I get this question a LOT from Middle School ELA teachers in my lesson plan membership and in my free community … What do you do with finished essays?
I know, I know… it’s an overwhelming question. Especially after all the hard work you’ve put into helping your students write the assignment.
But I think it’s an important question to think about.
After all… what do you do when you’ve worked hard to help students write their essays, and then they still fail the assignment? I get how discouraging and deflating it can be to have to give out dozens of D’s on the same day.
Since so many other teachers have faced similar issues, I wanted to address that topic today and give you several ideas for what to do with your students’ finished essays (even if they just bombed them).
Teach Them How to Revise Assignments
Writing is a process. There’s no way around that. (Sorry!!)
You can help your students understand this by teaching them how to revise essays.
One member of my free Facebook group for Middle School ELA teachers had a brilliant idea for how to do this…
She took an old essay she wrote when she was in 7th grade and had her classroom discuss how it could be improved. Here’s the thing, though… she didn’t tell them she was the one who wrote it!
Her students had no clue she was the author. So… they held nothing back. They ripped the paper to shreds with their feedback.
At the end of the class, she revealed that she was the author. The kids were shocked!!! She says it led to a great reflection on how important feedback and revision is to the writing process.
You can try a similar tactic. It doesn’t have to be something you’ve written… it can be any essay. The important thing is teaching them how to revise!
Create Peer Editing Groups
Now that you’ve taught them how to revise essays, give them a chance to revise each other’s. And let them do it using your rubric.
Divide the class into groups and have them share feedback on each other’s papers. Encourage them to be honest but kind with one another.
The benefits for peer editing groups are twofold—1) Students are practicing how to revise writing. And since it’s not their own, they can see and critique the essay with fresh eyes. 2) Students can use their peers’ feedback of their writing to improve their essays.
And there you have it! Double benefits! 😊
Give Them a Chance to Revise Their Finished Essays
Armed with their peers’ feedback and their new knowledge, they can tackle their essay with a fresh perspective…
I highly recommend doing this if a lot of your students got low grades (or failed…) an essay assignment.
When you have them revise the essay, give them a copy of the rubric and show them how to make improvements point by point.
However you want this to affect their original grade is up to you… some teachers let students revise and then use their new essay as the final grade for the assignment. Others only let the revision make up a certain percentage of the final grade. So it really depends on how you want to grade.
But I do recommend letting them revise since that’s a crucial part of the writing process.
Revisit Your Grading Rubric
If almost your entire class bombed their finished essays, it might be time to take another look at your grading style. Does your rubric make it hard for them to get A’s, B’s and C’s?
Say, for instance, your rubric only allows for 4 different scores in each criteria—0%, 25%, 75%, 100%. This can make it harder for students to get mid-range or high scores on their overall assignment.
I’m not saying to lower your standards necessarily. But you want to make sure your grading rubric is fair and that it doesn’t make it too hard for your students to succeed.
There are plenty of more things you could do with your student’s finished essays, but I think this is a great place to start. Got more ideas? Leave a comment below!
Stop feeling like you have to choose between prepping for class and enjoying family time by clicking the button below to grab several weeks of free bell-to-bell lesson plans for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade.
