uh, hyperlinks with values assigned?
eg:
<a href="something.php?rate=1">*</a>
<a href="something.php?rate=2">*</a>
<a href="something.php?rate=3">*</a>
<a href="something.php?rate=4">*</a>
<a href="something.php?rate=5">*</a>
then when the page loads. check the value of rate and do with it what you will.
ie:
$rate = $_GET['rate'];
...