Editing and Revising Procedures

Lesson Overview

This 60-minute lesson is designed for Year 1-3 students to develop foundational skills in editing and revising procedural texts for clarity and effectiveness. It is Lesson 8 of 15 in the unit "Mastering Procedural Texts," aligning closely with the Australian Curriculum (v9) English strand, specifically focusing on Interpreting, Analysing, and Creating procedures.

Students will engage in peer review sessions to collaboratively enhance their writing, developing critical thinking and communication skills. This lesson incorporates differentiation strategies for diverse learners, dyslexia-friendly options, and extension activities for advanced students to ensure an inclusive and stimulating learning environment.

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Australian Curriculum Alignment

Content Descriptions:

• ACELY1658 (Year 1): Understand how texts vary depending on the approach to the topic, purpose and audience.
• ACELY1667 (Year 2): Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features.
• ACELY1678 (Year 3): Re-read and edit student’s own and others’ work using agreed criteria for text structures and language features.

Achievement Standards:

• Students show understanding of text structures and language features by revising texts to enhance clarity and coherence, and make improvements guided by teacher and peer feedback.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify key features of well-written procedural texts (clear steps, sequencing words).
2. Use simple editing strategies to clarify and improve their own procedures.
3. Provide constructive feedback to peers on their procedure writing.
4. Apply peer feedback to revise their own procedure for clarity and completeness.

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Materials Needed

• Student copies of their written procedural texts from previous lessons
• Editing checklists with simple criteria (e.g., Use of sequence words, Clear steps, Capital letters, Full stops)
• Pens, coloured pencils or markers
• Whiteboard and markers
• Dyslexia-friendly printed procedures for reference (clear fonts like Comic Sans or Arial, coloured overlays if needed)
• Timer or clock
• Peer review feedback sheets (simple sentence starters for feedback)

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Lesson Structure

1. Introduction and Recap (10 minutes)

• Briefly review what procedural texts are and why clarity is important (use examples from previous lessons).
• Show a short, dyslexia-friendly procedural text on the board and model how to spot sentences or steps that might be confusing.
• Introduce the editing checklist, explaining each point using simple language and examples.

2. Guided Editing Practice (10 minutes)

• Together, edit a short procedure as a class using the checklist.
• Invite students to suggest improvements, highlighting sequencing words and clarity.
• Use colour coding; for example, underline sequencing words in blue, unclear steps in red.

3. Independent Editing (15 minutes)

• Students use their own procedural writing from earlier lessons.
• Using the editing checklist, students edit their texts for clarity and sequence.
• Teachers circulate to provide support, focusing on encouraging use of sequencing words and clear instructions.
• Dyslexia-friendly strategies:
• Provide coloured overlays or reading rulers if needed.
• Offer text-to-speech tools or reading aloud support.

4. Peer Review in Pairs (15 minutes)

• Pair students up to exchange their edited procedures.
• Provide a simple peer feedback sheet with sentence starters:
• "I liked how you..."
• "One step I found confusing was..."
• "You could make this clearer by..."
• Facilitate a calm, respectful sharing environment emphasizing ‘helping friends improve’ mindset.
• Encourage students to ask clarifying questions and make notes on the feedback sheet.

5. Revision Time (5 minutes)

• Students take peer feedback and make final changes to their procedures.
• Encourage them to focus on one or two key points from the feedback.

6. Wrap-up and Reflect (5 minutes)

• Discuss how editing helps readers understand procedures better.
• Invite a few students to share examples of one improvement they made based on peer feedback.
• Reinforce the importance of working together and reviewing writing to become better communicators.

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Differentiation Strategies

For Diverse Learners:

• Provide verbal and visual instructions with modelling.
• Use dyslexia-friendly fonts and coloured overlays to reduce visual stress.
• Allow use of speech-to-text or scribe support for students who find writing challenging.
• Simplify editing checklist or provide sentence starters for students needing language support.
• Small group support or one-to-one interventions during editing.

For Advanced Learners:

• Encourage detailed feedback focusing on improving specific language features like precise verbs or adding adjectives for clarity.
• Challenge students to suggest alternate ways to sequence or explain steps more explicitly.
• Invite students to create a mini-mini procedural text using complex sequencing words or causal connectives (because, so that).

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Assessment

Formative assessment through:

• Observation of student participation in editing and peer review discussions.
• Review of students’ edited procedural texts, focusing on clarity, use of sequencing words, and following the checklist.
• Peer feedback sheets to assess understanding of clear procedural writing and constructive feedback skills.

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This lesson promotes collaborative learning and literacy skills fundamental to understanding and producing procedural texts. It aligns with the Australian Curriculum's emphasis on purposeful writing and revising within an inclusive classroom environment.