ELA 7/8 Planet Earth Report

Reports and reviews are similar. Reports tend to be a little more descriptive (What is this text
about?) and reviews are usually more persuasive (Why a reader should or shouldn't read/watch
this text). Both offer a combination of summary and commentary.

They are a way to think more deeply about a text and to demonstrate your understanding.

Title Page (This will be your introduction)

Here you want to provide basic information about the book, and a sense of what your report will
be about. If you prefer to make a title page by hand you may do so. You should include:

1. Title (underlined) (Planet Earth: Mountains)

2. Produced by: BBC Natural History Unit
3. Genre (Nature Documentary)
4. A brief (1-2 sentences) introduction to the book and the report/review.
5. An interesting and appealing picture that relates to the topic.

NOTE: If you are going to use a Google Doc template, use the one with the hipster on it (but
change the picture, obviously). The rest will not work for this assignment.

Body

There are two main sections for this part. The first is an explanation of what the text is about.
The second is your opinions about the text and how successful it is. There are some differences
between reports on fiction or other imaginative writing and reports on non-fiction.

But for both, a good place to start is to explain the author's purpose and/or the main themes of
the book. Then you can summarize.

For non-fiction:

Provide a general overview of the author's topic, main points, and argument. What is the
main focus? What are the important conclusions?

Don't try to summarize each moment or every angle. Choose the ones that are most
significant and interesting to you.

Analysis and Evaluation

In this section you analyze or critique the text. You can write about your own opinions; just be
sure that you explain and support them with examples. Some questions you might want to
consider:
  Did the filmmaker achieve his or her purpose?
 Is the narration effective, powerful, difficult, beautiful?
 What are the strengths and weaknesses of the text?
 For non-fiction, what are the author's qualifications to write about the subject? Do you
agree with the author's arguments and conclusions?
 What is your overall response to the text? Did you find it interesting, moving, dull?
 Would you recommend it to others? Why or why not?

Conclusion

Briefly conclude by pulling your thoughts together. You may want to say what impression the
book left you with, or emphasize what you want your reader to know about it.

Marking Scheme:
You will be marked on…

Title Page (all required parts are there, and it is visually appealing) (5 marks)

Organization (headings, paragraphs, following the format) (5 marks)

Content (detail, accuracy, focus) (10 marks)

Mechanics (full sentences, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Get someone

to edit for you!!) (5 marks)