How To Make Your Students LOVE Editing

Hi, Teachers!

Before I share a lot in my post, have you headed over to TeachersPayTeachers to take advantage of the site-wide sale? My whole store is 28% off, and so are a TON of other stores. Head to the sale by clicking below. Now is the time to empty your wish list!

Today's topic is getting kids to love EDITING! Do you dread asking your students to edit their pieces during Writer's Workshop? I used to, and I'll tell you why. After about 4 or 5 minutes, several students would come up to me and say, "I'm done!" with a smile on their face. Obviously, you can't edit a whole piece in 5 minutes, but editing is a task that is really developmentally difficult for students in the younger grades. I've got the perfect trick for you! Try having students play the game Prove It with a partner.

First, prepare your game. Take the editing checklist you typically have students use independently and cut it up into pieces. Pop the pieces in a bag or envelope. Now you're all set up! I use a Teacher's College checklist. Above you can see a picture of what my game looks like.

Now, you'll have to model playing the game. I have students take a piece out of their bag and prove that they did what that piece of the checklist says, so that's what you'd model with a student partner. Both partners look at one page at a time, with one editing pen only. I ask students to notice what we do when we play the game. You may want to prep your student volunteer ahead of time. I typically have students take turns editing their pages. Partner A checks for capital letters on page 1, and then Partner B does the same. When you've moved through the checklist, you've finished one round of Prove It. Repeat with the other pages until you finish. It's important to teach partners what to do if they see a mistake their partner missed. Talk about using kind words to support a partner through the editing process. Here are some of my kiddos enjoying Prove It today!

Here's a word of advice to you... have your kids spread out across the room while they play. Students can lose checklist pieces easily if they aren't careful! I let my kids work in the hallway too if it's quiet outside.

How do you get students to have more fun with editing their pieces? Comment below! And go grab some items on TPT! The sale ends tonight! :)