staar essay grading rubric

Understanding Rubrics

Using rubrics.

This resource includes information to help teachers use rubrics for both evaluation and instruction in their classrooms.  Rubrics are performance-based assessment tools that can be used to evaluate and also support student learning.  Writing rubrics are generally used in the content areas with formal writing assignments.  When students learn the purpose of rubrics and how to use them, the quality of students' work often increases, and their content area knowledge and skills improve.

Download and print the handouts for this resource by clicking the button below.

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Review the Using Rubrics in Content Area Instruction handout, including the sample mathematics rubric.

Did you notice how the elements for writing mathematical responses were incorporated into the teacher-made rubric?

Next, write your answer to the following question in your teaching journal: How do you use rubrics and checklists to support student learning in your classroom?

Teacher Talk: A Look at Two Rubric-Scored Essays

In the next set of videos, teachers discuss ways to help students revise and improve their writing. Their discussion is based on two sample student essays that were scored by using an analytical assessment rubric.

Locate the Video Guide for Teacher Talk: Understanding Rubrics handout.

As you watch each video, record in the right column specific details the teachers share or any questions that come to mind for the main ideas and key concepts listed in the left column.

Locate the Literary Scoring Guide and Expository Scoring Guide handouts. Each scoring guide contains 14 pages.

These handouts contain excerpts from the English I Writing State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) rubrics and sample essays made available by the Texas Education Agency. These excerpts will be discussed in the next videos.

First, on the Literary Scoring Guide handout, review the literary essay scoring rubric criteria for each level of performance on pages 3, 6, 9, and 12.

Then, read the sample student literary essay "Heart Race" and assessment summary on page 5.

When you are ready, click play on the video below. The video depicts teachers looking at an assessment rubric and student writing samples. As you watch the video, think about how feedback can be used to help the student improve his or her writing. Remember to write notes on the Video Guide for Teacher Talk: Understanding Rubrics handout. 

Now, on your Expository Scoring Guide handout, review the expository essay scoring rubric criteria for each level of performance on pages 3, 6, 9, and 12.

Then, locate the sample student expository essay on page 7. The essay begins with this sentence: "Technology is what turns the world—almost literally." Read the essay and assessment summary.

When you are ready, click play on the video below. Remember to write notes on the Video Guide for Teacher Talk: Understanding Rubrics handout.

Review your notes on the Video Guide for Teacher Talk: Understanding Rubrics handout. Complete the chart by summarizing the most important ideas from the discussion.

Next, take a few minutes to read through the other sample student essays and the assessment summaries. After reading each one, decide which fundamental part of the essay (refer to the scoring rubric criteria) you would suggest the student work on and revise. Write your ideas at the top of the essay.

Take a moment to reflect: How did your suggestions (feedback) differ according to the essay score? Write your reflections in your teaching journal.

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TEA releases resources to help educators prepare for redesigned STAAR tests

The Texas Education Agency has released final test blueprints for the redesigned STAAR exams that show the distribution of questions, points, and readiness and supporting standards across reporting categories for each STAAR assessment. Reading language arts blueprints also include test design information, including the number of passages, the reading load, and the genres eligible for assessment.

Full-length practice tests will be available soon for all grades and subjects to demonstrate how new item types and online accommodations will appear in the redesigned STAAR tests, which will be implemented in the spring.

To help educators understand how new reading language arts, science and social studies constructed response items will be scored, Constructed Response Scoring Guides will be available later this fall on the STAAR Redesign webpage under Resources to Support New Question Types. The guides include rubrics and real examples of student responses for short and extended constructed response items.

Ask TEA about the STAAR redesign on Oct. 4

Based on educator feedback, TEA is developing resources and training to support teacher understanding of the STAAR redesign, the rationale and research behind it, and how it better aligns with classroom instruction.

During the next Tuesdays with TCTA webinar at 6 p.m. Oct. 4 , Jordan Runge, the director of Strategy and Operations with the Student Assessment Division at TEA, will present an overview of the changes and new resources and training modules for teachers before answering questions about the STAAR redesign. TCTA members who attend this webinar will earn 1 hour of continuing professional education credit.

Click here to register and submit questions about the STAAR redesign.

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STAAR Prep: A K-5 Argumentative/Opinion Writing Strategy

As we all know here in Texas, every grade level will have an “extended constructed response” on the STAAR test this school year. This response will either be informational or argumentative and will be an “essay.” Let’s take a look at exemplars and rubrics before we dive into an argumentative/opinion writing strategy for the elementary grades.

STAAR Test Example Responses

Here are some exemplars for grades 3 and 5 (for both short and extended constructed responses) provided by TEA (Texas Education Agency). These prompts and exemplars come from the field test, and this document walks you through the scoring. I go over more information about the constructed responses, STAAR test tools, and provide a few resources in Reading Language Arts STAAR Test Resources .

STAAR Argumentative Writing Rubrics

• RLA Grades 3-5 Argumentative/Opinion Writing Rubric   (10/18/22)
• RLA Grades 3-5 Argumentative/Opinion Writing Rubric-Spanish   (10/18/22)
• RLA Grades 3-5 Informational Writing Rubric   (10/18/22)
• RLA Grades 3-5 Informational Writing Rubric-Spanish   (10/18/22)

What’s the Difference Between Short and Extended Constructive Responses?

Here are exemplars from the stand-alone field test. The 5th grade prompts and responses are for the same passage, “Steam and Sail”. The responses on the left are short constructed responses (SCR), and the one on the right is an extended constructive response (ECR). The grade 3 response is within the writing domain, not the reading domain. There are no exemplars for grades 3 and 4 to reference for ECR in the scoring guide.

How to Teach Argumentative/Opinion Writing

So, of course, there are lots of ways to teach opinion writing to elementary students. But I’m a huge fan of the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) , and I’m also a huge fan of discussion and verbal practice before beginning the writing process. That said, I’m going to walk through using GRR with some resources for teaching opinion/argumentative writing at the elementary level. This strategy is adaptable and meant to be built on over time, so the example given isn’t necessarily 5th grade, score point 5 level, but it can get students there with practice and some adapting!

Review: Fact vs. Opinion

Whether you’re teaching first grade or fifth grade, it’s always good to start with a review of the difference between fact and opinion. Here are a few resources for this.

• Florida Center for Reading Research Fact or Opinion Game
• Factile Fact vs. Opinion Game
• Teaching with a Mountain View: Four Activities to Teach Fact vs. Opinion in Upper Elementary

Talk Before You Write!

This is what I like to call, the “Speak Cycle.” Students may need to practice one or more of these steps, or the whole cycle, multiple times before moving on to writing. Speaking before writing helps students learn to organize their thoughts, look for text evidence, and also familiarizes them with proper sentence structures for opinion writing before they actually start writing. You might think, “Ok, maybe for lower elementary.” Sure, but even older students benefit from verbal practice before writing! It’s a form of rehearsal and planning.

1. Whole Group: Read the text. Discuss opinions as a class. Highlight the evidence.

Before broaching the topic of supporting evidence for an opinion, read the text and discuss opinions. Then ask students for supporting evidence. It’s much easier to talk about supporting evidence than it is to start writing about it from the get go! Here is an example text that works well for third and fourth grade from Education.com . I recommend starting with short texts and then, as stamina improves, introducing longer texts over time.

“Today, we’re going to read a text together about ___________. We’re going to discuss our opinions on ___________ based on what we read, and I’m going to highlight facts from the text to help support our opinion.” [Read the text] [Read the question] “So, what are our opinions?” [Student one offers an opinion.] “Thanks for sharing your opinion! What information in this text led you to think that?” [Highlight what the student references in the text. Repeat this with other examples.] “Ok! So, from our reading today, we formed the opinion ______. And we formed that opinion because [read off highlights of the text].”

In this practice, you are showing the students how to identify and highlight supporting evidence in the text, but this is first a verbal exercise. Start with easier texts and move to more difficult texts as students become more autonomous.

You can create your own questions, but here are a few resources that offer texts with questions for opinion writing.

• Education.com
• Ereadingworksheets.com
• National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

2. Small Group: Read the text. Discuss opinions with a small group. Highlight the evidence together.

This works best if you group students on similar reading levels. Give each student in the group the same short text that’s on their reading level. Read it together, discuss an opinion, and have students highlight the supporting facts with your guidance. Then, have students verbalize their opinions and reference the highlighted text evidence. Students should speak using the same sentence structures you want them to use when writing. Having these up as a visual is great for practice! This is all to get students ready to write.

• “I think…”
• “In my opinion,…”
• “I believe that…”
• “This is my opinion because…”
• “According to the text,…”
• “First, the author states…”
• “Second, I read that…”

3. Independently: Students read the text, highlight evidence, and discuss their opinion and supporting evidence with a partner or group.

Have students read a short text, think about their opinion, and highlight facts to support their opinion on their own. Students can discuss an explanation of their opinion and text evidence with a partner, or they can explain it in a small group setting. Students should still be speaking using the same sentence structures you would like them to write with.

It’s Time to Write!

Now that students are familiar with reading, forming an opinion, highlighting evidence to support their opinion, and using sentence structures verbally, it’s time to start writing. But it’s not quite time for them to write independently. First, we will model good writing for them, following a similar process to the speaking cycle.

1. Whole Group: Read the text. Highlight the evidence. Model the writing for the class.

So this step is similar to step one of the speak cycle, but instead of just discussing, you are going to be modeling the writing. Here’s one formula I like to use called, “It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time!,” and I’ve included an example using the video game article from the beginning of this post.

The Bread: The Introduction (2-3 sentences)

• Write one sentence to state your opinion.
• Write a second sentence introducing two main facts from the text that support your opinion.

“In my opinion, video games are harmful to kids. Video games can be unhealthy. They can also be too violent.” (Just an example! This is not necessarily reflective of my actual opinion on video games.)

The Peanut Butter : Paragraph 2 (2-3 sentences)

• Write a few sentences to support the first fact.

“According to the text, video games can be unhealthy if children play them for too long and don’t move around or exercise. This can make kids overweight and have health issue.”

The Jelly : Paragraph 3 (2-3 sentences)

• Write a few sentences to support the second fact.

“Sometimes, violence can make kids fight, and this can be harmful to friendships. Violence isn’t good for kids’ brains and can lead them to become bullies.”

The Bread: The Conclusion (2-3 sentences)

• Say your opinion – again.
• Say why your opinion is true – again.

“I believe that video games can be harmful to kids. Sitting for too long in front of the game can cause health problems and violence can lead to aggressive behavior. It’s better for kids to be active and be more positive and less violent.”

2. Partnered Writing: Students read the text together, highlight the evidence, and write with a partner.

It’s similar to the whole group exercise, except that students are practicing writing more independently with a writing partner/buddy. In this step, you can offer students graphic organizers or an outline template to help them remember all the elements of their argumentative writing. They can work together to write one essay or they can each write an essay and then review each other’s writing.

3. Independently: Read the text. Highlight the evidence. Write the essay.

At this stage, students are practicing writing on their own. They may or may not need supports like sentence starters, graphic organizers , checklists , and visuals to reference in the room. But the goal is for students to be able to produce writing that expresses their opinion in response to a text and provide text evidence to support that opinion.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

It takes a lot of time and a lot of repetitive practice. As Miguel Guhlin references in his article, Writing Strategies: Insights from a Twitter Chat , discussing, teaching sentence structures/vocabulary, and showing examples isn’t enough. Deliberate, repetitive practice, and time, are key to teaching writing.

Do you have other ideas, strategies, or resources that have worked well for you and your K-5 students when it comes to argumentative/opinion writing? Please share them with us in the chat! We’d love to hear what’s worked in your classroom.

Additional STAAR and TEKS Articles You May Find Useful

Reading Language Arts STAAR Test Resources

The K-5 ELAR TEKS and Free, Editable Spreadsheets

The K-5 Math TEKS and Free, Editable Spreadsheets

A Practical Strategy for Teaching Editing Skills

A Powerful and Easy Strategy for Teaching Text Evidence

Emily has been in education since 2008. Prior to joining TCEA in 2021, she worked as a preK-8 grade principal for four years. Additionally, she taught middle school music, preschool, prekindergarten, and second grade in a trilingual school setting. Before that, she was a K-8 technology integrator and taught second through fifth grade enrichment classes and kindergarten, fifth, and sixth grade technology classes. She has a master’s degree in teaching, specializing in elementary education, and her Certificate of School Management and Leadership (CSML) from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Outside of work, she enjoys seeing movies, attending concerts, going camping and hiking, and spending time with her two cats.

Writing Strategies: Insights from a Twitter Chat

Resources shared at the 2023 tcea convention & exposition, you may also like, the new digital sat® and the future of..., five powerful citation tools to unlock academic success, nanowrimo’s young writer’s program (ywp), ai meme generators and classroom activities, cer resources for the science classroom, two new google ai tools: help me write..., how reliable are ai detectors, what you need to know about copyright, nine tips for overcoming test anxiety, four ways ai can help teach poetry.

Loved the succinct info!

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Tea gives more information on staar essay machine scoring after spike in zeros, concerns from school leaders.

After a series of headlines about STAAR machine scoring and concerns from school leaders, the Texas Education Agency is offering more information to districts. Educators say there wasn’t enough advance notice about the changes. 

After a spike in the number of students scoring a zero on STAAR writing questions and widespread concern from public school leaders about the shift to automated scoring this year, the Texas Education Agency is offering more information about the changes to the state's standardized test.

The agency said district testing coordinators will have "the opportunity to receive additional information about (student writing) that received a score of zero" if they contact the agency before Wednesday, March 13. In the message to testing coordinators , the TEA credited "educator inquiries about this first use of the hybrid scoring model."

Automated scoring is the latest change in a complete overhaul of the state's standardized test. Student composition scores plummeted after the STAAR 2.0 test was introduced last school year, even when writing was still graded by humans.

Over the past few weeks, school leaders have sounded the alarm about the shift to machine scoring for student writing this school year. They argued the automated scoring system has led to even lower scores, and they've criticized what they see as a lack of advance notice from the TEA.

"No one knew this was happening," said H.D. Chambers with the Texas School Alliance, which represents about 50 large public school districts. "The education field wasn’t told. There was no ‘Heads up, hey, this is happening,' and so it was just kind of discovered."

TEA officials have pushed back on that framing.

"For some reason, it's being portrayed as a quiet implementation," said assessment division director Jose Rios. "We did communicate during the fall (of 2023) to several stakeholders. We personally communicated this to all district testing coordinators in the fall during our big training that we call the kickoff of the year."

How does the new scoring model work?

The TEA changed a lot about the STAAR last school year when the test shifted entirely online. The STAAR 2.0 revamp marked the end of the separate writing exam in 4th and 7th grade; instead, writing is now included at every grade level.

The writing prompts are also different. Before last year, students generally wrote self-reflective responses to open-ended prompts, like "Write about the best teacher you know."

Now, students are asked to read passages, and then write a response to more narrow questions. The new grading rubrics are more stringent, making it more likely for a student response to score a zero. For example, a technically correct answer could earn a zero if it "lacks an introduction and conclusion" or "an organizational structure is not evident."

Even before the introduction of automated scoring this year, those changes contributed to a dramatic spike in the number of students scoring a zero for writing questions last year. Before the STAAR 2.0 revamp, 5% or less of students typically scored a zero on constructed writing responses. When students took the test in the spring of last year, more than 40% of third and fourth-graders across the state scored a zero, along with more than 20% of students in middle school and high school.

This school year brought another change — automated scoring for most student writing , first reported by the Dallas Morning News .

The early results from the December 2023 testing window have led to tension between school leaders and the TEA.

"We noticed, comparing those scores to ... when it was scored the old way, that the automated scoring engine was grading them much more difficult," Chambers said.

As Chris Rozunick with the TEA pointed out, the December testing window included many high schoolers who were "retesting" because they previously failed the exam. She also emphasized the sweeping changes to the writing prompts and grading rubrics.

"That more than anything else is driving up the zeros, particularly in December where you see a slightly larger retest population — kids who have tried the test and not passed," Rozunick said.

Back in spring 2023 — before the introduction of automated scoring — 25% of high schoolers scored a zero on writing compositions. Nineteen percent of first-time testers scored a 0, and 50% of retesters scored a 0.

Automated scoring was rolled out for the first time earlier this school year. For high schoolers who took the STAAR in December, almost 70% scored a 0 on the English I composition and almost 80% on English II. For first-time testers, more than 40% scored a zero, compared to more than 70% for retesters.

The TEA insists that machine scoring is in line with human grading.

"We’re confident in our results," Rozunick said. "We continue to look at things, you know, as they’re raised, and we haven’t seen any red flags to date."

When did the TEA actually announce automated scoring?

School leaders have argued the TEA did not provide enough advance notice about the shift to machine scoring.

"The concern with the specific issue of a machine scoring writing isn’t the true act of the machine scoring it, it’s more of the way it’s rolled out," Chambers said. "The reason that’s such a concern is because the stakes are so high with the accountability system."

STAAR results play a major role in the TEA's A through F accountability system, which assigns campuses and districts a letter grade based on student test scores and post-graduation readiness. The TEA revamped the accountability system last year. More than 100 school districts across the state sued the TEA over the changes, temporarily blocking the release of more stringent ratings.

In the eyes of Chambers, the machine scoring and A through F revamp represent the same thing — the TEA "moving the goalposts in the middle of the game."

A TEA spokesperson pointed to a state legislative hearing in August 2022 as the first time automated scoring was made public. Education Commissioner Mike Morath presented updates on standardized assessments to the House Public Education Committee. During his more than an hour-long presentation, he mentioned automation once.

"We are exploring cost-savings everywhere we can," Morath told lawmakers. "So, automation is a big way to save costs. If, for some reason, people don’t like automation, then we have to un-automate, which will cost you more money just to stay the course.”

According to the last slide of his presentation , "full human scoring" would cost up to $20 million more per year.

The agency spokesperson also pointed to training for testing coordinators in September 2023, presentations to "various stakeholder groups" in November, and the release of the " scoring process documents " in December.

According to the March 1 message from the TEA , district testing coordinators who contact the agency before March 13 will have the opportunity to view student responses that earned a 0 in December, but they won't be able to see the actual test questions or explanations of the grading rubrics "due to test security requirements."

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Answering the STAAR Essay Question

The 2023 STAAR Reading test will include short and long response essay questions for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students.

The question on every teacher’s mind is:  How do you write a GOOD STAAR essay?

TEA has said that they changed the STAAR Reading test, so questions are aligned to what teachers are actually teaching in their classrooms.

Although, many Texas third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers disagree.  Students struggled enough with reading, understanding, and answering in-depth multiple-choice questions.

Now, on top of that students must write a well composed essay that answers a question about the STAAR reading passage and includes evidence from the text to support their answer.

Without a doubt, students need to learn strategies to write their STAAR essay effectively . Just as we teach students STAAR revise and edit strategies and STAAR reading strategies .   

Additionally, they need plenty o f opportunities to practice writing essays before the STAAR Reading Test.

These STAAR essay tips will help you and your students write GOOD STAAR essay.

STAAR Essay Rubric

Understanding the rubric is a key component to writing a good STAAR essay.

First of all, there are two types of STAAR essay questions.  They include a short-constructed response and a long-constructed response.

The short constructed response question is worth a total of 2 points .  This essay is scored solely on the answer, and points are not deducted for conventions.

There will be one long constructed response question on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade STAAR Reading test .  This question will be scored on a 5 point rubric .  

Students will receive up to three points for answering the question correctly and supporting their answer with evidence.

The additional two points will be for using correct conventions.

However, two people will be scoring the essay which brings the long constructed response total point value up to 10 points . 

STAAR Constructed Short Response Question

The short constructed response question should be between two to five sentences long .  

First, clearly state the answer and then u se evidence from the text to support the answer.

Another short answer question that may be included on the STAAR Reading test is a question about revising a sentence .

Students may be asked to rewrite a sentence that repeats information or is awkward.   

STAAR Constructed Long Response Question

The long response essay question on the STAAR reading test is worth a total of ten points .  

Therefore, it is important to prepare your students for answering the STAAR essay question.

First, explain the question stem.  The question itself is almost a page long (see example below).  The actual question is in the second paragraph.

A commonly used and well-liked essay writing strategy is the RACE strategy . 

To begin, students restate the question.  Then they must answer all parts of the question.  They must cite evidence from the passage to support their answer.  Finally, they explain their answer.

Essays should include 3 to 5 paragraphs in order to answer the question completely. 

More points are given to students who clearly state their central idea and organize their writing using transition words.

After completing the essay, it must be reread to ensure correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure. These are all reasons that points could be taken away.

There are several sample essays in the TEA scoring guide that give both teachers and students an idea of what a STAAR essay should look like.

Practice Make Perfect

As you can see, it is necessary for students to have multiple opportunities to practice essay questions that are tied to a text.

Luckily, as you are reading novels, guided reading books, and passages in class, you can create essay questions and have your students answer them.

In addition to answering the question, be sure your students know how effectively type their answers since all STAAR testing is online.

I have created a STAAR Reading Strategies Bundle that includes an engaging, hands-on activity that teaches students how to answer long response and short response STAAR Essay questions.

Other Helpful Blog Post over the STAAR Reading Test

Teach to the Test:  How to Prepare Students for the STAAR Reading Test

5 Ways to Keep Students Engaged in Your STAAR Reading Review

STAAR Reading Test Taking Tips

STAAR Revise and Edit Practice

STAAR Reading Resource Round Up

• Read more about: Elementary Reading , STAAR Reading

You might also like...

FREE STAAR Reading Resources

Step-by-Step Guide on Preparing Your Students for STAAR Reading

Introducing Constructed Response Questions

Free grammar pacing guide.

Grammar skills are necessary for revise and edit questions. This guide fits all the grammar TEKS into the first 6 weeks of school, so you can get introduce revise and edit questions by October.

Meet the Author

Hi! I’m Christine. I help Texas 3rd-5th grade teachers to build confident readers and writers with TEKS aligned, engaging ELA printable and digital resources.

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Dynamic rubrics: the key to better peer review.

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Peer review refers to the process of students reviewing and providing constructive feedback on each other's writing. Integrating peer review into writing assignments—whether they be essays or other projects with writing components—encourages students to develop a number of beneficial skills. Not only is peer review an active learning tool that empowers students to better understand their own writing process, but when successful, it can help boost student confidence in their writing and improve their communication skills. Peer review can also help students better familiarize themselves with the requirements of the assignment (Crossman and Kite, 2012), reducing their reliance on instructor feedback while improving results. 

But ask a class about their opinions on peer review, and you’re certain to hear a range of complaints. While many students see value in peer review, just as many have encountered challenges. Students may feel uncertain about their ability to provide valuable feedback, especially if they are still developing their own writing skills. They may worry about giving incorrect advice or fear hurting their peers' feelings or damaging relationships. They may hesitate to offer honest and constructive criticism, leading to vague or overly positive feedback that may not contribute to meaningful improvement. Most importantly, if they have not received proper guidance or instruction on how to provide constructive feedback, students may struggle to offer specific and helpful suggestions. 

Ideally, such guidance involves multiple steps. First, develop a dynamic rubric that closely aligns with assignment goals and your own assessment criteria. What is a dynamic rubric? One that is flexible, changes to meet assessment needs, and engages students. 

Is this likely your students’ first college-level writing assignment? Are they advanced students who have varied prior writing experience? The level of guidance and support your students need will depend heavily on how much experience they have not just with writing but with the subject matter as well. More senior students writing within their major may need less guidance than students in an undergraduate survey course, but even more advanced students can benefit from a peer review rubric.

How to Build Dynamic Peer Review Rubrics

Align rubric criteria with assessment criteria.

If you already have a grading rubric for the assignment, use that as a guide for the peer review rubric. Without guidance, many students will only focus on grammar and mechanics when reviewing their peers’ work (Feltham and Sharon, 2015), which may not even be included in your final grading criteria. Including criteria specific to the assignment’s goals will not only make your own grading criteria more transparent, but it will also encourage students to broaden their definitions of revision to include both content and form.

Provide Models of Levels of Performance 

If you’re using levels of performance in your rubric (i.e. insufficient, sufficient, excellent, etc.), provide models of what those levels look like for the specific assignment. Students often have difficulty gauging the nuances of content and development, so including those models and discussing them with the class can lead to more accurate peer critiques. 

Consider student background and experience as well. A “sufficient” score in a survey course will probably look different from a “sufficient” score in a more advanced course for upper-level majors. It may even vary by assignment–this is where the dynamic aspect of rubric-building comes in. 

You may consider providing space for open-ended questions where students can share their observations without the limitations of a scale, like “Were there any areas of the essay where you were confused, or needed more information to better understand the writer’s point?”

Use Canvas Rubrics to Streamline the Process 

If conducting peer review in Canvas, consider creating your peer review rubric in Canvas as well. This can streamline the process for students, as they will be prompted to use the rubric associated with the peer submission. This also streamlines your ability to organize and review student feedback.

Once you have a rubric, have students practice using the rubric with their own drafts. Finally, directly address known student concerns, like uncertainty about their own writing skills and fears of hurting feelings. Often, having a frank discussion helps students feel more comfortable with providing constructive feedback.

Peer Review Rubric Examples and Resources

• Examples and Supplemental Material from the Sweetland Center for Writing
• U of M Center for Academic Innovation’s Rubric Examples
• Canvas Guide: How to Create a Peer Review Assignment
• Research Paper Peer Review Rubric from the University of Hawaii

Interested in using Canvas rubrics for peer review, or have questions about building a dynamic rubric? Request a consultation with an LSA Instructional Consultant for help.

References:

Crossman, J. A., Kite, S. L. (2012). Facilitating improved writing among students through  directed peer review. Active Learning in Higher Education, 13(3), 219–229. DOI: 10.1177/1469787412452980

Feltham, M., Sharen, C. “What do you mean I Wrote a C Paper?” Writing, Revision, and Self-Regulation. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching. Vol. VIII. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1069881.pdf

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