CurriculumGrade 4English Language Arts

Planning and Revising

Aligned to W.4.5 — Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

What this lesson teaches

Writing gets better in stages. First you plan your ideas, then you write a draft, then you revise by adding, cutting, or moving parts to make it stronger, and finally you edit to fix mistakes. Help from a friend or adult can point out what to improve.

Worked example

A writer's first sentence, 'The trip was fun,' becomes much stronger after revising: 'Our camping trip was the best weekend of my summer.' Revising turned a plain idea into a vivid one.

Practice questions

  1. Take a dull sentence and revise it to make it more interesting.
  2. List the steps you would follow to improve a piece of writing.
  3. Explain one helpful thing a friend could tell you about your draft.

Watch the lesson

Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.

▶ Watch this lesson

En español

Planear y Revisar

La escritura mejora por etapas. Primero planeas tus ideas, luego escribes un borrador, después revisas agregando, quitando o moviendo partes para hacerlo más fuerte, y por último corriges los errores. La ayuda de un amigo o un adulto puede señalar qué mejorar.

Ejemplo: La primera oración de un escritor, 'El viaje fue divertido,' se vuelve mucho más fuerte después de revisar: 'Nuestro viaje de campamento fue el mejor fin de semana de mi verano.' Revisar convirtió una idea simple en una vívida.

More Writing lessons

Writing an Opinion EssayW.4.1Informative, Narrative & Research WritingW.4.2Writing a StoryW.4.3Clear and Organized WritingW.4.4Writing with TechnologyW.4.6Short Research ProjectsW.4.7

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