Peer Editing?! EEEKKK!!!

Anyone else notice how peer editing is ALL OVER the Common Core? Scary stuff, I tell ya! How can we get primary students to provide meaningful, quality feedback while staying focused and doing their jobs? I know they CAN edit... we do Daily Oral Language every day plus they edit their own Writer's Workshop stories. But the minute you put two (or more) kiddos together to do something unstructured like a peer conference, disaster can happen at any moment. What to do???

First it helps to set expectations. The bunnies and I brainstormed together the jobs of the writer and the editor during the peer conferencing process. Here's what we came up with:
Next we practiced, practiced, PRACTICED! I asked my teammate if I could have a few of her students' writing pieces (so that it would be completely anonymous) for us to practice with. I scanned them in on the copy machine... does yours do that? It's so awesome! I put the stories on the copy machine and it emails me the scan!! It's the little things in life that make me happy.... ANYWAY...

We practiced whole-group and we also practiced in partners. Students worked with their partners to read the stories and edit them. I also think they can be involved in the revision process, so I added a section to my Editing Checklist where the editor tells one thing they like about the story and one suggestion to make it better.  Here we are in action!

I always have the kids edit with red pen, and then when they conference with me, I will use any color BUT red to make my edits. I think it helps parents see the distinction between what their child has changed versus what I've changed.

Here's the Editing Checklist we're using. Click on it if you want your own FREE copy!! :)
And now, the moment we've all been waiting for: let them read and edit each other's stories. On their own. I feel like a mom sending her babies out to the big, scary world. Can they REALLY do this??? They were editing so well with their partners. We've been practicing for the past week... Sometimes you just need to close your eyes and JUMP!

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2 comments

  1. Angela,

    I stopped by from the Budding blooger Post. Congrats!

    Nice post on the Peer Editng. I'm goign to try this with my 5th graders. I'm Sp.Ed Resource, but this could be really nice for them.

    thanks
    matt
    Digital: Divide & Conquer

    ReplyDelete

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