Giving the classmates feedback on writing is a complex skill that students need to master. However, it can be taught using scaffolding models
When I share with my ninth graders for the first time that peer review will be part of our writing process, the response is almost entirely negative. Unfortunately, many of my authors have not had the best experience with this activity.
My stronger writers state that they almost never receive feedback that goes beyond basic conventions, while my aspiring writers feel they lack the confidence to give feedback beyond basic conventions. This frustration should come as no surprise: as educators, we recognize that effective teaching is a complex skill that needs to be consciously exercised. Similarly, asking students to give each other feedback is more complex than just exchanging papers and pinpointing mistakes.
To make peer feedback more targeted and meaningful, I found it helpful to define quality feedback, provide structured routines, and provide feedback, as with any other core competency.
DEFINE EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK
In my experience, few high school newcomers have mastered the conventions of writing well enough to be reliable editors. That's why I encourage my students to think about the other's work - not to correct it.
My students focus on developing ideas, clarity and arrangement to understand the text of the author. Of course, a scrambled grammar can interfere with a reader's experience, but instead of trying to correct the confusing syntax of a colleague with editing characters, I encourage students to write complete sentences together:
• This is confusing because I can not follow your topic.
• I am confused about who "they" are in this sentence.
• Explain a bit more about why you chose this example from the text.
• I think it's good, as you concluded in your conclusion, the keywords from your hook here.
I also offer children a special acronym to remember what quality feedback is all about: SPARK. For Feedback to be useful to an author, it should meet as many of the following criteria as possible:
• Specific: Comments are linked to a specific word, sentence or sentence.
• Prescription: Like a medical prescription designed to remedy a disease, prescription feedback provides a solution or strategy for improving work, including possible revisions or links to helpful resources or examples.
• Workable: When the feedback is read, the peer knows what steps to take to improve it.
• Referenced: The feedback directly refers to the task criteria, requirements or target competences.
• Type: It is mandatory that all comments are framed in a friendly, supportive manner.
Some groups that I have taught have quickly contacted SPARK while others needed more practice. For these groups, I create student-friendly versions of an advisory protocol or voting protocol to ensure focused discourse and room for all voices.
I have also set a guideline for a minimum number of quality comments, but I tell students that less is often more.
Modeling spark feedback
Like any other skill I teach, I start modeling SPARK feedback on writing to sample students. I interact with students and explain my thinking process by finding out what is effective or ineffective on a text and how to make high-quality SPARK-based comments. From there, as a class, we examine other sample feedback statements before evaluating their potential benefits to a writer.
In order to give the students the opportunity to give independent feedback, I distribute the same example paragraph. We use group and class discussions to share the variety of feedback offered.
When it's time for a live assessment, I rate the performance by giving students feedback on their feedback. After that, students share particularly useful examples. Before the students leave the classroom, they share on the exit cards what they believe to be the best feedback they have offered and the best feedback they have received.
In the end, a good peer review should provide the author with meaningful information for improvement while improving the auditor's ability to analyze the effectiveness of a text.
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