Teaching students in upper elementary school to revise their papers effectively requires a three-pronged approach. First, teachers provide instruction on a relevant genre or writing form (using the Common Core State Standards for English language arts or other relevant standards as a guide). Second, teachers help students to use four basic…

Ideally, college classes are small. Kilgore and Cook (2007) observed that large class size can be an obstacle to good teaching. However, there is financial and human resource value in delivering quality course content in large lectures. Consequently, large lecture classes are a fundamental part of the undergraduate student experience at many…

A teacher shares her technique for improving student writing: add detail. Forget organization, cutting, and adding more information. Get students to focus only on adding more detail to information already included. Examples are given. (MT)

Recommends that teachers concentrate on explaining explicit procedures for revising style, because many novice writers interpret revision as only proofreading for typing or spelling errors. Provides a set of guidelines for stylistic revision that help students identify problems with passive verbs, nominalizations, wordiness and imprecise language.…

Indicates that using highlighters to mark errors produced a 76% class improvement in removing comma errors and a 95.5% improvement in removing apostrophe errors. Outlines two teaching procedures, to be followed before introducing this tool to the class, that enable students to remove errors at this effective rate. (JD)

These guidelines for teaching editing skills to secondary students with hearing impairments focus on: (1) revision, in which students review and refine the content, ideas, and form of their writing; and (2) proofreading and copy editing, in which students examine grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling. Ways to utilize peers as…

Rather than giving basic writing students handbook and workbook exercises to direct their proofreading, teachers can use a monitoring system that teaches the students to recognize problems and to systematically monitor and eliminate the difficulties. After completing two or three assignments that include several drafts, students copy out all the…

Word processing does not, in itself, teach revision. Students with incomplete revision strategies will not begin revising at a higher level simply by using a word processor. New computer strategies for teaching revision are needed--revision strategies that use the computer to reorganize, elaborate, and strengthen what has already been written. For…

Provides a rationale for and description of daily student journal writing, peer evaluation, and revision, which provide students with necessary writing practice without overloading the instructor. (HTH)

Explains how to implement and use a peer editing program. (FL)

Comprehensive and practical, this book provides resources, strategies, and assessments that seamlessly weave writing into everyday classroom routines. The resources in the book include reproducible student worksheets, transparency masters, teacher and student examples, and technology tips in the form of Web site addresses. Strategies throughout…

A major goal in teaching basic writers is to show them the importance of revision in the writing process, specifically revision for correctness (correcting), for creating content (adding), and for cutting out inessential material (subtracting). Revising for correctness includes varying or limiting the assigned revision tasks, varying the length of…

Describes an editing assignment in which senior engineering students use their knowledge of non-finite clauses (both restrictive and non-restrictive) to achieve concise mature writing. Explains the linguistic background provided to students before the assignment, gives details of the published "answer guide" and the exercise, and…

Explains how the use of parody can improve students' writing and add more zest, zing, and vigor to their writing style. (HOD)

Instructors often criticize student writing styles in abstract, nebulous terms which further serve to alienate student writers from the concept of style. College instructors should direct students to such concise, recognized discourses on improving writing style as Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style." In these manuals, specific, effective…