Instructional Strategy #4: Peer Editing

(the Lesson Plan for this strategy is for grades 3-5, but, in my opinion, it works for all grade levels)

REVIEWER

Kevin Webster

TITLE

Peer Editing

SOURCE

ReadWriteThink.org

Lesson Plan:  Peer Editing with Perfection: Teaching Effective Peer Editing Strategies

DESCRIPTION

Even though peer editing (students editing and commenting on other students’ writing) is self explanatory, it is a great instructional practice that improves student to student relationships, adds an audience other than the teacher, and improves the writing experience.

Revising and editing are essential parts of the writing process. Whether or not you utilize a writers’ workshop model, students should still be familiar with and able to easily navigate the revising and editing process. Peer editing is a very effective way to help students improve their writing. In this lesson, students use a three-step peer-editing process that consists of compliments, suggestions, and corrections. They practice the techniques on sample student writing and view a PowerPoint tutorial to help reinforce the process. In conclusion, students use their knowledge to create a peer-editing assessment tool.

Peer editing is an instructional strategy for the editing process of writing.  Peer editing creates “peer discussion” about writing, and it teaches students the conventions of correction and editing, improves word choice, and writing structure.

NC SCOS/IRA/NCTE STANDARDS

4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

11 - Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

EXPLANATION & ELABORATION OF STRATEGY:

Peer editing can be an instructional strategy placed within the framework of Writer’s Workshop under the Editing step explained in Instructional Strategy #3.

What I like about Peer Editing is that students become involved in the writing process.  It opens up a new pathway with writing and eliminates the “student writes to the teacher for a grade” path.  I believe that since students will be sharing writing with each other, a better sense of ownership will be established and students will put forth more effort into their writing if they know other students will be reading it.

I also would argue that this strate is interdisciplinary.  It creates an interelationship between the students while also informing them about the process of editing and the conventions of editing.

Instructional Strategy #3: Writer’s Workshops

REVIEWER

Kevin Webster

TITLE

Writer’s Workshops

SOURCE

TheWritingSite.org (http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/managing/workshop/process.asp)

DESCRIPTION

“Beginning at the kindergarten level and on through upper grades, Writer’s Workshop is an interdisciplinary writing technique that builds student’s fluency in writing though continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing.”

Writing Workshop is an approach to the process of writing (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) scafolded in class.  All steps in the process are modeled, repeated, and given ample attention in the class.  It is an in depth instruction and not given to students to complete only for homework.

“Once students get used to doing it, they will begin to automatically follow these steps with every piece of writing they do. Each step of the writing process should be graded. Teachers should meet with each student during conference time to review their progress.”

NC SCOS:

English Language Arts I

Competency Goal 4: The learner will create and use standards to critique communication.

Competency Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.

EXPLANATION & ELABORATION OF STRATEGY:

Writer’s Workshop is interdisciplinary in that each step in the writing process is modeled for students before it has been assigned, time is given to students to practice, and through conferences and assessment, students receive feedback from their writing.  A Writing Workshop acts exactly how it sounds; it turns the classroom into a workshop that focuses on improving each step in the process.  Because each step is separated and given attention, writing is not lumped together simply as writing; it is represented as something that is learned and can be improved upon.  For example, in the Editing process

“is the step that deals with the grammar mechanics and spelling. The piece should first be self-edited. The next step is turning it into the Editing Center where your peers will edit the piece. An Editing Form will be filled out, clipped to your piece and returned to you. A suggested schedule for students to work at the Editing Center is for a one-week period each quarter. This work will be graded.”

So, when students write, they will concentrate more on each step of the process instead of becoming anxious about creating one perfect piece.  The Writing Workshop instruction acknowledges that writing is a process; a perfect artifact cannot be created overnight; by breaking down the process, alotting time to each step, writing is improved.

Instructional Strategy #2: Outlining/Planning/Creating: Writing Introductions Strategy

REVIEWER

Kevin Webster

TITLE:

Writing Introductions

SOURCE:

SAS Curriculum Pathways (English > Communication Skills > Writing: Structure and Mode > Classroom Activity 1174

DESCRIPTION:

This instructional strategy on how to write strong introductions has included pre-reading materials and graphic organizers. The pre-reading outlines and defines the various methods to create a powerful introduction such as Introduction Inquisitive, Introduction Paradoxical, Introduction Corrective, Introduction Preparatory, Introduction Narrative. Techniques for Informing the Reader.

The Writing Your Introduction materials sheet provides a graphic organizer that works almost like a puzzle. You fill in the blanks, and you construct your introduction.

NC SCOS:

English Language Arts I

Competency Goal 4: The learner will create and use standards to critique communication.

Competency Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.

EXPLANATION & ELABORATION OF STRATEGY:

The basic strategy here is planning. The Writing Your Introduction sheet provides scaffolding and planning techniques that not only outlines what makes an appropriate introduction but provides the skills necessary how to create one too. The strategy defines and reinforces by creation.

Students could practice writing multiple introductions using this strategy. By writing different introductions on various topics, the process becomes easier and less tedious. When used to write a larger writing assignment, the process becomes effective and productive.

Instructional Strategy #1: Instructional Writing Rubrics

Reviewer:

Kevin Webster

Title:

Instructional Writing Rubrics

Source:

Educational Leadership (directed by SchoolsMovingUp a WestEd Initiative)

The Writing Rubric by Bruce Saddler and Heidi Andrade

“Instructional rubrics can provide the scaffolding that students need to become self-regulated writers.

A rubric articulates the expectations for an assignment by listing the criteria, or “what counts,” and describing levels of quality from excellent to poor. Teachers commonly use assessment rubrics to score and grade student work, but instructional rubrics also serve another, arguably more important, role: They teach as well as evaluate.

To ensure that students have some ownership of the rubric, instructional rubrics are often created with students and are always written in language that students can understand (Andrade, 2000). Teachers provide instructional rubrics (like the example in Figure 1, p. 50) to students before they begin an assignment to help them understand the goals of the task and to guide them in self-directed planning and goal setting, revising, and editing.”

Site:

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/oct04/vol62/num02/The_Writing_Rubric.aspx

Description:

Instructional rubrics are not only assessment strategies, but used in the correct method, they become instructional strategies.

Instructional rubrics aid in the writing process and not only in the assessment process. The instructional rubrics assumes that teachers cannot be at the student’s side all minutes of the day, and it gives the student the scaffolding necessary to produce quality writing on their own and for all stages of process (planning and goal setting, revising, and editing). The parts that comprise the rubric are content, organization, word choice, voice and tone, sentence structure, and conventions.

NC SCOS: Ninth Grade

Competency Goal 4: The learner will create and use standards to critique communication.

Competency Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.

EXPLANATION & ELABORATION OF STRATEGY

Instructional rubrics allow students to become owners of their writing. Instead of writing and receiving corrective feedback later from their teacher, the rubric creates constructive writers. By repeatedly reviewing their writing and the instructional rubric, the student acquires the skills necessary to not only complete the assignment adequately but also learn the key aspects of the writing process. What is most important here is that the student continually checks their writing.