Editing Clarity

Overview

In this 45-minute lesson (Lesson 10 of 15) students edit the short draft they created in the unit “Wombat Tales: A Story Adventure”. They focus on making sentences clearer by correcting spelling and punctuation, then practise re-reading their work to check meaning.

Learning intentions

WALT:

• Identify parts of my story draft that need improving.
• Re-read my sentences to check punctuation (full stops and capital letters).
• Edit for correct spelling of common one- and two-syllable words.
• Make my writing easier to understand by fixing clarity and coherence.

Success criteria

Students can:

• I can add missing full stops and capital letters where they belong.
• I can fix spelling of some common words using my checklist and resources.
• I can reread my story to check it makes sense.
• I can edit one sentence so it is clearer.

Curriculum links

• Literacy: create and re-read to edit short texts using grammatically correct simple sentences, sentence boundary punctuation, and correct spelling of some one- and two-syllable words.
• Language: understand written language uses full stops (and other sentence punctuation) and capital letters for familiar proper nouns.
• Language: understand words represent people, places and things (nouns) and details (adjectives/adverbs) to make meaning clearer.
• Literature: discuss story features so edits keep plot/setting meaning intact.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook (Re-read goal). Teacher shows two versions of one sentence (one with missing capital/full stop, one corrected) and asks, “Which one is easier to read and why?” Students do a quick thumbs vote and explain one reason using sentence stems: “It is easier because…”

2. 5–12 min · Explicit teaching (Editing language). Teacher models a read–think–edit routine on a projected example “Wombat Tale” sentence strip, pointing to:

• Capital letter at the start of a sentence
• Full stop at the end
• Spelling fix using a word bank (e.g., wombat, burrow, night, today, tail) and sounds Students repeat the steps with the teacher: “Read… Think… Edit.”

3. 12–18 min · Mini-lesson (Checklist walkthrough). Teacher introduces a dyslexia-friendly Editing Checklist with 3–4 simple boxes and icons:

• ☐ Capital at start
• ☐ Full stop at end
• ☐ Spelling check (does it look right?)
• ☐ I can read it smoothly Teacher reads the checklist aloud and colours one sentence on the example to demonstrate. Students practise marking the checklist on one teacher-prepared sentence strip.

4. 18–30 min · Independent editing (Hands-on). Teacher releases students to edit their own drafts using a checklist. Students have printed copies of their draft and a small word bank; they highlight one sentence to edit first. Students re-read quietly (or with a finger-trace), then edit: correct punctuation and fix at least one spelling word.

5. 30–37 min · Partner edit (Coaching for clarity). Teacher explains partner roles: “Reader” and “Editor” with a gentle script. Students swap drafts, read each other’s story one time, then suggest one edit using a stem: “Try adding a full stop after…” or “Check how you spell…”

6. 37–43 min · Quick share (Coherence focus). Teacher invites 4–5 students to share the single change they made (no whole story read yet). Students share and the class gives one “kind edit” comment.

7. 43–45 min · Exit ticket (Evidence of editing). Teacher gives a 3-sentence exit ticket with errors; students correct punctuation (capital/full stop) and one spelling word. Students submit and teacher collects for immediate feedback.

Resources

• Students’ drafted “Wombat Tales” pages (paper or digital print-outs)
• Editing Checklist cards (dyslexia-friendly, icons + short prompts)
• Word bank for the unit (common story words and names)
• Coloured pencils/highlighters or sticky notes
• Sentence strips (teacher model)
• Partner editing script cards (“I noticed… I suggest…”)
• Exit ticket sheets (punctuation + one spelling correction)
• Visual punctuation cues (sentence-start capital, end full stop)

Assessment

• Teacher observation during independent editing: whether students apply checklist items to at least one sentence.
• Partner editing: listen for correct use of punctuation/spelling suggestions using stems.
• Exit ticket: punctuation accuracy (capital/full stop) and one spelling correction.

Differentiation

• Support:
• Provide sentence starters and a reduced checklist (“Fix capital and full stop” first).
• Offer a personalised word bank with high-frequency words from the child’s draft.
• Allow finger-tracing and read-aloud of one sentence before editing.
• Dyslexia-friendly options:
• Use fewer items on the checklist (3 steps only) and larger font.
• Provide taped or recorded read-aloud of the student’s draft (teacher device) so they can listen then mark edits.
• Offer underline/colour-coding for sentence boundaries (start = one colour, end = another).
• Extension (advanced learners):
• Edit for clarity beyond punctuation/spelling by adding one adjective or detail word (e.g., “big burrow”, “quiet night”) and checking the sentence still reads smoothly.
• Help a friend by identifying the exact place where a full stop or capital should go, then explain why.

Extension (optional)

• After the exit ticket, invite 3 students to become “Editing Leaders” and demonstrate one correction they made, using the checklist and a sentence strip.