Lesson Plan: Revising a Thesis with the Grading Rubric
English
Objective
To give students the grading rubric and help them understand our criteria for evaluating their work; to have students revise their thesis/introduction with our grading criteria in mind
Total Estimated Time
50 minutes
Work Completed Before Class
Students have written an introductory paragraph and brought it to class.
In Class
- Pass out the rubric and go over the elements they will be graded on. Have a conversation about what constitutes strong writing. Answer any questions about grading policy and/or the rubric. (10 minutes)
- Give students a sample student essay (an A or A- works well to give students a model, while a B or B+ paper works well for a discussion on how to revise or improve). Have students read the introduction. (5 minutes)
- Ask students to use the rubric to evaluate the introduction. (5 minutes)
- Have students work in pairs to review their introductions with the rubric in mind (see attached peer review sheet). (20 minutes, but break the time down into reading 3-5 minutes, responding 5-7 minutes, discussing 10 minutes, and revising 5 minutes. Let students know at the beginning how long they will have for each part and prompt them when it’s time to move to the next step.)
- Ask students to share the revised introductions in class or, if you run out of time, on a LATTE forum. Wrap up by encouraging them to revise their own introductions based on this discussion and peer review. Encourage them to exchange emails with their peers and continue their conversation outside of class.
Lauren Holm and John Plotz
Developed at Brandeis University through a grant from the Davis Educational Foundation
Faculty Spotlight
"I could not believe how effectively my colleagues had designed classes with a series of linked short writing exercises, culminating in a single longer piece of writing that was almost woven out of those bits and pieces. It's changed how I design both undergraduate and graduate classes."
Professor John Plotz