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07 Revising and Editing

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039
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Write on Track

Revising and Editing Opening Page

Start-Up Activity

Revising is a very important part of the writing process. Not only because it provides an opportunity to make a draft better, but also because it frees the writer to try different things during the drafting step.

Share with the class a brief story that contains a few obvious problems with its structure and ideas. Ask students what changes they would make to improve the story. Inform students that making changes and improvements—as they have been doing in this activity—is what revising is all about. Then read and discuss the chapter introduction.

Think About It

“One thing revising shows you is that there are usually many ways to say the same thing.”

—Nancy Garden

You are viewing: 07 Revising and Editing

06 Writing a First Draft
08 Publishing Your Writing

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State Standards Covered in This Chapter

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.4

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.5

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.1

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.2

Page 031 from Write on Track

Revising Your First Draft

Page 31 provides students with five important steps to follow when revising a first draft. Review each step, stressing the importance of getting peer input (step 2). Reference pages 35–37 for more information about peer sharing.

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Page 031 from Write on Track

Checking Your Organization

This page reviews the three main parts of a piece of writing—the beginning, middle, and ending. After discussing the examples, review the paragraph the class wrote for page 31. Ask students if there is a better way to state each part.

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Page 033 from Write on Track

Bringing Your Writing to Life

Read and discuss “Show, don’t tell” on page 33. Then display the two telling sentences below, and have students rewrite each one so that it does more showing. Ask for volunteers to share their showing sentences for discussion.

  • Recess was fun.
  • My grandma is nice.

Read and discuss “Use the five senses.” Refer to the paragraph on page 56 for another example. Then have students use sensory details to describe their favorite meal. Ask for volunteers to share their sensory writing for discussion.

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Page 034 from Write on Track

Revising Guide

Read and review this guide to revising. Note that the checklist relates to the information in “Qualities of Writing,” pages 18–21. Also point out that students should turn to this page whenever they need a complete revising guide. Model the use of this checklist and then have students use it for a piece of writing they are working on.

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Page 035 from Write on Track

Revising with Partners

Read aloud about how peer revision works. After discussing this page, ask students to share experiences with revising with partners. If students are new to peer revising, have them start by working in pairs before they work in small groups.

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Page 036 from Write on Track

How to Work with Partners

Discuss the role of the writer and listener in peer-revising sessions. Connect “Using a Response Sheet,” page 37, with this discussion. If possible, model peer revising for students by conducting a revising session with another teacher, aide, parent, or student. Then have pairs or small groups of students conduct a revising session for a piece of writing they are working on.

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Page 037 from Write on Track

Using a Response Sheet

This response sheet begins by having responders make a positive comment about the writing. A responder might think the beginning really hooks the reader or perhaps that the middle part has great sensory details.  

It follows by having the responder make suggestions for improvements. An improvement might be that the middle part needs more detail or that the ending should say something more important about the topic.

The final part provides space for a question. A student may ask if the writer tried any other beginnings or wonder if the details are in the best order. (Students may or may not have a question to ask.)

For practice peer revising, pair up students and present the following activity:

Conduct a peer-response session with a writing partner. Each of you should bring a draft that you have written. Take turns in the roles of writer and responder.

  • Follow the guidelines for writers and listeners. (See page 36.)
  • When you are the listener, complete a response sheet to organize your ideas.
  • Remember to be kind and polite in your responses.
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Page 038 from Write on Track

Editing Your Writing

When you discuss editing, emphasize that this step becomes most important after students have improved the ideas and structure of their writing. One of the tips on this page suggests that students become aware of the information in the “Proofreader’s Guide.” Point out that the pages in this guide are yellow for easy reference. Display the main sections in the “Proofreader’s Guide” so students know what is covered in this section:

  • Marking Punctuation: pages 321–331
  • Checking Mechanics (Capitalization, plurals, and numbers): pages 332–339
  • Checking Your Spelling: pages 340–343
  • Using the Right Word: pages 344–349
  • Understanding Sentences: pages 350–353
  • Understanding Our Language (Parts of speech): pages 354–365

Then demonstrate how to use the Index (pages 421–432) to find information in this guide.

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Page 039 from Write on Track

Editing Checklist

Carefully review this checklist so students understand the key editing issues. The checklist includes questions that your students can ask themselves when editing for sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage, and spelling.

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