When it comes to revision, the best defense is a good offense.
Learning to avoid problems in the first place means students
won't have to revise their essay later.
Top among revision
techniques is turning planning tools and strategies into revision
checklists. However, some students will need additional tricks
to help them deal with problems specific to them.
Skim through this list for ideas that you could pull out if Josh
or Caitlin seems to be having somewhat different writing process
problems than the rest of the class.
A readable draft
Students can't apply revision techniques to work they can't read.
In order to read carefully what they wrote, students need a
clean draft without a lot of confusing smudges and scribbles.
Some ways students can help to assure they can see what their writing
actually says are:
-
Make a photocopy of handwritten work before start
to revise so they have one clean copy.
-
In handwritten work, use alternate lines on one side
of the paper.
-
Type the draft or have someone type it from dictation
as the student reads it aloud.
-
Double space work to be revised.
-
Revise on a printout, not on a computer screen.
-
Enlarge the type to 14 point or larger before printing
work for revision or editing.
These ideas as so elementary, I almost hesitate to call them
revision techniques. However, students whose work is so messy
they cannot tell where to begin may need one of these elementary
techniques before you can see they are using any writing process
whatsoever.
Short sessions with breaks between
Students can concentrate best if they don't have to concentrate
hard for long. (The same is true of you and me.) Several sessions
of a half hour or less will be more productive than one long
session.
Students should at least get up and move around between
sessions. It's better if they can do something entirely different
for a while before returning to their revision work.
I'm sure if you ask students to name their favorite writing
process strategy, frequent breaks will be high on the list. Isn't
it pleasant to have one suggestion students actually like?
Students can set an ordinary kitchen timer for the number
of minutes they estimate it will take them to read their paper
through carefully for one specific problem.
Competing against the clock keeps some (not all!) students focused
and helps them develop an awareness of how long various parts of
the writing process take.
Let students read aloud
Having their ears help their eyes makes it easier for students
to spot redundant information. You can have authors read
their work aloud to a partner during peer
reviews. Students who would not read aloud to themselves often
will read aloud to a peer.
Use colors for concentration
Focusing on one problem area at a time is a superb revision technique,
but when students are reading a paper through multiple times looking
at one element each time, they can lose track of what they have
already done.
Try having students use colored pencils or highlighters to
help them indicate what they have already checked.
For example, if they are working with the evidence in their draft,
they might put a green check in the margin beside a piece of evidence
to tell them that they examined it and found the presentation
was OK. If the work isn't OK, they should revise it so it is OK
before they go on.
When they scrutinize another element, such as transitions, they
could use a different color to keep track of their progress.
More tricks for the revision
part of the writing process especially for students who compose
at their computers.
