5 Peer Conferencing Revision Strategies That Actually Work

From this post I found some fun and interactive ideas to help my students with revision

Revising and editing a peer's writing helps students learn to work as a team. It also gives them a fresh perspective on the proofreading process that will help them become more aware as they write and edit their own work. So, how can you make the peer review and editing process engaging, meaningful and fun for students? Here are five ways to get your students excited about peer review that actually work!

1. Neon Revision
   
   Many kids don't know what or where to mark when reading another student's work. Neon revision is an approach that can really help. First, give each student or pair of students three highlighters and these instructions:
   
   Highlighter Markers: 3 Colors
   Yellow – Mark the first word of each sentence. Questions to think about: Is there variety? Does the writer use transitional words? Are there any sentence fragments or run-ons?
   Pink – Highlight each adjective. Think about: Is the writing descriptive? Are the adjectives strong and specific? 
   Blue – Highlight each verb. Think about: Are there too many "to be" verbs? Are the verb choices strong? 
   
   Students begin by highlighting specifics. Then, remind them to look at the big picture. After highlighting, they can make comparisons and add suggestions about what the student needs to add, adjust or remove. Proofreading will come later. First, they are helping a peer with sentence fluency and word choice—both descriptive language and "showing without telling."
   
   Teach students about the revision sandwich: compliment, suggest, correct. Remind students that when reviewing someone's work, always start out by saying what they like about their work. Next, they make a suggestion and converse with their partner. Students ask questions. Then, they make corrections. By working together, they both learn from each other.
2. Writing Wheel Checklist
   
   Have students assemble their writing wheels using this template, a piece of plain paper and a brad for the center. To assemble, cut out both circles and attach with the brad. Explain that they will use the writing wheel checklist to help them edit one another's writing. Students should do each task on the wheel as they review another's work. The writing wheel checklist is portable, so students could even check their peers' writing from home on a class blog! Students can post their writing on a kid-friendly blogging site such as sKidblog or Weebly, where peers can write comments. Using their writing wheel as a reference, students will know how to assess their classmates' compositions for conventions.
   
   Click here for a PDF of the Writing Wheel Checklist.
3. Revising vs. Editing (What's the Difference?)
   
   
   Students need to know the difference between revising and editing in order to help refine their peers' writing. Revising makes writing better. Editing makes writing correct. A popular approach in many classrooms is to use the acronyms ARMS (for revising) and CUPS (for editing).
   
   Revising (The big picture)
   Add words and sentences (be descriptive, capture all ideas).
   Remove words and sentences (be concise).
   Move words and sentences (sentence fluency, organization).
   Substitute words and sentences (word choice, voice).
   
   
   Editing (Conventions)
   Capitalization
   Usage (Verbs and nouns—does it make sense?)
   Punctuation
   Spelling
   
   To help students with their understanding, say you use your arms and hand to hold your ear to help them remember that when you revise, you want the writing to sound better. If you punch a hole in a cup and look through it, you are using your eyes. This will help them remember that when you edit, you want your writing tolook better. Students could even create a telescope made out of a paper cup and call it their Revisoscope! Check out Busy Bee Kids Crafts to see how to construct one. Once students know the difference between revising and editing and have the acronyms memorized, they can jot them down on a Post-it note when checking a peer's writing. The acronyms will remind students of what to look for and how writing can be improved to make it look and sound better!
4. Proofreading Spectacles
   
   Put your proofreading spectacles on, it's time to edit! To make editing for conventions fun, have students wear crazy glasses with the lenses popped out of them. It will motivate students and encourage them to look closely at their peers’ writing. Remind students to always reread to check for misunderstandings in writing. You can purchase glasses at the dollar store or a party supply store. You could also have students create their own glasses out of paper.

1. Switch! Revising and Editing Stations
   
   
   Set up six stations around the room. Label each station with one of the following titles:
   1. Word Choice
   2. Ideas and Content
   3. Organization
   4. Sentence Fluency
   5. Voice
   6. Conventions
   
   Print out Be the Editor task cards for students to use when revising and editing at each station. Students use Zaner-Bloser's task cards to help them discuss and check one another's writing! The task cards provide the children with prompts, making editing/revising easier. By concentrating on one writing trait at a time at each station, students will not feel overwhelmed. Along with the task cards, put out highlighters, sticky notes, colored pencils and other writing utensils to keep students interested.

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5 Ways to assess students writing progress

This is from the sixth post in the Teaching Young Writers blog series sponsored by Zaner-Bloser's Strategies for Writers. You can see the previous post on 5 Peer Revision Strategies.

1. X Marks the Spot
   Too often we teachers grade papers as if we are preparing a manuscript for publication. We proofread, line-edit and rewrite. Stop now. Refrain from spending all of your time writing long comments on your students' papers. A piece of writing filled with comments and proofreading marks can cause students to feel overwhelmed and bewildered. The goal is for your students to slowly gain writing skills and confidence, not to feel discouraged and negative about writing. Instead, focus on the content of the paper. When you see a grammar mistake or a spelling error, simply put a small x next to it. Let your students problem-solve what needs to be corrected. They figure out the mistakes marked with an x and enter their corrections in the margin. This will cut back your time and help students grow as writers and assess their own work. Save the proofreading marks for your students to do on their own writing, as well as on their peers'papers.
   
   
   
2. Write an End Comment
   Save your comments for the end of your students' writing. Your comment should include at least one strength. Then, it can point out a problem that the student needs to improve. Finally, it should end with suggestions for the student's next step in the writing process. Students can take your recommendations to assess their writing and set goals to continue their progress.
   
   
   
3. Address Common Errors Together
   If you notice that many of your students are inserting semicolons willy-nilly or skimping on the textual evidence, rather than writing this note over and over on each student's composition, do a mini-lesson (or three) with the class. By having a class discussion, students will all receive the same comment you would have written on many papers in one simple whole-group conference.
   
   
   
4. Use a Rubric
   Using a rubric to assess students' writing is a great way to see exactly what students are grasping and and what they're struggling with. Teachers can find premade rubrics or create their own on iRubric. This is my favorite site for creating and adapting rubrics, and it's free! What makes rubrics efficient is that teachers can circle and add notes to each category. Then, they quickly calculate the score. Rubrics help teachers pinpoint exactly what the student needs help with or where the student needs more of a challenge.
   



5. Incorporate Student Reflection
   Rather than viewing assessment as something only teachers do, have students complete a self-assessment. Encourage students to assess their own strengths and needs in their writing. An easy way to motivate students to evaluate their own writing progress is to create a rating scale. The rating scale could be in a traffic light format (red, yellow, green). Students color in the circle to describe their level of understanding: Red = I don't understand, Yellow = I'm starting to get it and Green = I got it! After they assess themselves, have your students create goals for themselves. By doing so, you will get an insight into what your student is thinking and feeling, which will make the ongoing assessment process a lot easier and more efficient!
   

Looking for more? Nine free Strategies for Writers lesson plans complete with teacher and student pages!

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Paint Strip Writing

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