Creating Online Book Reviews

I am currently teaching students, grades 4-6, how to create an online book review, using the Destiny library catalog. 

There are a few simple steps to follow in order to create a book review in the system:

1. students must log in to the catalog (same username and password as their regular computer login).
2. Students must type in the name of the book that they want to review in the search screen.
3. Once the book(s) come up on the search list, the student must click on the book title to get into the title screen.
4. Once on the title screen, students must click on the "reviews" tab, on the right side of the screen.
5. Students can see other reviews written for that title, and then click on the "add a review" button to add their own.
6. There are three ways to review a book:  1) rate it 1-5 stars  2) write comments about the book        3) upload a video in which you discuss the book
7. Students should give the book a star rating AND write a sentence or two in the comment box.  Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc. are important, so please make sure to proof read the writing.
8. If the student wants his/her name to be included in the review, they will need to write that information in the COMMENT BOX.  Leave the boxes below (file/name) blank, as that is for the video upload only.
9. Students must then click on "submit".  They will see a dialogue box that says the review will be posted as soon as it is approved.  I am the one who approves the reviews, and I will do so usually within about 24 hours.  Reviews that are inappopropriate in content or grammatically incorrect will be denied and the student will be contacted about why their review was denied so that they have a chance to fix it.
10. If students wish to add a video review to their written comments, they can come see me in the library and I can do that with them.  However, students must have the permission slip for media/web release signed by their guardian (this is something that was part of the district/parent handbook and it will be on file in the office) in order for me to do this with them.

I am asking all students to try and do at least one review, and then if they enjoy doing it, they are welcome to do as many as they like!  Students can review as many books as they like, they just can't do the same book twice.  This might be something that you could work on with your child.  Our Destiny library catalog is web-based, and so students can do this from home if they have Internet access.