It’s been a while since my last confession, so here’Â’s another: You know those book reviews on Amazon.com that are signed “A Kid’Â’s Review””? I don’Â’t like ‘Â’em.
I don’Â’t like the way the individual writers of these reviews are lumped into this single, cookie-cutter category, as if the fact that the anonymous reviewer is ““a kid”” tells us everything we need to know — or anything, really –– about the perspective he or she brings to the book in question.
And I don’Â’t like the fact that writing these reviews took up time these young writers could have spent creating a story of their own, or reacting to a book they liked –– or didn’Â’t like –– in some other, more sincere, more personal, more creative way.
You know, like posting about them on their blogs.
I have yet to read one of the Amazon kids’ reviews” that did not smack of a classroom assignment. Most of them are written in a slapdash “my teacher made me do this” manner. There is very little thought or care given to the writing (“this is a pretty good book…”) which calls into question the entire pedagogical purpose of such an assignment.
There are tons of great ways to get kids to reflect on the books they are reading and write about them. The Amazon reviews do not demonstrate any higher level thinking beyond, “This book was boring…”
I have yet to read one of the Amazon kids’ reviews” that did not smack of a classroom assignment. Most of them are written in a slapdash “my teacher made me do this” manner. There is very little thought or care given to the writing (“this is a pretty good book…”) which calls into question the entire pedagogical purpose of such an assignment.
There are tons of great ways to get kids to reflect on the books they are reading and write about them. The Amazon reviews do not demonstrate any higher level thinking beyond, “This book was boring…”
I have yet to read one of the Amazon kids’ reviews” that did not smack of a classroom assignment. Most of them are written in a slapdash “my teacher made me do this” manner. There is very little thought or care given to the writing (“this is a pretty good book…”) which calls into question the entire pedagogical purpose of such an assignment.
There are tons of great ways to get kids to reflect on the books they are reading and write about them. The Amazon reviews do not demonstrate any higher level thinking beyond, “This book was boring…”
I like & use the Amazon reviews, but I can’t stand the book report review ones. They add nothing and just make me twitch.
I like & use the Amazon reviews, but I can’t stand the book report review ones. They add nothing and just make me twitch.
I like & use the Amazon reviews, but I can’t stand the book report review ones. They add nothing and just make me twitch.