I have been working with the class reflecting on their fairy tales so far. I wanted to observe the students with their peer buddy to see how effective their reflective feedback is at present and to work on the areas that appear to be less helpful.
Prior to working with their buddies we revisited what effective feedback is and why it is important for their story writing. The students could articulate how useful it has been so far and they like it because people are being honest and helpful by giving some very helpful suggestions. They also have time to record the suggestions in their draft book before they listen to the other writers story. They said it was good because it keeps them focussed on their stories and they know they don't have to rush through just to get the job done.
We also reviewed the stories that have already been uploaded onto their wiki story page - the children immediately went into visualisation mode (they shut their eyes and really listen to the narrator trying to visualise the setting and the first main character). It's great to see Year 3 and 4 children can become completely absorbed into the stories being read.
We also discussed what feedback they have already received and how they think it has helped improve their descriptive writing. We also discussed how important it is to focus on the WALT and not on the spelling or punctuation for this online task.