ABSTRACT
An important step of the writing process is to provide students with feedback on their essay responses to document-based questions. Students need honest and immediate feedback from their teachers if they are to grow as thinkers and writers. However, evaluating students' responses to document-based questions (DBQ) is sometimes as challenging for authors, as teachers, as writing good responses is for students. Of course, there are a number of rubrics can use to make grading students' writing as objective, accurate, and consistent as possible. In addition to grading essays yourself, you can have students grade their own essays or the essays of one of their peers. The exercise is very useful for helping students learn how to write essays that meet the requirements laid out in the rubric. Of course, it is a good idea to circulate among the students as they work and ask them to justify the points they award each essay.
