Creating a book review using a multimedia stack

In this lesson, students will identify title, characters, setting, plot of a story that they have read. They will also be able to state their opinion of the story read and provide information about themselves as a reviewer.

A lesson plan for grade 3 English Language Arts

By Crystal Johnston

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Related topics

• Learn more about Hyperstudio, book review, information literacy, and language arts.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• plan a Hyperstudio stack identifying key elements of the story that they have read.
• state their opinion of the story they have read and give reasons to support their opinion.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2-3 days

Materials/resources

• A story book that the students have finished reading
• A Hyperstudio Book Review Planning Sheet
• Paper/Pencil

Technology resources

• Computer
• Multimedia Software, such as HyperStudio: ©Knowledge Adventure, Inc.
• Individual Student Disks (optional)

Pre-activities

• The students will need to have a prior knowledge of the basic elements of a story. They will need to be able to identify title, characters, setting, and plot of the story that they have read at an independent level.
• The students will independently complete a Book Review (Multimedia Stack) planning sheet before starting work on the computer. Information that will need to be included into this planning sheet are: title, author, student name, main characters, setting, summary of the book, reviewer’s opinion, information about the reviewer, and a picture that the student has created about the book.

Activities

1. The teacher will create a template for the students to enter information. To create a template, the teacher will need to create a stack with 4 cards:
   • On Card 1, add 3 text boxes stacked on top of each other. Label text box #1 Title, label text box #2 Author, and label text box #3 Student Name. Add a button in the bottom right hand corner of the card.
   • On Card 2, add 2 text boxes stacked on top of each other. Label text box #1 Main Characters and label text box #2 Setting. Add a button in the bottom right hand corner of the card.
   • On Card 3, add 3 text boxes stacked on top of each other. Label text box #1 Summary of the Book, label text box #2 Reviewer’s Opinion, and label text box #3 label About the Reviewer. Add a button in the bottom right hand corner of the card.
   • On Card 4, allow the student to make a picture about the book. The student can draw a picture on a piece of drawing paper. The teacher can scan the picture into the stack.

   Save the stack on the individual student disks or on the hard drive.

2. Students will enter information from the book review planning sheet into a teacher created multimedia book review template.
3. After all book reviews are completed, have students present their completed stacks to their peers.
4. Students can save their completed stacks on their own disks.
5. Students will print a copy of their completed stack to turn in to the teacher.

Assessment

The students will be assessed by using a teacher created rubric.

Supplemental information

Integrating Technology into the Language Arts Curriculum by Teacher Created Materials, Inc. has a couple of examples of Book Review (Multimedia Stack) planning sheets for students to complete before creating their stacks.

Comments

This lesson was taught after the students and I had read the story April Fools’ Day by Steven Kroll. This was a culminating activity that was done at the end of our study.