Miss Primary

“Miss, I’ve finished my work!” said the young boy proudly.

“Have you checked and edited it?” queried the busy teacher.

“How do I do that?” the confused boy replied.

This scenario plays out countless times in primary classrooms around the world. In the UK, from Year 2 onwards, we’re expecting our learners to edit, proofread, and improve their written work. However, getting started can be tricky without guidance from teachers and activities that teach learners how. As they gain confidence, editing will be a very useful tool that sets your students up for success throughout their academic journey and beyond.

1. Make Editing a Detective Mission:

Transform editing from a chore to a thrilling quest! Imagine the text as a puzzle with hidden clues (spelling errors) and secret messages (confusing sentences). Arm your students with magnifying glasses (okay, maybe highlighters) and sticky notes to mark these hidden treasures. Being language detectives and uncovering ways to make their writing clearer and more impactful, is a fun and motivating way to teach this important skill.

2. Buddy Up for Better Work:

Peer editing is a powerful tool. Pair students up (or create small groups) and have them swap work. This allows them to see their writing through fresh eyes, catching mistakes they might have missed and offering suggestions for improvement. Getting someone else to read their work aloud will also help check sentence flow.

3. Editing Checklists: A Helpful Handhold:

Creating editing checklists empowers students to take ownership of the process. This could be a bookmark or a print out for each big writing project that they can physically check off. Keep them simple at first, focusing on key areas like:

• Punctuation: Did I use full stops, commas, and question marks correctly?
• Spelling: Have I checked all my words and used a dictionary if needed?
• Capital Letters: Did I start sentences and proper nouns with a capital letter?
• Making Sense: Does my writing flow smoothly and make sense from beginning to end?

As students progress, add more complex elements like sentence structure and word choice.

4. “Show, Don’t Tell”: Model the Magic of Editing:

Sometimes, the best way to teach is by showing and dedicating some lessons to editing. Take a short piece of writing (student work or a teacher-created example) and walk the class through the editing process live. Think aloud, highlighting errors and demonstrating how to correct them.

From this, editing can be a collaborative project for your students. They can pair up and find ways to improve a passage of writing and spot the mistakes. Check out my resources below for fun editing starter activities. This “I do, we do, you do” approach provides a clear framework for students to follow in their own editing adventures.

5. Celebrate the Journey, Not Just the Destination:

Editing doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a continuous learning process. Celebrate the effort your students put into revising and improving their work, not just the final product. When they discover a tricky spelling or manage to rephrase a sentence for clarity, acknowledge their progress!

Remember, editing skills are a valuable gift you can give your students. By making it interactive, collaborative, and even a little bit fun, they’ll be well on their way to becoming confident and polished writers!

Miss Primary’s Editing Toolkit

Highlights and sticky notes are an editor’s best friend. Ask your students to highlight a sentence they want to improve in their writing and then re-write it underneath. I also create sticky notes using lined paper that can be stuck into their books on the margin to create a flap showing their improvements (great for moderation and evidence of learning).

Fix My Work – A fun starter or morning activity that involves spotting mistakes in spellings and grammar.

Edit My Work – It’s your students job to make your sentence more interesting and spot any mistakes.