Teaching Routines / Two Stars and a Wish
Two Stars and a Wish
Two things that worked, and one thing to change, about a partner's work or your own. It lives or dies on whether the stars say what was good rather than just that it was.
Free to try: running it on the board or printing the sheet uses one token. Every account gets 20 free tokens, and Pro gives 50 a day.
The template it prints (optional)
What is two stars and a wish?
Two stars and a wish is a feedback frame for peer and self-assessment: name two things that worked in a piece of work (the stars) and one thing to change (the wish).
You will also see it written as 2 stars and a wish. The two stars come first, so the child is still listening when the one wish arrives.
How do you run two stars and a wish, step by step?
Run two stars and a wish in three timed stages, about eleven minutes in all: read the work twice, write two stars and a wish, then say them face to face.
- Read it properly (four minutes). Twice: once to see if you liked it, and again to see why.
- Write it (four minutes). Two stars with a reason each, and one wish that names a change, not a fault.
- Talk it through (three minutes). Face to face, because a wish sounds kinder said than read.
The board shows each stage's timer and instruction, so you can walk round and listen. The printable is the template: four slips to a page, to cut out and stick in a book, with a star for each star, the wish, and the sentence starters for the age you choose.
Two stars and a wish examples for every subject
Two stars and a wish examples work best next to the empty version, so children see the difference.
| Subject | An empty star | A real star | A wish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writing | “I liked your story.” | “Starting with the dog barking at nothing made me want to know what it heard.” | “In the kitchen part, say what Mia could smell, not just what she saw.” |
| Maths | “Your working is neat.” | “Your bar model showed why you subtracted instead of adding.” | “Check each answer with the inverse. It would have caught question 4.” |
| Science | “Good experiment.” | “Every pot got the same water, so light was the only thing that changed.” | “Say which plant grew tallest, and by how much.” |
| Art | “It's really colourful.” | “The dark sky makes the lighthouse beam look brighter.” | “Make the front rocks bigger and sharper, so they look closer than the cliffs.” |
| Drama, in the Hot Seat | “You were good at acting.” | “When we asked why you ran away, you looked at the floor, and we believed you were ashamed.” | “You laughed when you got stuck. Stay in role, even if it's ‘I won't talk about that.’” |
| A spoken talk | “You spoke well.” | “Holding up the fossil as you said its age made everyone look at it.” | “Slow down on the numbers. I missed how many million years.” |
What are good sentence starters for two stars and a wish?
Good sentence starters for two stars and a wish make the child point at something and give a reason. As children get older, change the starters, not the frame.
- Ages 5 to 7, said aloud: “My favourite bit was… because…” Stars only, no wish yet.
- Ages 7 to 9: “The part where you… worked because…” and “Next time, try…”
- Ages 9 and up: “Your strongest line is…, because…” and “I got lost at…, so you could…”
A wish names a change, not a judgement. “Too short” is a judgement. “Add what she was thinking before she opened the door” is a wish.
Can children use two stars and a wish on their own work?
Yes, two stars and a wish works as self-assessment: children find two things they did well and one to improve before anybody else reads the work.
- Before handing in. They write two stars and a wish at the bottom, then make the change.
- An “I think / my teacher thinks” column. You write your stars and wish beside theirs. Where the two differ is the conversation to have.
- A star and a wish about the lesson. As an exit ticket: what helped them learn today, and what would have helped more.
- Marking against success criteria. Each star names a criterion met, and the wish is the next step. Star and wish marking stamps work the same way.
One star, three stars, or two wishes and a star?
One star, three stars, or two wishes and a star: each is a version of two stars and a wish that shifts the balance between praise and targets.
| Version | When it helps |
|---|---|
| One star and a wish | Younger children, or a quick check at the end of a lesson. |
| Three stars and a wish | A child whose confidence is fragile. |
| Two wishes and a star | Older pupils about to redraft, who want to know what to fix. |
| What Went Well / Even Better If | Written marking, and older pupils who find stars babyish. |
| Glow and Grow | A school that already uses those words. |
What goes wrong with two stars and a wish?
Most of what goes wrong with two stars and a wish starts with a rushed read, or with stars that never say what was good.
- The stars are empty praise. Require the because, and ban the word good.
- Three wishes creep in, and the child hears only criticism. One.
- It is handed over in writing and never discussed, so nothing is cleared up.
- Nobody agrees what a useful star is. Collect the stars, let the class pick the most useful, and make those the class's feedback rules.
Which year groups is it for?
Two stars and a wish works from the first years of school upwards. What changes is how much gets written.
| UK year group | US grade / Australian year | What to change | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years 1–2 | K–Grade 1 / Foundation–Year 1 | Two stars only, said out loud, no wish and nothing written. | 5 min |
| Years 3–4 | Grades 2–3 / Years 2–3 | Stars with a because, one wish, and the face-to-face stage. | 11 min |
| Years 5–6 and up | Grades 4–8 / Years 4–8 | The wish names an exact edit, made before the lesson ends. | 15 min |
The board runs the eleven-minute version, with +30s and Next phase to stretch or cut a stage. Older pupils need time afterwards to make the edit.
What else works like it?
Two stars and a wish is one of several routines where children check each other's work.
- Pass the Problem does it for method: each group checks the step before theirs, then adds the next.
- Explain & Record gives feedback on thinking as it happens, not on a finished piece.
- Whole-class feedback is faster, but no child has to judge anything themselves.
Free to try: running it on the board or printing the sheet uses one token. Every account gets 20 free tokens, and Pro gives 50 a day.
Written by a practising primary school teacher, and part of the free-to-try Teaching Routines set on Sage Teachers. Last checked September 2026. Everything here is free to try.