Amazon Book Review Writing Project Lesson Plan

Subject: Writing
Date: March 30th, 2016
Standards: For the project we are doing, W.5.5:Withguidanceandsupportfrompeersand
adults,developandstrengthenwritingasneededbyplanning,revising,editing,rewriting,ortryinga
newapproach.(EditingforconventionsshoulddemonstratecommandofLanguagestandards13up
toandincludinggrade5.)
OverallStandardsforthewritinggroupthatweworkoneverygroup:L.5.1Demonstratecommandof
theconventionsofstandardEnglishgrammarandusagewhenwritingorspeaking.
L.5.2DemonstratecommandoftheconventionsofstandardEnglishcapitalization,punctuation,and
spellingwhenwriting.
Objectives: Students will be able to look at different reviews about books that
they have read on Amazon and then write their own Amazon Book review about
another book that they have read, that includes a summary, editorial review,
quotes and more.
Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to get students working on writing in
order to improve their writing. Throughout the process, the students will work on
getting to know different types of writing, but will also be exposed to using the
right capitalization, grammar, and punctuation in their writing. Because this
lesson will go for a few days, we may not get to all different parts of the Amazon
Book review and will do one section at a time. The lesson today is an overview as
to what we will be doing and coming up with ideas.
Academic Language: The academic language in this lesson is summarization,
quoting, recommend, rank, product details, and editorial review.
Materials: The materials for this lesson include a computer to look up the
amazon website, the ELMO to display the Amazon Book review sheet, pencils, and
paper for the students to write on.
Introduction/Opening: To begin with, the students and I will talk about what
they know about Amazon and the book section. I want to know what they already
know about it before explaining what we will be doing. After we have talked
about, I will explain to them what we will be doing. The students will be doing an
Amazon Book Review poster for a book that they have already read. They will do
different sections that will get the students involved in writing, but will also get
them working on the idea of reading.
Lesson Sequence: After the students and I have talked about the Amazon
website and what we will be doing over the next few days, we will move on. I will

show the students the amazon website. I will ask the students to give me a
couple of book titles. I will type in the names and we will look at the different sites
that show the books. As a class, we are going to look at what Amazon includes in
order to get someone to buy their product.
After we look at a title, I will ask the students to write down a sentence as to
whether or not they would buy this book and if they liked what Amazon included.
They will need to make sure they use the right punctuation and grammar and we
will share after all students are done.
When the students are done sharing, we will talk about one or two more books
and then move on to our project. This is where they need to take what we just
talked about into consideration and apply it to our writing project.
For the rest of the writing time, the students will write on their papers a book or
two that they think they want to use for this project. On their paper, they need to
write 3-5 sentences explaining why they want to use a certain book and what
they are thinking about doing for the different sections of the review.
To start with, we are going to work on the summary of the book. They will need to
write a paragraph that summarizes the book that they chose. This will be the first
section that we work on and will continue working on it throughout the next
couple of days.
Closing of the Lesson: To close the lesson, the students will work on their
choosing of a book and summarizing individually. While they are writing, I will
remind them to make sure that they are using capital letters, the correct
grammar, and the proper punctuation. This is important since that is what their
teachers look for in the general education classroom.
Assessing/Checking for Understanding: The assessment/ checking for
understanding this lesson will be the final poster that the students will create at
the end with all the information that they will do at different times. For this lesson
and for when the students are working on the different sections before the final
project is done, the assessment/checking for understanding will be that they will
turn in their papers with their writing. I will look at their spelling, grammar, and
punctuation. I will fix and give advice where it is needed and I hope that the
students will enjoy it.
Strategies for successful transitions: For successful transitions, the students
know what is expected of them in their groups, but I will also be looking for the
students that are behaving and on task, because if they are, then they have the
chance to get Rams Tickets, which is a school-wide reward system that the
students have been doing for awhile.
Classroom behaviors to reinforce: Since I am in a special education
classroom, there are a few behaviors that need to be watched. Mainly the
students are in there for academic support, but there are a few behaviors that
show. This writing group is the silly group because it is mainly boys and they love
having fun. This is one of the behaviors that we have to watch because if it gets
too silly, then they get too loud and distracted. I will need to keep the silliness to
a low level, so that they can stay on task. There is also a student during this time

that is can be very negative and may not want to do the work. When they start to
be negative, we point out that they are only positive in the group. If he continues,
we continue working in the group and the kids know that they need to stay
focused and work on the assignment.
* Below is the project that the students will be working on throughout this lesson
and the next couple of lessons. Their final project will be on a poster displaying all
of the criteria on the paper below.

Amazon Listing Novel Project

Mar ket ing Exper t . That is your new job t it le! Ever y book on Amazon.com has
a list ing t hat inf or ms buyer s about t he book. Your job is t o cr eat e a paper
ver sion f or t he novel you have r ead. Follow t he f or mat below.

NEWBOOKCOVER
Cr eat e a new
book cover f or
t he novel and
dr aw it her e.
Dr aw an
impor t ant
scene f r om
your book
her e.

Dr aw anot her
impor t ant
scene f r om
your book
her e.

PRODUCTDETAILS
I nclude t he f ollowing:
Age Range*Gr ade
L evel*Pages*Publisher *

RANKor RECOMMEND
Choose one of the f ollowing
options f or this sect ion:
1)

Rank t his book against 4 ot her

books you have r ead r ecent ly
2) Recommend ot her books
people may like if t hey ar e
int er est ed in t his book.

2014 Teaching With a Mountain View

BOOKTITLE
author

Wr it e a one t o t wo sent ence pr eview

summar y t hat will capt ur e a
pot ent ial r eader and make t hem
want t o buy t his book!

SUMMARY

Wr it e a complet e
summar y of t he
book her e.

QUOTEME
Select 3- 5 quot es f r om t he
book t o display her e. Choose
quot es t hat ar e meaningf ul
and r epr esent t he st or y well.

EDITORIALREVIEW
Wr it e a r eview of
t he book.

www.teachingwithamountainview.com