How to Teach
Editing in Your Writers’ Workshop
by Allison Demas
In another article
I wrote that students should be afforded the opportunity to write
poorly. This does not mean that they should continue to write poorly.
You can begin introducing editing techniques early on in your school
year without stifling creativity. It can be as simple as making
sure there are spaces between words.
Editing lessons
can include lessons on punctuation, using resources (i.e., word
wall), re-reading your work and even simply noticing errors. You
can teach students to edit alone or with a partner. An editing checklist,
appropriate for your students’ grade level, can be created
for the students to use as reference. This checklist can be updated
throughout the year.
In my kindergarten
classroom I have what I call the “Responsibility Factor”:
Once you know it you are obligated to do it. This goes for everything.
Once you know that you should cover your mouth when you cough, then
you are obligated to do so. Once you know how to read a word, and
know where to find it, then you are obligated to spell it correctly.
Once the children know how to edit on a particular point, then they
are required to do so.
To introduce
editing, I conduct a mini-lesson using my own writing sample. I
know teachers who believe that you should use a piece of student
writing as an example since it is “authentic.” I respect
their belief but I also cringe at the idea of someone, especially
someone in a position of authority, holding up a sample of my work
and asking for criticisms, even if they were constructive criticisms.
I think I would stop producing samples. I want my students to continue
writing and to continue loving to write. So I create a sample chockfull
of errors for them to critique.
I make sure
that the sample I am using has only one error repeated several times.
For example, I will not put spaces between my words. I place my
sample on the easel and begin to read it aloud. I deliberately falter
and then stop. I explain to my students that I am having a difficult
time. I ask if they can help me. I ask if they notice anything that
I can change which will help me read my story. My kindergartners
usually delight in telling me that I forgot to use my “spaceman.”
We then go through the piece together with them telling me where
I should indicate that I need a space. “Use your spaceman,”
or “Leave a space between words,” can then be an item
on the editing checklist.
Each time I
introduce another aspect of editing I present it in the same fashion.
I am not introducing a new topic when I introduce editing procedures.
For example, if I want to prod them to use the word wall or a spelling
pattern chart, I make sure I misspell a word they are familiar with
and know where to look for it. The point of my lesson is not to
teach something they don’t know, but to teach them to apply
something they do know in a new way.
Questions or
comments? E-mail Allison.
See also:
What
to Teach in Your Writers' Workshop
by Allison Demas
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