Journaling is a great way to process what youve read and develop your understanding of the text. Each of the 87 falls under one of the following comprehension categories. Responding to other students writing by richard straub is an essay from the book, the subject is writing. Braddock awardwinning nancy sommers has taught composition and run composition programs for more than three. That essay has helped many teachers think more intentionally and act more skillfully when they respond to what students write.
So, what may seem difficult and timeconsuming at first can and should become easier and faster over time. Responding to student writing university of louisville. I wrote prompts that not only asked students to consider the evidence presented but use it and cite it in their responses. Students respond to each others ideas as expressed in writing and help each other to. Strategy lessons for responding to narrative and informational texts, presents lessons and strategies to support student independence with readers notebooks in grades 38. Provide more examples of reading response letters to students. Most teachers estimate that it takes them at least 20 to 40 minutes to com. September 2011 katie robbins, director of educational programming at figment, an online community where young adults and teens come together to create, discover, and share their own writing and discuss their favorite works. Letter me this and 5 other reading response activities for. In this session, participants explore strategies for structuring peer interactions and for teaching students to respond positively and productively to each other s work. The effectiveness of using a written response strategy for. Students respond to each others ideas as expressed in writing and help each other to think more deeply about their written work. Thompson becomes an active participant in their discussion, modeling ways in which students can take more active roles in classroom discussion through preparation, turntaking, receptiveness to alternate views, posing and. Responding to a students paper involves 1 reading it carefully while making marginal comments, 2 writing a final comment in which you sum.
Conversation and discussion about what students read is certainly valuable, and, yet, if your goal is to raise reading achievement, writing has even greater value not such a hard choice after all. Youve got a student paper you have to read and make comments on for. Questioning, connecting, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating. Nancy sommers, responding to student writing sometimes, we inadvertently give students conflicting messages. If you are sharing responsibility for a course with other faculty or tas, meet with them to discuss responding and grading. A sourcebook for responding to student writing is a resource for writing teachers. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Sep 01, 2010 the benefits of students integrating journal writing across the curriculum are amply documented. Feedback is intended to help our students improve their own writing. Students dont need to dive deeply into every single book they read, but occasionally showing them how to dive in can help.
But, in fact, responding to students writing may not require as much time as you might think. Then the next time you want them to write a fictional piece of their own, start with the same chart and have students take notes on what they plan on writing. Even if a piece of writing needs a lot of work, there is usually something good that can be pointed outthe seed of a great idea, a particularly wellturned phrase, the beginnings of a good organizational structure, or a thorough understanding of the. Feb, 2017 responding to other students writing by richard straub is an essay from the book, the subject is writing. The importance of student journals and how to respond. Continual practice in writing is what helps students most in becoming more effective writers, especially when they realize that writing is required to be successful in courses other than their writing courses.
The focus of much of his work is on reading, evaluating, and respondmg to student writing. Assessing and responding to writing formative assessment assessing students writing is a fundamental component of writing instruction. Responding to students writing the comments that we write on our students papers may be some of the most difficult writing that many academics dodifficult because we write them under heavy burdens huge stacks of papers at a time, often late at night, when were exhausted and with the. Students understand how knowing about music elements aids in a performers interpretation of the musics expressive intent. A brief instructor resource, nancy sommersresponding to student writers offers a model for thinking about response as a dialogue between students and teachers and for thinking about the benefits of responding to writers as well as to their writing. Respondingreally responding to other students writing. Luckily, a love for writing floated me down the responding to text writing river.
Responding to literature rich thompson works with a small student group as they explore the text because of winndixie by kate dicamillo. Sommers shows how teachers too often write comments that come off as arbitrary, idiosyncratic, contradictory, and even mean, even. Oct 01, 20 under these new standards, students learn to craft their writing, find key details, elaborate on the details, and include them within their own writing in a way that clearly expresses their ideas. Responding to text writing lesson plans and activities. Dec 23, 2018 most of the time when you are tasked with an essay about a book or article youve read for a class, you will be expected to write in a professional and impersonal voice. Respondingreally respondingto student writing weebly. Remember responding to writing is not the same as grading writing. Elizabeth mulvahill on february 25, 2020 reading about other people and perspectives helps kids learn beyond their own experiences. Responding, really responding to other students writing. Under these new standards, students learn to craft their writing, find key details, elaborate on the details, and include them within their own writing in a way that clearly expresses their ideas. Students can label elements of music while listening to music.
A twotime braddock award winner, sommers is well known for her research and publications on student writing. Text to self is a great opportunity for students to become introspective. Writin g ability is strengthened through extensive reading for genuine interest or need, and reading ability is enhanced by writing activities that focus on exploring and generating meaning. Responding to student writing can be a challenging task, however, particularly when deciding what feedback to include in a. He taught courses in writing, composition and rhetoric, and literature at florida state.
Your students will love responding to and telling about their reading with these fun seasonal flipbooks. Although the article is more than a few years old now, it continues to offer a useful. Responding to student writing nancy sommers more than any other enterprise in the teaching of writing, responding to and commenting on student writing consumes the largest proportion of our time. Responding to other peoples writing the writing center. Asks not only what teachers do in response but why they do it and where their philosophies were formed. Respondingreally respondingto other students writing. Many teachers give response journal assignments to help students clarify whats read, solidify. Responding to student writing harvard writing project.
Unlike in more formal writing, the use of phrases like i thought and i believe is encouraged in a response paper. This module uses literature and informational texts to introduce students to gender and racial inequality issues in the united states in the first half of the 20th century, and to recognize how the process of ratifying the 19th amendment can teach us about how people were responding to gender and racial inequality at that time. For nonwriting faculty, however, responding to student writing can be. Writing about text or talking about text i used to consider that to be an impossible choice. Pair up students who work well together and have them complete the graphic organizer planning and the checklist on a book they have both read. Making comments is a skill that improves with practice. Responding to students writing takes more time, thought, and energy than any other aspect of teaching, says sommers, a lecturer at the harvard graduate school of education, the former director of harvards expository writing program, and the founder of the harvard writing project. Straub did a great job elaborating on the circumstances of writing. Responding to writing resource topics national writing. I think this is a good thing to do because it points out things throughout the paper that need to be fix or that are good point then at the end gives an overall rating of the paper at the end. Responding to students writing is the part of wac that often worries instructors because it is here that incorporating more writing into their courses seems most like an imposition, demanding more time from the instructor.
Written from one teacher to another, nancy sommers responding to student writers offers a model for thinking about response as a dialogue between students and teachers and for thinking about the benefits of responding to writers as well as to their writing. The ministry of responding is not just to the words, but to the person who wrote the words x. Respondinsreally respondingto other kudents writing richard straub richard straub taught courses in writing, rhetoric, and literature at florida state university. Her recent work involves a longitudinal study of college writing to understand the role writing plays in undergraduate education. It is an opportunity to let the world know how you feel about something. It provides a range of teacher comments on a sampling of college student papers and an anthology of key statements on theory and practice of responding to student writing. Teaching students to construct written response to text. Students may tell about a fiction book they have read by describing the story elements, tell about the sequence beginning, middle, and end, or they may write about a nonfiction book by providing details from the book. Richard straub, a professor at florida state university, presents in his article respondingreally responding to other students writing. From a teachers perspective, there are few activities that can trump journal writing for understanding and supporting the development of student thinking. I worked to find interesting and relevant passages for my students to read. The legendary toby fulwiler, author of the journal book. Her articles revision strategies of student and experienced writers and responding to student writing are two of the most widely read and anthologized articles in the field of composition. Communicate with your students about your feedback.
Helping students respond effectively to each others writing. So a lot of the experience of responding to others writing is going to be you responding to one another. Resource topics teaching writing responding to writing additional resources figment provides space for students to share writing. Respondingreally respondingto other students writing richard straub richard straub taught courses in writing, rhetoric, and literature at florida state university.
Responding to student writing evergreen state college. Responding to text expository writing curriculum responding to text is an important and challenging skill that our students are being asked to do. Responding to student writing writing across the curriculum. Straub takes his article from a different approach by separating his essay into parts conveying what each reader needs to have to be a successful responder. Richard straubs responding really responding to other student writings teaches readers how to consider and understand the right ways of responding to other people writings. Responding really responding to other students writing richard straub richard straub lives on the borders of tallahassee and teaches courses in writing, rhetoric, and literature at florida state university. A text response by definition is specifically a response to a book you have read but it can also be a response to a film you have just seen, a game you have been playing, or for more. Studies college writing instructors approaches to response to student writing. Straub responding really responding to other students writing richard straub 19562002 responding really responding to other students writing consider this. There are several points to keep in mind when responding to students writing.
Invest time in discussing and responding to student writing early in a course to achieve stronger writing throughout the semester. A specialist on reading, evaluating, and responding to student writing, he was from dunmore, pennsylvania. Responding to student writers, 1st edition macmillan. Three ways to respond to reading upper elementary snapshots.
Much of writing is responding to what others have already said or written, the continuing of a conversation. Now im going to pause for a second because i want make sure i emphasize that even if i had a class that was just comprised of 12 students, i wouldnt be the only person responding to the student writing. See more ideas about teaching reading, reading workshop and teaching. A typical written response to text contains a topic sentence, some details from the text andor quotes, and a concluding sentence. Thompson becomes an active participant in their discussion, modeling ways in which students can take more active roles in classroom discussion through preparation, turntaking, receptiveness to alternate views, posing and trying to answer authentic. She also includes samples of her own responses to drafts and a handy graphic listing best practices for responding to student writing. When students learn to approach reading and writing as interactive ways. Responding really responding to other students writing. Responding to students writing the comments that we write on our students papers may be some of the most difficult writing that many academics dodifficult because we write them under heavy burdens huge stacks of papers at a time, often late.
Peer responseis when students respond to the content of each others writing, to the ideas, challenging each other and raising questions about what has been written. The most useful and insightful points of the book, in my view, are where sommers defines the purpose of responding to student writing. Based upon a book you have just read, share a story about yourself that is related to an event or character that was in the book. This unit is a sixweek writing curriculum that guides both students and teachers through the paired passage responding to text process. Students understand how lyrics reflect expressive intent. Braddock awardwinning nancy sommers has taught composition and run composition programs for more than three decades. In this session, participants explore strategies for structuring peer interactions and for teaching students to respond positively and productively to each others work. Respondinsreally respondingto other kudents writing. Responding to others writing the writing process coursera. Link your experience to no more than four situations that occurred within the text. Richard straubs responding really responding to other student writings teaches readers how to consider and understand the right ways of responding to other people writing s. Students know what an arrangement of a piece of music is.
In 1982, nancy sommers published the landmark, awardwinning essay responding to student writing. Many veteran readers find the experience of responding to student writing to be one of constantly deciding not to comment on less important issues. The fundamental steps that should be considered by any reader who is willing to comment on areas of strength and weakness in someones essay or research paper. From peter elbow and pat belanoff, sharing and responding, random house two paradoxes of responding. But the regular rules change a bit when you write a response paper. Responding to student writing principles and practices. Even if a piece of writing needs a lot of work, there is usually something good that.
Responding to other peoples writing can be difficult. My students and i have found this guide to be extremely useful. How to write a terrific text response literacy ideas. If your class all read the same book, have them compare their notes with one or two other people to see if they can get all the important details the story had to offer. In responding, we need to summarize, or paraphrase, what others have said, perhaps quote them, respond to them with our own thoughts, and cite them, both in text and in the bibliography. Straub respondingreally respondingto other students writing richard straub 19562002 respondingreally responding to other students writing consider this.
He used valid examples and strong supporting details. Even if a piece of writing needs a lot of work, there is usually something good that can be pointed outthe seed of a great idea, a particularly wellturned phrase, the beginnings of a good organizational structure, or a thorough understanding of the material. Instructor comments on students writing is an important part of helping students become effective academic writers, and can provide the productive feedback a student writer needs to revise a particular assignment. Aug 06, 2017 provide a paragraph frame for students to use as they write their reading response letters. Such restraint allows you to focus your energies on just a few important points and also tends to yield a cleaner and more easily intelligible message for students.
Distribute rubrics and other grading criteria in advance of assigning grades to a specific set of essays. Teachers can assess students writing either formatively during the learning process or summatively at the end of the learning process. A text response is a style of writing in which you are sharing your reaction to something. If teachers assess formatively, then their comments should. Mar 02, 2017 luckily, a love for writing floated me down the responding to text writing river. I agree that the author argued his points well for responding to other students writing. Peer to peer throughout the writing process, peer response can help young adolescents develop as thinkers and writers. Youll still have a thesis and will need to back up your opinion with evidence from the work, but this type of paper spotlights your individual reaction as. Responding to student writing comments and grades on student writing arguably constitute the most serious, sustained teaching intervention you can make in a students writing career.