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Guest post by Ruth Greener, Teaching, Learning and Assessment Coordinator and Teacher of English, St. Andrews School, Green Valley Campus, Thailand |
I recently wrote two new Structured Peer Assessments to use in KS3 English.
- Honeydukes: “Write 100 words to advertise a brand new product that will go on sale in Honeydukes in Hogsmeade.”
- School Uniform: “Write 200 words to argue in favour of or against school uniform.”
Both SPA activities went well, but the shorter time worked better.
I used Honeydukes with Year 8 on a 25 minute timer. We’ve been reading Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban. They designed their products on paper in class and then did the SPA activity as a first draft, which went on to become a pitch for Dragon’s Den, an oral assessment.
With Year 9, School Uniform was a bridge from rhetorical speeches into a class debate on school uniform vs. dress code. I gave the students a bit longer (40 minutes), to construct a speech using some rhetorical techniques.
The time pressure is popular with students, and so is the recognition provided by the Judgement Rank.
I enjoyed being able to compliment students on their useful feedback for each other as well as embarrass the ones who were being lazy on that front. They hadn’t realised beforehand that I could look at everything once the activity was finished.
Yacapaca 