writing

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Home : 2005 : May : 30

writing
By Julie

You'll probably have to do this next year because it is so late in the year. Save one particularly pitiful piece of writing. Cut the name away and Xerox it onto overhead paper. (I like to use examples that aren't from
the current class because no one is singled out. If they get hand-written pen pal letters and you can pull a poor example, that's even better. Just be sure to eliminate the names.) Even better, a family member or you can create a pitiful paper.
Have the students read the piece. When they start to complain that they can't because the handwriting is sloppy, they spelling is poor, there

is no punctuation, etc. you can get into a good conversation on why all of these are important.

Then introduce and pass out the rubric you plan to use. You can also pass out hard copies of the document. Have the students grade the document using the rubric. When they are finished, put your graded rubric on the overhead so the student's can see how you would grade a piece of that quality.

You can do this in a variety of ways; my method is just one example. I know it is frustrating to have to repeat yourself a million times, or to even edit a piece just to find out they turn it in EXACTLY the same way it was when you first looked at it.