Give Feedback, Improve

Overview

In the final lesson of the retelling unit, students complete and strengthen their fairy-tale drafts. They use a structured peer-feedback routine, revise purposefully, proofread with a checklist, and reflect on how one change improved their writing.

Learning intentions

• WALT complete a clear fairy-tale retelling with an effective transformation.
• WALT give kind, specific and useful feedback.
• WALT use feedback to improve characterisation, setting, sequencing and sentence conventions.
• WALT explain how a revision makes our writing more effective.

Success criteria

• I can identify two strengths in a partner’s writing.
• I can offer one specific, actionable suggestion.
• I can revise at least one section using feedback.
• I can proofread for structure, clarity, detail, sequence and sentence conventions.

Curriculum links

• English — describing how authors use characterisation, setting and plot to shape meaning.
• English — identifying and summarising key ideas and themes, explaining how supporting details connect them.
• English — identifying text forms created for particular purposes and explaining how these shape the audience’s experience.
• Key competencies — managing self, relating to others, and using language, symbols and texts.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Retrieve and focus. Open with the retrieval and learning-intention slides and ask: “What makes a retelling feel like a complete fairy tale?” Students silently recall the story structure from the unit, then share one feature with a partner. Briefly establish that today’s goal is improvement, not simply correction.

2. 5–10 min · Model useful feedback. Display the feedback model in the peer-feedback model. Think aloud using a short sample paragraph: identify a precise strength, link it to the reader’s experience, then give one suggestion beginning “You could improve this by…”. Model kind language and explain that feedback must be about the writing, not the writer. Students help turn a vague comment such as “Make it better” into a specific suggestion about detail, sequence or clarity.

3. 10–15 min · Finish the draft. Distribute the draft completion and feedback sheet. Students independently complete any unfinished sections of their retelling, using the prompts to check that the original fairy-tale problem has been transformed and resolved. The teacher conferences briefly with students who need help, while a visible timer and quiet music support focused work. Students may use speech-to-text or dictate ideas before writing if this is part of their usual classroom support.

4. 15–27 min · Partner feedback carousel. Students sit with a partner and exchange drafts. Following the steps on the partner-feedback instructions, Partner A reads their retelling aloud, while Partner B follows the text and records two strengths and one actionable suggestion on the draft completion and feedback sheet. Partners then swap roles. Feedback must address at least three of these areas: fairy-tale structure, transformation, character or setting detail, sequencing, and sentence conventions. Students ask one clarifying question before responding. The teacher circulates, prompting specific evidence: “Which words show that?” or “Where could the reader become confused?”

5. 27–39 min · Revise and proofread. Students choose one or more feedback points to act on and revise directly in their drafts. Encourage them to add precise details, reorder a confusing event, clarify the transformation, strengthen a character’s response, or correct sentence boundaries and punctuation. Students then complete the proofreading checklist on the proofreading and reflection section. Use a two-minute movement reset halfway through this step: students stand, stretch, and return ready to reread. The teacher supports students with dyslexia or APD through oral instructions, enlarged text where needed, and one instruction at a time.

6. 39–45 min · Reflect and share. Show the reflection prompt in the revision reflection and closing slide. Students complete: “The change that made my retelling most effective was ___ because ___.” In pairs, students read their reflection and one improved sentence aloud. Invite two or three students to share examples, then collect drafts and worksheets for assessment.

Resources

• the complete feedback and revision slide deck
• the draft completion and feedback sheet
• Students’ fairy-tale drafts
• Coloured pens or highlighters
• Visible timer
• Exercise books or devices with text-to-speech/speech-to-text as required
• Teacher conferencing notes

Assessment

• Listen during the model and partner exchanges for feedback that is kind, specific, evidence-based and actionable.
• Check drafts for a clear transformation, coherent sequence, character and setting detail, and evidence of purposeful revision.
• Use the final reflection to identify whether students can explain how a particular change improved meaning or reader understanding.

Differentiation

• Provide sentence starters: “A strength is…”, “This is effective because…”, and “You could improve this by…”. Allow students to give oral feedback before recording it.
• Pair students deliberately and provide a quiet feedback space for learners who are easily distracted. Use short, repeated instructions, visual steps and a timer for students with ADHD or APD.
• For dyslexic learners, offer a dyslexia-friendly checklist, coloured overlays or digital text-to-speech, and assess ideas separately from spelling where appropriate. Permit typing, speech-to-text or scribing.
• Support revision by directing students to improve one manageable section first. Extend confident writers by asking them to revise for a deliberate effect on mood, tension or the reader’s expectations.