"Building opportunities for students to review each other's writing and providing feedback whenever possible encourages them to think critically about their own writing" (pg 313). When I was observing a Language Arts class at the Junior High, I witnessed this taking place. The students had written a two page persuasive text about a particular subject. On this day, the teacher put the students into groups of five and they had to read each other's writings. They then evaluated the students writings by giving them a rating from a Rubric provided. After they did this, they had to give feedback to the student they evaluated and discuss the good points and bad points of their writings. Sometimes they did not agree, but most of the time the student who wrote the paper seen the mistake that was made and thanked their classmate for pointing it out to them. I think this is a great way for students to learn from each other, and to see the common mistakes that are made. This is also a good way for the teacher to assess the types of writings, sentences structures, tenses, etc. that may need to be retaught.
I liked what Conley said in the green box on page 309. "Create opportunities for extended writing as opposed to worksheets with one-word answers." Conley said this suggestion is for ELL students to learn to write, but I think this holds true for all students. There are too many worksheets given to students in grade school and high school. This is why the students get to college and cannot write a research paper. They have never been taught how to write! Even on many state and national test, students cannot do well because they do not know where to begin the writing process. Teachers have to be willing to give the students opportunities to write, whether it be a journal, a report, etc., students must be taught that writing is important and they need to know how to write to be successful adults.
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I agree with you on the fact that students can learn better by having other students review their work. This form of peer revising helps both of the students think more critically about their work and their peer's work. This revising can also let the teacher know if the students are reading critically in addition to thinking more critically. Are they just reading over it becuase they have to, or are they truly searching for areas of improvement or mistakes.
ReplyDeleteIt is very true that many students cannot write as well as they should be able to by the time they get to college. This lack of ability is due to a breakdown in high schools, junior high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools for the most part. Granted, there are some exceptions, but there are a many students who do not know how to write. If a student is not taught how to write, they will suffer in all aspects of their life. At some point in an individual's life, writing is or will beocome very important. Writing is a skill that needs to be taught and developed constantly in order for a person to succeed at this task.