As we went mini-lesson by mini-lesson, we began creating a checklist of what a good personal narrative looks like. I used this instead of a rubric to assess their pieces. I also had them, after the fact, go back and assess themselves using the same checklist. I realizes that many of them weren't using the chart paper checklist as a guide, and missed some parts, but after looking it over with their own checklist in hand, they were able to provide a more honest picture of their writing. Unfortunately, I did this after they had submitted their final copy... I really should have allowed them to go back and fix mistakes then and there, but as life sometimes goes, we were in a hurry and part way into their next assignment. I should have slowed down, but I didn't.
So, the next writing unit came along: book and movie reviews. Again we looked at some mentor texts, had mini-lessons, and created another great checklist. THIS time, I got a little smarter. I printed the checklist twice on a piece of paper and asked them to assess themselves on the top checklist before they submitted their piece to the blog. This allowed them to catch things they'd left out and go back and fix it before my eyes landed there for the "final" assessment. Much better this time! Still, I had some friends who were in a hurry themselves, realized they didn't have everything, and didn't take the time to fix it. (You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force it to drink....) Hopefully next time I can help those friends see the benefits to doing that.
Below you can gaze at the checklist for the reviews.
Maybe this will work with your classroom! Enjoy!
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___________________________________’s Book/Movie Review
My Self-Assessment
I included:
o information
about the author/director and the audience
o a
catchy title
o an
introduction that hints at my opinion
o a
quality summary
o at
least two strengths or weaknesses with details and examples to support them
o a
satisfying conclusion
o my
voice – it sounds like I wrote this
I checked for:
o capital
letters
o correct
spelling
o conjunctions
with a comma before them to make compound sentences
I think I did well with:
Mrs. Goerend’s Turn:
You included:
o information
about the author/director and the audience
o a
catchy title
o an
introduction that hints at your opinion
o a
quality summary
o at
least two strengths or weaknesses with details and examples to support them
o a
satisfying conclusion
o your
voice – it sounds like you wrote this
I also noticed:
o capital
letters
o correct
spelling
o conjunctions
with a comma before them to make compound sentences
Comments:
