Data and Analysis
The
categories that were found in the interview data and influenced by Nancy
Sommers’ research were the following:
1. Offering
one lesson at a time and focusing comments to that specific lesson
2. The
use of margin type comments.
3. Varying
the styles of comments.
4. Resisting
the urge to correct grammar and punctuation in an effort to allow students to
find their own mistakes.
5. The
use of rubrics.
One Lesson At a Time
Nancy
Sommers cautions teachers of the risk of over commenting. Giving too many
comments can be more harmful than good as it can be overwhelming and
discouraging. She writes, “Teachers have
to guide and show students through their comments how to become good writers”.
This task is easier said than done, which is why she supports the idea of
offering one lesson at a time. In the interview with participant A, she stated
that in her classroom, while working in a writing assignment, she did in fact
focus on one lesson at a time. She stated, “now we’re focusing on
the introduction, that’s our main goal…to make that introduction something that
people want to read… if my focus is introduction then I’ll read over the
introduction and give them positive and definite feedback on that”. This is a
clear example of an application of Sommers’ principal. Similarly, participant B
stated that her focus when commenting on student writing also follows one focus
at a time. She stated, “ I might focus on their opening and closing and
really focus and grade them more on that than everything like their punctuation
and spelling...If we’re
learning how to use quotation marks that week maybe I’ll specifically be
looking at their use of quotation marks correctly. So I try to focus on one
area.” Again, this is another well-defined example of teachers in today’s
school systems applying the concept of focusing their comments to one aspect of
the student’s writing.
Margin Comments
Sommers states that margin comments are
importance in creating a dialogue with student because they are comments
specific to particular sections or sentences in their writing. She write that
margin comments is “a place allotted for conversational turn talking-your
turn-my turn”. Although neither
participant A or B used actual side margin comments in their process of
commenting, they did use a variation of it. For example, participant B stated
that she wrote her comments “on a separate piece of paper and I would be
writing it as we were going over it. And then the areas to improve... I might
prompt some questions to like, if it was part of a story of when they went to
school, I might ask them, what happened before I went to school? Or how did you
get there? Give them a specific target question to kind of get them to add more
detail.” Although these comments are not on the student’s paper, they serve the
same purpose of side margin comments because they are directed towards specific
part of the student’s writing. Another reason to write it on a separate piece
of paper is that participant B’s class in third grade. There is simply not
enough space to write clear, and detailed comments on the side margins that are
easily read by a third grader. Nonetheless, these comments fit the description
of Sommers’ margin comments. Similarly, participant A stated that students in
her classroom wrote “their own comments “. Here, the fact that participant
A’s students are in fifth grade, accounts for their ability to write the
teacher comments in their own words. Either way, participant A, also gives
margin “type” comments to her students verbally.
Varied Styles of Comments
Sommers
supports the use of varied methods of commenting. The simple process of student
writes, teacher comments, student revises, and teacher grades, is not
sufficient or effective to creating better writers. Rather, Sommers encourages
that teacher implement different styles to their methods of reaching students
with their targeted and focused comments. Both of the teachers participating in
this study applied numerous and varied ways of commenting. For example, both utilized
the highly effective use of one on one conferencing. Participant A stated “we
have conferences, when we start writing they will write their rough draft and
we will conference. We will talk about their writing.” Similarly, participant B
stated “when we’re working on a writing piece, after we’re
done with the 1st draft, I would conference with them, and on a piece of paper
I would write their strengths and then the areas that they’d have to work on
for revisions. As a researcher I was surprised at both teacher’s abilities to
find the time to conference with each student individually, given the fact that
each class has close to thirty students. Both teacher indicated that a writing
assignment might take them a month to complete from start to finish, however,
they implement these commenting strategy because like Sommers, they believe its
beneficial in helping their students become better writers.
Another
form of varied commenting was participant A having her fifth grade students
write her comments in their own words. Sommers believe that having students
“take their own notes” is more effective than the teacher writing the comments
herself. Participant A said, “ During the
conference, I comment to them verbally, I don’t write anything down…students
write their own comments as the conference happens.” Students in both classes
walk away from the conferences with a clear and solid plan to execute their
revision.
The
last method of varied commenting executed by these teachers was their use of
peer review. Sommers discusses peer review on the college level, however these
teacher are implementing this style of commenting with third and fifth graders.
For example, participant B states that “once
[they] have gotten through lots of conferencing with me, so maybe towards March
or April…I kind of have them conference with each other. Or sometimes, I’ve
even taken the better writers and have them conference with another student and
make suggestions, so its cute. I would model what we do, like what I do with
them and then [say] you do it now with your classmates.” This form of commenting
is great because students gain a different perspective on writing and the
writing of their peers.
Resist Urge to Correct Grammar and Punctuation
This category should
not be mistaken with teacher not paying attention to student’s grammar and punctuation,
but rather, according to Sommers, students should be giving the opportunity to
find their own mistakes. This style of commenting was perfectly exemplified by
participant A in her use of students reading their writing out loud. This
technique allowed students to hear their own grammatical and punctuation
mistakes. She stated, “I’ve had students start reading and
they’re like, that doesn’t make any sense, and I look at them and say, if that
doesn’t make sense and you’re reading it imagine how I am reading it.” It makes
students accountable for their own writing, as they are reading their own work
out loud to the teacher. There is no better way of learning from one’s own
writing. Participant A went on to add that this has been “a great way to have
them catch themselves. They edit everything themselves”.
Use of Rubrics
Both
participants implemented the use of district wide rubrics to assist them in
their student commenting. This rubric is
divided into four sections that measure content and organization, usage,
sentence construction, and mechanics. Students are given a number grade from
one to 5, one being inadequate command and five being strong command (see Chart
A). Participant B, who teaches third grade, stated that she wished her students
were more conscious of the rubric. However, they do know that their final grade
depends on their fulfillment of the rubric components as “for
the final [draft], it would be attached to the rubric and then on the rubric
they would see, what score they got”. In
contrast, the students for participant A are more aware of the rubric and its
use. This is not solely due to the fact that they are older, but rather that
their teacher implements two additional rubrics. The first is a simplified
version of chart A, which breaks each section into student friendly terms. The
four sections assess good opening and closing, that writing stays on topic and
ideas are explained with details, mechanics: spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, and grammar, and lastly, good variety in sentences and few
errors (see Chart B)
Chart A
Chart B
Participant A makes the rubric
more student friendly by using the version seen on chart B because students are
able to understand each section and how it measures their writing. Sommers
describes the importance of rubrics clearly stating “expectations and
assignment goals” which are clearly stated in the second rubric. This teacher,
under the guidance of the school principal, went ahead and created a class
rubric with the assistance of students (see Chart C below)
Chart C
She explained the
process as followed, “I also have a student rubric that they created. And I
have them grade their work. A couple weeks ago we got together, and I told them
that we needed to create a classroom rubric that they could use on their work.
It’s a guideline so they can [use]...they have to take ownership of their work.”
By having student make their own rubric, the factors laid out by Sommers
regarding rubrics are met. For example, the items in the rubric are specific to
the assignments, the language of the rubric is the same as the language used in
instruction, and it clearly states the expectations and goals of the assignments
from the perspective of the students themselves. This is crucial in solidifying
that students understand the way they their work is going to be assessed,
therefore making them better writers in the process.
No comments:
Post a Comment