Ch 5: Planning & Revising Writing: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.5

Standard: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, with a focus on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grades 11-12 (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.5 )

About This Chapter

Students who are proficient in this standard know how to revisit an essay and find what needs to be fixed. They are able to refocus on a paper's intended purpose and effectively customize it to more precisely fit the targeted audience and task.

This standard's tutorials discuss such topics as:

• Ensuring an essay is focused according to its intended purpose
• Devising a thesis statement from an essay prompt and using it to guide the revision process
• Strategies for revising the content of an essay
• Tips for proofreading one's own work
• Checking for proper structure - introduction, body paragraphs with main points, and conclusion - in essay revision

A grasp of this standard is evidenced in students' capacity to recognize and address weaknesses in the content and mechanics of their papers. Students take note of and improve ways in which their essays do not support the proposed topic or lack proper structure and flow. They are able to catch their own grammatical and mechanical mistakes so that their writing is presented in a more compelling and credible way.

How to Use These Lessons in Your Classroom

Below are some strategies for using these lessons to support teaching in the CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.5 standard:

Content Revision Lessons

Choose a short, relatively well-written essay and devise a prompt for it that is not very aligned with the essay's content. After viewing the lesson on how to edit and improve essay content as a group, present the class with both the prompt and the essay and ask students how well they think the essay fulfilled its purported purpose. Invite students to devise their own thesis statement for the essay using the prompt. Then ask them to perform the practice of writing an essay outline after the paper has been written to help them see how the essay could more effectively respond to the question it is intended to answer.

Proofreading Lessons

Find a passage from an essay and insert a number of grammatical and mechanical errors into it, such as changing 'to' to 'too.' Show the video on how to fix mistakes in one's writing during class. Then, hand out copies of the error-filled passage and ask students to find and correct the mistakes in it.

Self-Editing Lessons

Watch the lesson on how to proofread an essay in class. Then ask students to write a timed essay on what their favorite food is and why. Have them hand in their papers when they're finished (this is not for purposes of grading but rather to simply hold on to them). During the next class session, give the students' papers back to them and request that they read their essays and look for errors. This practice can help students become aware of where they tend to make mistakes in their writing, as well as recognize the value of leaving time between writing and proofreading a paper.