Trio of Success: writing, improving and commenting

This activity is designed to improve students’ extended writing, primarily at KS4/5. The key foci here are:

• The process of writing, linking and arguing
• The skill of using advice to improve the quality of work
• The application of a mark-scheme to a piece of written work to make a judgement

Though the outcome of the activity can be for students to receive a mark if you choose, they need to understand that what is more important in this case is the process through which they achieved that mark.
Ideally, the activity is hosted on a wiki – a multi-editable page – on a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). If you don’t have access to this technology, then Google Drive (www.drive.google.com) allows students to set up a multi-editable document and email the link to everyone they wish to access it. Alternatively a Word document emailed from student to student would work, and if none of this takes your fancy then good old fashioned pen and paper would also suffice.

Preparation

1. Split the class into equally sized teams. In the event of having an odd number of students, you could always double up roles, or introduce an element of differentiation by giving more able students more than one role. In History we tend to write a six paragraph essay (introduction, four paragraphs and a conclusion) and so my class of 18 was rather neatly divided into 3 teams which is the model on which the table below is based. However it would easily work with a different number, you simply set up a cyclical pass-on system for each of the 3 stages s modelled below.
2. Assign each student a paragraph responsibility within their team, or even better, let them make the decision themselves. Ultimately each student needs to have overall responsibility for one paragraph of the final piece of work.
3. Then you can either assign each team the same essay question, or alternatively you set each team a different question.

The 3-stage model

Stage 1 – Writing

Each team researches and writes its answer. Generally speaking they will need to write it in order – introduction – paragraphs – conclusion – and so it is a useful exercise in collaborative working as well; there can be no ‘night before it’s due’ writing!

One of the best things I have found about this exercise is that students have to pay careful attention to how the paragraphs link together to further the argument; as the thoughts preceding their own are not actually their own, they have to adapt their argument and make use of language in order to create one cohesive argument.
If you are using a wiki on the VLE, then students can all access it in order to input their paragraph. If you are using Google Drive the same applies. A word document would need to be emailed around, and pens and paper would require a cutting, sticking and photocopying job.

Stage 1.5 – you mark the first attempts

It’s important that each team have a sense of the quality of their collective attempt; individual students can look at the comments on their particular paragraph, whilst also getting a sense of how successful their team effort was in creating an overall argument. Whilst some individuals may feel this mark is not representative of their particular contribution, it doesn’t really matter – this activity is about the process.

By marking the first set of essays (three, not 18!) you can also see what each individual has achieved as well as seeing how effectively they were able to work collaboratively.

I downloaded and printed each team’s attempt, marked them by hand, and then scanned in the documents and uploaded them to the wiki for students to access electronically. You could equally use a photocopier.

Stage 2 – students improve on the first round

Each team then moves on to the ‘improvement’ stage. Keeping the same paragraph responsibility (e.g. introduction writers become introduction improvers) students then access the next team’s script, marked by you, and act on the comments made and advice given. The aim is both to read another team’s argument, and to make changes that collectively improve the quality of the work. If the essay is hosted on a wiki, or Google Drive, improvements can be made directly to the document using a different coloured text.

Stage 3 – students mark the second round

The final stage is for each team to mark the improved collective work of the other two teams (refer to the model above). Depending on your students’ familiarity with the mark-scheme, you may wish to guide them through this stage. They can of course refer to the script with your original comments completed at stage 1.5, and they are looking to mark the work as it stands, having been improved by the second team.

In this final stage, students can abandon their paragraph responsibilities and instead mark the whole piece of work. The benefit here is that they can see two versions of the work, and using the mark-scheme they can see how successfully your initial comments have been improved upon.

Charlotte Grove

Group work that works!

Groupwork, or ‘collaborative learning’, is one of the key mechanisms for engaging all students in lessons. When successful, it can enable students to better develop their understanding through the process of discussing it with their peers. Furthermore, students can discuss their own views in a less intimidating environment than whole class discussion; they can take responsibility for areas of their own learning in planning the course of the project and work in conjunction with others developing their social and team-working skills to produce something more unique and original than might otherwise result.

As teachers, we know this; so why does it so often seem to end up with groups of students scattered around the classroom, computer room or library, making liberal use of the control C, control V function in conjunction with the internet, or else catching up on the previous weekend’s gossip?
Determined to avoid a situation in which I read the contents of Wikipedia transferred to an artfully animated PowerPoint slide yet again, I decided to embark on a new approach to collaborative learning in which students have no choice but to be active, involved and engaged.

Whilst I encourage this activity for use with key stages three and four, the inspiration comes in part from the Sixth Form Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in which students plan out their own extended project, take the initiative for meeting deadlines, and evaluate their progress as they go along. Ian Gilbert’s The Lazy Teacher’s Handbook (2010) which advocates a move from a teacher-led to student-led mindset should also be credited.

The idea

The idea is that students work in groups of up to six (although in larger groups they could share the roles, in smaller groups they could double up) and each take on a specific responsibility (see attached resource). For the duration of the lesson(s) each student has a specific role and it is up to them to execute this in accordance with your expectations. Depending on the scale of the work you are doing, you could consider apportioning marks based on how well each responsibility is fulfilled in addition to the final outcome of the work.

The key thing here is to ensure accountability – if a group fails to finish on time, this is a matter for discussion between you and the time keeper, not you and the rest of the class. If you want to know how each group is progressing, you can call a short meeting with each Team Rep – a conversation with 6 students, not 32. Gone are the days of counting glues in and out, the Resource Manager is now in charge!

Making several sets of laminated cards is a great way to ensure their durability, and to quickly bring them out during any lesson in which groupwork is to feature. My Year 8 class are now used to using them as a matter of course, and we make sure to circulate the roles each lesson so each student gains experience in the different areas of project management. The best thing for me is to see that the students are fully capable of managing their own work, when given the chance to do so. As the teacher, I can target my interventions where needed, and I can have more detailed conversations with smaller groups of students which gives me a much better understanding of the progress they are making. Lazing in the corner is no longer an option if you are going to be called to account, and the quality of work I have seen produced has improved considerably now there is a Quality Checker regulating the Wikipedia usage!

Download resource cards

Charlotte Grove