ELT365 · Day 203 — Teacher written feedback — minimal marking

Idea — Minimal marking uses codes in the margin (sp = spelling, gr = grammar, ww = wrong word) rather than rewriting learners’ sentences. It requires learners to locate and correct errors themselves, which is more memorable.

Example — Teacher writes ‘gr’ beside ‘She don’t like.’ Learner finds the error, identifies it as subject-verb agreement, corrects it. One minute of engagement versus one second of reading a correction.

Try — Choose four marking codes. Introduce them to learners before the next writing task. Use only those codes on their drafts. Set 10 minutes in class for learners to find and correct their errors.

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