Hemingway App is a website where students can get some specific feedback before submitting their paper to me. This site, great for upper elementary or middle school students, is very easy to use.
Students visit the site, click "write," delete the text present, and copy/paste their own text. That's it. The website will provide color-coded highlights to point out possible areas of concern.
- red highlighting means a complicated sentence (or a run-on)
- blue highlighting indicates an adverb, which could be eliminated if a stronger verb was used
- purple highlighting shows a lengthy word, and if students hover over it, the site provides alternate suggestions
- green highlighting indicates a passive voice
The readability level could be used to differentiate reading passages for students as well. Teachers could copy and paste a passage into the site, and then adjust the language to reduce the readability.
This website is very simple and easy to use. It provides a good start for students seeking feedback. For secondary or high school students, PaperRater.com is a better alternative.