Editing is “a much more cut-and-dried affair” (Hochman & Wexler, 2017) than revising is for students. Editing comes naturally to most students because they have been practicing it since the time that they first learned basic sentence skills. Most teachers provide students with capitalization and punctuation instruction within sentence composition or even handwriting instruction, beginning at a young age. For example, when teaching basic simple sentences, teachers instruct that all sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a mark of punctuation. In addition, when teaching compound and complex sentences, teachers explain the role and position the comma takes in that sentence structure while teaching how to connect clauses.
When drafting paragraphs, however, it is common for students to focus on their idea generation rather than on mechanics. In fact, most teachers support the practice of getting thoughts onto paper and focusing on revising and editing afterward, as long as these steps are not skipped! However, after drafting and revising their writing, students must engage in editing their compositions to correct mechanical errors.
When writers edit their work, they are identifying and correcting errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, syntax, and grammar. There are questions that good writers ask when proofreading their work. By asking themselves these questions, students are developing the metacognitive skills necessary to evaluate their own writing.
Spelling:
- Did I consider syllable types, spelling patterns, and positions to correctly represent sounds in words?
- Did I try various spelling options and select the one that looks right?
- Should I consult an outside resource?
Punctuation:
- Do my sentences end in the appropriate punctuation?
- Do I have correct punctuation within sentences (commas, quotations)?
Capitalization:
- Did I apply the rules for capitalization (start of sentence, I, etc.)?
Sentence Structure:
- Does every sentence have a subject (who) and verb (do)?
- Are there any run-ons?
- Did I use words and phrases to tell when, where, why, how?
Connectives & Conjunctions:
- Does each connective and/or conjunction effectively demonstrate the relationship between words, phrases, and clauses?
- Did I use additive connectives to add on information or join like ideas (and, in addition, similarly)?
- Did I use temporal connectives to indicate time (after, during, later, next)?
- Did I use causal connectives show cause and effect relationships (because, for that reason, since)? Did I use contrast connectives to categorize differences or show opposition (although, except, or, whereas)?
Grammar:
- Is my word order correct or are words missing?
- Did I check number agreement in each sentence?
Word Choice:
- Did I use adjectives and adverbs to describe?
- Did I use precise words to convey actions and emotions?
- Did I use synonyms or substitutions to replace more general word choices and express meaning in interesting ways?
- Did I include words I’ve learned in my reading?
Teachers frequently provide student-friendly editing checklists that support students in reviewing these microstructure elements during this final stage of writing. The requirements that teachers provide on the checklist should align to the scope and sequence of skills that students have explicitly learned and are being held accountable for. Checklists can be differentiated to meet the unique needs and skills of individual writers, and they can be used for multiple purposes including self and peer evaluation as well as informal assessment. These checklists align to the evaluation criteria that teachers will apply when formally evaluating students’ writing with a microstructure rubric.
