English Language Arts and Reading.8.10.C

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The student is expected to

revise drafts for clarity, development, organization, style, word choice, and sentence variety;

writing process TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--writing process. The student uses the writing process recursively to compose multiple texts that are legible and uses appropriate conventions.

Have students revise an existing draft for word choice and then annotate or highlight their revised draft to note where or how they improved their writing. Support students by providing them a list of commonly used words and synonyms for each. Advanced students should focus on using descriptive and sophisticated vocabulary and language. Teachers should look at revisions in student work to ensure that students are recognizing the need to revise word choice.
 

Further Explanation

Students should be able to understand the process of and reason for revising their writing. Students should review their drafts and identify places in the composition where the ideas are expressed in an unclear or illogical way. Students should make necessary changes by adding information to clarify meaning, deleting extraneous information that obscures meaning, combining ideas to avoid redundancies, and rearranging the ideas to ensure logical progression.

Students should be able to review their drafts and identify places where the ideas are expressed in an unclear or illogical way. Students are expected to revise drafts by adding information to clarify meaning, deleting extraneous information that obscures meaning, combine ideas to avoid redundancies, and rearrange ideas to ensure logical progression.
the practice of varying the length and structure of sentences to avoid monotony, to provide appropriate emphasis and inflection, and to enhance the rhythm and flow of the written or oral text
the unique/distinct way a writer uses language; diction, syntax, sentence fluency, figurative language, and voice all contribute to a writer’s style (e.g., Hemingway’s writing style is terse, blunt, and conversational.)
the writer or speaker’s selection of words that is derived from their style, purpose, and need to communicate accurately, appropriately, and understandably to a specific audience; also known as diction

Research

1. Klein, P. D. & Rose, M. A. (2010). Teaching argument and explanation to prepare junior students for writing to learn. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(4), 433–461. https://dx.doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.45.4.4

Summary: In this study, Klein and Rose examine how students respond to various writing tasks and assignments. The teachers used the process writing approach, which included creating an outline, drafts, and a final paper. The revision and edit process lends itself to implementing teacher and peer oral and written feedback. The study reveals that there are specific as well as varied means to teach the writing process to students. Students must use prior knowledge and have access to relevant external sources (i.e. internet).

2. Voyager Sopris Learning. (2008). The writing process for step up to writing. Step Up For Writing Series, Expository Paragraphs. Retrieved from https://www.voyagersopris.com

Summary: This one-page resource outlines eight steps in the writing process. The stages include prewriting, planning, drafting, revising, editing, writing a final copy, proofreading, and finally submitting the final copy.

3. Hillocks, G. (2010). Teaching argument for critical thinking and writing: An introduction. The English Journal, 99(6), 24–32. Retrieved from https://www.ncte.org/library/nctefiles/ej0996focus.pdf

Summary: In this article, Hillocks places an emphasis on the use of culturally related topics to teach the genre characteristics and craft of writing an argumentative essay or commentary. The article addresses the claim, evidence and warrant, backing, qualifications, and rebuttals. Using background knowledge, students are asked to write an argumentative essay that includes supporting evidence, counterarguments, and an analysis of the weaknesses and gaps in the counterarguments. The articles includes graphs and examples.