Articles:
The Bookstore
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Revising
Once the child has established the content of their writing,
it's time to refine the work. This could happen once (for younger
children) or up to three or four times for older children.
It's in this stage that they check the flow of their work (does it
make sense?), they correct spelling (consult a dictionary or their
own word list, ask a friend or teacher for assistance), punctuation
and grammar and make any other changes that need to be made.
During this revision stage is a good time for
the teacher to hold 'spelling workshops' where he or she can focus
the students on a particular word, word family, punctuation
convention etc. This can be done as a whole class activity or
as a small group activity for students having problems in a certain
area. I would often use these sessions to alert my students to
the frequent use of certain words and we'd have a small
brainstorming session to find substitutes for commonly occurring
words like "said". After these sessions it wasn't uncommon to
see the students rush off to change their writing to incorporate
their new found knowledge.
Publishing their
writing
This is perhaps the most exciting part of writing for most children.
Publishing their work can mean anything from simply re-writing the
finished and corrected sentence into a book or turning their
creation into a work or art via a poster or book or other display.
It depends on the purpose of the writing in the first place.
At my school we had a special publishing room which contained all
manner of writing implements, papers, and materials for special
effects (glitter pens etc). The motivational factor of this
room was worth the cost alone. Children really wanted to use the
materials but could only do so when they had done the work
beforehand.
After publishing the students can be
encouraged to share their work with an audience or put it on
display. Again, it depends on the purpose of the writing in the
first place
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