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Peer assessment allows your students to work together on shared goals, reinforce assignments, strengthen skills and understanding, and reflect on their learning.
Whether you use a quick checklist or a comprehensive feedback process, peer assessment is always appropriate for any grade level or subject. Discover classic, creative, and formal ways for peers to evaluate each other’s work in your classroom, including printable feedback resources and easy-to-use teaching tips for new and veteran teachers alike.
Classical Peer Assessment for Students
Classics are always classics for a reason! These assessment strategies are tested in the classroom at all grades, making it easy for new teachers to add them to their curriculum. Use these peer assessment activities in situations where feedback is specific and needed in the next part of the learning process.
- Rubrics: Find or create rubrics that allow students to mark different parts of their assessment with their peers.
- Think-Pair-Share: After students review a peer’s work (Think), they talk to a feedback partner (Pair) before giving their assessment (Share).
- Traffic lights: Students rate peer feedback on the robots’ colors: Green means “Keep doing this,” yellow means “watch out for this,” and red means “Stop doing this.”
Teach students how to give feedback to peers
Students do not come ready to give each other feedback. In fact, some may find it difficult to tell the difference between “polite feedback” and “harsh criticism.” Help them understand the nuances of peer assessment with resources that limit their response options to build skills to give meaningful and constructive feedback to peers.
Student Feedback Peer-to-Peer Feedback Made Easy
Written by TeachaDoodle
Grades: Not an Exact Grade
Suitable for all ages, grades, and skill levels, this resource includes everything you need to teach students how to give appropriate feedback. With TAG (Tell Something You Liked, Ask Smart Questions, and Give Good Suggestions) feedback steps, a step-by-step anchor chart, student reflection sheets, and more, students will learn to give helpful, constructive feedback that can really help their peers.
Programmable Peer Feedback Sentence Starters – Tool to Support Peer Feedback
Through an Organized Group of Teachers
Grades: 3-6
Topic: Writing
Do your students need a little help getting started with peer feedback? Use 26 sentence starters and editable sentence starter templates to give them ideas when responding to their peers. Each addresses a different type of feedback that peers can use to improve their work.
Peer-to-Peer Evaluation of Art
If you’re looking for new ways for students to give each other feedback, it’s time to get creative! These peer assessment techniques challenge students to think outside the box while creating a classroom community where students feel comfortable offering their opinions (and accepting others).
- Leave a review: Have students write reviews of their peers’ work in the style of product reviews, movie reviews, or game reviews.
- Student interviews: Allow pairs to discuss in front of the class to give feedback on each other’s work.
- Drawing Answer: Let students express their response creatively by drawing, painting, or sketching their impressions.
Encourage inquiry-based learning in peer assessment
Successful peer assessment activities encourage students to be curious about the choices others have made on the assignment. Use questioning student feedback resources to encourage a sense of wonder in the process, and show that constructive criticism doesn’t have to be cruel.
Peer Response Activity • Cake Analysis • Writing Activity
Written by Expressive Monkey – Junior Art Teacher’s Assistant
Grades: 2-6
Topic: Writing
Standards: CCSS W.2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 6.5
Everyone loves cake! Aligned with CCSS for writing and designed for beginning writers of all skill levels, this peer assessment tool encourages students to provide both constructive and critical feedback. A beautiful cake design makes peer feedback so much fun!
Rapid Peer Assessment for Students
Want to bring more peer assessment into the classroom but feel strapped for time? Find ways for students to provide prompt feedback throughout the day that is useful and time-efficient.
- Elbow Partners: Have students review work from their “elbow partner” (the person sitting at their elbow) in a quick five-minute peer review session.
- Response from Carousel: Hand out sticky notes, have students draw happy faces on themselves, and let them place happy faces on their favorite pieces of their peers’ work as they go around the classroom.
- Golden Lines: Let students choose their favorite line from their peers’ work and share it with the class.
Use checklists to facilitate student response
Peer review doesn’t have to be novel to be useful! Use student response checklists to communicate important information without taking up too much classroom time. The checklist is perfect for students who are building feedback skills and new teachers who need a few tools in their assessment toolbox.
Narrative Peer Grading and Feedback Checklist
By Teatime Teacher
Grades: 3rd-5th
Topics: Creative Writing
This complete response checklist allows student editors to note what their peers have done well in their fiction writing. The resource includes areas for noting narrative elements, spelling and punctuation errors, and suggestions or ideas for the writer to improve their work.
Incorporate peer assessment into your classroom decor
Every new or returning teacher knows that classroom decorations are a timeless teaching aid. Silently, your bulletin board reinforces important concepts as you teach your lessons – and peer assessment can be one of those concepts. These resources are great reminders for students as you bring more peer assessment activities into your education.
Peer Assessment Classroom Demonstration
With Michelle’s New Ideas
Grades: 3rd-7th
Topic: English language arts
Add peer review reminders to your bulletin board using the handy reminder tool. Many speech bubbles serve as sentence starters for students to refer to when giving positive feedback to their friends.
Formative Peer Assessment of Students
In long-term, structured activities, peer assessment can be an exemplary collaborative learning strategy. They encourage both writer and editor to work together toward the common goal of better understanding and a stronger final product. Formal peer evaluations are also excellent opportunities for older students to find the necessary balance between praise and constructive criticism.
- Portfolio thinking: Have students reflect on their peers’ portfolios of work with feedback and suggestions specific to specific skills.
- Answer Discussions: Form groups of students to provide feedback on major projects before the deadline.
- Group Assessment: After the group project, allow students to review their peers’ work and participate in the creative process.
Equip students with long form peer assessment
After students have completed the in-depth projects, it is time for the peer assessment step. Add structure to student response with forms that focus more on student work, taking the pressure off student planners to write long responses.
Peer Review Form: Projects, Gallery Walks, or Presentations
By EngineerDoesEducation
Grades: 5th-12th
Subject: Science
Bring students into the evaluation process during your next class presentation or gallery walk assignment. A half-page peer assessment form encourages middle school and high school students to address the TAG components of other students’ work, allowing them to provide valuable feedback that peers can use moving forward.
Tips for Using Peer Assessment in the Classroom
Peer assessment activities have great benefits for students of all ages. Not only do students have the opportunity to reflect on their work and help peers strengthen their skills, but they are also empowered to take responsibility for their own understanding – and to pass that understanding on to their classmates.
Use these tips and strategies to implement when you deliver more peer assessments so students can develop into full-fledged learners.
- Model the difference between helpful feedback and unhelpful criticism from students, perhaps on your own work or work from years past.
- Make peer assessment a regular part of your classroom culture and practices.
- Teach students to reflect on the answer and choose the parts they really want to follow.
- Answer the answers you want students to give until they are ready to generate their own answer.
- Use a variety of peer assessment techniques to ensure students are able to communicate in a variety of ways.
- Incorporate student communication skills into your procedures, such as using eye contact, using polite language, and asking follow-up questions.
Organize classroom interactions with TPT
When you use high-quality peer assessment activities in the classroom, you encourage independent learners, collaborative work, and the shared value of teamwork and higher understanding. Students put more thought and reflection into their work when they know their peers will see it and when they get a chance to see their peers’ work, too! Get more peer assessment resources for easy use in the classroom, and enjoy increased student productivity and friendships throughout the year.
