Racing to English

Writing frames/Book review

The writing frames in this document are designed for use with learners of English but they may also be suitable for many pupils/students who are native speakers.

One or other of the writing frames will be suitable for use with almost any book used in class. They are designed to allow learners to respond to

books introduced during whole-class work or
books they have read themselves

but not to be too demanding in terms of teacher preparation. Even if the writing frames are not appropriate for all the pupils/students, you can adapt the ideas in this booklet and then use them many times.

The writing frames give learners opportunities to

remember the details of a story or recall information from a book
evaluate what they have read and make it personal to themselves
practise writing questions - using appropriate question forms (e.g. `Where did Goldilocks go?' rather than `Where Goldilocks go?')

CONTENTS

Writing frames for writing book reviews:

a simple book review writing frame
a more advanced book review writing frame
a book review writing frame for non-fiction books

Questions:

a set of questions that can be used after reading almost any narrative
a blank wordsearch square for learners to make wordsearches for their friends to do
a prompt sheet to encourage learners to write questions for their friends to answer

Story writing:

a writing frame to support learners in developing their own story

Book review

Name

Date

Title

The best part of the book was when

Draw a picture of the best part of the book

Book review

Name

Date

The title of the book is

it is by

I like this book for several reasons, firstly

secondly

thirdly

However I did not like

To sum up I think

A book review for non-fiction books

Title

Before I read this book I thought that

However I found out that

I also learnt that

Another thing I learnt is that

I like/don't like this book because

Questions for fiction

Who was in the book? List six of the characters.

1	4
2	5
3	6
Did something bad happen in the book? What was it?
Did something exciting happen in the book? What was it?
Did something good happen in the book? What was it?
What happened at the end of the book?

Make a wordsearch for your friend

Use words from the book

List the words in your wordsearch

Questions

Write some questions about the book
for your friend to answer

Questions	Yes No
Did
Did
Did
Did

Questions	Answers
Who
Who
What
What
Where
Why

Writing your own story

What is the title of your story?

Does something bad happen in your story? What is it?

Does something exciting happen in your story? What is it?

Does something good happen in your story? What is it?

What happens at the end of your story?

Now write your story and draw a picture to go with it.

Racing to English