WritingFix: The Writing Process...Ideas for Revising

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Corbett Harrison's Website

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Holly Young's Website

Learning Is Messy
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The Writing Process: Ideas for Revising

building a community of revisers in your classroom of writers

Revision is tough for many teachers. Some are just not sure what the difference is between revising and editing. Often, teachers simply assign revision without actually teaching students how to do it effectively. If revision is something that has been a bit tough for you, don’t worry! I am certain that after a few minutes reviewing the resources on this page, you will be able to effectively bring your new knowledge of the revision process back to your classroom of writers. The tools on this page will become an invaluable part of your classroom’s writing process.

Hello, my name is Dena Harrison. I am the host for this celebration of revision at WritingFix. I am very dedicated to providing interesting new resources for teachers on revision here. I will be sharing lesson ideas from my own classroom, along with lesson plans from other NNWP teachers. I also have some professional texts that I will be recommending from some of my favorite authors (like Barry Lane, who is pictured with me at right). These are books that I use constantly in my classroom. I know I couldn’t teach revision without them! I invite you to come explore all the ideas we have here.

The first book I simply cannot live without is Barry Lane’s Reviser's Toolbox Barry has such a great collection of lessons and techniques in his book that students really respond well to. He injects a bit of humor into almost every lesson and once his techniques have been taught, they very easily become a part of the classroom language about writing. Barry says, “Revision is an ongoing creative process, not simply making a sloppy copy picture perfect.” I love teaching my students about “Snapshots” and “Thoughtshots”. Make sure you pick this book up and learn from one of the best!

I have been privileged to be one of the teachers chosen to review a new series of books by Vicki Spandel. Her new series of books is entitled Creating 6-Trait Revisers and Editors. They will be published for grades 2 through 8. This series contains very informative and helpful lessons for students to revise and edit using the Six Traits. Vicki says, “The six traits make it possible for us to actually teach revision,” and I wholeheartedly agree. (Many of you may notice that I am also the Six Traits Page Host here at WritingFix). I think Vicki has come up with a brilliant way to teach revision using the traits as part of the classroom language about writing.

Revision Ideas from the Classroom of Dena Harrison, this Page's Host:	Revision Resources from the NNWP's Elementary Writing Guide:
Coming this spring!	In 1995, Teacher Consultants from the Northern Nevada Writing Project worked together to create the NNWP's first print guide for teachers: The Elementary Writing Guide. The Washoe County School District generously agreed to print 1500 copies of this 400-page resource to distribute among every elementary teacher in Northern Nevada's largest county. In 2000, the EWG underwent a revision, which aligned the guide's original content to Nevada's new academic standards. The WCSD again agreed to generously pay for the re-printing and distribution of the new guide. In 2007, the guide was printed for the last time. The rising price of paper inspired the NNWP to began posting the EWG's contents on-line here at WritingFix. Below, you will find four resources from the guide's revision section for you to open, print and use. More will be coming. Revising Together! Here are instructions for teaching whole-class revision, and a whole-class sample to show your students. Revising for Stronger Introductions (Organization)! Here are simple instructions for teaching students to seek out different techniques for beginning a piece of writing, then to use a favorite technique in their own writing. Revising for Word Choice! Here are simple instructions and a student example for showing how a writer can think differently about verbs by underlining them as a revision strategy. Revising again for a Different Audience (Voice)! Here is a fun friendly-letter review activity that shows how ideas and language sometimes need to change when a different audience is addressed.
An Offer for WritingFix Users Who Believe in Sharing:	Revision Resources from the NNWP's Secondary Writing Guide:
The NNWP's Elementary Writing Guide and Secondary Writing Guide were printed for the last time in 2007 because of the rise in paper prices. It now costs the NNWP between $15 and $20 to print and bind each guide. Eventually both guides' contents will be completely available and free-to-use here at WritingFix. In the meantime, we are letting you in on a little secret: we have in our warehouse about 100 final copies of each guide to distribute to teachers who use WritingFix. We are looking for original, teacher-created revision handouts and activity write-ups that we can share here at this page. If any K-12 teacher reads our submission guidelines, then sends us a one- or two-page resource we can share here, we will send you one of the last available copies of either Writing Guide. Contact Dena Harrison, this page's host, if you have a revision resource to share that you believe matches our submission guidelines.	In 1998, Teacher Consultants from the Northern Nevada Writing Project worked together to create the NNWP's second print guide for teachers: The Secondary Writing Guide. The Washoe County School District generously agreed to print 500 copies of this 450-page resource to distribute among every secondary language arts teacher in Northern Nevada's largest county. In 2004, the SWG underwent a revision, which aligned the guide's original content to Nevada's new academic standards. A generous grant from the Walter S Johnson Foundation paid for the revision and distribution of the new guide. In 2007, the guide was printed for the last time. The rising price of paper inspired the NNWP to began posting the SWG's contents on-line here at WritingFix. Below, you will find four of the revision section's contents for you to use. More will be coming. The Revision Sprint. A great activity and write-up that has students compare their own use of writing skills as they prepare to revise a rough draft. Revision Checklists. If traits is the language of your classroom, these four checklists will help your students begin to find multiple ideas for improving their rough drafts. Students can apply the checklists to their own writing, or they can have a partner read their papers and fill out the checklist for them. Revision Coversheets. Here are two different versions of a trait-based coversheet that can be marked after reading over a student's second draft. Revision Dice! Here is a fun way to "trick" students into coming up with revision strategies for their rough drafts. Fold the templates into dice, and let your students roll all four. Whatever four suggestions come up they need to try adding to their rough drafts.