Teach students to show, not tell, in any genre

One surefire way to improve student writing is by teaching them to show, not tell. Why is that? When students use strategies that create pictures in their readers' minds, they make their writing more vivid and interesting. This strategy is often associated with description and narration, but it's one that will improve any type of writing, even opinion, research, and literary analysis. It's one that you can circle back to at any time, once you've shown students the strategies. So let's learn how to teach students to show, not tell, in any genre.

What does it mean to show, not tell?

When writers "tell," they make statements that require no work for the reader. A single statement makes the point clear.

And while we do aim for clarity in writing, there are also times when we want to create images and ideas in the reader's mind. Simply telling them all the time can get boring, and it certainly doesn't give the whole picture.

Let's look at an example: Jalisa was cold. This is a telling statement, and nothing is left to the imagination. We know that Jalisa is cold, but not much else. However, if the writer uses specific showing details, vivid language, and dialogue, the reader gets a much clearer idea of what is going on with Jalisa.

Here, the writer has used language to create a vivid picture that the telling statement can't.

I'm sure none of this is new to you; teaching students to show, not tell is a staple in English classes when students are doing descriptive and narrative writing. But what about the other genres? We'll get there, but let's look at the strategies for showing, not telling first.

Strategies to teach your students to show, not tell

There are many ways to show, rather than tell, but these are some of the most common:

• Multiple examples and details
• Vivid nouns and verbs
• Adjectives and adverbs
• Sensory imagery
• Figurative language
• Dialogue

One of the best ways to teach your students to use these strategies is, not surprisingly, to show, rather than tell them. That means that it's not enough just to project a list like the one above, or to include it in a handout.

Instead, model what showing, not telling looks like with a piece of your own writing or a mentor text. Show them what a vivid description looks like and then ask them to identify the moves the writer made to create a picture in the reader's mind.

Next, use a combination of independent and collaborative activities that allow students to practice the skill of showing, not telling.

My favorite way to do this is via a group activity where students work together to practice their showing skills. Each group gets a graphic organizer and needs to do some brainstorming and planning before writing a showing paragraph.

Then, they share their paragraph with the class, and their peers have to guess their telling statement. It's always lots of fun!

If you'd like to get a copy of one of these exercises, click below:

 Showing strategies that work across genres

Now, let's look at how we can use the showing, not telling strategies across all genres of writing. Yes, the strategies I've mentioned can lead to vivid descriptive paragraphs, but they also create strong ones for any persuasive, expository, research, and analytical writing. For example, imagine if all of the informational text your students wrote contained:

• Multiple examples, details, facts, and statistics
• Vivid nouns and verbs
• Adjectives and adverbs
• Sensory imagery
• Figurative language
• Dialogue or quotations (note the change here - quotes are more prevalent in informational text)

It would be a well-developed paper, wouldn't it?

If you have already introduced the concept of showing, not telling during descriptive and narrative writing, it's an easy transition into illustrating how it can enhance other forms of writing too.

Again, use a piece of your own writing or a mentor text and ask students to point out how the writer shows the reader. With informational text, it's common to see a combination of telling statements with showing details; in fact, we often require a topic sentence that does make a clear statement.

However, students often fail to fully support their topic statements and a reminder of the importance of showing, not telling can remedy that. For example, they can state that texting and driving is dangerous, but they could add that it is no different than driving while putting a blindfold on for a few minutes while you are at the wheel. Or that driving with both eyes on the road and hands on the wheel is so much safer than having one of each on a phone.

The figurative language and imagery is just as powerful in persuasive writing as it is in descriptive because showing the reader the point drives it home better than a simple statement does. Show students multiple ways they can "show" as a way to support their topic sentences. They will likely be familiar with using examples and surprised to know that imagery and metaphor works in these cases too.

Students can SHOW with literary analysis too

Showing, not telling strategies work with analysis as well. For example, look at the following analysis of Gene from A Separate Peace. The topic sentence TELLS, or makes the point, then the writer SHOWS the reader why it's an accurate statement:

Gene considers Finny to be his best pal, but his internal dialogue displays very conflicted feelings for his friend. For example, when Finny gets away with wearing the pink shirt to the headmaster’s tea, Gene confesses that he “couldn’t help but envy him a little” (23). Later, when Finny escapes recrimination for using the school tie as a belt, Gene experiences “a sudden stab of disappointment”(26). Both times, he attempts to rationalize his feelings, thinking them normal. Gene’s initial reactions illustrate his hidden envy of Finny, but his subsequent excuses make it clear, that he is in denial over his true feelings.

• Use multiple examples and details (pink shirt, school tie, examples)
• Choose vivid nouns and verbs (confesses, rationalizes, envy, denial)
• Carefully chosen adjectives and adverbs (conflicted, hidden, subsequent)
• sensory imagery (using the school tie for a belt; stab of disappointment)
• dialogue (quotes from the text)

I love it when I can use lessons - or at least references to them - over and over. It reinforces skills and helps students hone their abilities to use them. 

When you teach students to show, not tell, you are giving them skills that they can apply again and again in your class. Regardless of the form or writing you require, they can support their ideas in a way that either paints a picture in the reader's mind or that fully supports their ideas.

If you want more help with showing, not telling, check out my new resource!

Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have any questions (and don't forget your free resource)!

Jackie, ROOM 213

☕️ My friends here in the coffee shop have resources that can help with this too:

Presto Plans: Paragraph of the Week

Addie Education: Descriptive Writing Graphic Organizers

 

6 Ways to Teach ELA Skills with Music

By: Presto Plans

In my experience, few things capture middle and high school students’ attention as effectively as teaching with music! I love incorporating music into secondary ELA classrooms whenever I can - especially contemporary music that students can relate to. In my experience, learning experiences that involve music can help to make tricky language arts skills and concepts (like grammar!) feel less intimidating for students.

If you’re interested in putting a musical twist on your ELA lessons, here are six of my favorite ways to teach ELA skills with music!

1) Figurative Language

If your students are struggling with figurative language terms, why not examine them through the lens of music? Popular songs are packed with creative examples of figurative language - perfect for teaching and reinforcing this essential ELA concept!

I find song lyrics are especially useful at the beginning of a poetry unit. Many middle and high school students can find poetry challenging, outdated, or overwhelming! Teaching with music can help remind them that poetry is everywhere, and for everyone! An introductory lesson that uses popular song lyrics to demonstrate various types of figurative language in action is a perfect “hook” for your students.

Presenting engaging, relevant examples to middle and high school students can help familiarize students with the most common types of figurative language they will encounter in the poems they read. For example, students can explore examples of assonance through lyrics from Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero.”

I wake up screaming from dreaming

One day I'll watch as you're leaving

And life will lose all its meaning

2) Poetry Analysis 

Introducing your poetry unit through the lens of music can often make this genre less intimidating to middle school or high school students. Once they start making connections to their favorite songs, students might be surprised to learn how much they already know about poetry! In my experience, a station activity involving music can be a great way to introduce (or reinforce) new skills and concepts. As students move from station to station, they can listen to a variety of different songs, read through lyrics, and practice their poetry analysis skills!

When you feel students are ready to take their skills to the next level, you can help them put their poetry analysis skills to the test through a flexible, choice-based learning task! First, students select a (school-appropriate) song of their choice. Next, they showcase their poetry analysis skills by summarizing the lyrics, analyzing the title of the song, and exploring its themes. Finally, students can identify and interpret the various literary devices and figures of speech within the song’s lyrics!

3) Teaching New Idioms

Whether your students are learning English as a second language, or simply making sense of the various quirks of ELA, teaching common idioms with music can be a lot of fun. Song lyrics provide an excellent springboard for discussion about idioms like “climb the walls” and “head in the clouds!”

One engaging way to reinforce students’ understanding of some of the more common idioms that appear in the English language is by playing a matching game. For this activity, students receive a selection of cards that contain lyrics from popular songs (including an idiom!). From here, they must examine a second set of cards, which explain the meaning of various idioms. Working alone or in pairs, students then match the idioms with their explanations!

4) Growth Mindset

Another great thing about using music in the classroom is that it can help empower your students to adopt a growth mindset! Connecting music to the concept of growth mindset can support student learning in all subject areas. Many popular songs contain themes of resilience and perseverance, and can help to foster a positive outlook on both learning and personal development.

One activity that can help middle and high school students cultivate a growth mindset involves the analysis of song lyrics. As they read the lyrics of “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus and “Rise” by Katy Perry, among others, students can identify the principles of growth mindset found in each song. Students can also use song lyrics to identify and reflect on the factors that support a growth mindset. For example, “Unstoppable” by Rascal Flatts emphasizes the importance of a strong support system, while “A Little Too Much” by Shawn Mendez provides advice on what to do when “it all gets a little too much.”

5) Grammar

Grammar lessons have a reputation for being a little bit dry - but sometimes, adding a small twist can boost your students’ engagement with this essential ELA skill. Teaching with music can be a really useful “hook” for a grammar lesson, especially when you reference your students’ favorite artists!

One effective strategy is to use song lyrics to help students identify and correct common grammar errors. This activity works really well as a station-based learning task, as well as an independent assignment. I like to begin by providing students with a selection of song lyrics that contain incorrect grammar (like “You and me could write a bad romance” from Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”). Once students have identified the error, I like to have them re-write the lyric using correct grammar.

If you want to extend this activity over a longer period of time, you could also create time in your classroom to discuss a musical mistake of the week. In this alternative approach, share a grammatically incorrect song lyric once a week, and have students identify and correct the errors. You can even create an engaging bulletin board display of the various “Musical Mistakes,” which can be refreshed throughout the year!

6) Inferences 

I find that middle and high school students can sometimes struggle to make inferences. If you’d like your students to brush up on this essential comprehension skill, why not add some musical references to your instruction or review? Songs that tell a story can help students make inferences, predict likely outcomes, and “read between the lines.”

For example, students can take a close look at the song “Travelling Soldier” by The Chicks, especially the lyrics: 

 

Our love will never end

Waitin' for the soldier to come back again

Nevermore to be alone

When the letter said, "A soldier's comin' home"

From here, they can make inferences about the contents of the letter as the chorus is repeated throughout the song. Other songs that work really well for teaching inference skills with music include “Back to December” by Taylor Swift, and “Someone Like You” by Adele.

There you have it! Teaching with music in secondary ELA? Check out these related resources from other Coffee Shop teachers!

Firework by Katy Perry Poetry Terms Figurative Language Activities by Tracee Orman

5 Strategies for Surviving the Holidays

Five Strategies for Surviving the Holidays

By Tracee Orman

Most of us have just wrapped up parent-teacher conferences, fall break, and have our first quarter in the books. But we're entering the time where everything around us starts (or continues 😜) to get bonkers. Not only do we have constant interruptions in our normal teaching week, but our students are starting to get stir-crazy with the holidays quickly approaching.

So how can we manage it all and still keep our sanity? NOW is the time to start planning and getting ahead of all the wildness that is to come. Here are a few strategies to help you survive this holiday season:

1. Be flexible! 

    Flexibility is key this time of year! Just plan for constant interruptions, days off, assemblies, fire drills, etc. In the weeks ahead, we will have Red Ribbon Week, Election Day, Veterans Day, pep assemblies for sports playoffs, music concerts, Thanksgiving break, and so much more and that's just November! You have to be flexible in this job. Know that you will probably be interrupted several times, so try to keep your units shorter. When you are planning out your lessons build in extra days with nothing. Believe me, you will not accomplish what you plan so you will be pushing back everything into those empty days. I learned this the hard way (then I stopped planning in advance 😆).

2. Streamline Grading

    • Make life easier by using simple-to-grade assignments and utilizing rubrics. Bell-ringers, exit slips, and anything that can be done for a completion grade are great when you have little time and many interruptions. If you are teaching a writing unit, definitely take advantage of pre-made rubrics. One trick is to focus on just one or two elements of the rubric and grade just for that criteria. It speeds up your grading process to allow you to get through more essays faster. This piece of advice given to me by a colleague years ago was a life-saver.

    • If you have to show student growth for your evaluations, use a growth tracker that automates the process. Just input the data and the form will do the sorting for you! It is a definite time-saver.

3. Lean into the Holidays 

    • It's only natural for students to get excited for the holidays this time of year. Instead of fighting it, lean into it with some holiday activities! It can be as simple as these FREE holiday-themed bell ringers. They can be used independently or with the current text you are reading. I also included some for your favorite history teacher.

    • You can be more elaborate and plan a unit with a holiday theme. One of my favorites is using the idea of regifting as a theme for argument writing. No matter what your religion, gift-giving is universal and is a pretty safe theme if you are restricted from celebrating holidays in your school. This activity ALWAYS gets students engaged and their opinions are always split! It's so much fun and you can expand the assignment to have them create polls and infographics, as well.

     • Have your students do a research project based on different holidays around the world. Have each student in each class draw a different holiday (or have them complete this in pairs). Require them to research and present their findings to the class. This activity can check many boxes: they learn research skills, practice writing and speech, and it's easier for you to grade than a million essays!

4. Prioritize Self-Care

    • Schedule downtime or "me" time. For some, this may be taking a walk or exercising; for others, it may be reading a book or favorite magazine.  Whatever it is that relaxes you and makes you happy, make sure to schedule time for it at least once a week.

    • Set boundaries. Make a point not to check your school emails or messages after school hours. When you are with your family, turn your phone and computer off and just enjoy time away from the screen. Staying off social media can actually save you a lot of time when you could be getting other work done (like during your prep period). However, if being on social media is your version of self-care, then, by all means, use it. Just don't let it dominate your life or prevent you from being productive.

5. Organize and Prepare for the New Year

    One of the best things you can do before you leave on ANY holiday break, whether it is Thanksgiving or Christmas, is have plans prepared for when you return. Have all your copies printed or Google Classroom assignments created, etc. Have it all ready to go so you can go on break without having to think about what you are going to teach when you return. If you need ideas for activities for the new year, I've got you covered here. 

Check out these great activities by my colleagues you can use in the coming weeks!

Escape Room Activities Bundle by The Classroom Sparrow

Holiday Literacy Activities by Addie Williams

Holidays Around the World Non-Fiction Activities by Presto Plans

Thanks so much for reading, Friends!

Short Stories That Are Perfect for the Halloween Season

 

The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs

One of my favorite spooky stories to read during spooky season is "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs. This spooky story is a bone-chilling twist on the classic three-wishes story; however, everything goes terribly wrong. When I teach this story to my students, I like to include a close reading focus by revisiting carefully-selected passages to analyze for literary elements. To do this, I use this Close Reading Analysis Unit for "The Monkey's Paw. This unit places an emphasis on figurative language and foreshadowing -two elements that work so well together to create a spooky tale!

Quitters, Inc. by Stephen King

Who doesn't love a Stephen King story around Halloween? Your students will love his story of a man who tries to quit smoking by going through an agency that uses less-than-ethical methods to help its clients. As with most of his stories, there's a chilling twist at the end that will shock students. Tracee Orman compiled activities and discussion questions to complement the story (included in the download). The activities include reading comprehension, vocabulary, figurative language, and optional project-based learning activities. The story lends itself to many discussions about ethics and extreme measures to quit bad habits, lose weight, etc. In addition, if you love to show students the movie version of the story, the first part of the 1985 movie Cat's Eye is the adaptation of the story. It's a great way to end the unit, and students enjoy seeing the campy 80s version. The movie is streaming on Amazon, YouTube, Apple TV and more. Get Tracee's resources here: Quitters, Inc. Unit.  

Click Clack the Rattlebag by Neil Gaiman

"Click Clack The Rattlebag" by Neil Gaiman presents an unsettling tale of a young child recounting a terrifying story to an unsuspecting visitor, masterfully building suspense and dread as chilling details about a mysterious creature lurking in the dark prompt questions about reality versus imagination. To kick off the lesson, I begin with a pre-reading "Creature Feature" activity where students design their own monsters, hooking students into the story. This is followed by a presentation exploring key themes, literary devices, and Gothic elements, along with a video of Gaiman reading the story. Students then engage with the text through comprehension questions and small group discussions, focusing on foreshadowing and symbolism, and analyze Gaiman's use of onomatopoeia to enhance the storytelling. To conclude, I encourage creativity with writing assignments that challenge students to craft their own endings to the cliffhanger and compose their own spooky campfire tale. Grab resources to teach this story here.

If Cornered, Scream by Patricia J. Thurmond

This short story is a favorite to use during the month of October. Of course, it can be used at any time of the year, but it's a perfect fit for spooky season. This story covers a variety of plot elements including: conflict, pattern of events, details, climax and conclusion. After reading the story with your class and completing some comprehension questions, you can use this video of this short story to further explain the meaning of mood and tone. If you'd like to finish a short story unit with students writing a short story of their own, check out this Halloween Short Story Writing Flip Book, which will guide students through the various elements of plot and assist them with a better understanding of all of the elements that make a great short story!

The Landlady and Just Lather, That's All

Suspense and tension are key components of a spooky story, something students will find in "The Landlady" and "Just Lather, That's All."  Jackie from ROOM 213 has a unit that uses both of these stories to show student how writers use these literary elements to engage readers. Students will also have the option of experimenting with their own use of suspense and tension in a short writing assignment. And, if you want to check out some spooky stories with a more up-to-date perspective, check this out!

The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a fabulous short story to read around Halloween! The elements of gothic literature of suspense, fear, horror, and murder make for a creepy October read.  Some well-done adaptations on YouTube are a fantastic way to make this classic story come to life. Addie Williams loves to have her students work on a Tell-Tale Heart Newspaper that reports on the events of the murder - it's a fun way to review plot, point of view, and creative writing. Check out her ready-to-use print/digital resource and get started today!

5 Engaging Ideas for Teaching Syntax in Secondary ELA

By The Daring English Teacher

Focusing on syntax might be the missing piece to the puzzle when teaching writing in the middle school ELA or high school English classroom. Syntax is the backbone of language; when students have a better grasp of it, they become better, stronger writers. 

Teaching syntax in the secondary ELA classroom doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Whether teachers focus on syntax at the beginning of the class period with bell ringers or if they spend dedicated time on syntax-focused lessons, including syntax lessons in your classroom can be very valuable. 

How do you teach syntax? You might be asking yourself this question. Luckily, there are many ways to introduce and teach syntax in your classroom - and they don’t all have to be boring.

Here are 5 Ways to Incorporate Syntax in Your ELA Classroom.

1. Sentence Combining

One of the easiest ways to include syntax into your classroom lessons is to incorporate sentence-combining bell ringers into your daily routine. 

By adding sentence combining bell ringers into your routine, your students will have daily writing practice where students actively think about syntax and sentence composition every single class period. 

I use these Sentence-Combining Bell Ringers regularly in my classroom. Once I teach my students about sentence combining and how to do it, I’ll display one slide a day at the beginning of the class period. 

My students will combine the sentences, and then they will share their newly constructed sentences aloud. You can sign up HERE to access a free sentence combining worksheet!

2.  Mentor Texts

Another way to help students practice and improve their syntax is by using a variety of sentences from literature and having students annotate those sentences and then draft their own sentences following the same format. 

A fun twist for this activity is to have students write sentences related to the time of year, your unit of study, or an upcoming holiday or event. This way, constructing sentences using mentor texts always feels engaging and exciting for the students. 

Here is a list of 5 sentences to try this activity with. 

• "I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart; I am, I am, I am." - Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
• “A dream, all a dream, that ends in nothing, and leaves the sleeper where he lay down, but I wish you to know that you inspired it." -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities  
• "For poems are like rainbows; they escape you quickly." - Langston Hughes, The Big Sea
• "And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." - John Steinbeck, East of Eden
•  "She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world." - Kate Chopin, "The Awakening"

3. Teaching Sentence Structure and Parts of Speech

If I am completely frank with you, students learn the parts of speech and sentence structure way too early in their academic careers. 

As a high school English teacher, I have had so many students come to my class not knowing the parts of speech and various types of sentences. While I know they were taught this information, they didn’t retain it. 

That realization is why I created my Sentence Structure and Parts of Speech Units, geared toward secondary ELA students.

Students better understand syntax when we take time to explicitly teach and review the parts of speech and sentence structure.

Here are some units that might interest you:

• Parts of Speech Unit
• Sentence Structure Unit
• Parts of Speech Mini Flipbook
• Sentence Structure Mini Flipbook

4.  Sentence Expanding Games

Playing sentence-expanding games is another great way to help students focus on syntax and improve their writing. While this can be done individually, it is much more fun in pairs or small groups. 

To engage your students in sentence-expanding games, students slowly build a sentence by adding new details to a simple and very basic starter sentence. 

For example, you might give your students the introductory sentence, “The puppy played.” Alone, it is a complete thought. You can even point out the subject and verb of this sentence and help students see that even short sentences can be complete sentences. 

Once you provide students with the basic sentence, you then give them a series of sentence elements and parts of speech to add.

For example, you might have them add an adjective, and then an adverb, so the students might have “The spunky puppy played energetically.” Then, you can add prepositional phrases, subordinating clauses, and the like to have students slowly build and add detail to their sentences. 

5. Teaching Active and Passive Voice

One last way to help students focus on and improve their syntax is to provide students with opportunities to revise, transform, and improve their sentences by teaching active and passive voice. 

I like to use this Active and Passive Voice teaching unit which includes instructional slides for direct instruction and multiple worksheets for students to practice this skill. 

By teaching students about the different between active and passive voice, their writing will improve and they will gain a stronger sense of syntax.

Additional Resources for Teaching Syntax:

• Sentence Types Escape Room by Presto Plans
• Sentence Structure Syntax Song Lyric and Poetry Analysis Activities by Tracee Orman
• Sentence Expansion by Room 213

The Tell-Tale Heart Teaching Ideas

"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite short stories to teach in October. It generates some fantastic classroom discussions and is the perfect way to add a spooky touch to the class for Halloween.  

WHO IS POE?

One of first things I do is introduce Edgar Allan Poe to students; you can find some great resources at The Poe Museum.  I think it's important to explain who he was, where he lived, his writing (The Raven is a great preview piece to use!), and the elements of gothic literature.

The Tell-Tale Heart is full of figurative language, vocabulary, and ideas that make it a fabulous short story to include in a short story unit.

PRE-READING IDEA

To set the scene for "The Tell-Tale Heart" for students I like to ask them a few pre-reading questions and encourage students to start thinking about some of the themes of the story.  Also, these questions are almost guaranteed to pique the interest of teenagers!

THE TELL-TALE HEART TIMES

After reading and discussing the elements of the short story I like to follow up with a small project... in this case, I have students create a Tell-Tale Heart Newspaper from the period that reports on the events of the story. It's a great way to review how stories can change depending on who is telling the story and to review what a newspaper is.  In the newspaper article, students will have to write in the third person and tell the story from an outside point of view.  My students have always had fun with this creative activity.  This resource comes in both print and digital versions for ease of use!

I show students some fabulous examples of newspapers written in the 1800s before beginning this activity.

WATCH AND LEARN

It's always fun to watch and listen to a reading of the story - here are two to check out:

- The Tell-Tale Heart - 1953 animated version.  This one is my favorite as it's the original text and the narrator's voice is perfectly creepy and the old music and animation make it particularly spooky.

 For a more modern adaptation check out this version of The Tell-Tale Heart.  It's fun for students to

compare the 1953 version with one from 2013 and explain which version they prefer.

MORE IDEAS

Check out more ideas for teaching short stories in October from teachers of the 

Secondary English Coffee Shop!

Tracee Orman - Ed Sheeran or Edgar Allan Poe? Interactive Bulletin Board

Room 213 - Teaching Suspense & Tension

The Daring English Teacher - Edgar Allan Poe Bellringers

5 Ways to Reduce Your Grading

 

I'm going to be very honest here. I did not enjoy grading. In fact, I may have used the word "hate" regularly because I resented the time I had to spend outside of school doing it. It was also super frustrating to be putting in the time only to read poorly written student work. But, despite the negative feelings I had toward grading, I knew it was a  very important part of my job. So, instead of just wallowing in my misery, I came up with strategies to tame the grading beast. And now, I want to share 5 ways to reduce your grading too.

The best thing about the strategies that follow is that they are also better for student learning. They allowed me to get to know my students' abilities more quickly and then to give them faster feedback. This built their confidence, increased their skills, and made my grading more manageable.

Did I still spend time at the kitchen table grading? Yes. But it was less frequent and more "enjoyable." I did this by:

1. Providing more in-class formative assessment
2. Using focused short assignments for skill-building
3. Requiring annotated good copies
4. Switching to checklists from rubrics
5. Using conferences for in class grading

Read on to get the details and to grab some freebies that will help you reduce your grading!

1. Give more in-class formative assessment

Ultimately we want our students to focus on learning, not a number on the top of an assignment. And, yes, I know most of us teach in a world where we need to assign grades, but that doesn't mean that you have to grade everything students do.

One of the biggest issues with the grading process is not only that it takes us so much time but it also prevents students from getting the advice they need when they need it. They work on learning a new skill and then don't get the feedback until days later - after you've already moved on to something new.

However, formative assessment in class gives them just-in-time feedback that they can use and learn from right away.

You can provide more opportunities for formative assessment when you give your students activities that focus on the steps of a process they need to follow to be successful in later assignments. Then, while they are working on these steps, you can help them if they go off track. This makes learning visible because students can see what it is they need to do, and you can see if they are doing it properly and guide them then and there. This is much more powerful than a scribble on their paper or rubric that comes days or weeks later.

How does formative assessment reduce your grading? 

Formative assessment allows you to give focused feedback without having to take in assignments to do so. You do not have to grade everything students do in order to get them to learn a skill. It does take a bit of training at the beginning of a term, but you can create a climate where they will engage in active learning activities in class.  

Yes, you will still be grading assignments later on, but by building in opportunities for students to practice and get feedback IN class, you can assign fewer papers and your students will still improve their skills.

If you want some ideas for visible learning activities that allow you to give in-class formative assessment, open these blog posts and save them for later:

• Ideas for teaching writing skills without grading any papers
• Teach Writing by showing, not telling
• Learn how to scaffold writing skills here
• Grab ideas for visible learning & formative assessment here and here.
• Getting students to do work that's not graded

 

2. Use focused, shorter assignments

Eventually, you'll need to give summative feedback because you have to assess the outcomes of your curriculum. In the first part of my career, most of my assessments were essays, and students wrote several over the semester because I felt they needed the practice. And I graded all the things . . .

I tried using shorthands or fancy coding systems, but I've never really found them to make a huge difference. That's because these systems only shaved a bit of time from a process that was basically the same. Instead, I wanted a streamlined one that didn't require me or my students to be looking up the code for faulty parallelism or a missing topic sentence. I wanted - and my students needed - something that was more user-friendly.

This streamlined process started with a clear focus on the skills I wanted my students to learn. Now we English teaches could fill a full page with the things we look for when grading an assignment, but that can get overwhelming for students. If they are learning to select, embed, and cite quotations, but are too worried about whether their topic sentence is focused and their grammar is up to snuff, they can get overwhelmed.

But shouldn't they be able to handle multiple things at once?

Let me answer that with a sports analogy. Imagine you take someone new to a sport and put them on a field, a golf course, or a court. You give them the equipment they need and a quick overview of the game, and then send them off to play. Most newbies will get through it, but they may not perform well because most games have a lot of complexity.

Golf is certainly not as simple as just getting the ball in the hole; a successful golfer needs to be able to drive, chip, putt, etc. and to know how to do it without sending the ball sideways or missing it altogether. The successful basketball player needs to be able to dribble while moving, pass without giving it to the wrong person, and shoot the ball in the net while others are trying to grab it.

Coaches and phys ed teachers know this to be true, and that’s why they practice and work on single skills at a time. Michael Jordan famously practiced free throws for hours, and Kobe Bryant spent his workouts perfecting only one move. They were isolating the skills they needed for success and working on them. They didn’t read a handout, try it once, and head off to the court to play.

Shorter assignments allow students to practice and build the skills they need for success in the big game –  the longer assignments they need to do. They also take less time to grade and so students get feedback faster – when what they did is still fresh in their minds (read more about this process here).

So, make a list of the skills your students need to have to write their final assessments, then plan to give them short, scaffolded  assignments to build those skills.

3. Annotated good copies reduce your grading time

Whether students are passing in a paragraph or an essay, ask them to show you where they met the required outcomes via highlighting and underlining.

For example, if your focus was on writing a paragraph with a clear, fully supported topic sentence, ask them to underline the topic sentence and highlight the points they made to support it in different colors.

If you are working on embedding and citing quotations, ask them to underline the words they use to introduce the quote, highlight the quote, and circle the citation.

Or if you're working on fluency, they might circle their transitions and highlight sentences of different lengths in different colors.

Let's look at an example. The following is a paragraph that a student wrote analyzing a passage in The Book Thief. My main focus was on teaching them to embed their quotations and on using transitions to create flow within the paragraph. I asked my students to highlight their topic and concluding sentence in one color, and their lead in to the quotation in another color. They also had to underline their transitions.

First of all, because they had to annotate their good copy, most recognized what may have been missing and they could fix it before submitting the assignment. For example, my focus for this assignment was not on topic/concluding statements, but by asking them to highlight them, it was a reminder that they are an essential part of this type of paragraph.

Secondly, I was able to quickly identify the elements I was looking for. In this case, the student is embedding quotations well and is using transitions. However, his transition words are not overly sophisticated and his feedback would indicate that it was time to move beyond the basic list of transitions.

How does this reduce your grading time? Because you have given your students a clear focus, a specific set of skills to work on, you can quickly see if they have met the mark without having to wade through their paper, hoping to find evidence of their success.

However, you need to include the next step to make this really work:

4. Switch to checklists instead of rubrics

Rubrics are a wonderful thing - when students read them. How many times have you actually seen students go through the rubric when they've gotten an assignment back?

After watching my students ignore the information on my rubrics (and on the assignments), I decided to move to checklists. Yes, students have to read them too, but they are quicker and easier to read than the row/columns of a rubric.

To create checklists that reduce your grading time, think about the skills you most want students to demonstrate in the assignment. Then:

• write a sentence that states they have been successful
• under that statement, write bulleted feedback that represents what you typically tell a student who has not been successful

See the example below:

Then, when you do have to provide a grade, you can just check off the area the student needs to improve, rather than writing the feedback. Yes, this is the same as using a rubric, but students find them easier to read. This means, there's a higher chance they will read and use it!

5. Use conferences to get assessment done in class

I've saved the best idea for last: in-class conferences reduce your at home grading time, lead to greater student learning, and help you build relationships with your students.

Conferences with students are the fastest, most efficient way to find out what your students know and to help them learn - on the spot. When you take in an assignment, it can be days before you find out what they have learned and even more days before the student gets the feedback needed to fix or improve something.

But, when you are chatting one-on-one with a student, you have access to their thinking in a way that no exit ticket or written assessment will ever give you. You find out right away what they know and where they might need guidance, and you can get to work right away helping them build the skills they need. That’s the beauty of the conference: the teaching and learning is instant.

Conferences take some upfront work to organize - and to train your students to prepare for them. You also need to adopt some classroom management tricks to make sure things run smoothly. However, all of these things are so worth it once you and your students get the hang of how conferencing works.

One of the best ways to build conferencing into your classes is with learning stations. Your students will be busy working on different aspects of their writing, while they take turns visiting the teacher feedback station to chat with you.

You can also make use of what I call "quickie conferences." For these, you tell your students that you are coming to see all of them and they need to show you that they can do something. It might be that they can identify sensory imagery in a text they are reading or that they can use it in something they are writing.

I would create a form like the one below, put it on my clipboard, and as students were reading or working on something, I would circulate and ask each one to show me, for example, a vivid verb they used in their writing. I would give them a grade and quick feedback and then move on to the next student.

This gave me a quick snapshot of who had achieved an outcome and who needed more work. I could later take those who needed that work into a small group to give them further instruction. You'll see a script for these quickie conferences in the freebie I'm giving you.

Most things in life are better if you focus on quality versus quantity. Strategies that make feedback more meaningful and useful lead to greater student learning - and that means that there are ways you can take in fewer papers. 

I hope that one of 5 ways to reduce your grading will work for you.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Jackie, ROOM 213