Beyond the Red Pen : Meaningful Feedback & Purposeful Reflection on Student Writing

1. Beyond the Red Pen:Meaningful Feedback & Purposeful Reflection on Student Writing English SOL Institute Secondary Persuasive Writing Workshop Laura Tornello & Susan Spengeman English Teachersat Freedom High School Loudoun County Public Schools

2. Guiding Quotation & Opening Discussion “Trust the process. If the process is sound, the product improves.” –William Zinsser Video Clip: Giving Writing Feedback http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fn_vAhu_Lw Opening Discussion: Think of two times when you received a graded piece of writing back – one when you had a positive reaction and one when you had a negative reaction. What caused these reactions?

3. Embedding SOL Prep Within the Curriculum • Often, SOL prep feels detached from the rest of the English curriculum • In order to streamline the different strands of English, SOL essay questions should be more meaningfully embedded within core literature units • Connection chart with common texts & units taught in high school English

4. Feedback & Reflection Throughout the Writing Process • Pre-Writing: Claim Development & Feedback on Strength of Argument • During Writing: Audio Feedback • During Writing & Post-Writing: Meaningful Student Self-Reflection

5. Claim Development • Giving feedback in the beginning of the writing process is pivotal in helping students articulate their claims prior to actually writing • Students need to be scaffolded from simplistic thesis statements to argumentative claims that demonstrate risk and insight • Give feedback early in the process, emphasize the “so what?” question, and share student sample thesis statements to demonstrate how to strengthen weak claims

6. Audio Feedback • The first suggestion that appeared in the research was to replace written feedback with writing conferences where teachers have conversations and students take notes on the paper and have the opportunity to ask questions (Still, 2006) • As technology developed, the limitations with written feedback and writing conferences led teachers to experiment with audio feedback beginning with cassettes in the 1970s (Klammer, 1973) • While studies have found many positive aspects of audio feedback, some limitations have been found. Audio feedback supplemented with written feedback and writing conferences have shown to help students’ understanding of feedback and the quality of revisions (Dagen, 2008; Huang, 2000; Johanson, 1999; Merry, 2007; Reynolds, 2008; Still, 2006)

7. Audio Feedback

8. Student Self-Reflection • Students need to be provided with ample opportunities to reflect meaningfully on their growth as writers, both during and post-process • Feedback cards, self-reflection questions on drafts, and writing folders/portfolios allow students to reflect in a meaningful, focused way and set goals for themselves

9. Persuasive Writing:General Guidelines • Move students away from five paragraph, formulaic writing • Strategies to build skills: conferencing, guided writing, revising, sharing, and using mentor texts • Writing portfolios support student growth & reflection K-12 English SOL Institute October 2013

10. Persuasive Writing: General Guidelines • Teach writing; don’t merely assign it • Instead of just putting students in groups, actively teach techniques for peer revision/editing & feedback • Focus on purpose and audience • Provide opportunities for students to shift/adapt voice and audience K-12 English SOL Institute October 2013

11. Persuasive Writing:General Guidelines • Key point: every piece of writing does not have to be graded! • Incorporate writing into every lesson • Don’t correct every error in student papers (shift ownership) • Use VDOE Resources including anchor sets and writing checklists K-12 English SOL Institute October 2013

12. SOL Anchor Sets(Available on the VDOE Website) K-12 English SOL Institute October 2013

13. SOL Persuasive Writing Checklist & Rubric • Add screenshot K-12 English SOL Institute October 2013

14. Contact Information • Laura Tornello • Loudoun County Public Schools • laura.tornello@lcps.org • Susan Spengement • Loudoun County Public Schools • Susan.Spengeman@lcps.org

15. Disclaimer Reference within this presentation to any specific commercial or non-commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Virginia Department of Education.