student writing skills and deepen their understanding of book review writing.

We would recommend reading the example either a year above and below, as well as the grade you are currently working with to gain a broader appreciation of this text type .

how to write a book review | book review year 3 | How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide | literacyideas.com

BOOK REVIEW VIDEO TUTORIALS

how to write a book review | 2 book review tutorial28129 | How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide | literacyideas.com

OTHER GREAT ARTICLES RELATED TO BOOK REVIEWS

how to write a book review | transactional writing guide | Transactional Writing | literacyideas.com

Transactional Writing

how to write a book review | text response | How to write a text response | literacyideas.com

How to write a text response

how to write a book review | compare and contrast essay 1 | How to Write a Compare and Contrast Essay | literacyideas.com

How to Write a Compare and Contrast Essay

how to write a book review | expository essay writing guide | How to Write Excellent Expository Essays | literacyideas.com

How to Write Excellent Expository Essays

Lesson 3: Writing book reviews: The Island and The City

This lesson is organised around the Teaching and Learning Cycle.

Links to the Victorian Curriculum – English

Reading and viewing, language: text structure and organisation.

Level 5: 

  • Understand how texts vary in purpose, structure and topic as well as the degree of formality ( Content description VCELA309 )

Reading and Viewing, Literature: Examining literature

  • Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses ( Content description VCELT315 )

Reading and Viewing, Literacy: Interpreting, analysing, evaluating

  • Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print and digital sources ( Content description VCELY319 )

Level 6: 

  • Select, navigate and read increasingly complex texts for a range of purposes, applying appropriate text processing strategies to recall information and consolidate meaning ( Content description VCELY346 )

Writing, Language: Expressing and developing ideas

  • Understand how noun groups/phrases and adjective groups/phrases can be expanded in a variety of ways to provide a fuller description of the person, place, thing or idea ( Content description VCELA324 )
  • Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning, and know that words can have different meanings in different contexts ( Content description VCELA325 )

Writing, Literacy: Creating texts

Level 5:

  • Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience ( Content description VCELY329 )

Links to the Victorian Curriculum – English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Reading and viewing.

Level BL:

  • Read simple, familiar texts with assistance (VCEALC184)
  • Give a personal response to a text (VCEALC188)
  • Participate in activities around class texts (VCEALC190)
  • Engage with a small range of picture books in the classroom (VCEALA197)
  • Recognise and explore texts in different media and modes (VCEALL199)
  • Understand and explore the basic layout and conventions of simple texts (VCEALL200)
  • Acquire information from simple images, with teacher direction and support (VCEALC186)

Level B1:

  • Understand the purpose and basic organisational features of simple text types (VCEALL280)
  • Engage with a diverse range of picture books that reflect a variety of cultural beliefs, practices and views (VCEALA277)
  • Incorporate learnt vocabulary into writing (VCEALL315)
  • Understand a range of simple texts based on predictable language structures and vocabulary (VCEALC264)
  • Participate in simple group activities on shared texts, with some support (VCEALC270)
  • Identify and compare differences between text types (VCEALL279)
  • Provide responses to texts (VCEALC268)
  • Acquire some information from a small range of images (VCEALC266)

Level B2:

  • Understand the purpose and organisational features of common text types (VCEALL361)
  • Engage with a diverse range of texts that reflect a variety of cultural beliefs, practices and views (VCEALA437)
  • Use modelled vocabulary appropriately (VCEALL395)
  • Read simple, unfamiliar informative, imaginative and persuasive texts, with support (VCEALC345)
  • Contribute to group activities on shared texts (VCEALC351)
  • Identify informative, imaginative and persuasive texts when reading texts or listening to texts read aloud (VCEALL360)
  • Express a personal response to an imaginative text or elements of the text (VCEALC349)
  • Acquire information from different types of visual representations in text (VCEALC347)

Level B3:

  • Interpret the purpose and organisational features of different text types (VCEALL440)
  • Engage with a diverse range of texts reflecting a variety of cultures and perspectives (VCEALA437)
  • Use a range of key vocabulary appropriately (VCEALL474)
  • Access, interpret and evaluate information from a range of print and digital texts, including visual, multimodal and interactive (VCEALC424)
  • Contribute actively to group activities on shared texts (VCEALC430)
  • Identify and compare a range of different text types (VCEALL439)
  • Express a personal response to a small range of imaginative texts (VCEALC428)
  • Interpret and explain information from a range of images in text (VCEALC426)
  • Use topic-specific vocabulary encountered in classroom activities (VCEALL235)
  • Use high-frequency words accurately, although sometimes repetitively (VCEALL234)
  • Create basic texts, with support and modelling (VCEALA220)
  • Use basic descriptive words (VCEALL232)
  • Contribute ideas to shared writing activities (VCEALA221)
  • Understand the difference between writing and drawing, and that writing changes according to context and purpose (VCEALA219)
  • Use formulaic structures (VCEALL314)
  • Create short, simple texts for particular purposes, with some support and modelling (VCEALA300)
  • Use a small range of simple descriptive phrases (VCEALL312)
  • Rewrite after correction, discussion or prompting (VCEALA302)
  • Use repetition for effect (VCEALL316)
  • Contribute to shared simple brainstorming of ideas and identify relevant vocabulary to be incorporated into the written work (VCEALA301)
  • Write using language that largely reflects features of spoken language (VCEALA299)
  • Use a varied and appropriate vocabulary (VCEALL394)
  • Create a small range of texts based on modelling (VCEALA380)
  • Draft a piece of writing focusing on meaning, and revise after rereading or discussion (VCEALA382)
  • Use simple extended descriptive phrases (VCEALL392)
  • Select some descriptive vocabulary appropriate to context (VCEALL396)
  • Plan, with support, the format of a text according to its communicative purpose (VCEALA381)
  • Write using language that is beginning to reflect the features of written language more than the features of spoken language (VCEALA379)
  • Use some antonyms and synonyms (VCEALL473)
  • Use own experience and perspectives to elaborate and support a viewpoint (VCEALA459)
  • Follow a simple planning, drafting and revision process when writing (VCEALA461)
  • Write using extended descriptive phrases (VCEALL471)
  • Create mood and feeling through the selection of appropriate vocabulary and idiom (VCEALL475)
  • Plan individually and review own writing (VCEALA460)
  • Present work appropriately for purpose and audience (VCEALA458)

Theory/practice connections

Students' school experiences will expose them to a variety of text types. Working with text types involves organising language to meet a social purpose (Humphrey, Droga & Feez, 2012). 

Students can be assisted to compose texts, which meet specific social purposes by using scaffolds or proformas. However, it is important to ensure that students are aware that there are many ways in which texts can be organised to meet a social purpose. For example, an information text could be a graph, a diagram, a visual text with symbols, a verbal text etc. 

Additional resources 

  • examples of reviews in paper format and links to online sites
  • proforma for writing a review.

Learning intentions

We are learning to review books.

Success criteria

  • I can state the purpose of reviews.
  • I can place reviews along a continuum of formality.
  • I know how to structure a written review.
  • I can use language to show judgement and language to persuade.

Individual, partner, small group, whole class.

Learning sequence

Occurs over several sessions

  • Clearly state the learning intention and explain to students that they will work in small groups, to plan a library display, promoting Armin Greder's work. To prepare for this task students re-read The Island and The City. They may also have access to other books Armin Greder has illustrated, such as I am Thomas, The Great Bear and An Ordinary Day. 
  • Students negotiate how to present the display and create a plan of action. The display must include a synopsis of the books, presentation of the texts' themes and book reviews.

Supporting students to write reviews: Building the field of knowledge - The purpose of reviews

  • Conduct a floor storming activity, where students sit around cards with words or images from reviews. For example: highly recommended, great, suitable for young children, should, must, thumbs up icon, smiley face icon, tick icon, three stars. Discuss when they have heard these words used or seen such icons. Lead students to the notion of reviews and brainstorm experiences with reviews in their lives. This could include reviews they see on cooking shows, after a football match, movie recommendations etc. Students create a definition for ‘reviews’.

Deconstructing reviews

  • Provide students with a number of written reviews, including online links to reviews. Students match each review with the definition of a review previously created. Consider if the definition needs to be modified.
  • Students create a list of commonalities found in reviews – these could include structure of the texts, the use of vocabulary, purpose, use of visuals etc.
  • On a language continuum from least formal language to most formal language, plot where most of the reviews occur.  Encourage students to explain why (Many reviews use more informal language, directly speaking to the reader and referencing the reader with the pronoun ‘you’. This serves to strengthen the relationship between writer and reader, and encourage the reader to accept the opinions and recommendations of the review).

Modelling reviews

  • Present students with a scaffold of a book review, as an example of one way of structuring this type of writing. E.g.
  • Introduction: Introductory sentence presenting the book and author. Information about the type of book
  • Offer information about the book, which the reader will find of interest – a character description, themes of the text, setting, use of interesting language etc. Any important quotes from the text can be included in this section. Each idea should be included in a new paragraph. This section will include the language of judgement
  • The reviewer’s response – likes and dislikes about the book
  • The suggested audience for whom the book is written
  • Recommendation to read or not to read, referring back to the text.  This section will include language to persuade. 
  • With the use of the above scaffold, model the writing an exemplar text. Make explicit to students the language of judgement, to show the writer’s view towards the text.  For example: The endearing characters, The entertaining story, The fast-moving plot. (A simple way of including judgement is through the build up of the noun group.)Also, model the language of persuasion.  I highly recommend this book, if you are interested in history.  It is a must read!

Jointly construct text

  • Students work in small groups to jointly construct two paragraphs for an Armin Greder text. One paragraph will include the language of judgement, the other will include the language of persuasion. Project students’ writing onto an interactive whiteboard, to use for peer feedback and editing. Use examples from the students’ text to create charts for language of judgement and persuasion, for later reference.
  • Students complete a cloze activity, using the reviews used earlier on, where language of judgement or persuasion have been removed. Once completed students can check their responses against the original text. Assessment: This can be used as a language assessment activity.

Independent construction of text

  • Students write their own reviews based on The Island and The City.
  • Students present their work to peers for feedback and editing.
  • Students collaborate to construct their author display for the school library.

Differentiation

Reviews can take on different degrees of formality. More able students can be involved in experimentation of how language can change, to make it more/less formal. These students can consider when a more formal review would be better suited.

The structure of the review can be further scaffolded by slowing down the pace of the teaching. Each day, the teacher can model the sections of the review, across several days.  Students could participate in a joint construction and then write independently about that section. For students who need extra assistance with writing, guided writing or interactive writing session may be appropriate.

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Create a love of reading in your school by using this set of fantastic book reviews.

There are three printable book review templates for kids provided, suitable for KS1 (A) LKS2 (B) and UKS2 (C), all of which could be used to create a class or school collection of book reviews to encourage discussion about book choices and develop a love of reading.

Also included is a ‘Fantastic Reads!’ bookmark, designed to be written and placed inside books displayed in the class or school library. This will highlight books to pupils that are recommended by their peers and create a real buzz around reading in your school.

This resource is part of the Essential Templates collection. View more from this collection

  • 3 x book review templates
  • Book review bookmarks

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Book review: The Fundamentals of Teaching

By victoria addis.

This accessible book focuses on the practical application of research in the classroom – taking workload into account

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1st November 2020 at 11:00amShare this

Book review: The Fundamentals of Teaching, by Mike Bell

The Fundamentals of Teaching: A five-step model to put the research evidence into practice

Author: Mike Bell Publisher: Routledge Details: 176pp; £16.99 ISBN 9780367358655

Mike Bell, a former science teacher and founder of the Evidence-Based Teaching Network, synthesises the key findings from five major research reviews for this book.

The five reviews – Robert Marzano et al and Ceri Dean et al’s  Classroom Instruction that Works  studies, the Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit,  John Hattie’s  Visible Learning for Teachers ,  Barak Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction , and the Institute for Educational Sciences’ Organising Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning –  create a practical guide for implementing evidence-based teaching. 

The guide builds on a “consensus from a whole range of evidence”, and is essential introductory reading for teachers interested in  improving their practice through research-backed methods . 

A commitment to quality evidence

Bell’s commitment to quality evidence is outlined in the first section of the book. Over three chapters, this section explores what reliable evidence is, and how to critically assess reliability, why the sources of evidence he has selected are good quality, and how some of the best research from classroom-based studies links to brain-based explanations of the way we learn. 

By emphasising the importance of reliable, good-quality evidence as a basis for classroom practice, Bell highlights the problem of implementing changes to teaching on the back of individual research papers, which may have received media attention. 

As Bell points out, the most discussed teaching methods – those favoured by politicians, journalists and parents – are often those with a low effect size. These methods, such as regular marking of students’ books, are more visible to the non-expert than more effective methods, such as  dual coding  or an improved questioning technique, and can therefore be perceived as more appealing. 

Bell is clear, however, that pursuing methods with a low effect size is not a valuable use of teachers’ time or of schools’ resources. Instead, he lays out a five-step model, based on the points of crossover between the five research reviews that he has examined. 

A five-step learning cycle

Bell’s five-step model, which he also refers to as the “learning cycle”, covers prior knowledge, presenting new material, challenge, feedback and repetition.

A key draw of the book is its focus on the practical application of research evidence in the classroom. For each of the five steps, Bell illuminates not just why they are important aspects of teaching practice from a research perspective, but also how to implement them effectively. He does this through easy-to-follow explanations and brief case studies from across subject areas and key stages. 

Taking prior knowledge as an example, Bell helpfully explains how to identify missing prior knowledge as an issue in your classroom, through student questions and responses. He then suggests a series of strategies for assessing the level of prior knowledge that exists, and for filling in or repairing any gaps that may become apparent. This is broken down further into a series of bullet-pointed actions, which a teacher could reasonably take to improve this aspect of their practice. 

Each chapter follows a similar structure, moving from a succinct explanation of the classroom-based research to a brief discussion of the brain-based evidence, and then on to a clear description of how these research findings can be implemented. The bullet-pointed summary sections on “putting these methods into action” make  The Fundamentals of Teaching  a particularly useful resource for individual teachers. 

Respecting the evidence on teacher workload

While much of Bell’s book is aimed at teachers looking to improve their own individual practice, there is also plenty here to interest  school leaders  concerned with allocating their available resources effectively. Chapter nine is entirely dedicated to this issue, and covers everything from teacher workload and classroom technology to the effective deployment of teaching assistants. 

A particularly interesting section of this chapter covers staff development. On this topic, Bell champions the necessity of giving teachers dedicated time  to work on CPD , in order to follow through on ideas by trying them out and evaluating them in their own teaching. Without this focused time, Bell argues, “effective methods will not be practised and learning will not improve.” 

As with much of the advice in this book, Bell is concerned here to balance the time cost to teachers with the potential for positive results for pupils. This respects the research evidence on  teacher workload  and  wellbeing  as a factor in classroom outcomes. 

At just 176 pages long, and broken down into short, clearly organised sections,  The Fundamentals of Teaching  is an accessible and easily digested text that is perfect for time-pressed teachers and school leaders. 

As an introduction to evidence-based teaching, this practical guide is a compact but valuable tool, and the suggestions for further reading located at the end of each chapter provide helpful guidance for those looking to read more deeply into the different areas that Bell covers. 

Victoria Addis is an English teacher in the East Midlands, and the editor of  AC Review of Books . She tweets about teaching at  @ms_a_englit

Quick links

  • Join the Network
  • EBTN newsletter
  • Pulling it all together
  • Six Steps to Outstanding Learning
  • The brain and learning
  • Step 0: Orientate
  • Step 1: Prior Knowledge
  • Step 2: Presentation
  • Step 3: Challenge
  • Step 4: Feedback
  • Step 5: Repetition
  • Evidence Bank template
  • Step 1: Prior knowledge (draft)
  • Step 1: Brain-based explanation
  • Assessing and updating prior knowledge (draft)
  • PK activities draft
  • Step 2 intro draft
  • Step 2 big picture draft
  • Multi-sensory draft
  • Step 2: Activities
  • Linking to prior knowledge
  • Modelling draft
  • Effective feedback
  • What’s in the Evidence Bank?
  • Evidence bank : Site licence
  • Draft 23rd Oct
  • Learning Theory
  • Links and resources
  • Book: Fundamentals of Teaching
  • Foreword by Tom Sherrington

The materials on this website have now been collected, extended and published by Routledge as a teacher-friendly guide.

Get your copy here.

IMAGES

  1. Book Review Template Differentiated by sh2810

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  2. Year 1 book review template differentiated

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  3. Book Review Form for Kids

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  4. Writing a Book Review Lesson Plan and Other Resources

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  5. Book Review Activities

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  6. Book Review template from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson

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COMMENTS

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    Worksheet. This differentiated KS3 book review worksheet includes a comprehensive list of questions on plot, character and style for higher attaining English students to use as paragraph or sentence prompts when writing a book review. There is also a book review template and writing frame, with scaffolded sentence starters for KS3 students who ...

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    There are three templates provided suitable for KS1, Lower-KS2 and Upper-KS2, all of which could be used to create a class or school collection of book reviews to encourage discussion about book choices and develop a love of reading. Also included is a 'Fantastic Reads!' bookmark, designed to be written and placed inside books displayed in ...

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    Discussing a book. To discuss means to talk or write about a subject in detail. It's good to be able to discuss stories and books with other people and to share views and ideas on them. When ...

  11. Lesson 3: Writing book reviews: The Island and The City

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  12. Write a book review template

    Example tasks from the book review template: Reduce: In no more than 50 words, summarise the main character: Transform: Sketch three images/symbols which represent the main character. Label with an explanation: The text: Select at least three key words from the text that you could use in your own writing. Make sure you understand / can define them.

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    A book review and summary card for comprehension learning. This t eaching resource is a one-page book review that can be used to summarise guided reading stories or be included as part of your class novel study. This resource is a great way to exercise students' comprehension skills and allow them to review what they are reading.

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  18. Review in TES • Evidence Based Teachers Network

    The Fundamentals of Teaching: A five-step model to put the research evidence into practice. Author: Mike Bell. Publisher: Routledge. Details: 176pp; £16.99. ISBN 9780367358655. Mike Bell, a former science teacher and founder of the Evidence-Based Teaching Network, synthesises the key findings from five major research reviews for this book.