Before we begin the discussion of  revision techniques, I wanted to remind you to do something before you begin.  Get to know your students and their strengths and weaknesses in writing.  This way, you can identify “experts” before pairing up students or before placing them in triads .  I recommend placing two or three students together and having them have a specific focus for revision.  For instance, one might read both or all three papers, depending on your set-up, for just one skill. One might check all the papers for introductions, another might read for overused vocabulary (those dead words), while the other suggests revision for sentence structure. It all depends upon what your instructions lead them to do.  PLEASE do not give the students a checklist of 15 things  and tell them to go revise their papers without guidance.  They have to be given opportunities to practice the strategies before using them. Do not overwhelm them or they will give up.

We are all different  so there is not a “one size fits all” way to accomplish the huge revision task; however, there are strategies that may make your teaching world a bit less hectic if you really give them a try.  Over 25 years ago, our school participated , probably for the first time, in professional development (staff development at that time) in writing instruction.   That first year, we worked with a gentleman who was developing a writing program, we attended workshops in Atlanta to help us better evaluate student writing, and we worked with Dr. Spilton, an educator in GA, who had much success with her strategies.  Since then, I have continued to use some of what I learned back then, as well as develop what works best for me based on the research and my students’ writing growth.  An idea from Dr. Spilton that I have modified to fit my needs is “Cleaning up the “M-E-S-S ” during revision.  Though there are many revision techniques out there for educators, this has proven the most helpful to me over the years.  Like I said, I have modified it, but the heart of it still lives.

M-E-S-S is an acronym for movability, expansion, sentence-combining, and slotting. Each of these techniques should be taught well before expecting students to benefit from them. Let’s start with movability. What is it and how is it used when revising student work?

Until next time, take every chance you get to help your students become better writers!!

Revision is the third step in the writing process and may be the most important piece of the process.  I like to think about revision as the opportunity to make changes in the the way the paper sounds if read aloud.  (Proofreading, step 4, will be about making changes in the way the paper looks.)  Revision isn’t about correcting, but about clarifying, what has already been written,and  it is an ongoing process.  Students must be taught revision strategies and should be given time in class  to revise.

Teachers need to establish a purpose for revising and  give students feedback and guidance for better revision (Robinson 1985 and Sommers 1982).  As long as students feel revising is meaningless, they will continue to take it lightly and papers will reflect the lack of effort.  Revision involves word selection, rearrangement, adding and deleting parts, as well as varying sentence structure and type. It can be accomplished by using partners, triads, groups, or by working alone.

I suggest giving students the opportunity to write two ot three different papers in a genre before attempting to revise.   Have the students choose their favorite of the pieces and then start the revision. I really believe it is more helpful to revise one piece of writing over several weeks, a bit at a time, than to write many rough drafts with little or no specific revision.  Always model through a mini-lesson what you would like them to do.  If you want students to improve their introductions, read several exemplary ones to them or write one together.  Have them look in their library books for techniques great authors use.

Equip students with necessary tools as they begin their revising.  They need a thesaurus, a dictionary, highlighters, the rough draft/sloppy copy, revision checklists,  their rubric , pens and pencils and specific instructions as they begin.

My next entry will include specific tips that should be useful for you and your students as you devote the needed time to revision.