Polishing Our Writing

Overview

In this eighth lesson of Exciting English Explorations, students learn that good writers reread, edit and revise their drafts. They use a simple editing routine to improve clarity, sentence structure, punctuation and creative word choices, then respond to feedback from a teacher or peer partner.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• understand the difference between editing and revising
• reread writing to check that ideas are clear and make sense
• improve vocabulary, sentence structure and punctuation
• give and respond to kind, useful feedback

Success criteria

• I can reread my writing slowly.
• I can fix a spelling, punctuation or sentence mistake.
• I can add an interesting word or detail.
• I can explain one change I made and why it improved my writing.

Curriculum links

• Creating written texts: planning, creating and revising texts for different purposes using vocabulary, text features and sentence structure
• Oral language and communication: using listening and interpersonal conventions to extend ideas
• Understanding and responding to literature: making intentional language choices suited to audience and purpose
• Vocabulary: using taught vocabulary to elaborate ideas

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Hook: Writers improve drafts. Teacher displays a short draft such as, “The dog went to the park. It was good. The dog saw a thing,” then opens the hook and example slides and asks, “What could the writer change to help us picture the scene?” Students read the draft aloud, identify one confusing or dull part, and suggest an improvement.

2. 8–18 min · Teach the editing routine. Teacher introduces the routine “Read it, Check it, Improve it” using the editing routine slides. Model reading aloud, checking capital letters, full stops, spelling and sentence sense, then revising by adding a precise verb, describing word or useful detail. Students help identify changes in a teacher draft and explain whether each change is editing or revising.

3. 18–25 min · Model feedback. Teacher models a friendly feedback conversation using the “two stars and a wish” language on the feedback sentence-starter slide: “I liked…”, “I noticed…”, and “I wonder if you could…”. Explain that feedback should be specific, kind and about the writing, not the writer. Students practise giving feedback on the model draft, using one star and one wish orally.

4. 25–43 min · Independent editing and revising. Teacher returns students’ drafts from the previous lesson and distributes the editing and revising checklist. Support the student to read each sentence aloud, marking one check at a time: capital letters, punctuation, spelling, clear meaning and interesting vocabulary. The student makes changes directly on the draft, with the teacher prompting rather than correcting immediately.

5. 43–53 min · Feedback conference. Teacher acts as the feedback partner for the individual student, or invites a suitable partner if another adult or student is available. Using the feedback conference slide, the student reads the revised draft aloud and identifies one successful change; the partner gives two positive comments and one achievable suggestion. The student chooses whether to accept the suggestion and explains the decision.

6. 53–60 min · Share and reflect. Teacher opens the reflection and plenary slides and invites the student to read one improved sentence. Together, compare the original and revised versions, discussing how the change improved clarity or creativity. The student completes the reflection section of the editing and revising checklist, naming one editing change and one revising change.

Resources

• the editing and revising slide deck
• the editing and revising checklist
• Student draft from the previous lesson
• Pencils, eraser and coloured editing pencils
• Highlighter
• Whiteboard and markers
• Teacher model draft
• Editing symbols or correction prompts displayed on the board

Assessment

• Listen as the student explains whether a suggested change is editing or revising.
• Confer during independent work, noting whether the student can locate and correct punctuation, sentence or vocabulary issues.
• Review the original and revised drafts and the completed checklist for evidence of clearer meaning, improved vocabulary and accurate conventions.

Differentiation

• Support the student with the checklist read aloud, one sentence at a time, and use colour coding: green for capitals, blue for punctuation and orange for interesting words.
• Provide sentence starters such as “I changed ___ to ___ because…” and “My reader will understand ___ more clearly now.”
• Offer a choice of two vocabulary improvements rather than requiring the student to generate a word independently.
• For EAL/D or students requiring additional support, orally rehearse each sentence before writing and use teacher scribing, speech-to-text or enlarged text where appropriate.
• For extension, ask the student to revise one sentence in two different ways and discuss which version best suits the intended audience.