essay editing lesson plan

MUST-HAVE END-OF-THE-YEAR RESOURCES

English Language Arts

Classroom Management

Building Community

Freebie Vault

Free Vocabulary Activities!

How to teach editing and revising to students.

I’m here to share my step-by-step guide on how to teach editing and revising to your students. Editing and revising skills can be so tedious to teach and practice – but there is simply no better way to strengthen students’ writing skills than with editing and revising practice. Grab my free EBook on Editing and Revising to help elevate your writers. Click HERE to grab it or scroll down to the end of this post.

Explicitly teaching editing and revising is essential because they play distinct yet complementary roles in developing strong writing skills. First, editing helps students learn to pay close attention to details, like fixing grammar and spelling mistakes, that are crucial for clear writing. This skill is important not only for clear and efficient writing but also for effective communication in various contexts. Additionally, teaching revising encourages students to think critically about the substance and structure of their writing.

When you explicitly teach revising skills to your students, you empower them to refine their ideas, organize their thoughts logically, and enhance overall clarity. By teaching both editing and revising, we equip students with the tools to produce not just technically accurate but also well-crafted, meaningful written work, preparing them for success in academics and beyond.

In this eBook , I will walk you through my process of explicitly teaching students how to edit and revise their writing. I suggest you carve out time to teach these skills like you would any other unit (over the course of at least one week).

I created a free video you can use to teach your class how to edit and revise . This video shares the slides from my Editing and Revising Teaching Slides resource you can find HERE . Grab the slides and post this video to teach your students, or you can grab the slides and project them onto your board to teach your class the steps yourself. The steps on the next pages are highlighted on the slides in this resource.

How to Edit

Say to students: Editing is a very important part of the writing process. Editing your work is the final step before publishing. It is your chance to look back over your piece and correct any mistakes. Editing is the step where you can make sure that your writing is as good as it can be before sharing it with your readers.

Below is the 6-step process for how to teach editing:

1. Start with clear guidelines when editing

Before diving into editing practice, provide your students with clear guidelines and objectives. Explain that there are four main edits you will focus on:

• Punctuation
• Capitalization

*At this step, write each main edit on an anchor chart so students can use the anchor chart as a reference throughout your unit. See how I set up my anchor charts below. All of the information on the anchor chart can be found in my Step-by-Step Editing and Revising Teaching Slides found HERE .

2. Explicitly teach each of the four main edits separately

Say to students: When you edit for these, you can use special marks to show what type of edit you need to make.

Editing can be overwhelming when attempting to address all aspects at once. Encourage your students to focus on one aspect at a time, such as punctuation or capitalization, before moving on to others. This methodical approach allows for more thorough and effective editing.

*At this step, you will address the details under each main edit on the anchor chart. You can find all the teaching points in this resource HERE .

Editing and Revising Teaching Slides

3. edit sample pieces together as a class..

At this point, project sample writing pieces onto the board for students to see. Go through and edit the piece while talking out loud. Talk about the four edits that you are focusing on while also talking about the marks needed to edit (which are found in the teaching slides).

Here are your options for projecting sample writing pieces onto the board:

1.) Editing Interactive Student Practice Slides : This digital resource includes interactive slides with movable parts for students to practice editing and revising.

Editing Interactive Student Practice Slides

4. edit sample pieces on their own.

The gradual release of responsibility is important so that, when ready, students get the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned as they practice on their own. The pictures below and on the next pages are from this Editing and Revising Practice Resource . It includes task cards, paragraphs, and passages for students to edit.

Begin by using task cards with students. Once students are confident and ready to progress, move into paragraphs and passages. It can be tough to find writing samples for students to use to practice editing. With this resource, all students can practice with the same examples.

Editing and Revising Practice Resource

5. editing their own writing.

Teach your students the importance of self-editing. Encourage them to review their work independently after completing a writing task. Emphasize the value of taking a break between writing and editing to approach the text with a fresh perspective.

Encourage students to read their work aloud; this can help identify awkward phrasing and errors.

Hand out these bookmarks found HERE to help students edit their own work.

6. Editing with a peer

Peer review sessions are a powerful way to enhance editing skills. Encourage students to exchange their work with a classmate for feedback. Provide a structured format for giving and receiving constructive feedback. This not only offers fresh perspectives but also promotes collaboration and communication skills.

Peer Editing Format

Managing a peer editing format for elementary students is crucial to ensure the process is productive and positive. Here’s a framework to follow:

1. Introduction and Explanation:

Begin by explaining the purpose of peer editing to your students. Emphasize that it’s a helpful and respectful process meant to improve their writing skills. Use simple language and examples they can relate to.

2. Peer Editing Groups:

Divide students into pairs or small groups for the peer editing activity. You can consider mixing students of different abilities to provide a balanced learning experience.

3. Selecting Writing Pieces:

Provide clear instructions on what type of writing piece the students will be editing. Ensure that it aligns with the curriculum and the skills you want them to develop.

4. Peer Editing Checklist:

Distribute the peer editing checklists ( CLICK HERE to grab this checklist) to each student. Explain how to fill out the checklist, and emphasize the importance of being constructive and respectful in their feedback.

5. Model the Process:

Demonstrate the peer editing process with a sample writing piece. Model how to provide positive feedback, suggest improvements, and use the editing symbols or different color pens/pencils. Use this time to establish clear guidelines for behavior during the peer editing session. Encourage students to ask questions if they don’t understand something, and remind them to use kind and helpful words.

6. Time Management:

Set a time limit for the peer editing session to keep students focused. For example, you might allocate 15 minutes for editing, depending on the grade level and complexity of the writing.

7. Circulate and Assist:

During the peer editing session, walk around the classroom to monitor progress. Offer assistance when needed, especially if students are struggling with the editing process or misunderstand the instructions.

8. Peer Sharing and Feedback:

After the peer editing session, encourage each student to share one positive aspect of their partner’s writing with the whole class. This fosters a supportive learning environment.

9. Author’s Reflection:

Give the authors some time to reflect on the feedback they received and how they plan to use it to improve their writing. This reflection can be in the form of a brief written response.

10. Editing and Submission:

Once the peer editing process is complete, allow students time to edit their writing based on the feedback they received. Encourage them to make improvements.

11. Follow-Up and Discussion:

After the peer editing activity, hold a class discussion about the experience. Ask students what they learned and how they can apply this feedback to future writing assignments.

How to Revise

Say to students: Revising your work is a key part of the writing process. It is your chance to look back over your piece and make it even better. This step is where you can add details, remove unnecessary parts, and rearrange your writing.

Below is the 7-step process for how to teach editing:

1. Clarify the Purpose of Revision

Before diving into revision, it’s important to clarify its purpose. While editing focuses on correcting errors, revising is about improving the content, structure, and overall clarity of a piece. Stress that revising is a dynamic process that may involve significant changes to the text.

2. Communicate clear guidelines when revising

Before diving into revising practice, provide your students with clear guidelines and objectives. Explain that there are four main revisions you will focus on:

• Adding details
• Removing unnecessary parts
• Rearranging parts
• Evaluating word choice

*At this step, write each main revision on an anchor chart so students can use the anchor chart as a reference throughout your unit. See how I set up my anchor charts below. All of the information on the anchor chart can be found in my Step-by-Step Editing and Revising Teaching Slides found HERE .

3. Explicitly teach each of the four main revisions separately

Say to students: When you revise for these, you can use special marks to show what type of revision you need to make.

Revising often involves rewriting and refining sentences, paragraphs, or entire sections to enhance clarity, coherence, and impact. Encourage your students to focus on one aspect at a time, such as adding details and rearranging parts, before moving on to others. This methodical approach allows for more thorough and effective revisions.

*At this step, you will address the details under each main revisions on the anchor chart. You can find all the teaching points in this resource HERE .

4. Revise sample pieces together as a class

At this point, project sample writing pieces onto the board for students to see. Go through and revise the piece while talking out loud. Talk about the four revisions that you are focusing on while also talking about the marks needed to revise ( which are found in the teaching slides ).

1.) Revising Interactive Student Practice Slides : This digital resource includes interactive slides with movable parts for students to practice editing and revising.

Revising Interactive Student Practice Slides

5. revise sample pieces on their own.

The gradual release of responsibility is important so that, when ready, students get the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned as they practice on their own.

Begin by using task cards with students. Once students are confident and ready to progress, move into paragraphs and passages. It can be tough to find writing samples for students to use to practice revising. With this resource, all students can practice with the same examples.

6. Revising their own writing

Remember, help your students understand that revision is an iterative process. They should be willing to make multiple revisions as they refine their work. Encourage them not to settle for the first draft but to strive for continuous improvement.

Hand out these bookmarks found HERE to help students revise their own work.

7. Revising with a peer

The Peer Revising Format can follow the same format as above with editing. Scroll up to read about the process there.

All of the information in this blog post can be found in my FREE Editing and Revising Ebook . Opt in below to have it emailed directly to you.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Review Cart

No products in the cart.

Peer Edit With Perfection: Effective Strategies

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

Do students' eyes glaze over when they try to edit their own writing? Give them a fresh perspective with peer editing. Students are introduced to a three-step strategy for peer editing, providing (1) compliments, (2) suggestions, and (3) corrections in response to a sample of student writing. They practice these steps in a small-group session and share the results with the class. Then they move to individual editing practice guided by a PowerPoint tutorial and accompanying worksheet. This series of practice activities prepares students to engage in constructive peer editing of classmates' written work on a regular basis.

Featured Resources

• Peer Edit with Perfection! tutorial : Individual students can use the Peer Edit with Perfection! tutorial for a step-by-step practice session on peer editing strategies
• Peer Edit with Perfection! worksheet : The accompanying worksheet provides more practice with the Peer Edit with Perfection! tutorial.

From Theory to Practice

• Writing and revising in the classroom often involves peer discussion, whether in a one-to-one or group setting.
• Editing is an arduous and unwelcome task for many students; peer editing can improve students' interest in and enthusiasm for the revision stage of the writing process.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• Computers with Internet access and PowerPoint software
• Overhead projector (optional)
• Peer Edit with Perfection! tutorial
• Peer Edit with Perfection! answer key
• Peer Edit with Perfection! handout
• Peer Edit with Perfection! worksheet
• Sample student work-5 points
• Sample student work-4 points

Preparation

Student Objectives

Students will

• Learn the definition of peer editing
• Understand and apply a three-step peer-editing process
• Peer edit sample student writing in a whole-group, small-group, and individual setting
• Use their knowledge of peer editing to develop a peer-editing assessment tool

Peer Editing as a Whole Class

Peer Editing in Small Groups

Individual Peer-Editing Practice

• Have students practice their skills by peer editing a piece written by a classmate. Implement and instill the peer-editing technique by having students edit their classmates' written pieces on a regular basis.
• Have students teach a fellow class to peer edit using the information they learned in this lesson.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• Review the Peer Edit with Perfection! worksheets completed during the PowerPoint tutorial. Assess using the answer key .

Start by asking students what they need to remember about the first step—compliments. Guide the class to create one or two checklist items related to compliments. Some ideas might include, "I gave the author of this piece at least two compliments" or "I was specific about what I liked about this piece of writing." Record these student-generated checklist items on the board or on chart paper. Move through the other two steps of peer editing (suggestions and corrections) and generate several other checklist items. Some ideas might include, "I gave the author detailed suggestions about how to improve this piece of writing" or "I marked all the spelling and grammar errors that I saw in this piece of writing." Once students have generated six to seven checklist items, record and type them up. Have students use the checklist as an assessment tool for future peer-editing sessions.

• Strategy Guides
• Lesson Plans

This strategy guide explains the writing process and offers practical methods for applying it in your classroom to help students become proficient writers.

Students are encouraged to understand a book that the teacher reads aloud to create a new ending for it using the writing process.

While drafting a literary analysis essay (or another type of argument) of their own, students work in pairs to investigate advice for writing conclusions and to analyze conclusions of sample essays. They then draft two conclusions for their essay, select one, and reflect on what they have learned through the process.

Add new comment

• Print this resource

Explore Resources by Grade

• Kindergarten K

• Character Education
• Classroom Management
• Cultural Responsive
• Differentiation
• Distance Learning
• Explicit Teaching
• Figurative Language
• Interactive Notebooks
• Mentor Text
• Monthly/Seasonal
• Organization
• Social Emotional Learning
• Social Studies
• Step-by-Step Instruction
• Teaching Tips
• Testing and Review
• Freebie Vault Registration
• Login Freebie Album
• Lost Password Freebie Album
• FREE Rockstar Community
• In the News
• Writing Resources
• Reading Resources
• Social Studies Resources
• Interactive Writing Notebooks
• Interactive Reading Notebooks
• Teacher Finds
• Follow Amazon Teacher Finds on Instagram
• Rockstar Writers® Members Portal Login
• FREE MASTERCLASS: Turn Reluctant Writers into Rockstar Writers®
• Enroll in Rockstar Writers®

If you are looking for ideas in the editing step of the writing process, you are in the right place! This post will provide ways to teach and break down different editing techniques. Although it is part of a series of 30+ writing mini lessons on narrative writing, it can also be used in other types of writing like opinion writing and informative writing.

For this step of the writing process, you will spend several days teaching mini lessons for each letter in CUPS.

When in the revising stage, we “listened” for the errors. With CUPS, we “look” for errors. Get out those magnifying glasses ! Oh yeah! Use magnifying glasses in class to support this step of the writing process. The first mini lesson is introducing CUPS. This acronym will be used all year when editing any writing throughout the year. WHAT IS CUPS?

Grab the writing process posters for FREE HERE . The skills that should be covered for Grades 3-5 are the following:

Capitals – beginning of the sentence, I, proper nouns, titles, inside quotes.

Usage – subject-verb agreement, double negatives, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, verb forms and tenses, pronoun case forms.

Punctuation – End of sentences, commas in a series, quotations, combine sentences

Spelling Rules –

1.  Always put a u after a q. (quack, quiet) 2.  Every syllable has a vowel. 3.  The “soft” sound of c (s sound) or g (j sound) is usually foll0wed by i, y, or e. (city, gym) 4.  Write I before e except after c or when sounded like a. (thief, believe, ceiling, receive, neighbor, weigh) 5.  Spelling Rules for Adding Inflectional Endings to Words

• Most words- Add the ending. (talk- talked, talking)
• Words ending in a single vowel and consonant- Double the final consonant and add the ending. (stop- stopped, stopping)
• Words ending in silent e- Drop the e before adding the ending. (bake, baked, baking)
• Words end in a consonant and y- Change the y to and i then add the ending unless the ending is -ing. (hurry- hurried, hurrying)
• Words that end in ss, ch, sh, zz, or x: Add –es (foxes, wishes)

2. MENTOR TEXT

Choose a recent story that you read in class. Point out the corrent grade level capitalization, usage, punctuation and spelling.

For CUPS, take your class rough draft and if you didn’t purposely make mistakes while writing it, go back and rewrite it using editing mistakes! Then use a different color pen than used for revising. If you used multiple colors by teaching FAAVS in revising, then choose a different color than the colors in FAAVS or allow students to use multiple colors. Use whatever it takes for students to be excited about editing! During the editing process, have a dictionary available! When modeling, use the dictionary to look up how to spell words! Also have student writing resources available either at the writing center, groups, or individual folders. Model yourself going through the resources to guide you in your editing! You can find a FREE SPELLING DICTIONARY in my store.

4. TAKE NOTES

Students should take notes on the steps of CUPS and also keep a separate folder for the student resources for CUPS.

5. PRACTICE

Practice will take place with each letter of CUPS in the following mini lessons.

After all of the following mini lessons in CUPS, students should apply it to their own stories.

Follow the next 4 mini lessons for more ideas on CUPS!

Check out my FREE writing masterclass! CLICK HERE

LAST LESSON: WRITING MINI LESSON #31- CRAFTING A TITLE

NEXT LESSON: WRITING MINI LESSON #33- CUPS- C FOR CAPITALIZATION

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL LIST OF WRITING MINI LESSONS

This lesson is also included in the STEP-BY-STEP WRITING ® Program with mini-lessons designed to scaffold through the writing process. Writing units included are sentence structure, paragraph writing, narrative writing, opinion writing, and informative writing. See what is included in the image below and click on it to learn more about them! You will turn your reluctant writers into ROCKSTAR WRITERS ™! 

“You are an angel! Not only is this a spectacular resource but my students are constantly engaged. I’ve never used an interactive notebook type resource before and I am sold! The children are learning without realising it and I have never had such success with narrative writing across so many students. I am pleasantly amazed. Looking forward to moving onto the other text types as the year progresses (calendar year in Australia). Thank you so much!” -Mrs. N.

ROCK ‘N’ WRITE!!!!!

12 Teaching Ideas for the Holidays

Christmas around the world web quest.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The Online Writing Lab (the Purdue OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

The On-Campus and Online versions of Purdue OWL assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue OWL serves the Purdue West Lafayette and Indianapolis campuses and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

Social Media

Facebook twitter.

In order to continue enjoying our site, we ask that you confirm your identity as a human. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Lesson Plan on How to Edit an Essay for Economy: Learn how to Improve Writing

• Trent Lorcher
• Categories : High school english lesson plans grades 9 12
• Tags : High school lesson plans & tips

Improve Writing

I felt good about life. I taught students how to organize , focus , establish style , and use grammar . I felt so good, I nominated myself for teacher of the year, made fliers, and posted them throughout town. Then I realized my students did not understand the difference between proofreading and editing. I had to act immediately. I canvassed the school, took down all the fliers, rescinded my nomination, and called my wife to tell her I’d be home late.

I had work to do. I had to teach students how to edit an essay.

Proofreading and Editing Explained

Students don’t understand what proofreading and editing is. They falsely believe editing involves correcting misspelled words and poor punctuation. That’s called proofreading. Editing involves, eliminating words, restructuring sentences, rearranging material, and clarifying ideas. Once an essay is edited and proofread, it is ready for revision.

English teachers have done a fine job explaining proofreading symbols. These techniques will teach students how to edit an essay for economy.

1. Eliminate unnecessary prepositional phrases:

Example: Sharks of a predatory nature

Edited: Predatory sharks

2. Eliminate redundant modifiers:

Example: impoverished homeless

Edited: homeless

3. Eliminate adjectives that describe the obvious:

Example: meaningful memories, loud screams

Edited: memories, screams

4. Get rid of the unnecessary that, which, or who:

Example: I know that retirement is important.

Edited: I know retirement is important.

5. Cross out the unnecessary articles:

Example: Be sure to tell the students not to chew gum.

Edited: Be sure to tell students not to chew gum.

1. Assign a 1,000 word essay. Emphasize it must be at least 1,000 words. It must be done on a word processor.

2. A week after collecting it (this will give time for absent students to get it done), tell them to edit their 1,000 word essay to 600 words.

3. Begin by looking at sections or paragraphs they could eliminate or combine.

4. Continue by looking at sentences and clauses they could eliminate or combine.

5. Finally, instruct them to use the techniques above.

6. Assessment should include not only the quality of writing, but the ability to deliver the same main idea in 600 words that they previously delivered in 1,000 words.

7. For practice on editing for word economy, use the paragraph below.

Practice Paragraph

Things to do in Winter in Telluride, Colorado

Are you looking for something to do in Telluride. I’ll tell you what. There’s a lot to do. Let’s start with dog-sledding, dog. Remember that time when you whacked your one neighbor’s poodle across the forehead for taking a dump in your freshly mowed lawn? I certainly wouldn’t recommend doing that to a really big furry Alaskan Husky, especially when he and nine of his big, furry buddies are flying through the rocky Colorado wilderness, full of trees and animals, attached to a snow sled carrying you and your family. Half day sleigh rides for 4-6 passengers provide the most fun that you can have with 10 hairy dogs, a wife, and three kids. It’s a lot of fun, for sure.

* Click the title for edited version

This post is part of the series: Editing

Writing is a process. Editing is the final step in that process. Don’t blow weeks of hard work by editing poorly.

• Lesson Plan: Improve Writing by Learning How to Edit an Essay
• Lesson Plan: Proofreading with Peer Editing
• Proofreading Activity: Group Experts
• How to Revise an Essay: A High School Writing Lesson Plan

Filter Results

• clear all filters

Resource Type

• Guided Lessons
•  Lesson Plans
• Hands-on Activities
• Interactive Stories
• Online Exercises
• Printable Workbooks
• Science Projects
• Song Videos

middle-school

•  English Learner (EL)
•  Fine arts
•  Math
•  Reading
•  Writing Process
•  Writing Organization and Structure
•  Fiction Writing
•  Nonfiction Writing
•  Research Strategies
•  Grammar
•  Science
•  Social emotional
•  Social studies
•  Typing
•  Common Core

Lesson Plans for Writing