7.1 – Model Sentence Starters:
7.1.1 – Positive Feedback Sentence Starters
This is quality work because…
Your thinking shows…
Two things you really did well are…
When explaining you…
Thank you for…
Your thinking shows…
I like the way you ….
You chose great words here ….
You have no problem at all with …
You made a strong argument here…
7.1.2 – Constructive/Critical Feedback Sentence Starters
I appreciate _____, the next step might be …
I noticed _____, but I wish….
Your writing tells me…
One thing to improve on…
Your need more…
You need less…
Your next steps might be…
You might try…
One point that was not clear to me was…
The argument would be stronger if …
Another way to do it would be …
What if you said it like this …
7.2 – Alternative Strategies to TRY
7.2.1 – TAG!
T: Tell something you liked. (ex: I could connect with…)
A: Ask the writer a question. (ex: Did you consider…?)
G: Give the writer a positive suggestion. (ex: You might want to change…)
7.2.2 – QUACK BACK
Q: Question (One question I have is…)
U: Understand (Help me understand…)
A: Agree/Disagree (I agree/disagree because…)
C: Compliment (I think you…)
K: Know More (I would like to know more about…)
7.2.3 – Growth Mindset Sentence Stems
Rather than praising students for “being smart” or completing a task quickly, appreciate effort and persistence. The sentence stems below encourage students to take on new challenges, rather than to fear failure.
• I like that you took on that challenging project!
• It will take a lot of work, but you’re going to learn a lot of great things.
• I’m really excited you are stretching yourself and working to learn challenging things.
• I really admire the way you concentrated and finished that.
• That picture has so many beautiful colors. Tell me about them.
• You put so much thought into this.
• The passion you put into that gives me a real feeling of joy. How do you feel about it?
• Whoops. I guess that was too easy. Sorry for wasting your time. Let’s do something you can really learn from.
• I can see you are working hard. You must feel proud.
• I can see you put a lot of effort into that.
• I liked the effort you put in, but let’s work together some more and figure out what it is you don’t understand.
• It may take more time for you to catch onto this and be comfortable with this material, but if you keep at it like this you will.
• Everyone learns in a different way. Let’s keep trying to find the way that works for you.
• I’m proud that you’ve stuck to it and kept learning.
