Deliverable

🗂️ Belonging Zine Critique Round

Competencies Content Expertise Effective Communication Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Academic Mindset Collaboration

Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.5 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.1 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.5

Elements Product Assessment Reflection Core Content Essential Question Critique and Revision

Settings Submission Required Grading Required

Students bring their current anthology booklet or zine pages, including the personal narrative draft, text evidence insert, and author’s purpose statement, to a structured peer critique. Using a feedback protocol and colored sticky notes, each student gives feedback to 2 peers, receives feedback, and revises one section during class based on comments about evidence, voice, clarity, and belonging. Students must point to specific lines, quotations, or craft choices when commenting so the critique stays grounded in the actual draft.

Plan day

Day 13

Duration

45 min

Grouping

Small Group

Steps

6 steps

Lesson plan

6 steps · 45 min

#	What teachers do	Time
1	Open the critique round by posting the feedback focus areas—evidence, voice, clarity, and belonging—then model one brief example of feedback that names a specific line, quotation, or craft move and explains its effect on purpose and audience. Review norms for active listening, kind specificity, and asking clarifying questions before students place their zine pages and colored sticky notes at their tables.	7 min
2	Students complete a silent gallery read of their first partner's zine pages, including the personal narrative draft, text evidence insert, and author’s purpose statement, and leave color-coded sticky notes tied to the focus areas. Each comment must point to a specific sentence, quotation, or craft choice and note how it helps or confuses the idea of belonging.	8 min
3	Run the first peer conference. Partners discuss the sticky-note feedback, with the writer first naming the section they most want help with and the reviewer building on their written comments by asking at least one clarifying question and offering one rubric-aligned suggestion for revision.	8 min
4	Rotate to a second peer and repeat the critique process with a new draft set. Students read, annotate with colored sticky notes, and discuss one strength and one next step connected to evidence, voice, clarity, or audience, again grounding each comment in the actual draft.	10 min
5	Students return to their own zine pages, sort the feedback they received, and choose one high-impact revision to make immediately in either the personal narrative, text evidence insert, or author’s purpose statement. They revise directly on the draft or device and add a short note explaining which peer comment they used and why.	8 min
6	Close with a quick pair-share and exit reflection in which students state the revision they made, describe how it better answers the question of belonging, and set one goal to carry into the next activity with local writer revision notes.	4 min
	Total	45 mins

Preparation (8 items)

Print or queue a visible critique protocol with sentence stems for citing lines, quotations, and craft choices, including prompts such as "In line __, I noticed..." and "This helps me understand belonging because..."
Prepare color-coded sticky notes or labels for the four feedback categories: evidence, voice, clarity, and belonging.
Arrange student pairs and rotation order in advance so each student gives feedback to two peers and receives feedback from two peers within the class period.
Ensure each student has access to their current folded booklet or zine pages, including the personal narrative draft, text evidence insert, and author’s purpose statement, plus pens, pencils, and revision tools.
Post or project a simplified rubric-aligned checklist focused on purpose, audience, text evidence, craft, and clarity so students can anchor comments to the final anthology assessment.
Select and prepare one short teacher-model excerpt that demonstrates strong, specific critique grounded in the draft rather than vague praise.
Set up the room for quick partner conferences with enough table or wall space for students to read drafts comfortably and move efficiently between rounds.
Prepare support options for diverse learners, such as printed sentence frames, a feedback checklist, highlighted sections for focus, and an extension prompt for students ready to revise more than one section.

Student-facing instructions

You will bring your current zine or anthology pages: your personal narrative draft, text evidence insert, and author’s purpose statement. Your task is to participate in two critique rounds with two different classmates. First, you will read a peer’s draft closely and leave color-coded sticky-note feedback about evidence, voice, clarity, and belonging. Every comment must point to a specific line, quotation, or craft choice in the draft. Then you will discuss your feedback with that peer, ask at least one clarifying question, and explain one suggestion that could help the writing better reach its purpose and audience. After two rounds, you will review the feedback you received, choose the most useful suggestion, and revise one section of your own zine during class. You will need your draft pages, sticky notes, and a pen or pencil. The goal is to strengthen your anthology pages so they more clearly communicate belonging and are ready for the next revision round.

Success criteria

You are successful when you: give specific feedback to two peers using the critique protocol; write comments that cite actual lines, quotations, or craft choices from the draft; discuss feedback respectfully by listening, asking at least one clarifying question, and explaining your thinking clearly; receive and sort peer feedback across the focus areas of evidence, voice, clarity, and belonging; revise at least one section of your own personal narrative, text evidence insert, or author’s purpose statement during class; and name how your revision better addresses purpose, audience, or the essential question of belonging.

Facilitator notes

Keep the pace tight and visible with a timer for each round so students have enough time to both discuss and revise. Adolescents often default to vague praise, so model and reinforce feedback that is specific, text-based, and useful. Circulate during conferences to prompt students to cite exact lines and to push beyond comments like "add more detail" toward comments like "In the second paragraph, the dialogue shows conflict, but the connection to belonging is still unclear." If students struggle, assign one focus category only for their first round or provide sentence frames and a checklist. For multilingual learners or students who need more support, allow oral rehearsal before writing sticky-note comments and highlight one section of the draft for targeted critique. For students ready for more challenge, ask them to identify patterns across the three anthology components and suggest a revision that improves cohesion across the whole zine. Watch for common pitfalls: spending too long reading, commenting only on surface errors, or revising without choosing the highest-impact feedback. If time gets tight, shorten the second conference discussion slightly but preserve the independent revision segment, since immediate revision is essential to the purpose of the activity and the writing standards.

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