Increasing the Level of Students' Writing

I am linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper today for Tried It Tuesday!

I don't know about you, but sometimes I will watch a teaching video like the one below and wonder, "How did the teacher get their students to talk like that?  On their own no less?  How do they push their students to go beyond "He is nice' when asked to describe a character?

I had an AH-HA moment a few weeks ago when I showed my students the video Austin's Butterfly which I have shared again below because it has been SOOO powerful in my class.

 I previously blogged about my students recreating the drawing assignment similar to the one in the video where they had to provide specific feedback to each other to improve their drawings.  We have now transferred that critique skill to our writing, and also our math work!  It has been amazing to say the least, and I wanted to share what we have been trying.

We have been reading The One and Only Ivan, and I wanted them to write about the characters in a deeper more meaningful way, referring to the text specifically.

(The question in the picture was an old one, not the current question).  

We started the process by sitting in our critique circle.

Then I asked the students to share what they had written so that we could all add specific feedback to make their responses better.  We use Marzano scales, so I used the language, bringing our writing up to a level three or four.

The first student to share was the one above, and it caused a bit of controversy.  In it he stated that Stella compliments Ivan's belly.  One of the students asked, "Did she?  I don't think Stella did that."  Then the most amazing part (in my humble opinion), one of my more reluctant readers who rarely shares said, "Yes, she did!"  He grabbed my book and said, "Look it says it right here." He defended the answer using the text!!! Are you kidding me?

As the students gave each other feedback, I encouraged them to remember about how in the video the students were very specific in their feedback.  They didn't just say, "Make the wings better." they said, "Make them shaped more like a triangle."  I encouraged them not to say generic things like "Add more details." but instead to offer feedback like, "Could you add more about what she looked like?" or "What did Ivan think about her?"  

Another student shared this:

And there it is, that teacher dreaded "She is nice" for describing a character.  But, this time, I didn't say a word. I let the other students offer feedback.  Here are a few of their responses:

"Who is she?  Can you be more specific with the character's name?"

"Why doesn't she like the clawstick?"

"How is she nice to Ivan?"

Their comments were very specific, and on point!  Here is his revised version:

We still need to work on spelling, but his content improved by leaps and bounds!

What have you been trying in your classroom?

Teaching Students - What Does Good Work Look Like? Thursday Throwdown

One thing that I have really struggled with is getting my students to edit their work and to edit the work of their peers.  They want to glance over it and tell me how wonderful it is.  Then they turn it in and the errors are basic and glaring!  Usually sentences started with lowercase words, horribly spelling, run-on sentences galore - you know what I am saying? Right?  Please tell me I am not the only one who has problems with students not able to improve their work.

Well, I may have found the solution!

I ran across this video awhile back, and decided to show it to my students to see what their reaction might be. They were amazed to see what a six year old was capable of as an artist.  I asked them, what things stood out to you?

Their thoughts:

                       "He made six drafts."
                       " He kept working until it got better and better."
                       "He persevered."
                       "His friends helped him to make it better."

My thoughts,
                    "If a first grader could do this couldn't fourth graders?"
                    "Could we translate this to our writing as well?"



 They were up to the challenge.  We decided to add some scientific pictures to our animal reports. Once they learned how to critique each other's drawings (and how to use that feedback to improve) we would use those skills to edit our writing.

Some of the students were clearly inspired by the video to research butterflies.

I was blown away by the amount of care that went into their drawings (some even pulled out their cell phones to match details).  Their feedback was amazing and clear too.  No one said, "It's great." and no one said. "That's awful."  Instead the feedback was clear and direct, "You need to angle this a little more, look at it carefully."  No one took offense to the suggestions (not even my most sensitive souls) - they all reacted by saying things like, "You're right, I'll go try that!"

And they did!

Here are a few other animals in progress:

Sugar gliders

Coyotes

Scorpions

Jaguars

We are still working on the drawings and reports, so I will share more as they progress.  I just wanted to share what happened so far in case it is something you would like to use with your students. 

 I am linking up with Erin at Loving Lit for her monthly Thursday Throw Down.  I get some of the best ideas and inspiration from these posts - I hope you do too!