Student feedback is any comment that tells a student how their work compares with the goal and what to do next. The useful kind points to a place in the work, talks about the work rather than the student, and ends in an action the student can take while the task still matters. “Good job” and “needs more detail” point nowhere and ask for nothing.
Below are original feedback examples on writing, effort and participation, from second grade to twelfth, most of them shown next to the student work they respond to. After them come the frameworks teachers use to organize comments, all applied to the same seventh-grade paragraph so you can compare them. The students and their work are invented. Change the names and keep the moves.
What useful feedback does
In their 2007 review The Power of Feedback, John Hattie and Helen Timperley argue that good feedback answers three questions for the student: Where am I going? How am I going? Where to next? The first is the goal, the second is where the work stands now, and the third is the step that closes the gap. Most weak comments answer only the second question, and vaguely.
Grant Wiggins drew a similar line in 2012 between feedback, advice and evaluation. “Three of your four paragraphs open with a quotation” is feedback: it describes what happened. “Open with your own claim” is advice. “B+, nice work” is evaluation, which tells students where they rank and nothing about what to change.
Feedback can also backfire. A 1996 review by Avraham Kluger and Angelo DeNisi found that in more than a third of well-controlled studies, feedback made performance worse, often when it pulled attention away from the task and toward the person. In Claudia Mueller and Carol Dweck's 1998 experiments, fifth graders praised for being smart persisted less and did worse after a hard set of problems than children praised for their effort.
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| Instead ofGood job! | TryYour second example, the bus schedule, proves your point better than the first. Lead with it. |
| Instead ofNeeds more detail. | TryParagraph 3 says the experiment “went wrong.” Tell me what you measured and which number surprised you. |
| Instead ofAwkward. | TryRead this sentence aloud. Where do you run out of breath? Split it there. |
| Instead ofYou're so smart. | TryYou tried two methods before this one worked. Write down why the first one failed. |
| Instead ofParticipate more. | TryTomorrow, add one question to the discussion, even one you aren't sure about. |
| Instead ofWatch your grammar. | TryFour sentences on page 2 are run-ons. Find them and fix each one. |
Feedback examples for student writing
Comments on writing tend to pile up in the margins, where students skim them on the way to the grade. Pick one or two priorities per piece: the thesis before the commas. Each example shows the student's draft first, then the comment.
Thesis and argument
Draft: “Social media has both positive and negative effects on teenagers.”
Feedback: Your thesis names a topic but not a position, so I can't tell what the essay will prove. All three body paragraphs are about lost sleep, which tells me what you actually think. Finish this sentence and use it as your thesis: “Social media does more harm than good to teenagers because ___.”
Feedback: You give the opposing view one sentence and answer it with “but this is wrong.” A reader who holds that view won't move. State the best case for the four-day school week fairly, in two or three sentences (the attendance figures in your notes are a good start), then show where it falls short.
Evidence and analysis
Feedback: You end the paragraph on the creature saying “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel” and move straight on. That line is doing the work your paragraph should do. Add two or three sentences: who Adam is, who the fallen angel is, and what it means that the creature sees himself as the second. That explanation is the analysis.
Draft: “Sea otters are important because they help the ocean.”
Feedback: Help it how? Your notes say sea otters eat sea urchins. Use that: what happens to kelp forests when there are no otters to eat the urchins? Put that sentence after your first one and the paragraph proves its point.
Organization
Feedback: I read your topic sentences alone, in order: “Uniforms are cheaper.” “Some people disagree.” “Uniforms save families money.” The first and third make the same point. Merge those paragraphs, then use the space for the idea you only mention in your conclusion, that uniforms stop students being judged for their clothes.
Detail and style
Comments on style work best as a question the student answers in the draft. For younger writers the usual one is show, don't tell. For older ones it is often sentence length and readability.
Draft: “I was very scared when I got on the roller coaster.”
Feedback: I believe you were scared, but I can't feel it yet. What did your hands do? What did you hear as the car clicked up the first hill? Write two sentences that show me, and then you can cut “I was very scared.”
Feedback: Your first paragraph has four sentences of more than 40 words each. Read it aloud and mark every place you pause for breath. Most of those want a period. Keep the long sentence about the night shift at the bakery. It earns its length. The others don't yet.
Grammar and mechanics
Correcting every error teaches students that errors are the teacher's job. Name the pattern once, mark where it happens, and hand the fixing back.
Feedback: I put a dot in the margin beside six lines. Each of those lines has a comma splice: two full sentences joined by only a comma. Find and fix all six. Use a period for at least two, and join the others with “because” or “when” where the meaning fits. Bring it back Thursday.
An end comment on a full essay
Priya, the strongest part of this essay is your second paragraph. You took the district's own bus schedule and showed that a 50-minute later start needs no extra buses, which answers the main objection before anyone raises it. That's real argument.
The next step is the conclusion. Right now it repeats your introduction almost word for word. End instead on what should happen next, such as a one-year trial at your school, so the reader has something to do with your argument.
For your revision, rewrite the conclusion only. I'll read it Friday.
Feedback examples for effort and work habits
Praise for effort helps when it names something the student did and can do again: a strategy, a revision, a refusal to skip the hard problem. Praise for a trait (“you're a natural”) teaches the opposite lesson, that struggling means you don't have it.
Praise the process
- You checked your answer by working backward. That's how you caught the sign error.
- You rewrote the opening three times, and the third one hooks me.
- You asked for help after trying two things on your own. That's the right order.
Not the person
- You're so smart.
- You're a natural writer.
- See, math is easy for you.
You got stuck on number 6 and didn't skip it. You drew the two trains, saw they were moving toward each other, and that fixed it. Drawing the problem works on any word problem. Try it first next time.
Put this lab report next to your first one from September. Then, no measurement had units. Today every number has them, and your graph has labeled axes. Next step: write your conclusion before you look at anyone else's results.
You didn't just fix the commas I marked. You cut the whole second paragraph because it repeated the first. That's a harder edit than any comma, and the essay is better for it.
This project is shorter and less careful than your last two, which makes me think it was done in a hurry. What got in the way? Let's take ten minutes tomorrow and plan the next one together.
Three of the last five assignments came in late, and each time the work itself was solid. That tells me the trouble is planning, not the work. Before Friday, put the next two due dates in your planner and show me when you'll do each one.
Feedback examples for class participation
Participation feedback should name a behavior the student can repeat or try, not a score out of ten. Quiet students are often doing the thinking without the talking. Give them a small, private next step rather than a public nudge.
In Tuesday's seminar you connected Malik's point about the narrator to Ana's point about the ending. That's the hardest move in a discussion. Next time, ask a question of someone who hasn't spoken yet.
You had something to say on every question today, and most of it was good. The discussion needs more voices, though. Next time, wait until three classmates have spoken, and when you come in, start by responding to one of them.
Your exit ticket said you disagreed with the class about whether the treaty was fair, and your reason was a good one. Would you say it out loud tomorrow? I'll call on you after the first two speakers, so you'll know when it's coming.
Your group's poster is clear, and you kept the timeline on track. You also did most of the writing. On the next project, take the checker role: read every section and ask its author one question about it.
You looked at Sam while he talked, and then you said, “I agree with Sam because…” That's what good listeners do.
Feedback frameworks, compared on one paragraph
Frameworks save time and teach students what to look for in their own work. Here is one paragraph from a seventh grader, written for the principal, followed by the same feedback in each format.
Our school should start a garden. A garden would teach us where food comes from. In fourth grade we planted beans in cups and most of us forgot to water them and they died. A real garden would be different because we would have to take care of it every day. Also it would make the school look nicer. It would not cost a lot of money. In conclusion we should have a garden.
Glow and grow
One thing that works and why (the glow), one thing to change and how (the grow). “Two stars and a wish” is the same idea with two strengths. Both beat the feedback sandwich, whose praise students learn to skip while they wait for the “but.”
Glow: The bean story is your best evidence. It's yours, it's specific, and it shows why a garden you look after every day would teach more than a cup on a windowsill.
Grow: “It would not cost a lot of money” is the first thing the principal will question. Find one real price (seeds, soil or a raised bed) and add it.
Feed up, feed back, feed forward
Hattie and Timperley's three questions, written out in order: the goal, where the work stands, the next step.
Goal: a claim with two pieces of evidence that would persuade our principal.
Where you are: your claim is clear and the bean story is strong. “It would make the school look nicer” is an opinion, not evidence.
Next: replace that sentence with a fact the principal cares about, such as what the science classes could do with a garden.
Wise feedback
In a 2014 study led by David Yeager, seventh graders received critical comments on an essay along with a note saying the teacher had high standards and believed the student could meet them. Those students were more likely to revise, and their final drafts were better. The effect was largest for Black students. The note matters most when a student might read criticism as a verdict on them.
I'm being picky in these comments because this paragraph could actually change the principal's mind, and I know you can get it there. Two changes will do it: a real price for the garden, and a fact in place of “look nicer.”
Single-point rubric
A single-point rubric, popularized among teachers by Jennifer Gonzalez of Cult of Pedagogy, lists only the criteria for meeting the goal. You write what needs work on one side and what goes beyond on the other, so every comment is specific to this student.
| Needs work | Criteria | Beyond the goal |
|---|---|---|
| Needs work— | CriteriaClaim stated in the first sentence | Beyond the goalNames the audience: “our school” |
| Needs work— | CriteriaAt least two pieces of evidence | Beyond the goalBean story is personal and vivid |
| Needs work“Look nicer” is opinion; cost needs a number | CriteriaEvery piece of evidence supports the claim | Beyond the goal— |
| Needs workLast line repeats the first | CriteriaEnds with a reason to act | Beyond the goal— |
Peer feedback: praise, question, polish
Students give better peer feedback with sentence starters. This is the same job a critique partner does for a novelist, made small enough for a class period.
- Praise: The part that convinced me most was ___ because ___.
- Question: I wasn't sure what you meant by ___. Did you mean ___?
- Polish: One change that would make this stronger is ___.
Whole-class feedback
When thirty paragraphs share the same problem, write the comment once. Read the set, note the patterns, hand out one sheet, and teach a short lesson on the biggest gap.
- What most of you did well: a clear claim in the first sentence.
- The most common problem: opinions used as evidence (“it would be fun,” “it would look nicer”).
- A sentence to borrow from: “Last year our cafeteria threw away a full bin of fruit every day.”
- Your task today: find one opinion in your paragraph and replace it with a fact, a number or an example.
How to write your own student feedback
- Start from the goal
Reread the assignment's success criteria before you read the work. Feedback that isn't tied to the goal turns into a list of everything you noticed.
- Read once without a pen
Read the whole piece, then choose the one or two changes that would improve it most. Save the rest for the next assignment.
- Point to the place
Quote the sentence, number the paragraph or name the step. “Your second paragraph” is a location. “Some parts” is not.
- Write the next step as an action
Start with a verb the student can do: cut, add, move, test, ask. If they would need to ask what you mean before starting, rewrite it.
- Leave time to use it
Feedback nobody acts on is a grade with extra words. Give ten minutes of class time for revision, or ask for one rewritten paragraph by a set date.
Keep a comment bank
Most teachers write the same twenty comments every term. Keep them in one document, sorted by skill, and paste in the base comment before adding the specifics only you can see. The same bank feeds your report card comments at the end of the term. In Strokes the bank is a file on your own machine. Select a comment that has gone generic, press ⌘K and ask for a version that names a next step, or ask the AI Assistant whether a comment tells the student what to do. Check your school's policy before putting student work into any AI tool, and leave names out.
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of good feedback for a student?
Good feedback names something specific that worked, says why, and gives one next step. For example: 'Your bean story is strong evidence because it is specific and yours. The sentence about cost needs proof, so find one real price and add it.' It is about the work, not the student, and the student can act on it today.
How do I give constructive feedback without discouraging students?
Be specific about one or two changes, explain why they matter to a reader, and say plainly that you are pointing them out because you hold high standards and believe the student can meet them. Then give time in class to revise, so the criticism leads somewhere.
How many comments should I write on a student essay?
Fewer than you think. One strength and one or two priorities usually do more than a dozen margin notes, because students act on what they can hold in mind. Mark a recurring error once as a pattern rather than every time, and save other issues for the next piece.
Should written feedback come with a grade?
If your school allows it, return comments first and the grade later. In Ruth Butler's studies in the late 1980s, students who got comments alone improved more than students who got grades, and adding comments to a grade did little better than the grade alone. Many teachers release the grade after the revision.
