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A Look at Revision

3/30/2016

14 Comments

 
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   "If you think you’re better than a horned toad, you will never hear its voice.” 
              ~Byrd Baylor, The Other Way to Listen
 
 
Revision responses should help the writer, not the writing, move forward. Allow your students to help you revise your own writing to model the process.  Ask them these questions:
  1. What stayed with you?
  2. What did it make you think of?
  3. What questions do you have?

Encourage students to write comments on sticky notes as you read their writing aloud to them. This practice of reading aloud is so useful to student writers. It helps them to develop a writer’s ear for the music of the words.  The following list is filled with some suggestions to try out when engaged in revision. Happy writing to all!
 
  • Reread to discover the “inside story.”What are you really writing about?
 
  • Write a different beginning.
 
  • Write a different ending.
 
  • Write the piece in a different tense.
 
  • Use a multi-genre approach.
 
  • Write in the third person instead of the first person.
 
  • Write for a different audience.
 
  • Find your center of gravity and begin there.
 
  • Write the piece in a different format (a poem, letter, or feature article).
 
  • Look at your verbs and nouns – are they specific?
 
  • Try adding some dialogue.
 
  • Write descriptions that appeal to a sense you have not evoked in this piece.
 
  • Try to collaborate with a peer who is writing on the same theme or subject and rewrite.
 
  • Read it aloud to see if the voice is working. Listen to the rhythm of your words.
 
  • Check for unnecessary words (economy of expression).
 
  • Step away from your work for several hours or wait until the next day – even the next week – to tackle revision again.
 
 



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14 Comments
Kipp Moyer
3/30/2016 02:58:24 am

I love the thought, "find your center of gravity and start there."

That made so much sense to me, after staring at the laptop screen pondering what to write. For me, this morning I think I actually lived out that quote. Thanks for naming it.

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lynne dorfman link
3/30/2016 03:11:57 am

Thanks, Kipp. I spent a good deal of time really thinking about what might be helpful to writers, teacher writers, and their student writers!

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Diane Dougherty link
3/30/2016 03:12:20 am

Love the Byrd Baylor quote! Good advice for all writers, Lynne. As always we learn something from you every day! Great post today.

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Maureen Barbieri
3/30/2016 01:43:57 pm

This was one of Don Graves' favorite quotes. He repeated it often. So lovely and so true. Thanks for this great post.

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Lynne Dorfman link
3/30/2016 03:26:40 am

Thanks, Diane! I didn't expect to see you here. I know you are taping today at Daniel Boone. I think the revision process is the heart of writing workshop - so much to say here, but the list helped me keep this complex topic brief and doable. Good luck today!

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Clare link
3/30/2016 03:53:21 am

Lynne, I agree Diane - I love the Byrd Baylor quote - never heard of it.
As I look at this list I realize I use so many of them naturally - especially reading aloud and stepping away. I have been trying new structures and trying to balance the use of dialogue with more description. I love Kate's book - great reminder to look at it again.
Clare

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lynne dorfman link
3/30/2016 05:07:31 am

Hi, Clare. I have almost all of Byrd Baylor's books and often used them with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. I love Kate's book and just revisited it myself! Very helpful! Thanks for reading!

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elsie
3/30/2016 06:50:27 am

Too often students see revision as a form of punishment, they like their work just as it is. I think if they stepped away from a piece and came back later, they would see how changing just a word makes a difference. A checklist of possibilities for revision might be something useful as they reread their work.

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lynne dorfman link
3/30/2016 08:43:37 am

And that's a shame, Elsie, because they should see themselves as writers and writers revise. Thanks for making me think some more! I like your thinking about the importance of stepping away before it becomes too tedious and come back to a piece. I ask my writers to gave a praise and a polish - one suggestion for revision - when peer conferring. Too many suggestions are overwhelming. It is always the individual writer's decision to act on it. I think our writers are more willing to do some revision when they have ownership. Of course, I just realized I didn't write any of this in the piece I posted!

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Rose
3/30/2016 07:33:29 am

Reading aloud is so important to revision. It is my go-to strategy for myself. Thanks for listing these great suggestions - important to writers of any stage or age!

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lynne dorfman link
3/30/2016 08:50:02 am

Thanks, Rose. I want to continue to write posts about writing workshop and mentor texts for our blog, so this piece is a sample of what I hope to write about - maybe twice a week. That's my plan!

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Stacey Shubitz link
3/30/2016 01:35:46 pm

I wish you had written this last week since my students were engaged in revision in my course. (We're on to the editing week now, but I still think I'll share this with a few of them.)

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Shelly
3/30/2016 03:18:22 pm

I love the Bryd Baylor quote! Listening is so important! Thank you for all the great advice as always!!!

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Tara Smith link
3/30/2016 03:56:08 pm

What a great post, Lynne - definitely one to take into my classroom for a topic we struggle with.

Reply



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    Lynne loves to write in the early morning hours, especially in warm weather when she can sit outside on the patio.  After a walk with her three Welsh Corgis, her mind is cleared and her spirit is inspired by the choir of birds in nearby bushes and trrees. 

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