in an eighth grade writing class the students are learning how to construct an
argument. They are focusing specifically on speech-writing and have examined
several effective speeches, both from prominent speech-makers in history and
from previous years’ eighth grade students.
This is a great way to give feeback on a weak element in writing because it causes interaction with the student, dialogue, reflection, and revision. One can be sure that with this simple question the student will revise and, in turn, grow as a writer.
Again, I think we know we're right on when it comes to assessment tasks which provide these real-life learning situations. We're to prepare kids for the real world and students crave realness yet it seems to be challenging for us to do in education consistently.