Free Essay Feedback: MLA Formatting
Ten free comments to use tomorrow!
MLA formatting is like potty training for essays.
Series Introduction. Many teachers grade essays with amnesia, habitually rewriting the same feedback essay after essay, year after year. Stop writing comments by hand! Predictable mistakes become predictable feedback. Comment sheets are not exhaustive, but save your exhaustion. Keep shifting your starting point forward through typed feedback. Just remember: Comment sheets are not bills. Always pair spoken feedback with typed feedback.
Check out the posts “Stop Grading Essays with Amnesia” and “Need Essay Feedback? Hit ‘Print’”.
Description. MLA formatting is simple. My middle school students learn it inside of a few tries. What do I tell them? Let’s say your teacher needs one page without formatting requirements. What if one student used size 48 font, triple spaced? (Not fair!) As a global format, this style levels the playing field, just as basketball courts and tracks and pools have uniform sizes. One page means one page.
How do I teach it?
Within the first ten days, we create a template together. They can duplicate it thereafter. I post it on Canvas for move-ins.
Tasks have embedded checklists for reenforcement. Everyone needs reminders.
I refuse to grade essays if they are not MLA formatted. As Michael Clay Thompson remarks, this is a serious matter.
Comments. Steal and adjust the following comments for tomorrow’s class. Feel free to embed them on prompt sheets or create a free flowing comment sheet. (Disclaimer: Predicting every mistake would be absurd, but these should account for basic mistakes.)
Essay not formatted. This response did not match the required MLA format. Go back and review formatting settings. Presentation matters!
Change the font. MLA formatting is a global standard. Go back and change the font to Times New Roman, size 12, with double spacing.
Properly format paragraphs. MLA paragraphs have a distinct look. Go back and change them to left-aligned and tabbed once without spaces in-between.
Change body spacing. MLA essays are double-spaced. Go back and change your formatting to match.
Change paragraph alignment. MLA essays feature left-aligned body paragraphs. Go back and change your paragraphs to match.
Fix the header. MLA essays have the same information to start. Match the following by line: (1) Your Name, (2) Teacher’s Name, (3) Class, (4) Due Date, (5) Title, (6) Essay starts.
Fix date formatting. MLA essays feature dates in the international format. Change your date from M/D/Y (Nov. 5, 1955) to D/M/Y (5 Nov. 1955).
Fix title formatting. MLA titles should start on line five, center aligned, without any further formatting. Make sure it is Times New Roman, size 12.
Add page headers. MLA essays have the author’s name and page number in the upper right header. Be sure to insert the page number instead of typing it!
Fix page header format. MLA page headers should match the body text as Times New Roman, size 12. However, word processors do not change the header with the body. Go back and fix the formatting.
Go Deeper.For many years students would either omit thesis statements or randomly place them. (Like Pin the Tail on the Donkey.) My interventions failed: targeted lessons, reading past essays, peer reviews, detailed checklists. All failures. Until one day, out of frustration, we tried this: Changing their font to red.
Red thesis statements jump out visually. Within seconds of reading a response, we can verify they (a) exist, (b) have the right location, and (c) have the right form.
Red thesis statements became a habit. This one stuck. When students would inevitably chat, they asked each other if they had their thesis statement.
I’m not sure if this is the “right” answer, but it has worked pragmatically. Like training wheels. I have thesis comments, so maybe I could devote a post to it?
