Teacher’s Notes
Lesson 12: Drafting and Revising Your Work
Background Information
In today’s lesson, you will help students understand how to draft a research project by
using their notes and outline, while also using the previously discussed revising and
proofreading techniques. The Tech Tools featured in this lesson, Dictionary.com,
spellcheckers, and grammar checkers, are discussed in more detail below.
DICTIONARY.COM
Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/) is a free online dictionary that
offers all the features of print dictionaries—spellings, definitions, parts of speech,
origins, synonyms, pronunciations—along with the additional advantages of results
from other dictionaries and single-click citations styled in APA, CMS, and MLA
formats of those sources. For a fee, Dictionary.com also offers users audible
pronunciation of the selected word. One caution: Dictionary.com displays
advertisements on each page, and you might need to scroll past them to find the
definitions you are seeking. Tabs near the search box enable users to access a
dictionary, a thesaurus, an encyclopedia, and other resource materials on the Web,
such as almanacs, atlases and maps. The site also offers a Word of the Day, which
you might find helpful in vocabulary instruction.
SPELLCHECKERS AND GRAMMAR CHECKERS
Spellcheckers and grammar checkers are common features in many software
programs. It is important for students to understand that these are tools to use only
to edit their work and are not to be relied on as the final authority. Students need to
be familiar with both the positives and the negatives of these features.
A spellchecker often underlines misspelled words in red—a feature that can
definitely help students locate spots needing attention. However, a spellchecker
might not find a misspelled word if it is an inappropriate but correctly spelled
word. Also, students can run into problems when they aren’t able to pick the
correct spelling of the misspelled word from the list of options. When they choose
incorrectly, they end up with a completely incorrect word rather than a simple
spelling error. Finally, a spellchecker might indicate that a correctly spelled proper
noun is incorrect. If students understand these potential problems, they will be able
to use a spellchecker more effectively as one means of proofreading their work for
spelling errors.
A grammar checker flags possible errors such as capitalization errors, a/an choice
errors, passive-voice usage, homophone-check alerts, comma usage, and sentence
fragments. However, students using a grammar checker might also find that the
grammar checker identifies grammatical errors in correct sentences or fails to
identify errors in flawed sentences. Therefore, students need to think carefully
before making suggested changes. They should proofread carefully even those
sentences that aren’t marked as incorrect. Again, by alerting students of the
potential issues, you enable them to use a grammar checker as one tool in the
proofreading process.
Original content Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
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Level One Teacher’s Notes
Lesson Plan
Objectives for Lesson 12: Students will understand how to construct the body of a
paper in an organized fashion, using their notes and outlines. They also will learn
how to conduct basic revision and proofreading strategies.
INTRODUCING THE LESSON
• Review the content from Lesson 11 by examining a sample outline. (Possibly
use a student example.)
• Help students understand that all of the steps in the research process have been
leading up to creating the first draft of their papers or other projects. If all of the
prior steps were done well, drafting should be fairly easy. Students should
realize that drafting might reveal a need to revisit one of their earlier steps to
find more sources, take additional notes, or make changes to the outline.
PRESENTING THE LESSON
Use the information provided in the slides to explain drafting and revising.
Following are some possibilities for extension.
• Review ways to capture the reader’s attention. If you created a sample outline
with your class in Lesson 11, refer back to it. Otherwise, provide a model by
quickly creating one on a familiar topic or using one that a student created.
• With your students, write an introduction containing an attention-getting opener
and a main idea statement.
• Use the sample outline to show students how to create organized paragraphs.
Start with the first heading; add the information in the first supporting point;
then elaborate with explanations, examples, or details. Write the first paragraph
together. Then give students time to write the second paragraph on their own.
Skip over additional content and create a possible conclusion by summarizing
the main points in the outline.
• Demonstrate how to use Dictionary.com by looking up some difficult words
relating to the topic of your outline. Show students the Thesaurus tab and
discuss how helpful a thesaurus can be in finding just the right word. Remind
them to make sure that the word they choose is appropriate.
• Discuss the importance of revision. If possible, show a draft of your own writing
in which you have crossed out mistakes, rewritten sections, added additional
information, and so on. Help students see the improvements these revisions
made to your work.
• Use the paragraphs you created earlier in the lesson and practice applying the
revision ideas from this presentation.
• Open a word-processed early writing draft (a student sample would be ideal)
and play with the spellchecker and grammar checker features. See which
mistakes the Tech Tools catch and which ones they overlook. Help students see
the advantages and disadvantages of these tools.
Original content Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
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Level One Teacher’s Notes
Talk About It
Use the questions in the activity to review the idea that earlier organizing steps in
the research process lead to creating a good draft. Help students focus on the
necessity of revision and the impact it has on the finished product, regardless of
form.
Your Turn
In this activity, students are given the opportunity to use a sample outline and
notecards to practice drafting one paragraph. Emphasize the need to use the
organization and information provided and to make the paragraph flow by
connecting the ideas and adding transitions.
If students need additional support in the activity, you can show them the third
Your Turn slide, which gives a frame for the answer, or the Possible Responses
slide, which shows a complete suggested answer.
FOLLOWING UP ON THE LESSON
• Ask students to write an explanation of how to create a draft using an outline
and notes.
• Practice drafting by giving students a sample topic and information to form into
a cohesive paragraph.
• Analyze drafts of student work from prior classes and brainstorm possibilities
for revision.
• Have students use revision strategies offered in this presentation to revise drafts
of their own writing from earlier in the year.
Research Strand
Students should be ready to write a draft of their work, using their outlines and
notes. Before students begin, have them review their intended audience and
purpose so that they have a clear sense of direction as they work. You might
provide students with checkpoints during the drafting process to make sure they
are on the right track. This way, you can look over what they are doing as they
produce the work rather than waiting until they are finished drafting. Help students
structure their revisions by providing a checklist of things you want them to
address before they turn in their drafts for the first time.
Ask students to reflect on the process of creating their drafts and revising them.
• Was drafting as difficult as they thought it would be?
• What changes did they make during the revision process that really improved
their work?
Differentiated Experiences
CHALLENGE
Offer students opportunities to work with partners to revise their work. Challenge
students to create revision checklists for their work.
Original content Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
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Level One Teacher’s Notes
EXTRA SUPPORT
Allow students extra time to complete a draft, if necessary. Meet with students one
on one to offer support and suggestions during revision. Offer a peer tutor who can
help students locate spelling and grammar errors as they proofread their work.
PLEASE NOTE
Some of the Web sites discussed in this lesson may require a student to register or
create an account in order to use the featured online tools. Please remind students
never to give personal information on a site without a parent’s or guardian’s
permission. Also, Web sites can change frequently, both in content and
functionality. Before sending students to a suggested Web site, you may want to
preview the site and confirm the provided instruction still aligns with the content
and navigational features of the site.
Original content Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Writing and Research in a Digital Age
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Level One Teacher’s Notes