Learning Center
reading
Reflect, don’t revise, before standardized tests
February 17, 2016
As standardized assessments approach, there is great power in having students reflect on their writing without actually revising it. Reflecting allows students to reread a previous writing and question what they would improve if they had the opportunity to revise the piece. Thus, students are taking advantage of a second look.
However, don’t have them actually make those changes. In the weeks before the state assessment, don’t consume large amounts of class time executing a step of the writing process that is not measured on the typical assessments. Students do not have the luxury of revision during a one-sitting, first-draft-only standardized writing assessment.
Instead, teach students how to reflect on a draft and then tuck away those ideas for the next on-demand writing prompt they face.
[reading]
Teach explicitly—I do; You watch & listen
[reading]
Prompt readers when their inferences are off track
[reading]