These designations obviously depend upon many things, like the assignment, the grade-level of your students, and their individual concerns. If you’re in the middle of a unit on comma usage, it’s perfectly fine to call that a “higher” concern. But in general, a basic writing assignment should prioritize the higher concerns listed above.
Does the student address the prompt and fulfill the assignment effectively? Does the student think creatively? Does the student clearly state their argument, or thesis? Is the thesis developed over the course of the assignment? Does the writer provide evidence? Does the paper show evidence of organization and revision, or does it seem like a first draft?
Marking essays in pencil can suggest that the issues are easily fixable, keeping the student looking forward, rather than dwelling on their success or failure. Pencil, blue, or black pen is perfectly appropriate.
Be as specific as possible when asking questions. “What?” is not a particularly helpful question to scrawl in the margin, compared to “What do you mean by ‘some societies’?”
¶ = to start a new paragraph three underscores under a letter = to lowercase or uppercase the letter “sp” = word is spelled incorrectly word crossed out with a small “pigtail” above = word needs to be deleted Some teachers use the first page as a rule of thumb for marking later concerns. If there are sentence-level issues, mark them on the first page and then stop marking them throughout the essay, especially if the assignment needs more revision.
Use marginal comments to point out specific points or areas in the essay the student could improve. Use a paragraph note at the end to summarize your comments and direct them toward improvement. Comments should not justify a letter grade. Never start a note, “You got a C because. . . “. It’s not your job to defend the grade given. Instead, use the comments to look toward revision and the next assignment, rather than staring backward at the successes or failures of the given assignment.
If you struggle to find anything, you can always praise their topic selection: “This is an important topic! Good choice!”
When you give your first read-through, Try to determine what these three points might be to make it easier when you’re going through the paper and writing comments.
“In your next assignment, make sure to organize your paragraphs according to the argument you’re making” is a better comment than “Your paragraphs are disorganized. "
Thesis and argument: _/40 Organization and paragraphs: _/30 Introduction and conclusion: _/10 Grammar, usage, and spelling: _/10 Sources and Citations: _/10
A (100-90): Work completes all of the requirements of the assignment in an original and creative manner. Work at this level goes beyond the basic guidelines of the assignment, showing the student took extra initiative in originally and creatively forming content, organization, and style. B (89-80): Work completes all of the requirements of the assignment. Work at this level is successful in terms of content, but might need some improvement in organization and style, perhaps requiring a little revision. A B reveals less of the author’s original thought and creativity than A-level work. C (79-70): Work completes most of the requirements of the assignment. Though the content, organization, and style are logical and coherent, they may require some revision and may not reflect a high level of originality and creativity on the part of the author. D (69-60): Work either does not complete the requirements of the assignment, or meets them quite inadequately. Work at this level requires a good deal of revision, and is largely unsuccessful in content, organization, and style. F (Below 60): Work does not complete the requirements of the assignment. In general, students who put forth genuine effort will not receive an F. If you receive an F on any assignment (particularly if you feel you have given adequate effort), you should speak with me personally.
Some teachers like to hand out papers at the end of the day because they fear discouraging or distracting students during class time. Consider giving the students time to go through the papers in class and be available to talk about their grades afterwards. This will ensure that they read and understand your comments.
