Snapshot 8.8. Teacher Feedback in Grade OneKathleen, a first grader, is preparing to read aloud to her teacher. Before she begins, Mr.
Silverstein reminds her to think about the reading strategies they have been using. The text
states: Fish swim in the river. Kathleen, reading very slowly, says: Fish... swim... in...
the... water. No. That’s not water. It doesn’t begin with ‘w.’ R (says letter name) r (letter
sound)... i... v... River! Fish swim in the river. Mr. Silverstein provides feedback after
Kathleen finishes reading the sentence: You did a very good job of using your decoding
strategies to read the text accurately. Let’s keep on reading and while you are reading think
about whether what you are reading makes sense. It needs to! Also think about whether
what you are seeing (that is, the letters and letter combinations) matches with what you are
reading. You did that when you noticed that water could not be the right word. Water made
sense, but the letters indicated a different, equally sensible word: river.Peer Feedback
Peers are also sources of feedback for learning. Peer
feedback has a number of advantages both for those
students providing the feedback and those receiving it. It
involves thinking about learning and can deepen students’
understanding of their own learning. Research shows that the
individuals providing feedback benefit just as much as the
recipients because they are forced to internalize the learning
goals and performance criteria in the context of someone
else’s work, which is less emotionally charged than their
own (Wiliam 2006). The same three categories of questions
listed in the teacher feedback section apply to peer feedback.
Without clarity about the goal and the performance criteria,
peers find it difficult to provide useful feedback to each other.
Peers assess the status of classmates’ learning against the
same success criteria they use to check their own learning. Additionally, students need to learn to
provide constructive feedback, so teachers should instruct and coach students on this as well. Notably,
learners who become adept at giving and receiving feedback acquire valuable 21st century skills (NRC
2012).
Peer feedback has a number
of advantages both for
those students providing
the feedback and those
receiving it. It involves
thinking about learning
and can deepen students’
understanding of their own
learning.848 | Chapter 8 Assessment