Peer Feedback for Poets

Overview

Lesson 7 of 9 in Poetry: Craft, Revise, Perform. Students practise giving kind, specific and useful feedback on a partner’s poem, focusing on clarity, impact, audience and purpose. They decide which feedback to use and record one revision goal.

Learning intentions

• WALT give respectful feedback using “Glow, Question, Suggest”.
• WALT explain how a poet’s craft choices affect meaning and impact.
• WALT consider whether a poem suits its intended audience and purpose.
• WALT use feedback to identify a clear revision goal.

Success criteria

• I can name one successful craft choice in my partner’s poem.
• I can ask a helpful question or make a specific suggestion.
• I can support my comment with evidence from the poem.
• I can choose a revision goal that will improve my poem.

Curriculum links

• Creating and shaping texts for a clear purpose and audience.
• Exploring how language features and structures create meaning and effect.
• Speaking, listening and interacting constructively with others.
• Reviewing, editing and improving writing through feedback and reflection.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Reconnect with the unit Open with the hook and learning intention slides. Display a short, deliberately unclear poem excerpt and ask: “What could the poet change to help the reader understand or feel more?” Briefly connect responses to clarity, impact, audience and purpose.

2. 5–15 minutes – Model useful feedback Use the Glow, Question, Suggest model slides to introduce:

• Glow: identify a successful choice.
• Question: ask about something you are curious about.
• Suggest: offer one possible improvement.

Model feedback on a familiar four-line poem. Think aloud: “I noticed the repeated word storm, which makes the feeling stronger.” Contrast kind, specific feedback with unhelpful comments such as “It’s good” or “Change everything”. Introduce the literary devices reference cards as an optional vocabulary support.

3. 15–20 minutes – Prepare for peer response Distribute the peer feedback and revision goal sheet. Students read the checklist and highlight or circle one craft feature they will listen for, such as imagery, repetition, rhyme, rhythm, word choice or line breaks. Remind students that the author owns the poem and chooses which feedback to use.

4. 20–38 minutes – Partner reading and feedback Place students in pairs. Partner A reads their draft aloud while Partner B listens without interrupting, then completes one Glow, one Question and one Suggest on the worksheet. Partner B should point to a word, line or feature as evidence where possible. Swap roles after approximately nine minutes.

Year 5 learners may use sentence starters and the simplified checklist: “I liked…”, “I wondered…”, “You could try…”. Year 6 learners should explain the effect of their comment using evidence, for example, “The repeated phrase makes the speaker sound determined.”

5. 38–48 minutes – Clarify and discuss Partners discuss their comments. Authors may ask, “Which line made you think that?” or “What would make this clearer?” The listener rereads the relevant line and explains their response. Circulate, prompt precise language, and check that suggestions relate to the poem’s audience or purpose rather than personal preference alone.

6. 48–56 minutes – Choose a revision goal Students complete the final section of the peer feedback and revision goal sheet. They record:

• feedback they will use;
• the exact part of the poem they will revise;
• what they hope the reader will understand or feel afterwards.

Emphasise that students do not need to accept every suggestion. Early finishers may make one small revision in a different-coloured pencil, without rewriting the whole poem.

7. 56–60 minutes – Share and reflect Return to the reflection and plenary slides. Invite several students to share a helpful feedback sentence or revision goal, without reading another student’s poem unless invited. Students complete an oral exit sentence: “The feedback I will use is… because…”.

Resources

• the poetry feedback lesson deck
• the peer feedback and revision goal sheet
• the literary devices reference cards
• Students’ current poetry drafts
• Teacher model poem or displayed four-line poem
• Pencils and coloured pencils
• Timer
• Whiteboard or shared display

Assessment

• Listen for feedback that is kind, specific and connected to a word, line or craft choice.
• Check worksheets for a Glow, Question and Suggest, with evidence expected from Year 6 learners.
• Collect or scan revision goals to assess whether students can connect feedback with clarity, impact, audience or purpose.

Differentiation

• Provide Year 5 learners with sentence starters, the simplified checklist and permission to give feedback orally before writing it.
• Challenge Year 6 learners to explain the intended effect of a craft choice and suggest an alternative that better serves the poem’s audience or purpose.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach clarity, impact, audience, purpose, evidence and allow them to rehearse comments with a partner before recording them.
• Support students with dyslexia, dysgraphia or language needs through enlarged text, reduced writing demands, oral recording or scribing. Pair thoughtfully and allow quiet listening space.