Book Reviews

Many students tire quite easily reading textbooks and who can blame them? When was the last time you read a text book for fun? Not because you were planning an assignment, but because you were legitimately interested in reading a textbook.
Thankfully, there are the options of trade books to make learning more fun for students. Trade books include fiction and non-fiction options. In the History classroom, there are a near endless supply of biographies and autobiographies to choose from (not to mention an opportunity to discuss the differences and biases). If those are still sounding dull to students and a little too textbookish, there are also historical fiction or simply books written in the era that can provide insight into the time period.
It is one thing to assign a book, but how do you get students to actually read it, demonstrate that they have read it, and then think about and analyze what they have read and how it is applicable to your History class. One way is for students to write a book review-the old fashioned book report done up fancy.
The first part of a review can include a short summary. What the book was about in one or two paragraphs. For a historical fiction novel, students could describe ways that it was believable or not believable-checking for historical fiction accuracy. If the students chose a memoir, their reviews could include possible biases or alternative views to historical events. Students can then describe it they liked the book or not and why. This can provide insight into student interests and opinions. If several students really did not like a book, then you can leave it off of the list the following year. Ultimately, students learn best when they are engaged, and any way to get the engaged in reading will help the out in the long run.
One of the beauties of trade books is that they vary in complexity and style. There are advanced books, written for an adult audience that can challenge the accelerated students, picture books to help the English Language Learners, and everything else in the middle. There is also a trade book for every topic and standard in the World History curriculum.