Guide to Student Commenting
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Guide to Student Commenting
Brad Wilson, WriteAbout
Comments are replies that you leave for other authors on their posts. They should be positive and helpful.
Why Comment?
Commenting is a fun part of writing online because you get to start or join a conversation. It feels good when we know other people have read our work and took the time to leave us a message. Plus, by commenting we are helping each other improve as authors.
Consider the audience:
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Do you know this person?
- Is this student in your school or class?
- Are they older or younger than you?
Things to avoid in comments:
- 1 word replies like “cool” or “awesome”
- Using ALL CAPS
- Using extra punctuation!!!!!!
In the past, I’ve allowed students to do these more informal “cool” or “awesome” responses, but I haven’t found them to be very successful or worthwhile with regard to actual engagement. I agree with the author.
Commenting Tips:
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Make a connection
- Have you experienced something similar to what they wrote about? What part of the post exactly made you think?
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No paragraph-level conversations. Start one.
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Give a suggestion
- You don’t always have to agree with the author or pretend that everything was perfect in the post.
- After you’ve told them something you liked in their writing, think about how you can leave a suggestion without sounding like a know-it-all.
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Ask a question
- This starts a conversation and gives the author a chance to reply with something they might have left out.
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End with encouragement
- It’s always great to end your comment with something that can boost the author up and give them the motivation to keep writing.
What posts to comment on:
- Find a variety of writing from your class and your groups
- Look for posts that have not received any comments yet
- Make sure you’ve read the entire post before commenting
The way you are represented in the comment section is also how others might discover your writing, so using good conventions not only helps the author to understand your feedback but also builds your reputation.
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Have fun reading writing from other students and leaving them comments!
TEACHER TIP:
Write About allows teachers to monitor and control their students' peer-to-peer commenting experience:
- Turn Comment Moderation on for your entire class or for individual students
- Approve your students' comments before they display for other students
- Remove other students' comments before they display for your students
Model commenting strategies with your students using an I Do, We Do, You Do scaffold!
The best use of this for my class is definitely if students wanted to print out their work. It is a cool tool, but I feel like familiarity with Google Docs trumps NowComment which is a little tougher to navigate
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