During the early part of the school year, I just grade the students’ annotations in the Article of
the Week. I rate them on a scale of 5 (excellent) to 1 (poor). I’m including 3 student samples
below for you to see. Later on in the school year, I’ll also grade their paragraph responses to the
article.
Adam: 5
� Above and beyond expectations: 8 comments on the first page alone
� Perhaps too much use of the highlighter, but he comments on everything he highlights
� Includes lots of statements, questions, and even a few outbursts like “You ought to
always do that!”
� Notes his sarcasm with *asterisks*
� Knows about Finland’s education system, which is not required, but a good connection
nonetheless
� While some of his annotations are very basic like “Hmmm…sounds fun,” he has many
analytical comments like “We would rather have kids who are ready not ones who drop
out.”
� Adam is very quiet in class. He rarely raises his hand during discussions, but he is
clearly engaged with this article, and I can see his personality.
Hayley: 5
� Includes many analytical questions like “How will we afford the technology?” and “Who
decides what matters more?”
� Does not use a highlighter, but does star important parts and does underline
� She questions the power of David Coleman
� She does not have nearly as many comments as Adam, but this is enough to merit a 5 for
the first Article of the Week. I will expect more out of her as the year progresses.
� Hayley is new to our district this year. She participates in class, but she is not
outspoken. Her sharp mind is evident in her annotations though.
Quinn: 4
� Her comments are responses to the text, not just summaries. She writes things like,
“Obviously the SAT isn’t as good if it keeps trying to be more like ACT” and “
� When she writes, “thats [sic] a negative,” she leaves out why it’s negative
� Like Adam, she highlights phrases and sentences and then annotates them
� She doesn’t annotate anything on the bottom of the 2nd
page and the top of the 3rd page
� Quinn is fairly outgoing in class, and she had to turn in her article a day early
because she was going to be gone on Friday for volleyball. Her comments are well
done, but she needs a few more. It seems like she skipped the third quarter of the
article.
Jason Stephenson [email protected] | Twitter: teacherman82 | blog: dcjason.wordpress.com
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