Peer Revision

Peer revision is a tricky thing.  Often times, kids will read a friend's writing and just say, "It's good."  And that's the end of it.  So I spent a day modeling how to give effective feedback to a fellow writer.  We learned how to be specific in our praise.  We learned to use "writerly language" to identify and celebrate the strategies and word choice we see our fellow authors use.  We also learned to be honest when we notice the writer's meaning breaking down.  As writers, we want our readers to see the same "movie" we see - we want our readers to be able to experience the moment fully.  If our meaning breaks down, we want to make it clearer.  We learned to give specific, critical feedback and help our fellow writers improve their writing. 

I was incredibly pleased with our kids.  They took their work very seriously, and their writing was greatly improved due to the feedback they received from their friends.  Here is a video of our students revising their personal narratives together...