I want to focus on how to explicitly teach my students on how to revise their work. So far my thoughts are to continue to model the process in front of them. Students should know every detail of our thoughts and how we come up with ideas of things to write about. Creating a safe environment for my students to write and share their writing is number one. Based on Writing Workshop by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi, teachers should share their writings with students. Or even read a short story to get students thinking about ideas they can write about that spins off that piece of literature.
When we share our personal stories with them that gives them that safe place/forum where they are not going to be judged. Also, with my writing, students can answer the following questions: What worked or made sense in my writing? What other choices of words or ideas I can add? With their positive feedback, I can then add these suggestions to my writing as I enter into the revision phase.
I think sometimes my students have difficulty seeing the point of revision. And to be fair, if I'm the only audience their writing ever has, there may not be much of a point, especially if it's good enough to get a decent grade without much revision. I wonder if thinking about audience might also be a part of conversations about revision.
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