Writing Process: Revision Resources
building a community of revisers in your classroom of writers
 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 that I am working with. I also have some professional texts that I will be recommending from some of my favorite authors (like Barry Lane, who I am pictured with 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.
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.
 A 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.
Want to participate in this developing WritingFix page? If you have a favorite original lesson or tool for teaching your students to revise that you would be willing to let us post here, we will send you one of the NNWP Print Publications in exchange for us being allowed to feature it. Contact us at webmaster@writingfix.com for details or to summarize a revision idea/tool that you'd be willing to send us.
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Revision Ideas from the Classroom of
Dena Harrison: |
Resources from the NNWP's Elementary Writing Guide: |
Comparing and Contasting Revision Post-Its:  This revision and response activity can be done with any of the Post-It templates found here at WritingFix. I have included links to the Post-It templates below, or you can click here to access WritingFix's Post-It Note homepage, where there are other ideas from teachers on using these effective writing workshop tools.
In my classroom, I have too many students to run the templates on actual Post-Its, so I simply run the templates off on colored paper and cut them out on the paper cutter. For this revision activity, each student writer will need one rough draft they have written and two copies of one of the Post-It notes.
First, each student reads his/her own rough draft carefully, then self-ranks his/her skills from 1-5. Students can only have one of each number; they cannot assign the same number to more than one skill from the Post-It Note. Students hide their self-ranking from other students and prepare to read a peer's paper.
Second, a student peer reads the writer's rough draft and ranks the same skills, using the second Post-It Note. Once this is done, the draft's writer can bring his/her Post-It out of hiding.
Next, the students compare and contrast their rankings on the two Post-It notes, discussing differences and similarities, referring to the drafts while they talk.
Finally, based on the discussion, each student plans his/her revision, focusing on skills that both readers ranked with lower numbers.
Post-It Templates: Idea Development, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions.
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 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.
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Revising Together! Here are instructions for teaching whole-class revision, and a whole-class sample to show your students.
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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.
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The NNWP's New Revision In-service Class: |
Resources from the NNWP's Secondary Writing Guide: |
In Fall of 2009, the Northern Nevada Writing Project will be hosting a brand new inservice class aimed to get to the "heart" of true revision: Mentor Texts that Teach “Craft” during Revision: A Lesson-Building Workshop.
Inspired by our 2007-2009 study of how teachers use "mentor texts" during writing instruction, this class will aim to give teachers a new way to think specifically about their favorite picture books and excerpts from other published works.
We've discovered that mentor texts can be used in three very effective ways: 1) as an idea generator; 2) as a structural inspiration; 3) as a guide for teaching crafted writing. In most classrooms that we studied, we saw an abundance of techniques 1 and 2 being used, but only rarely did we see the third use of a mentor text during writing instruction.
 Our new inservice class will demonstrate effective uses of a mentor text as a revision tool so that students better craft their language as they create second drafts. One of the WritingFix lessons we will definitely be demonstrating is our lesson inspired by Patricia MacLachlan's All the Places to Love.
As part of the class, teachers will also be required to create a brand new lesson that uses one of their favorite classroom mentor texts as a revision tool. The best of those lessons will become features at WritingFix! In this space, this December, you will be able to access this new collection of resources created by the teachers of Northern Nevada.
Check back with us soon! |
 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.
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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.
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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.
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Revision Coversheets. Here are two different versions of a trait-based coversheet that can be marked after reading over a student's second draft.
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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.
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