A Letter to the Reviewer
Reflective
Writing
Mrs. Brown Language Arts
A Letter to the Reviewer…
• Is an important piece for your portfolio • Is scored on an equal basis with the other pieces in the portfolio
A Letter to the Reviewer…
• Provides an unifying factor that connects all the pieces in the portfolio • Turns a folder of your best pieces into a portfolio
A Letter to the Reviewer…
• Is designed for a student to assess him or herself as a writer
A Letter to the Reviewer is NOT…
• An opportunity to praise or criticize KERA • A generic description of stages in the writing process
A Letter to the Reviewer is NOT…
• A thank-you note to express gratitude to the reviewer for assessing your portfolio • An elaborate table of content listing and/or summarizing every portfolio entry
A Letter to the Reviewer is NOT…
• An evaluation of your teacher • A list of unsupported claims about your improvement as a writer
A Letter to the Reviewer is NOT…
• An unrevised, unedited piece written on the portfolio due date • A persuasive essay to convince the teacher how much you enjoy writing
A Letter to the Reviewer is NOT…
• A final attempt to “schmooze” the teacher into giving you an “A” • A voiceless response to every item listed above
Purpose of the Letter to the Reviewer
• A description of himself/herself as a writer including:
A) Goals as a writer B) Progress and growth as a writer through the year C) Who or what has influenced the writing process and growth D) Approaches used by the student when writing
Purpose of the Letter to the Reviewer
• Selection of portfolio pieces including:
A) How he/she arrived at his/her selections
B) Role of the writing folder in portfolio selections C) Prewriting/thinking about the topic(s) D) Revision strategies that were helpful
Purpose of the Letter to the Reviewer
• Selection of portfolio pieces including:
E) Editing strategies that were helpful
F) Kinds of changes made and reasons for those changes G) Influence of teacher/peer conferencing
Purpose of the Letter to the Reviewer
• Any other comments the student wishes to make about this year’s writing
Things to Remember
• The Letter to the Reviewer…
– Is the only piece written exclusively for the portfolio. – Students have only one Letter to the Reviewer, but have several choices regarding other categories
Things to Remember
• The Letter to the Reviewer… - Is the final piece for inclusion in the assessment portfolio! - is a self-assessment of the writer’s work