7. Revision: The Final Phase in Writing

After you have succeeded in helping your student complete a first draft, you will help her to edit and proof it. Watch this introductory video about revision:



Also watch this short video about the three-step revision process. This technique works just as well for the very low level learner as well as for the GED student. Tutors must make sure to help the student step-by-step, helping students to see that writing at all levels is a process and that all good writers must revise their work:



In revision, you will add details that you and your student decide are necessary or helpful to understanding the topic. You and your student will work at:

  • eliminating any extraneous or repetitive information;
  • moving and rearranging sentences to make the flow of ideas more logical or easier for the reader to follow; and
  • correcting spelling and sentence structure errors. (For many people, especially those who have had trouble in the past, these are the biggest blocks to writing.)

Lesson planning tip: How will you fit the three stages of writing into your lesson? Click here for some suggestions.

Point to ponder
An interesting way to work on the logical and smooth flow of ideas is to take a paragraph and write out the individual sentences. Then, cut the paper so each sentence is in its own strip. Mix them up, and have your learner put them in the proper order. (This is a particularly good exercise for your kinesthetic learners.)

Optional: This sentence order exercise from Cerritos College will provide additional practice for your student.
http://cms.cerritos.edu/browse/browse.asp?WID=20040008&DID=20050611




14 comments:

Queen Of My Castle said...

Nothing more to say!

lillian said...

Editing should get the student involved.

Unknown said...

Might be funny if this ends up improving my own writing...HA!

neg said...

I love the writing process video. It really gets to the heart of saying in words what you mean in speech.

Megan N said...

I like the cut up and put them in the right order idea! The ideas in all of these passages are wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Excellent section and excellent information.

North Hills Member said...

"Repetitiveness" in writing is a failing of mine. I think I unconsciously think, "Well, this is one way to put it. How about if I put it this way, too?" But this tends to swamp and then turn off the reader. I think the repetitiveness is a misguided perfectionist tendency that yields bad communications. I need to remember, "Say it once and concisely. Do not worry about beauty per se. the reader will get the point far better than if I swamp her with words."

Unknown said...

Completed

Unknown said...

This phase is to make sure your paper is chronologically sound, the flow isn't stopped by misspelled word and improper use of punctuations. Your readers could get through this draft and understand your point of view on the subject matter.

Unknown said...

I like your idea.It was very useful.Thank you so much for this sharing with us and keep it up.you can use the best essay writing service for more tips about this.

Unknown said...

Analyzing sentences' structure by working through each individually from the final sentence backwards is brilliant.

Anonymous said...

Strangely, the three-step process speaks to Big Picture-Paragraphs-Sentences. Of course, this is the ultimate goal for teaching a student to write well, but terms like thesis may overwhelm many a student who is struggling. Paring down terms will keep students more engaged until they reach a skill level where thesis and audience analysis can be understood.

MSTATEN said...

I like the idea of working from the end of the paper to the beginning to make sure all ideas/topics are supported well and in the correct order.

Unknown said...

Very good idea! Definitely want to try this with my students.