Let’s Be Critics: Using Models and Exemplars
Overview
We all have opinions about what is good and what can be improved. Our learners also love to give their opinions about things. This strategy lets learners develop and articulate constructive criticism on examples and models of assignments, allowing them to identify what is good and what can be improved. This process can make expectations explicit and let learners define and identify what they are aiming for in their own work.
When reflecting on their opinion of what’s good or can be improved in sample products, they begin to define and clarify expectations for themselves. Before learners begin developing their own work (whether it’s an essay, report, a presentation, or a project), teachers can show models of what the end product looks like. However just seeing the end product may not automatically illustrate what goes into making a good project. If learners critique the model, deciding what they think is good and what they feel needs improvement, they not only see what an end product looks like, but define for themselves (with teacher guidance) the components of a good end product. This strategy is an excellent scaffold for project-based learning, written assignments, or any assignment that has an end product that learners develop.
Videos & Examples
What is the Let’s Be Critics Strategy? (2:12)
This video describes how this strategy can be used to help clarify expectations and support students on assignments they will be doing. Students review examples of an end product , identifying key components and sharing what they think is done well and what can be improved.
How can you integrate this strategy in the classroom?
The following illustrates how the “Let’s Be Critics: Using Models and Exemplars” video strategy can be used in a lesson to reduce barriers and address learner variability in alignment with the steps of the UDL Design Cycle.
| Goal for this lesson | This strategy is a scaffold that can be used within a lesson or larger instructional unit such as
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| Potential barriers to reaching this goal |
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| Learner variability factors | Some students:
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| Assessment | This strategy provides a great whole-class “temperature check” for the teacher. Based on the questions students are asking and the aspects they are identifying as they critique models and exemplars, the teacher can assess what more information they need in order to work on their assignments. |
| Methods |
This is a scaffold that lets students:
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| Materials | Models and exemplars of an end product of an assignment or project It is useful to have some exemplars as well as some models that include elements that can be improved. Remove student identifiers from models and exemplars to ensure that the constructive criticism is not about any individual but about the product. |
Classroom Vignette
This classroom vignette is adapted from the book UDL for Language Learners. (Torres & Rao, 2019)
Mr. Lopez is teaching his students about the genre of informative writing. Students will each write an informative piece independently to practice the skills they are learning. Mr. Lopez knows he has to provide support and scaffolding for language production, so he looks for opportunities to build students understanding of informative writing before they work independently.
He starts with a lesson that can reinforce expectations for a written essay and clarify the structure of informative writing pieces. He begins by explaining what informative writing is and asks students to recall what other informative writing pieces they have read recently. Students discuss what they have read in this class and others and discuss the purpose of informative writing.
Mr. Lopez has selected a few essays from prior years. Some are exemplars and some are models that have room for improvement . Mr. Lopez starts with an exemplar that has all aspects of an informative writing piece and is well written. He gives each student a copy and projects a copy on the classroom whiteboard. He asked to identify key areas of an informative writing piece (e.g., introduction, topic sentences, evidence). As a class, they discuss each part considering whether each one is clear and well-developed. Mr. Lopez guides the discussion, highlighting key aspects that he wants to reinforce. For example, he asks students to critique whether this essay includes an introduction that clearly states the topic. He asks students to assess whether each paragraph has a topic sentence, and whether there are sentences to provide evidence.
To make sure he is providing clear guidance for student, he highlights the topic sentences on screen and asks the students to find and highlight topic sentences throughout the essay on their printed copies. He continues this process of discussing the components of the exemplar with the class. During this discussion, Mr. Lopez asks targeted questions, guiding students to identify strengths and weaknesses in the essay. After they go through the exemplar, he has the students look at another model, one which has room for improvement, and discuss what they could add and do differently.
Students enjoy being able to grade and give feedback on areas they considered strong and weak. The activity also actively fosters interactions and communication skills. For the students who need support for writing skills, Mr. Lopez provides scaffolds. For example, after the class highlights an area of the essay, he calls on students to restate what the area was, providing additional sentence starters as needed (e.g., “The topic sentence is…”).
Throughout this process, Mr. Lopez reiterates the purpose of critiquing these essays. He makes it transparent that they can use what they just discussed to structure their essays.
How does this strategy support multilingual learners and students with disabilities?
This strategy aligns to the Foundations and Frameworks for supporting Multilingual Learners (MLLs) and Students with Disabilities in the following ways:
Content and Language Development | Comprehensible Input This strategy provides a way for students to engage in and process input related to an assignment. You may describe what is expected or have written criteria; by adding this mini-lesson to critique actual end products, you can further clarify instructions and expectations. Teachers can also embed mini-language lessons to clarify vocabulary or structures that students may need support understanding and that they may want to apply in their own writing/ language production. Support for language production This strategy can be used as a mini-lesson to support various assignments. In the process of critiquing examples as a whole class, students received targeted instruction on expectations. This can demystify what their end product should contain and build confidence about completing the assignment. Opportunities for feedback and practice The process of talking about models and exemplars helps develop language skills, both general and related to the specific assignment. For example, if students are writing in a specific genre, they can further understand the conventions of the genre as they listen to and participate in a class discussion on what is expected. By critiquing existing models, students engage in a feedback process that helps clarify what they need to do to self-assess and revise their own assignments. This helps to clarify for students what is expected in the revision process for their own work as well. |
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Universal Design for Learning | The Let’s be Critics strategy helps learners comprehend, act on what they learn, and self reflect. The strategy aligns to UDL guidelines related to the principles of Representation, Action & Expression and Engagement: Language and Symbols
The process of reviewing models and exemplars can make key points clearer and more explicit to learners. This can clarify vocabulary, structure of an assignment, and demystify what is expected for learners. UDL Guideline 3: Comprehension
By having an intentional and instructional conversation about the models and exemplars, we can highlight the key aspects expected in an assignment. This can be incredibly helpful for learners who may feel overwhelmed by the various aspects of a given assignment, guiding them on what is essential. After being part of a discussion and dialogue about what is expected, learners can transfer what they have learned to their own work. Action & Expression Guidelines Guideline 6: Executive Function
With a better understanding of what to aim for, learners can set goals for their own work. By looking at specific features of model assignments, they can plan and strategize how to tackle the assignment. As they work on their own assignment, teachers can discuss and remind students of the key features they noted in the models and exemplars class discussion. Guideline 9: Self Regulation
This strategy gives learners a way to feel empowered to start and do assignments on their own. Seeing what others have done and being clear on what is expected can reduce the uncertainty of knowing how to get started and what to do for an assignment. Learners can identify what they “can do” based on the models they have seen and gain confidence in their work. They can also assess their own work in relation to the models; teachers can provide learning-focused feedback as they work on their assignments and remind them of key features in the models, allowing learners to assess whether they have those features in their own work. |
Multilingual Learners and Students with Disabilities | The process of critiquing models and exemplars integrates all these strategies:
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Additional Resources
Putting learning science in practice: Using examples and non-examples
In this Dean’s for Impact blog, Rebekah Berlin describes the ways that examples can help students’ conceptual understanding and emphasizes the importance of providing varied examples to emphasize deep structures to students.
This page on the Teaching History website, describes how we can create and derive our understanding of concepts by looking at various examples. When students see multiple examples of a concept to be learned, they can see the common and key characteristics of the concept. This strategy of using models and examples is a way to foster concept formation.