Tag Archives: Assessment

Reading

READING STRATEGIES, SPOTTING MAIN IDEAS

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Oman versus Finland Move the arrows to see the photos in full!

Logical, well-structured texts often follow generally accepted conventions and if the students are aware of them, they can create expectations that help understanding a text.

  • The use of the word ‘strategy’ implies that there are ways and techniques that will make us better readers; approaches that should be taught and can be learnt in a short period of time.
  • In the previous article I already discussed some of the strategies but this time we focus on finding the key sentences in a text.
  • Discuss the strategies with your students at some point, in advance or afterwards. They will see that you really care!
  • Practise the strategies little by little and let the students pick up the ones that work for them. Many of the ideas will enhance writing as well.

Finding the main ideas in a text, strategies for the students to apply

The very same strategies that work in reading work beautifully also in writing logical, well-structured essays, for instance. Even at university level.

  1. PARAGRAPH 1 See if the main topic is introduced or implied in the first sentence or at the beginning of the text. (This way the reader is supposed to get an idea what the text is about.)
  2. END of PARAGRAPH 1 Then see if the main idea or/and argument of the whole text is at the END of the first paragraph. (This are the standard places to introduce thetopic and the key idea of the whole text.)
  3. OTHER PARAGRAPHS See if the main idea/topic sentence is in the first sentence of each paragraph. (This is a standard place to introduce the key idea of each pragraph.)
  4. Sometimes if the writer is not logical enough, the main idea may be anywhere in the paragraph. So be aware, just in case.
  5. Having found the topic for each paragraph, give each of them a heading.
  6. OTHER WAYS TO DEEPEN UNDERSTANDING Make a mind map, notes in the margin or bullet points in your notebook
  7. Make an oral summary of the text in your own words in pairs.

Spotting the main ideas in a text is a skill of its own and it requires both language and thinking skills.

The following task is an example how you can teach how the students can find the main sentences in a text. Suggested answers at the end of the article!

Having done this or similar exercises the students can easily spot the weaknesses in the logic and structure of texts. They can also apply the same principles in writing texts.

TASK 1: Look at the text below and see if you can spot the main ideas in the text and apply the other strategies. Use points 1 – 4 above and do 5. or/and 6. or 7. if you have time.

LEARNING ABOUT THE UNKNOWN

There are a great number of interesting countries that I have visited over the last 40 years. Those who fly abroad, see the airport, a few hotels and restaurants and the beach learn very little about the real culture and life in the country they are visiting. One has to step outside, talk to locals and get to know their way of thinking, their habits and beliefs before one gets a reliable perspective to the country itself.

Few people have visited Oman and know anything about its history and the facts related to it. About 50 years ago Oman was nowhere near the developed country it is today. In the early 1970s there were only seven kilometres of asphalt in Oman and only three schools, for boys only. The infrastructure was non-existent. Hundreds of years before, vessels in the Indian Ocean had brought thousands of slaves to its shores to be sold.

When Sultan Qaboos, who died in 2020, took over power from his father in 1970, he faced an immense task in modernizing the country. Thanks to oil business the change was possible and progress was made quickly with the help of local clan leaders and foreign companies. Nevertheless, due to the drastic decrease in oil prices Oman has to find other sources of funds to keep on developing.

Oman has many similarities with Finland even if they are situated far apart. There are 2, 4 million Omanis and 1,8 million immigrant workers in Oman. The population of Finland is somewhat over 5 million. Both countries are about 1100 kilometres long and have a long coastline. They are both surrounded by powerful countries and are keeping a low profile in world politics, acting often as mediators in conflicts. In addition, they are both very safe and liberal countries.

Hints on possible findings on the text above are at the end of this article.

Towards deep-level analysis

Demanding reading tasks especially in the senior high classes often require reading at a deep level: reading between the lines and making inferences and conclusions on the text , spotting ideas that are more or less hidden, implicit or unclear on purpose.

  1. Figure out what the writer’s point of view is (for / against / balanced / biased) and then find the words and phrases that support you interpretation. Is the writer sometimes in favour or against some people or ideas.
  2. Discuss with your pair why/if some parts were difficult to understand. Often it is not your fault but the writer’s.
  3. Compare your original predictions or assumptions about the ideas in the text with the real ones found in the text.
  4. Was the text worth reading and useful? What would you add or take away from it? Which things would you like to know more about?
  5. What was the tone of the text like? Akward, appealing, humorous, serious, full of facts, surprising, upsetting … Which words make you think that way? Does the tone vary?

TASK 2: Ask the students to work in pairs or groups and ADD nouns, adjectives, verb phrases etc. to change the meaning of the whole text above (more positive or negative or biased or humorous) Orally or in writing! This task will make your students more aware of the effect of word choices and how they affect the readers’ interpretations.

Suggested answers to Reading Task 1

LEARNING ABOUT THE UNKNOWN

There are a great number of interesting countries that I have visited over the last 40 years. (= topic sentence) Those who fly abroad, see the airport, a few hotels and restaurants and the beach learn very little about the real culture and life in the country they are visiting. One has to step outside, talk to locals and get to know their way of thinking, their habits and beliefs before one gets a reliable perspective to the country itself. (= thesis statement/ main argument for the whole text)

The title is unclear on purpose. The reader needs to start reading and realize that ‘the unknown’ refers to unknown countries and their culture. The word ‘I’ implies potential subjectivity in the text. The tone is mildly critical towards tourists who only want to lie on the beach and fool around.

A drastic change in 50 years

Few people have visited Oman and know anything about its history and the facts related to it. About 50 years ago Oman was nowhere near the developed country it is today. In the early 1970s there were only seven kilometres of asphalt in Oman and only three schools, for boys only. The infrastructure was non-existent. Hundreds of years before, vessels in the Indian Ocean had brought thousands of slaves to its shores to be sold.

The 2nd paragraph opens up with a clear topic sentence. It refers to Oman, a country known only to a few. The idea is to tempt the reader to learn more about Oman. The rest of the paragraph creates strong, visual, even surprising images.

sultan qaboos – the saviour

When Sultan Qaboos, who died in 2020, took over power from his father in 1970, he faced an immense task in modernizing the country. Thanks to oil business the change was possible and progress was made quickly with the help of local clan leaders and foreign companies. Nevertheless, due to the drastic decrease in oil prices Oman has to find other sources of funds to keep on developing.

Paragraph 3 emphasizes the crucial role of Sultan Qaboos in developing Oman. The link to the previous paragraph is clear and now we learn how the change was possible and why the situation is more difficult these days.

LOW PROFILE PEACE-MAKERS

Oman has many similarities with Finland even if they are situated far apart. There are 2, 4 million Omanis and 1,8 million immigrant workers in Oman. The population of Finland is somewhat over 5 million. Both countries are about 1100 kilometres long and have a long coastline. They are both surrounded by powerful countries and are keeping a low profile in world politics, acting often as mediators in conflicts. In addition, they are both very safe and liberal countries.

The comparison between Oman and Finland may at first seem far-fetched until you readers realize that I, the writer, am Finnish and that I have worked in Oman and have a lot of inside knowledge of it.

Finding the key ideas in a text is of vital importance from the point of view of understanding a text.

In addition the very same priciples may be used by the students when they are writing logical coherent texts and essays.

The following article deals with strategies that students should be using in reading comprehension exams and a model lesson how to introduce these ideas is also included.

Reading

Strategies to be used before, during and after reading comprehension exams

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There is no hope of improving reading skills until the reasons for NOT UNDERSTANDING the text are identified by the students themselves and they commit themselves to overcome the problems.

It is essential for teachers to realize that the process of decoding someone else’s messages is not the same with everybody. We are all different and depending on our background and style of learning we process information differently. Our problems in reading may also vary drastically.

Just like listening, reading skill is hard to teach because we have no control of the process in the reader’s mind. Still, we can affect the process indirectly by giving advice and guidance. The general CLT principle which is in favour of a great amount of input resulting in good results needs to be supported by teaching strategies on how to prepare for reading comprehension exams and how we can learn from our mistakes in taking exams.

If you are teaching senior high students, I suggest you go through the whole process once with your students and then get feedback from them if it turned out to be worth the time spent on it.

  • Strategies are dealt with the students before an exam
  • You, the teacher, study how the returning of the exam is to be arranged
  • Arrange a student-centred lesson to return the exam
  • Show the students the ‘heureka’ type of comments to be used

Strategies / tips for students in a reading comprehension exam

Let’s have a look at some strategies that are useful when students take a reading comprehension exam. Some of them are actually the same as in listening exams. Still, learning to apply the strategies does not take place over night. It also requires some practice.

Throwing the students one text or exam after another and assuming that massive input will automatically improve reading skill does not necessarily lead to success with everybody. It is better to teach the students how they should approach an ordinary or an exam text.

  • Relax your body. Take a couple of deep breaths! It will calm your nerves. Being nervous won’t help you.
  • Read the whole text through at first but do not stop even if you do not understand the text perfectly. This way you will have a better idea about the topic and structure of the text.
  • If the logic of the text is good, you can easily spot the main ideas and sentences. The rest of the text is justifications of the arguments or examples.
  • Start working on the questions only if you read the whole text first. Many ideas open up if you know the exact topic and the perspective of the writer.
  • Once you understand the topic and the questions, you can guess many things they talk about. If you use common sense and your background knowledge on the topic you may find it helpful.
  • Read the questions carefully and focus only on them.
  • Most of the information in the text is not needed. It may be irrelevant.
  • Don’t panic if you see new words. Try to guess what they mean. Very often you need not know the meaning of new words at all.
  • Be aware and watch out for extreme words like ‘never’ ‘only’ ‘always’ ‘anyone’. They are often too strong.
  • Link ideas that have the same meaning. For example: If the idea in the text is expressed “He used to go fishing on Saturdays and Sundays.” the same idea is in the answer booklet as “He was in the habit of catching salmon and trout at weekends.”
  • So the most common technique is just to express the same idea in other words.
  • If your exam consists of multiple choice tasks, use elimination technique. For example: Choice A was not talked about at all, Choice B is wrong because they said ’everybody’ which is not true, Choice D is wrong because ‘chance’ means different from ‘change’… SO the right answer has to be Choice C. You have now eliminated the wrong answers and you will answer C (even if you may not know exactly why).

Strategic tips for the teacher about returning an exam

  1. Have an exam for the students and when you return it devote a whole lesson to go through the exam in detail, every question and every alternative. I explain the process in detail in the next article.
  2. Demonstrate with the first two questions how the analysis is done and then let the students discuss the other questions in groups. Have star students leading the discussion without lecturing the right answers. See my next article.
  3. Don’t interfere with the group discussions but take notes on the problems the groups do not seem to solve well. Answer the students questions at the end of the lesson and point out your own observations.
  4. Now the students should have a vague idea what the reasons for the mistakes are. In other words, they may have identified some of the problem areas.
  5. Now that the students are motivated to hear more it is time to have another lesson where you go through my strategy tips for an exam. Show the tips one by one on the screen and let the students ask questions on them. Give the list as a handout after the discussion with my copyright. Let them have it even in exams.
  6. If you think your class will not be able to discuss these matters in English, let them use the mother tongue to make sure the messages get through.
  7. Make each student write in English what they have learnt over these two lessons and what they are planning to do to overcome the difficulties.
  8. Show them my ‘heureka’ comments on the screen as models of the kind of comments you are looking for. See below!
  9. Collect the comments and give feedback on them in the 3rd reading comprehension enhancement lesson.
  10. Now you have done your job: you gave your students the tools for improvement. Nevertheless, they are the ones who have to start working. Probably making use of the other strategies that I have been talking about.

The students have to come up with ‘heureka’ realizations like …

  • Ah, I think I worry too much about words I have never seen and stop reading because of them and get frustrated. SO, next time I will try to guess the meanings or maybe the word is not important at all or knowing if the word has a positive or negative meaning on the basis of the context is enough.
  • Ah, ‘carry out’ and ‘realize’ can sometimes mean the same OR ‘no adequate funds’ is the same as ‘not enough money’ or ‘lack of sufficient resources’. SO, my problem is vocabulary and learning many ways to say the same thing.
  • Ah, I stumble over the same structures over and over again. Shortened sentences, never heard. Wow! ‘Having left for downtown’ is a shortened sentence meaning the same as ‘When I had started to drive towards the city center’ SO, I have to study grammar more because I always stop at this kind of structures and do not get the meaning.
  • Ah, my mistake is that I start reading by translating the text word by word. SO, I have to stop translation tactics because it is too slow. Working through mother tongue will not do. I have to learn to think in English.
  • Ah, I have been too much in a hurry. I usually start by reading Question 1 and then look at the text without knowing what the whole text is about. SO, from now on I will read the whole text through first without stopping even if I do not understand everything at first. This way I will get an overall picture of the topic and the main ideas.
  • Ah, I never realized that some sentences are more important in a paragraph than others. SO, spotting of the main sentences in a paragraph seems to work for me. I will worry about the details much less this way.
  • Oh, no. All these years I have been trying hard but nothing seems to work. I thought I was just stupid. Now that you told about dyslexia and its symtoms I think I may suffer from it. SO, Thanks. I will contact the special teacher and see if he can help me.

Having a talent rarely takes anyone to the top. Reaching excellence in anything requires very hard work, 10 000 hours of work, they say. Maybe that is the total number of hours needed to master a foreign language ‘perfectly’. I am still counting ...

Up to 10 percent of students suffer from some form of dyslexia, reading and writing difficulty. Luckily these days students have the courage to admit they have these problems and special teachers are trained to help them.

The text in the next article is an example of how a mature 16-year-old might be able to process a reading comprehension text. I believe that if the students are able to apply the strategies and tips given in my previous articles in this ‘test’ they will become better readers. And writers too since good writers will anticipate the reactions of their readers.

You will find the sample exam in the next article and correct answers with a ‘mature’ reader’s comments in the final article of this Reading Unit.

Writing

DICTATION, benefits and challenges

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Dictation is a bit controversial activity in CLT because it is not very creative but it has some advantages, too.

Pedagogical ideas on the use of dictation in class

Dictation is considered to be a demanding type of language exercise since it presupposes

  • not only listening and writing skills
  • but also knowledge of vocabulary (how the words are pronounced and written),
  • and knowledge of grammatical structures (how and in which order they appear in a sentence) 

Research shows that dictation is a fairly reliable way to test a student’s proficiency level. I have personally found this to be true and therefore I always have a couple of sentences dictated in my comprehensive school exams. Dictation also trains the ear for the target language and is a natural stepping stone for real creative writing skills.

Dictation is a good way to get the skill of writing going with words, phrases or full sentences. But it is not a very common activity in real-life situations. It is maybe most commonly used on the phone when someone calls us and we have to write down addresses, shopping lists, directions to a place or names (spelled to us letter by letter,) for example.

Thus pair work on the phone might be more recommendable and motivating  than teacher-run dictations. In other words, it does not have to be the teacher who dictates the sentences but it can be a student too.

Nevertheless, I think the most compelling reason to keep up dictation is that it is practice for ‘note taking’ which is most useful in lessons, university lectures, meetings or conferences. Therefore I recommend ordinary dictation in the elementary and comprehensive classes only. In the senior high note-taking while watching a documentary video or listening to some recording is much more useful.

How to overcome the disadvantages of dictation?

There is no denying that there are some issues to think about when we deal with dictation. Teachers often give up dictation altogether for three reasons:

  1. Firstly, dictation may be very time-consuming if the sentences are long and everything is read at least twice.
  2. Secondly, checking and correcting the answers is often desperately slow.    
  3. Thirdly, weaker students easily get frustrated with dictation because their inability to cope with the task becomes so visible and obvious.

Solution to problems 1 and 2: The teacher reads the (short) sentence once and after a minor pause reads the sentence again (in shorter parts) and at the same time starts to reveal the correct answer on the blackboard or screen allowing the weaker ones to copy the sentence in their notebooks. Encourage the good students not to ‘peek the answers’.

So, the good pupils write without looking at the screen and the weak ones are allowed to copy the sentences from the screen. By the end of the dictation everyone will have checked their own work and no time is wasted on strenuous checking. There is no need to check the success at this stage but it can be part of the pupils’ self-evaluation. I just walk through the class to see the writing was done. The whole activity is over in less than 5 minutes .  

Solution to problem 3: Being permitted to ‘copy’ from the screen is a big relief for weaker students. Another way is to give them a version of the dictation sentences where only some words are missing. Naturally, the dictation has to be based on vocabulary and structures that have been gone through in class. If the students are working in pairs, they can dictate their pair words or sentences from the previous chapter and check them while the other one is writing.

It is perfectly justifiable to use dictation every now and then due to pedagogical reasons but also to bring some variation to the lessons.

My favourite dictation tasks

In elementary classes

bank a park work near she drive in a lorry because to works morning doctors my mum they to hospital this drives my the new dad work often week

All the words needed in the dictation are on the screen. There are some extra words in the box. ‘My dad drives a new lorry this week.’ etc

Black hole dictation

This is an interesting version of a gap exercise. The simplest way is to take a copy of the textbook page and blacken some words or phrases and then show the blackened text to the students who have to write the missing parts in their note books. The task is easier if you give the first letter/s. The task gets more demanding if the students have to  fill in other words than the ones in the original text.

‘Phone’ dictation

The students sit back to back, so that they don’t look the other one in the eye. The students are given a shopping list or a list of tasks/chores to be done at home, school or in the town. They ‘call’ the partner and ask them to do the things for them. They have to use real telephone phrases and the partner has to write the chores down.

An even more communicative task: The speaker decides where the partner goes and what the chores are. No teacher’s guidance needed.

Go to the grocery store and buy milk, cheese and dark bread.
Go to the sport store: buy size 5 foorball, new socks for yourself and a birthday present for grandad
Go the the library and bring a book on gardening, feed the cats

An interactive A/B dictation

The dictation takes place after a chapter has been studied in class. Pupil A does not see the part of Pupil B until the whole dictation is over. Checking is done without the teacher’s help.

Read the full sentence to your partner who will write the missing words on the line. Take turns. (The original paper is folded and cut in two in the middle)

Pupil APupil B
Jim does __________________ ________________ things every day.Jim does many different things every day.
He sleeps for nine hours at night.He _________________________ ___________________ at night.
He _________________________________ for six hours.He goes to school by bus for six hours.
He does his homework for two hours after school.He _____________________________ for two hours ______________ school.
He ____________________________ for about an hour.He plays video games for about an hour.
He watches TV for an hour.He ______________ TV _____________ hour.
He eats dinner for __________ _________________________________.He eats dinner for one and a half hours.
He plays football until seven o’clock.He ______________________________ ____________________.

For more advanced pupils and students one can move to longer sentences and use interactive forms of dictation where the students take care of reading the sentences for each other or other members of the group. And take care of checking as well.

It is a good idea to combine dictation with other types of activities such as listening and taking notes, for example.

Other types of writing tasks

SymbolMeaning of the evaluation symbol
_______ underlining any kind of mistake
_ _ _ _underlined part is ok, but not good language
>wrong word order, move to the direction of the arrow
?the meaning is very unclear ( ? in the margin)
+ or ++good ( + in the margin or text), ++ excellent
/\an arrow pointing upwards = something is missing
(an article, preposition, word etc.)
With some classes at least it might be a good idea for the teacher not correct all mistakes but make the students try to correct them so that the students are forced to think about the mistakes and the same mistakes will not be repeated.

With some classes at least it might be a good idea for the teacher not correct all mistakes but make the students try to correct them so that the students are forced to think about the mistakes and the same mistakes will not be repeated.

Model text-based lesson, Reading

SAMPLE EXAM FOR READING COMPREHENSION

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One of the keys to the students’ success and improvement in reading comprehension exams is to devote a couple of lessons to the strategies when you get a new group.

Throwing the students one exam after another and assuming that massive input will automatically improve the reading skills for an exam, does not necessarily hold true.

In the previous articles I hopefully gave a lot of food for thought about preparing the students for exams.

All language skills are intertwined. Thus many of the tips given on listening comprehension, writing tasks and learning vocabulary apply in taking reading comprehension exams too.

The text below is a sample exam for those who are about 15 years of age. The idea is to let them take the exam either before or after the strategies lessons. The exam has A) True/False-questions, B) multiple choice questions and C) a task combining reading with writing and justifying opinions.

The next article after this one is an example on how a mature 16-year-old might be able to process this exam. I will also give the ‘correct answers’ there with some recommendations on how to organize the return of the ‘test’.

I believe that if the students are allowed to use and apply the strategies handout in doing this exam they will internalize the ideas more profoundly. I am talking about the handout and articles in the previous article. And the student may become better writers too since they will learn to anticipate the reactions of their readers better.

Still, learning to apply the strategies does not take place over night. It also requires a lot of practice.

Let’s look at the exam now.

https://asanteafrica.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/matt-suskis-impressions-from-a-school-in-tanzania/

Making a difference in Tanzania

Up to 113 million children worldwide do not have access to school books. What a waste it is that old school text books are binned or pulped. Books written in Arabic will, of course, be of no use in most of Africa but English is an official language in Tanzania, for example. Moreover, all secondary education is done in English there and children are taught following the old British O- and A-Level curricula. Due to the way syllabi in Tanzania mirror the old English system, second-hand course books are perfect to help bridge the gap between rich and poor nations.

In Tanzania educational resources are scarce but children have the will to learn. An organisation based in Liverpool is working hard to see that school text books and other equipment are collected and re-distributed. The Tanzanian Book Appeal would be nothing without the help and support of schools, many of which have been involved in fund raising activities as well as donating old books. John, one of the students involved in the project, says that before the fund raising he didn’t really know or even care about Tanzania. Now he understands that Tanzania is the fourth poorest country in the world, and that there may be up to 40 pupils sharing one text book.

Once the books have been donated they are collected in a truck and taken to a holding warehouse – which was donated by a local business – sorted through and stored. They will be packed up and shipped off to Tanzania in a big container. The students who have worked on the project will then fly out to meet the books over there. The government in Tanzania have loaned government vehicles to sort out the distribution. The group of English students and teachers will then tour the schools in the Kagera region near Lake Victoria.

A  Decide whether the statement is true (T) or false (F). Correct the false statements.

  1. In Tanzania there are 113 million children without school books.
  2. In Tanzania all education starting from the first school years is done in English .
  3. The curricula in Tanzania follow the old English model to a great extent.
  4. In Tanzania there is not a lot of money to organize teaching.
  5. An organization in Liverpool gathers secondhand school books and forwards them to Tanzania.
  6. The aid organization does not need the help of school children in its work.
  7. In Tanzania there may be as many as 40 pupils in one classroom.

B  Answer the multiple choice questions. Choose a) b) or c)

8. What happens to the school books once they leave the donating schools?

  • a) They remain in an old lorry until a storage warehouse is found.
  • b) They are sent to Tanzania in small units with goods from local businesses.
  • c) The books that have been given away are taken into storage and sorted in Britain.

9. What happens to the books when they reach Tanzania?

  • a) A group of students from England will go and distribute the books in Tanzania.
  • b) The schools have to pay for the transportation of the books.
  • c) The British students travel on the trucks to the schools.

C  1 Why are British secondhand school books ideal for Tanzanian schools? (Give 3 reasons and answer in your own words in a full sentence or two.)

2 What do you think about the procedures of getting the books to schools after they have arrived in Tanzania? (Mention 3 opinions and why you think so.)

The ‘correct’ answers with detailed analysis are to be found in the next article.

Africa at its best. Karin Blixen’s home near Nairobi. Blixen wrote famous books about her life in Africa.

Before you look at my next article about returning this sample exam, please ponder on the questions below.

How would you organize immediate student-oriented feedback after a reading comprehension test? Background info: The test was 30 min long, 6 multiple choice questions and 4 open-ended ones. A mixed-ability class, 16-year-olds and onwards.

  1. What would you say to the students about the purpose of the exam-returning session?
  2. How do you organize the feedback session right after the test?
  3. Grouping the students? Making it a student-centred learning situation?
  4. How to provide a model how to approach the questions?
  5. How to deal with multiple choices?
  6. How to answer open-ended questions?
  7. When do you give the correct answers and to whom?
  8. Various options to deal with low-achievers, i.e. How do you deal with differentiation?

Writing

Basic principles, using criteria, giving feedback and writing in pairs

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Basic principles for deloping writing

After a lot of input and oral practice, the final stage is writing. It usually develops in three stages: 1) copying words and sentences, 2) modifying and changing model sentences and texts, and 3) students producing sentences and texts of their own.

Learning to write in a foreign language is a long process. It starts with copying words, phrases and sentences from textbooks. Beginners can copy texts from their textbook or make changes in them while copying.

If the texts are first modified orally, the transition to writing is relatively smooth. The first pieces of writing are mostly short and based on models, such as postcards, short notes, e-mails or stories.

Teachers should not be worried about giving models because it reduces anxiety among weak students and the good ones tend to be creative in writing.

For many students it is far more important to speak and read a text in English than write it well.

At intermediate level teachers are advised to use differentiation in their writing tasks because the students’ skills in writing vary a lot. If the students cannot write stories yet, they can start by answering questions in exams, for example, to demonstrate their level of writing. In practice situations I let my students even use dictionaries or they can consult me if they are facing a problem.

I strongly recommend the ‘invisible’ kind of differentiation presented in my earlier article ‘Teaching beginners writing, differentiation’. ‘Invisible’ differentiation’ in a sense of letting the students choose which of the choices they would like to work on. Personally I avoid using the term ‘differentiation’ but talk about choices instead.

Advanced students can write argumentative essays, blog posts, narrative stories, descriptions, newspaper or magazine articles, various kinds of letters etc. once their structure has been taught. These demanding types of tasks will be dealt with separately. They are a great practical addition to simply focusing on essay writing.

Learning to use criteria and to give feedback, writing in pairs

Writing in pairs, for the others in the class, not for the teacher, may change the students’ whole perpective to writing; how to plan, proceed and assess pieces of writing against criteria.

In most cases we teachers ask our students to write a story or essays on their own but it is worth while trying out writing in pairs too . Writing in a group is another option but harder to control because the best writers may take the lead over the weaker ones. So let’s see how you could organize a writing task in pairs, introduce assessment criteria and give feedback to others

  • First, design a student-centred writing task for a mixed-ability class. In addition, this time include an element of assessment in it as well. This task might take a full lesson or even more depending on the level of the students and how much you want them to write.
  • There are two goals in this task: 1) To get an experience on how the pair proceeds with and thinks about writing compared with his/her own ways. 2) To internize the ideas behind the assessment of the writing task, in other words, how to use the criteria and understand the components in it.
  • Use the 3-stage model where you first design a task for the average students and then use differentiation by making it easier for the low-achievers and finally make it a little more demanding for the high-achievers. See my model plan for such a lesson!
  • You need to use your national criteria in evaluation or develop a rubric yourself or with your students, something that is simple enough for them to understand and use. If you are not pleased with your national criteria, use the one in my next article. It is valid maybe from age 12 onwards if you are aware of what can be expected from your students. Tell the students that you will evaluate the writings as well later on and give them feedback on how well their did in the assessment. Peer-assessent may seem inadequate for the students at first and the teacher needs to verify it.
  • Instead of the normal way of each student writing an essay of his/her own ask the students to choose a pair and write the essay in pairs. Now they have to co-operate and negotiate how to proceed in writing. Tell them not to write any names on the paper but to draw a picture or a code word on it. When reading the essays and giving feedback of the work of others, the students should not know who originally wrote the text.
  • Remind your students that even if evaluation does not take place the normal way, they still have to take things seriously. In the end, learning is what matters, not the grades. Get the students down to work and tell them how much time they have.
  • Once the short writing task is done, ask the students to bring their pieces of writing to you and you will give them randomly to another pair. They  will assess the writing the best they can by writing their comments on the papers. This can be done as many times as you have time for. The written assessment is based on the criteria/rubrics and it is done within your time limit. Don’t expect too much if the students have not done this before. Opening up the criteria may be hard for the students. See how I prefer doing it in the next article.
  • The young ones may be capable of giving their feedback with smileys whereas the junior and senior high students can comment at least on how pleasant the text is to read, how clear the ideas are, how good the vocabulary is and which mistakes they spotted. Positive, constructive feedback! Ideally the comments should be based on the criteria.
  • In giving feedback the the ladder of feedback developed by David Perkins of Harvard University can be made use of. This model focuses on asking for clarifications and giving constructive feedback. There are also a lot of positive phrases in my earlier article that the students can use. LINK

1 Questions for clarifications: Am I reading this correctly when … I don’t get the idea in the second paragraph. Could you clarify what you mean!

2 Positive comments on value: What I think works very well is … What makes me admire you text is that … The way you present your arguments is … The best thing in your text is …

3 Comments for concern and revision: What I worry about is … If I was you I would …. The thing that what would make the essay even better is that … Maybe you could improve the ideas and grammar by …

  • Finally you take all the writings back to be taken home and evaluated by you. Then it is time for the students to give you feedback on the activity / lesson. It can be done orally or in writing.
  • At home you will check what kind of feedback was given on the pieces of writing and write a few comments of your own. Give a graded evaluation if you think your students are expecting it.
  • If this was the first time the students gave feedback on each other’s work, you need to give general feedback on the process and how well you think the students succeeded.

I know. You may think what I suggest above may seem troublesome, but I can assure you it makes much more sense for the students than writing someting for the teacher and getting a grade for it.