Colour cards - EAL Nexus

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EAL Nexus resource

Writing book reviews Colour cards Subject:

English

Age groups:

8 – 11, 12 – 14, 15 – 16, 17 - 18

Topic:

Non-fiction writing

Licence information | This resource is free to use for educational purposes. Source | This resource was originally developed by Charlotte Hurley and has been adapted by EAL Nexus.

©British Council 2014

Book review: key term

paragraph

Book review: key term

opinion

Book review: key term

background

Book review: key term

plot

Book review: key term

conclude

Book review: key term

character

Book review: key term

setting

Book review: key term

conjunction

Book review: key term

orientate

Book review: key term

adjective

Book review: key term

author

Book review: key term

genre

Book review: key term

strengths

Book review: key term

weaknesses

Book review: key term

past tense

Book review: key term

present tense

Definition

A part of a piece of writing that usually deals with one subject, that begins on a new line, and that is made up of one or more sentences.

Definition

A judgement or viewpoint on a particular matter

Definition

Information about the story or book, such as when it was written or details about the author.

Definition

The events that take the story from start to finish

Definition

To bring to an end

Definition

The people or creatures that have roles within the story

Definition

The time and place where the story takes place

Definition

A word that is used to link other words or parts of a sentence to make compound or complex sentences

Definition

Direct the reader to a particular place in the text

Definition

A word which modifies and gives more information about a noun

Definition

The person or people who have written the book or story

Definition

A particular type of story, book or writing with similar themes, characters, setting etc.

Definition

The good (positive) points about the book or story

Definition

The bad (negative) points about the book or story

Definition

A verb tense used to show an action that has already happened

Definition

A verb tense used to show an action that is happening now

Example

This is a ghost story written by…________________ ______________________________________________ _____________________________________________. The best thing about the book is…_____________ _____________________________________________. ______________________________________________ The characters are…__________________________ ______________________________________________ _____________________________________________. The story is set during… …_____________________ ______________________________________________ _____________________________________________.

Examples

The main character is interesting…

The plot is weak… Many people believe that it is cruel to…

Examples

Details about the author When it was written

The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant) is a book written by the world famous children’s author Roald Dahl. It was first published in 1982 and was based on an idea in one of Dahl’s previous books ‘Danny the Champion of the World’.

Examples

problem

resolution

build up

opening

ending

Examples

In conclusion… To summarise…

Example

Goldilocks Baby Bear Katniss Everdeen Harry Potter Smaug

Examples

Long ago on a planet far, far away…

Examples

and, but, or, because, when, if, so… The ending didn’t work because… The main character was unlikeable when…

Examples

on the first page, after that, later on, towards the end, when, after, whenever… Later on, Katniss needs to make an important decision

Example

The second part of the story was boring…  He was a believable character…

Example

Phillip Pullman J K Rowling Charles Dickens Roald Dahl

Example

Horror Mystery Crime Ghost Adventure Sci-fi

Example

The detail of the description is amazing and the fast pace is incredible.

Example

It has a weak plot and unconvincing characters.

Example

When I read the final page I found that… It was surprising when she made it out of there alive…

Example

I think that when the two characters finally become friends… The author uses a variety of techniques to keep the plot moving…