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 Stephenson.jason@gmail.com | Twitter: teacherman82 | blog: dcjason.wordpress.com