This document provides strategies for teachers to more efficiently grade student writing assignments. It discusses four common myths about grading essays: 1) Only full length essays need feedback - shorter focused assignments can be effectively graded. 2) Rubrics must match assignments exactly - general rubrics can work for multiple assignments. 3) All rubric elements must be graded each time - focus on one element per assignment. 4) All errors must be corrected - highlight a few sentences for students to self-correct. The document advocates for quality over quantity of writing, using rubrics to guide self-assessment, and encouraging self-editing to reduce grading time.

1. Work Smarter (not
Harder)
Sarah Crain
K-12 Literacy Coordinator
Gifted Education Resource Teacher
8th Annual Symposium

2. Collaborative Opportunities
5th Grade Writing
6 &7 English
“Enrichment”
O 3 On-Demand Prompts
O Project Based Learning
(SS)
O Research, plan,
compose, and revise for
a variety of purposes
O Edit for correct use of
language, capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling
O Content-area writing
O Progression charts
developed by the AP/IB
Vertical Team (see
handout)
O Enrichment resources for
teachers

3. Why Write?
O Writing helps students get more actively
engaged in subject matter.
O Writing helps students perform well on
high stakes tests.
O Writing prepares students for involved
active citizenship.
Daniels, H., Zemelman, S., & Steineke, N. (2007). Content-area writing: Every teachers' guide. Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann

4. Yes, but…

5. Why does writing take SO MUCH time to grade?

6. Myths About Grading Essays
1. Only full length essays should be graded
and given feedback.
2. My rubric has to be specific to the exact
essay I assign.
3. I have to grade for all elements on the
rubric in each essay.
4. I have to correct all of my students’
grammatical and mechanical errors.

7. The Question of Rigor
SKIL
L
Complexity
TAS
K

8. #1: Only full length essays should
be graded and given feedback.
O Practice writing skills on
a smaller scale first
O Literary analysis
paragraph BEFORE
a full paper
O Use these small
assignments to make
detailed comments
O Quality over quantity
Poetry Paragraph Journal
*An “A” response consists of the
following:
___ Clear topic sentence stating the main
point of the paragraph
___ Several specific and persuasive
examples from the poem to support the
main point
___ A comprehensive understanding of the
literary element discussed
___ A comprehensive understanding and
explanation of the thought and feeling
expressed in the poem including
subtleties of meaning
___ Correctly formatted quotations and in-
text citations
___ Few grammatical errors; those present
are not distracting
___ Language that is clear, varied, and
concise
___ Varied style and effective tone

9. #2: My rubric has to be specific
to the exact essay I assign.
O Design a rubric with
common categories
that will work for
multiple
assignments
O Teach mini-lessons
on specific features
to help students
improve
Common Categories
C. Appreciation of
Literary Features
D. Presentation
E. Formal Use of
Language

10. #3: I have to grade for all elements
on the rubric in each essay.
Teacher Directed
O Assign a specific
focus for a paper
O Grade only for this
element
Student Directed
O Student self-
assesses his/her
opportunities for
improvement
O Writes with selected
element as primary
focus

11. #4: I have to correct all of my students’
grammatical and mechanical errors.
O Highlight sentences
that you want
students to revise
O Limit the number of
revision sentences
O Encourage students
to use resources to
figure out mistakes
Write the sentence
where the problem
occurs here.
Write the corrected
sentence here.
Circle the
problem(s)
here.
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12. What can I do for you?
Sarah Crain
crainse@staffordschools.net