RESPONDING TO
STUDENT WRITING
When students understand the
importance of what they're trying to say
as writers, they also care about how their
words go down on the page. They know
that in the end what they've said and
how it looks each contribute to a reader's
appreciation of text. I think we do our
kids a disservice to contend that a
reader's appreciation is an either/or
proposition; NANCIE ATWELL
THE ALCHEMY OF
RESPONSE
Responding to student writing is an
imprecise science
•purpose for writing
•kind of writing
•students
•time
Impossible for to have an infallible,
rigid formula
f(x)=A good response to writing
Ever Expanding Toolbox
•experience
•literature
Responding is a continual
process in which reflective
teaching mingles with
•Tenacity
•Vision
•Knowledge about
writing
Responding well
should transform
students’ drafts into
polished, final
products.
(rewrite by rewrite)
We are modern day
alchemist.
The immediate
measure of our
success is helping
students turn the
basest metal in their
writing into gold.
The TRUE measure
of our success is
STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT.
CONTENTS OF
THE TOOLBOX
MAY BE ENDLESS,
BUT
Strategies for:
1. Identifying and honing strengths of
the paper
2. Focusing the paper in a way that
moves it forward
3. Constructing an appropriate
infrastructure for the writing
4. Discussing the relationship between
error and clarity
Arresting start
Initial focus of writing
Memorable beginning
Satisfying ending
Clear sense of audience
Clear sense of purpose
Effective use of figurative
language
Become familiar with the
rhetorical demands
Suggest a pattern or
patterns of development
that work for the topic
Identify audience
Identify purpose
Identify organizational structure
Suggest one that works
Suggest portions to chop
Suggest portions for elaboration
Identify errors that obscure
intended meaning
Edit a paragraph or two with
the student
Edit nothing that’s illogical
Don’t ignore editing
Think of your responses as:
1. Part of on-going conversations
2. Essential to the improvement
of the students’ papers
3. One of the best and simplest
ways to differentiate
instruction
4. Pointless if they don’t move
students
• Strengths
• Clarity
• Specifics
• Guidance
You raise important issues
but your organization is
weak. I never knew what
to expect next. The paper
was lacking enough
support. Where is the
development of the ideas?
I had trouble following
your argument. It is not
coherent. There are not
any transitions between
your ideas. I didn’t know
what your point was until
I read the last paragraph.
http://depts.washington.edu/pswrite/responding
You raise 3 important points on
your second page, but they get lost
in the remainder of the paper. On
your next draft, focus on just those
3 and support them with evidence
and/or logical argument gained
from the course material or
outside sources.
I was a little lost until I read your
last paragraph. It is a good
summary of your argument and it
needs to be moved to the beginning
of your paper. Use it as a neat
outline of what will happen next,
and then make sure the rest of the
paper supports your thesis.
There is no thesis
statement here. You
are merely
summarizing the ideas
of the two theorists,
rather than providing
us with anything new.
Where are you in all
this?
Most political science papers
require you to make an
argument, rather than just
summarize the course material.
You demonstrate a good
understanding of Hobbes and
Locke, but you need to make a
claim that responds to the
assignment question. Be bold
and direct about your thesis -don't be afraid to take a stand!
http://depts.washington.edu/pswrite/responding
•Strengths
•Specifics
•Clarity
•Guidance
Specifics
Clarity Strengths
Look at the sample
again. You haven't
written a summary. It's
not only incoherent but
you included your
opinions as well.
Guidance
In your second paragraph you did
a good job sticking to the main
point plus key evidence, something
I hope to see more of in your next
summary. In the other paragraphs
you mixed in your personal
opinions (I underlined opinions).
Good points in the intro but no
clear argument laid out
Begins with a grand
sweeping statement or
rhetorical question that
forces a stand
Much in the intro appears to be
ideas from the student, but I
know they’re not
Adds the business of the
intro: Title, author, and
background info
Presents a plot summary
Chops till drops
Student’s stuck
Write nonstop without
rules and pulls out stems
for paragraphs
Fluent writer bored
Complicate assignment
with short text or shift
from the obvious pattern
of development
Emerging writer lost
Complicate assignment
with short text that
magnifies a writing path
3rd or so round of comments
and no apparent movement
in drafts
Rely on conversation, not
written comments and
Go-in-Heavy
When students understand the importance
of what they're trying to say as writers, they
also care about how their words go down
on the page. They know that in the end
what they've said and how it looks each
contribute to a reader's appreciation of text.
I think we do our kids a disservice to
contend that a reader's appreciation is an
either/or proposition;
that readers either respond to content (in school
we usually call it "creativity") or to format (in
school, called "basic skills"). Readers respond to
both. If we teach simplistic formulas for good
writing we leave students wide open to readers'
disdain or, worse, their disinterest. Who, other
than a teacher, will read an illegible or
Unpunctuated text? What reader will read, very
far anyway, a mechanically perfect text that says
nothing?
NANCIE ATWELL, IN THE MIDDLE