Every single time I talk about teaching writing, someone will ask me, “How do you get your students to revise their writing?”
- things we do to make our story sound better
- can take days or even weeks to completely revise a piece
- includes things like making our lead stronger, adding examples to support our reasons, adding more descriptive words, etc.
- things we can do to make our story look better
- can take a day or two to complete
- includes things like fixing misspelled words, correcting punctuation, and capitalizing proper nouns
If you need some tips about helping students to edit, check out THIS post.
Provide Specific Revision Mini Lessons
Don’t Make Them Rewrite Multiple Times
Teach Students How to Set Up Their Paper
1. Have students skip lines.
2. Have students leave the right third of their paper blank.
3. Have students leave the back side of their paper blank.
Teach Students a Strategy for Adding Text to Their Work
Provide Colored Pens or Pencils
Use Technology AFTER Drafts are Complete
Wan
This is a great source of information and very well written. Thanks.
Leslie
I don’t normally comment on posts, but I have to for this one. I taught fourth grade writing to three groups a day for 23 years. I have tried everything. Your method for revision is spot on! Take it step by step and model, model, model! Great resources and ideas!
Not So Wimpy Teacher
Thank you, Leslie! I’m glad you enjoyed the post!