SUPPORTING STUDENT
WRITING THROUGH THE
REVISING AND EDITING
PROCESSES
Professional Development
Literacy Design Collaborative
Workshop Objectives
Review the LDC framework and explain how editing
and revising are essential skills in the writing process.
• Present the best practices for teaching editing and
revising
• Support LDC mini task development for editing and
revising based on exemplars
• Describe strategies for effective peer revision and editing
The Writing Process
Perry, Angela, 2009. Writing Matters in Every Classroom.
• Prewriting: Thinking, gathering and organizing ideas and
information
• Drafting: Writing the first version
• Revising: Reviewing for content, organization, style
• Editing: Checking for accuracy on conventions of
language and form
• Publishing: Writing is read by the intended audience
Teaching the Writing Process Through
LDC Modules
LDC and the Writing Process
The LDC framework consists of four sections:
– What task?
– What skills?
– What instruction?
– What results?
This program is designed to address two writing skill areas:
editing and revising, and instructional plans for teaching
these skills in mini tasks.
The LDC Framework
• The LDC Framework is based on a standards-based
teaching and learning cycle that “begins with the end in
mind”
• Students are provided a writing rubric that guides their
self evaluation of progress on the writing RESULTS
that are expected from the teaching task
LDC Module System
What Instruction?
• The skills of revising and editing are essential to the
writing process; therefore, the teacher will determine
whether students are already competent with these skills
independently, or if they need to be taught the skills in
order to complete the task.
• If the skills need to be reviewed or taught, a mini task
will be created to teach and practice the skill.
A Definition for Revising
Revising: The act of correcting, improving, or bringing up
to date as necessary.
“The writing that occurs during the revision makes a
mediocre paper a good paper. Revision adds variety,
emphasis, coherence, transition, and detail. Revision
eliminates wordiness, irrelevancies, and
inconsistencies. Revision polices, hones and perfects.”
Definition and quote from: Webster’s New World Student Writing Handbook (Prentice-Hall,
1992)
LDC Revision Definition
and Mini Task
REVISION: Ability to refine text, including line of thought,
language usage, and tone as appropriate to audience and
purpose.
Mini Task for Revision
(from published module)
Product: Long Constructed Response
Refine composition’s analysis, logic, and organization of ideas/points. Use
textual evidence carefully, with accurate citations. Decide what to include
and what not to include.
Scoring Guide: work meets expectations if:
• Provides complete draft with all parts.
• Supports the opening in the later sections with evidence and citations.
• Improves earlier edition.
Teaching Strategies:
• Sample useful feedback that balances support for strengths and clarity
about weaknesses.
• Assign students to provide each other with feedback on those issues.
Duration: One class period
Defining Editing
Editing: This is the process of checking that the
conventions are used correctly: including, capitals,
punctuation, titles, etc.
Editing also looks for correct use of standard English,
such as, agreement of subject and verb, regular/irregular
verbs, homonyms, verb tense, elimination of slang,
modifiers, etc.
Mini Task on Editing
EDITING: Ability to proofread and format a piece to make it more effective. (Mini task is
taken from a published module)
Product: Long Constructed Response
• Revise draft to have sound spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Adjust
formatting as needed to provide clear, appealing text.
Scoring Guide: work meets expectations if:
•
Provides draft free from distracting surface errors.
•
Uses format that supports purpose.
Teaching Strategies:
•
Briefly review selected skills that many students need to improve.
•
Teach a short list of proofreading marks.
•
Assign students to proofread each other’s texts a second time.
Encourage the Revision Process
• “We should applaud and support our students’ efforts in revising their
work.” (Perry, 2009)
• “Revision takes courage. It is easy to edit and proofread your work
and turn it in. It’s not so easy to improve the content of your writingthe thoughts, feelings, and details that carry your message-before
submitting it. Revision is the important process of making changes in
your writing until it says exactly what you want it to say.” (Sebranek,
Meyer, Kemper, 1997)
Teaching the Skill of Revising
• There are several excellent strategies for teaching
students to have the patience and perseverance to
revise their work
• One of the most difficult tasks is to cut out or rewrite
over-written or confusing sections
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s editor advised him that: “Killing off the
darlings” is pain staking for even the most celebrated
writers.
Teaching Revising: Modeling
• Provide students exemplars of drafts and model a
revision process with the whole class or small group
with visuals
• Focus on areas such as organization, content, adding
details and “killing off the darlings”. Invite students to
comment on the piece and “think aloud”
• Emphasize that this is the process used by published
authors during the draft to revision stage of the writing
process, prior to editing
Teaching Revising: Self Reflection
Student Self-Monitoring and Editing
• “Student feedback in the form of self evaluation has been
strongly recommended by Grant Wiggins (1993).”
•
(Bob Marzano. Classroom Instruction that Works, 2001, p. 99)
• Feedback must be criterion-referenced (specific to a skill)
to be effective
• Rubrics can provide blueprints for self monitoring by
outlining clear expectations
Self Reflection and Revision
(Adapted from Perry, Angela. 2009. Writing Matters.)
Provide students time to review their own writing and
provide them with a checklist or protocol to follow that asks
them to respond to prompts, such as:
 the message is understandable,
 the details support the message,
 the writing is interesting,
 verbs are mostly active.
Revising: Improve Your Persuasive Essay
Use the rubric in this chart to help you improve your persuasive essay.
Changes You Made
1. Does the introduction grab the reader’s attention, include background information, and
provide a clear opinion statement?
______ Put a check mark by sentences that get the reader interested.
______ Put a star by any background information.
______ Underline the opinion statement.
2. Are at least three reasons provided? Do the reasons contain logical, emotional, and
ethical appeals?
______ Highlight each reason.
______ Draw a box around the part that indicates a logical, emotional, or ethic appeal.
Revising: Improve Your Persuasive Essay
(Continued)
3. Is each reason supported by at least two pieces of relevant evidence?
______ Circle each piece of evidence.
______ Draw an arrow from each item to the reason it supports.
4. Are the reasons organized effectively?
______ Number reasons in the order of their importance. If the order seems illogical or
ineffective, revise.
5. Is the opinion restated in the conclusion? Is a call to action included?
______ Underline the sentence that restates the opinion.
______ Put a check mark next to sentences that make a call to action.
6. Are active-voice sentences included?
______ Put a minus sign above each subject that does not perform the action of the verb
in its sentence.
Teacher and Student Conferencing
Teacher and Student Conferences
• Research from Marzano and Hattie emphasize the
importance of timely feedback for students
• Conferencing with students individually or in small
groups is one of the most effective strategies for teaching
students the skill of revision
• There are numerous protocols available for
student/teacher conferencing in books and websites
referenced in the resources slide
Teacher and Student Conferencing
• Provide students with information that is specific and
gives them clear expectations for improvement
• Assist them in setting goals using the rubric
• An effective strategy for young and unconfident writers is
to limit feedback to one strength and one
recommendation or next step in the revision process
Assignments Matter: Making the Connections
That Help Students Meet Standards
by Eleanor Dougherty
Eleanor Dougherty on Rubrics
(Assignments Matter, p. 58)
“Students and teachers can use a rubric throughout the
production process—teachers teach the demands and
qualities embedded in the rubric, and students follow the
rubric almost like a recipe to produce their products.
Rubrics provide a kind of advance organizer for students,
giving them the guidance they need to perform to
expectations.”
LDC Writing Rubrics Provide a Blueprint
for the Writing Process
• Brief history of how rubrics were designed for LDC: the
rubrics were constructed by teachers and vetted by
universities and writing experts across the country
• Rubrics represent the three modes of writing: narrative,
informational/expository and persuasive
Using Rubrics for Effective Feedback
• Rubrics are explicit with criterion targets for performance,
therefore they can be used by teachers, students and
peers as a guide for feedback
• For teachers, rubrics provide a guide for small group and
individualized support based on the levels of
performance indicated on the first draft
• For example, if five students are “2” on organization, then
a focused lesson for that group is indicated
Using Rubrics for Effective Feedback
• Student self-assessment using analytic rubrics:
Students can annotate rubrics with their personal
strategies in order to monitor and regulate their work on
assignments
• For example, if a student has a goal to use more
powerful words, then he may want to revise an
assignment based on looking in the thesaurus for more
precise word choices
Strategies for Effective Peer Revision and
Editing
Peer Feedback
Peer feedback and peer assessment of work can be
valuable and productive, if students are taught a process
and have an opportunity to role play peer assessment
before they are given the task.
Peer Revision Conferences
In order for this strategy to be successful, teachers need to
provide students with specific training and a process to
follow during the peer conference.
Students need to follow a guideline that includes:
 compliments on the writing,
 questions on content,
 suggestions and feedback from the writer.
Ground Rules for Peer Assessment
(Brookhart, Susan. 2008. How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students.)
• Read your peer’s work carefully
• Capture the work with the rubric
• Talk about the work, not the person
• Don’t judge; rather, describe what you think is good
about the work and what is missing or could be better
• Make specific suggestions
• Tell what you think, and then ask what the author thinks
Guidelines for Receiving
Peer Assessment
• Listen to your peer’s comments and take time to think
about them before you respond
• Compare your peer’s comments to the rubrics, and
decide what comments you will use in your revisions
• Thank your peer for the feedback
Brookhart, S. 2013. How to Create and Use Rubrics, p.105
Peer Assessment on the Teaching
Channel www.teachingchannel.org
Self-Assessment and Peer Support Lesson Objective:
• Students assess their own work and then partner up for
peer teaching (4 min)
Questions to Consider:
• What does peer support offer for efficient re-teaching?
• What different and useful information could you learn
from students' self-assessment as compared to your own
assessment of their work?
ReadWriteThink
For additional resource materials and to view Promoting
Student Self-Assessment click on the link below:
http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategyguides/promoting-student-self-assessment-30102.html
LDC Mini Tasks on Revising and Editing
• LDC has hard-wired mini tasks on revising and editing
into the writing cluster on module creator
www.modulecreator.com
• There are now scores of exemplars of creative and
effective instructional strategies for teaching these skills
in published modules on module creator
Resources
• Brookhart, Susan M. 2013. How to Create and Use Rubrics.
Alexandria, VA : ASCD.
• Brookhart, Susan M. 2008. How to Give Effective Feedback to Your
Students. Alexandria, VA : ASCD.
• Dougherty, Eleanor. 2012. Assignments Matter. Alexandria, VA :
ASCD.
• Hattie, John. 2012. Visible Learning for Teachers. New York, NY:
Routledge.
• Marzano, Pickering, Pollock.2001. Classroom Instruction That
Works. Alexandria, VA : ASCD.
• Perry, Angela. 2009. Writing Matters in Every Classroom.
Englewood, CO: Lead and Learn Press.