Writing: Peer Editing
WORLD HISTORY PROJECTAP/ LESSON 8.9ACTIVITYWRITING: PEER EDITINGUnless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “Writing: Peer Editing”, OER Project, https://www.oerproject.com/1PurposeAt this point in the course, you’ve probably reviewed and revised student essays based on different rows of the WHP LEQ Writing Rubric. In this activity, you’re going to do this again, but this time with one of your classmate’s essays—and using the entire rubric. While it’s helpful to break down the different elements of writing to understand them better, it’s also important to take the rubric as a whole and consider how all of the elements work together to really solidify an argument.ProcessIn this activity, you’re going to analyze and edit a classmate’s essay based on the WHP LEQ Writing Rubric. Before you start this process, keep in mind that writing is like most skills—whether playing an instrument or a sport—you can always get better. The feedback you provide for your peer’s essay will only help their writing improve, and the feedback you receive will make you a stronger writer. Don’t think of feedback as criticism! Even professional athletes have coaches to help them improve—it’s hard to get better at anything without feedback.Start by taking out the graded Unit 6 LEQ (or another LEQ of your teacher’s choosing), the Writing—Peer Editing worksheet, the WHP LEQ Writing Rubric, and the Sentence Starters worksheet. Swap essays with the classmate your teacher has paired you with. Once you’ve done an initial review of your classmate’s essay, follow the directions on the worksheet. The sentence starters are available to you as a resource in case you need help thinking of ways to edit your classmate’s work.First, address claim/thesis. Identify the thesis or major claim in the essay and add it to the worksheet. Then, rewrite the claim to improve it.The second step is to look for contextualization. Find where your classmate incorporated historical contextualization into the essay and evaluate whether the context relates the topic of the prompt to broader historical events, developments, or processes that occur before, during, or continue after the time frame of the question.Then, write the original contextualization section (or an abbreviated version) on the worksheet, and provide suggestions for improvement.Third, look at the evidence used in the essay. Make sure the essay cites sufficient and appropriate examples of evidence to support its claim, and supports an argument relevant to the prompt. Then, find one area where use of evidence could have been better, and write the original and revised statements on the worksheet.Fourth, examine the essay for historical reasoning. Make sure the essay successfully uses the correct historical reasoning (such as causation, comparison, or CCOT) to frame or structure and develop an argument that is relevant to the prompt. Then, improve upon one area in the essay where historical reasoning could be strengthened and add your suggestion for improvement to the worksheet.Finally, examine your classmate’s essay for complexity. Find one area they can improve upon in terms of the ways in which complexity can be demonstrated according to the rubric, and write the original and improved sections on the worksheet.Note: If you feel that the essay is perfect in an area of the rubric, write a statement using specific rubric criteria to point outfeatures of the writing that make it exemplary in that area.Once you’re done, you’ll meet with your classmate and share feedback with each other. Be sure you have some positive feedbackto give along with your suggestions for improvement!
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 8.9ACTIVITYWRITING: PEER EDITING2Directions: Identify a sentence (or sentences) in your peer’s essay for each of the categories below. Copy the text into the space for original text. Then, revise that section of the essay to improve it! If there is any area of the essay you feel does not need revision, instead of providing the original and revised text, provide an explanation, pointing out the specific features of their writing—connected to specific rubric criteria—that make it exemplary.Step 1: Claim and FocusOriginal major claim:Revised major claim:
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 8.9ACTIVITYWRITING: PEER EDITING3Step 2: ContextualizationOriginal contextualization text (provide an abbreviated version if it is lengthy):Revised contextualization text:
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 8.9ACTIVITYWRITING: PEER EDITING4Step 3: EvidenceOriginal evidence text:Revised evidence text:
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 8.9ACTIVITYWRITING: PEER EDITING5Step 4: Historical reasoningOriginal historical reasoning text:Revised historical reasoning text:
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 8.9ACTIVITYWRITING: PEER EDITING6Step 5: ComplexityOriginal text:Revised text: