ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS RESOURCES

Peer feedback can also be given using the computer. Soven (1999) discusses an "electronic read-around" which can be done in a computer lab. In this process, each student brings his or her writing up on the screen of a computer. Students then move two or three chairs away to a classmate's paper. After reading the entire text, the peer reviewer adds comments to the paper using the Caps Lock key to make the comments stand out. After several seat shifts (approximately 10 minutes each), students have received several reviewers' comments and can print these out for revision ideas. Another way to use computers during revision is to have students read the essays of two or three members of the class and send an email message discussing responses to the essay or engage in an instant message conversation about the writing.

Example
Physical Science teachers have found the Rube Goldberg's drawings of home-made inventions that go through many steps to achieve simple goals to be a good inspiration for writing (Worsley and Mayer, 2000; Topping and McManus, 2002). This activity requires students to use their knowledge about simple machines to satirize technology. Students explore the drawings at http://www.rubegoldberg.com, draw a cartoon in the style of Rube Goldberg, write a long caption describing the device they created, and turn the product into a poster to be hung in the classroom or school hallway. Peer response groups can be used at the beginning of the process when students are coming up with ideas for their machines, during the process when they are checking out the "logic" of their steps, or near the end of the process when they need feedback on the clarity and satirical effect of their written explanations.

Example
In Civics & Economics, students are asked to write a cause and effect essay to be delivered as a speech to a group of stock holders on how the media can affect a stock's worth. In peer response groups students use three different color highlighters to give feedback to each other. Blue indicates information that is considered a "cause," pink indicates "effects," and yellow indicates "details." The writer then reviews his or her speech to see that he or she has dealt with both causes and effects and has developed the discussion with details.

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