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Kristen Finucan
Dr. Shana Hartman
ENED 683
23 November 2016
WAD Phases One, Two, and Three
Reflective Letter
Dear Dr. Hartman,
I have found the process of creating this assignment to be extremely beneficial for me as
a teacher. As I reflect on the process from beginning to end, it is obvious that I have made great
strides in my instruction. When I first began this process, I envisioned that I would wow you with
an amazing, highest level of the SAMR technology model, intricate assignment that I would
create using
The Great Gatsby. Because The Great Gatsby is my favorite novel I tend to be at
my most inspired when I am creating lessons and projects using it. However, when I looked over
our due dates, I realized that I would need to design this assignment during the second six
weeks in my classroom. At my school, it is required that the second six weeks be spent
researching and writing the research paper for the graduation project. I freely admit, this is the
area in which I most struggle as a teacher. Now I realize that the timing was actually most
fortunate because I needed to address this weaker area of my teaching. Creating this
assignment has ultimately improved my teaching and the quality of my students papers by
leaps and bounds.
In preparation for writing this reflection, I reread the Phase One of my WAD. I wound up
making some serious changes after my first submission. I had difficulty taking my eyes of the
finished product of the entire unit (the completed research paper) to focus on the goals of this

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particular assignment. The rationale for my first submission reflected the rationale for the
research paper itself. I revised it to focus on this particular assignment. I did leave the first
sentences in place, which explain that this is the graduation project research paper, required of
all English III students. One I got that out of the way, I explained that we were doing a peer
review to assist students in producing their best papers. I wanted to shift focus from the school
board, which is mentioned in the first sentence, to our students, who the assignment is meant to
benefit.
The next major change I made was to the standards I wanted to address. I came into
this assignment with the idea that covering more standards meant I was doing a better job.
Through your feedback and my experience actually doing this assignment with students, I can
see that it is better to concentrate on fewer standards but cover them more thoroughly. I went
through the standards carefully and pulled out the two that were truly met by this assignment.
Again, it was a case of narrowing my focus from the entire unit to this particular lesson.
The strongest part of my lesson was the steps I created for students to follow. I made
sure they had plenty of guidance so that no one would be at a loss as to what to do. This turned
out to be my strongest part in the classroom as well. None of the students needed any extra
explanation or assistance with this part, which is always a marker for how well I explained, or
failed to explain, an assignment. I am making one change to that section when I do this
assignment again next year. The last step in the instructions asked students to address
conventions in their partners papers. Through your feedback and the feedback I received from
my peers after my Inquiry Project share out, I have decided to remove that step or complete it
during a separate class period. I can see now that I was contradicting myself with this step. I

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stressed to students that they were not red penning their partners, but I was essentially asking
them to do exactly that.
Between the first and second phases of my WAD, I significantly revised my rubric. My
initial rubric was divided into into the correct sections, but the expectation for students were
unclear. For instance, I scored students on how well they evaluated their partners introductory
paragraph. However, there was nothing on my rubric to indicate how a student could earn an
accomplished rating as opposed to proficient or developing. This was one of the more
challenging revisions to accomplish because it really forced me to consider what I was asking
students to do and exactly what I wanted to see from my students. I went back and looked
through all the rubrics from 683 and 501 and strived to create one as detailed. After a great deal
of work, I am pleased with the rubric I used to evaluate my students.
All in all, I am thrilled with all that I have learned in the creation of this assignment. I
surveyed my students and the vast majority of them feel this helped them tremendously.
Another change I do plan for next year to have them write a response to the revision. In our
assignments for you, Dr. Hartman, you asked us to address why we would decline to take
revision suggestions for our assignments. I believe this could transfer well to my students. By
forcing them to discuss the revisions, I would be removing the option of students not doing the
revision work to simply avoid the work (I am teaching high school after all). I did have a couple
of students decline solid revision suggestions and I want to avoid that in the future.
The topic of peer review in writing is one I did not foresee becoming important to me, yet
it has. As I mentioned in my previous letter, this is a topic I anticipate continuing in my capstone
research. In preparation for this assignment, I researched peer review and learned about the
importance of modeling the concept for the students. At this point, I am considering ways in

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which I can create a classroom where these types of activities are the norm from early in the
year forward. From our readings, I know that Peter Elbow addresses writing workshops in his
work and would be a valuable resource moving forward. I am so excited to continue pursuing
this topic.
Thank you,
Kristen Finucan

Writing Assignment Design

The Rationale
At the behest of our local board of education, all students in Rutherford County Schools will
complete the graduation project, a four component project that begins with a five to seven-page
research paper on the topic of the students choice. The research paper must be completed in
all students English III classroom. To assist students in preparing their best work, I have
devised a peer review activity to be completed before submitting their rough draft. Research has
proven peer review to be valuable by allowing students access to high quality feedback from
their peers. Additionally, peer review offers students the chance to see stylistic and structural
choices their peers have made that they can adapt to their own writing.
Context
This assignment will be completed by English III students. The classes are made up of high
school sophomores and juniors. As per our common pacing guide, all English III students at
Chase High School complete the graduation project research paper over the course of the
second six weeks. This peer edit assignment will take place after they have completed their
rough drafts. Before this assignment takes place, I will need to train them on the proper way to
provide feedback for research papers. I have a collection of graduation project research papers
that have already been published. I plan to remove all identifying information and model ways to
approach a peer edit before allowing students to practice. I have set aside an entire class period
for the training and a class period for the peer edit. My classes are 90 minutes long.
Common Core Standards Met by the Peer Edit Assignment:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.5

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Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition
or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.3
Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the
stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.
Handout for Students

Assignment: Peer Edit

Initial Thoughts:
Now that you have completed a rough draft, you are ready to begin the process of revision and
moving towards completing a strong synthesized argument. I want to remind you of our class
discussion where I encouraged you to consider the word revision in a whole new context. Our
focus is on seeing our paper with fresh eyes. One of the most efficient ways to do this is to
engage in a peer edit with a partner. Not only will you be encouraging and assisting a
classmate, but, through this process, you will find your own writing has improved.
Objectives:
Through this activity, students will complete a peer edit of a partners paper in which they
evaluate the paper with a focus on the following areas:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Introduction
Argument
Development
Tone
Conventions

The Process
Step One: Take a few minutes and take turns talking. Voice any concerns you may have about
your paper to your partner. For instance, is there a particular section of the paper or aspect of
your argument you would like specific feedback on?
Step Two: Read your partners paper straight through without adding any comments verbally or
on the google doc. Think back to all the times we have analyzed an authors purpose. Can you
see the purpose in partners paper?
Step Three: The Introduction - Go back and reread your partners introductory paragraph.
Highlight or underline the hook in your partners paper. What can the writer do to further connect

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with the reader in the introduction? Underline the thesis statement. Judging by their thesis
statement alone, what argument is the writer making? How does the writer plan to prove his or
her argument to the reader? Remember our discussion about thesis statements and how they
function as roadmaps for the reader. Address these issues in the comments you leave on the
paper.
Step Four: Argument - Take a look at the writers argument. Did he or she convince you of the
merit of their argument? On their google doc, highlight the evidence the writer provides to
support the claim. Examine the quotations the writer chose. Do they further the writers
argument? What steps can the writer take to strengthen the argument? Address by adding
comments to your partners paper.
Step Five: Development of the Argument - This is a time to look closely at the body paragraphs.
Each should support the thesis statement. Is the argument presented logically from beginning to
end? Is there anywhere in the paper where the logic falters? Did the writer present the evidence
in such a way that it fully supported his or her argument? Does any of the evidence presented
require further explanation or analysis? Address this in your comments.
Step Six: Tone How would you describe the tone of this piece? Identify diction that you find
instrumental in creating the tone. Are there any words or phrases that could be replaced (check
for colloquialisms) to contribute to a more formal tone?
Step Seven: Conventions For this step, I would like you to check for the five most common
errors I see when I grade papers. They are as follows:
1. Second Person Point of View (As you can see . . ., When you study . . ., etc.)
2. Quotations that are not introduced
3. Information that is not cited correctly
4. Shifts between past and present tense
5. Solid transitions from one paragraph to the next.
Assessment
Share with me a copy of your partners rough draft with your comments via google docs. I will be
evaluating your editing suggestions using the rubric below:

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Phase 2: Evidence of Assigning:

This is a screenshot from my class Canvas page where the assignment is located.

Here is a link to the presentation I talked through with my students in order to guide them
through this process:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0f_RTMHGgtxT0VjYklKZ3RCSm8/view?usp=sharing
Student Example One:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xQS7ZZCjbngWzYK4BbF48XVLeizeM5oZZsCW_na2IxM
/edit?usp=sharing
Rubric With Score for Student Example One:

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My comments to the student:

Dear B.,
Thank you so much for your detailed feedback of K.s paper. It is readily apparent that
you took the time to read her paper thoroughly and worked to supply her with constructive
comments that will allow her to greatly improve her paper. I do want to point out that the
sentence K. used as her thesis was her research question. Remember, a thesis statement can
lead into a thesis, but cannot serve as a thesis. The thesis statement should always state our
position on our topics. Lets keep this in mind moving forward. Thank you so much!
Mrs. Finucan
Second Student Example:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lee7KXyF4FbxTwN0dTEhmevQjwposRDlCQ1xvtU3ukc/e
dit?usp=sharing
Rubric for Student Two:

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My Comments to Student Two:

Dear N.,
Thank you for reviewing A.s paper. You did a nice job catching several errors in conventions.
Perhaps most importantly, you pointed out that A.s thesis statement was not serving as
roadmap of the paper. There were two pages of her paper that have no comments. It is vital
when doing a peer review that we give due attention to each section of the work. I also noticed
that your stronger comments were made when we worked in class. The comments that you
added around midnight were more slapdash and I can imagine you were exhausted when you

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were adding them. Moving forward, it is vital that you allow yourself enough time and rest to give
your best to your assignments.
Link to Student Example Three (please see pages 1-5 only. These partners submitted both their
papers on one google doc.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pwcSeDV5qcReP51W67guPvohCinJ_kS7HTePqY1ltro/e
dit?usp=sharing
Rubric for Student Example Three:

My Comments to Student Three:

Dear S.,
Thank you for taking the time to peer review S.s research paper. After reading his paper myself,
I can see that it was a challenge. I applaud your detailed evaluation of his introduction. I also
appreciate the fact that you were able to reconize that S. needs more cited information to
support the assertions his paper is filled with. Where you lost some points was in the fact that

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your encouraged S. to correct his spelling and grammar, but did not point out what corrections
needed to be made. Going forward, please be as detailed as you can in assisting your peers.