Revision is an integral part of the writing process. It is in this stage of the writing process that students grow as writers, readers, and thinkers.
Many teachers know that it can be challenging to motivate students to revise their work. There may be several reasons that students are reluctant to revise: students may be unaware that revising is a natural part of the writing process and think their first draft is supposed to be their final product; they may not consider the purpose and audience for their writing; they may know that their writing needs to be improved but do not possess a repertoire of revising strategies. Some students consider revision to be hard work because it requires time, energy, and commitment. Still others mistake editing for revising—that is, students think correcting spelling, punctuation, and grammar is the same as revising for deeper meaning, such as ideas and organization.
Experienced teachers also know that students have different writing needs, abilities, and interests. Because teaching revision is crucial to the development of all students’ writing abilities, teachers need to design lessons that engage students in critically reading, revising, and celebrating their own—and other people’s—writing. By teaching effective revision techniques, teachers provide all students with strategies they can use in personal, academic, and workplace writing.
Teaching the writing process—and especially the revision process—requires teachers to establish a safe, trusting, and respectful learning community. Because students take risks when they ask for—or offer—feedback from their peers, teachers should create norms and protocols that facilitate fruitful conversations about revision. By developing classroom norms, teachers create a safe environment in which students trust and respect each other as writers and revising partners. As a result, peer-revision conversations are constructive, focused, and student-centered.
To facilitate peer-revision conversations, teachers can select or create questions to guide the peer-revision conversations. The questions to guide revision should be based on the demands of the writing task and the needs and abilities of the students. (See the Download available here for model questions.) If students are already familiar and comfortable with the revision process and the traits of writing, students can create their own revision questions. Experienced teachers use workshops that “show, not tell” students how to revise. A student revision workshop is a structured instructional plan that enables students to learn new writing strategies and to focus on specific writing traits.
Student revision is a critical step of the writing process. To help teachers begin to structure a classroom of student revisionists, download the eBook “Teaching Meaningful Revision.” This eBook contains graphic organizers, tips to implement a respectful learning community, questions to focus the revising conversation, information on the revision workshop, setting up revising activities for small groups and partnerships, and structuring writing conferences.