How do I teach editing and revising to 6th graders?
How do I teach editing and revising to 6th graders?
Teach revising and editing as two separate jobs. Revising changes the ideas and structure, editing fixes the conventions. Model both on your own draft, give sixth graders one focus per pass, and use short checklists instead of asking them to fix everything at once. This page covers why students resist revision, classroom moves that work, a five-lesson sequence and a Grade 6 pack with editing tools.
Shop the Grade 6 ELA PackTo teach editing and revising to 6th graders, separate the two. Revising means adding, removing, moving or replacing content to make the writing clearer and stronger. Editing means correcting capitalization, usage, punctuation and spelling. Model each on a real draft, then have students make one focused pass at a time, such as adding evidence or cutting repetition, and read their work aloud. Short peer conferences with a clear question work better than open-ended feedback.
Ready-made material
Grade 6 ELA Pack, Grade 6
4 resources in one download: $10.99 instead of $14.96 bought separately.
The first cover is the main resource; the others are related options. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Grade 6 ELA Pack | Grammar, Writing Prompts, Word Study & Reading
Grade 5 ELA Pack | Grammar, Writing Prompts, Phonics & Two Reading Stories
English Language Arts Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for Middle School ELA
Grades 1–6 Literacy Skills Curriculum | Grammar, Writing, Phonics & Reading Packs for Every Grade
Why it is hard
Why sixth graders resist revision
Ask a class of sixth graders to revise and most will fix three commas, recopy the piece in neater handwriting and call it done. To them, revision means correction, and a draft that has no spelling errors is finished. They have rarely seen what real revision looks like: cutting a whole paragraph, moving the strongest reason to the end, or adding an example where a claim stands alone. There is also an emotional side. Students at this age feel attached to what they wrote and hear any suggestion as a criticism. Peer review often goes badly for the same reason: partners say it is good or add a smiley face, because nobody taught them what to look for. Long checklists cause problems of their own. A sheet with fifteen items invites students to tick every box without reading their own work. When editing does happen, students tend to read silently and their eyes fill in missing words. And because they revise only at the end, when the piece is due, there is no time left to make real changes. The result is final drafts that look tidy but read just like the first ones.
What works
Classroom moves that make revision real
These moves give students specific things to do with a draft, which is what most of them are missing.
- Revise your own weak paragraph live on the board, narrating every change and why you made it.
- Teach ARMS for revising (add, remove, move, substitute) and CUPS for editing as separate passes.
- Give each revision day one lens only, such as stronger evidence, clearer topic sentences or varied sentence starts.
- Train peer partners to answer one question, like where did you get confused, rather than give general praise.
- Have students read drafts aloud in a whisper voice to catch missing words and run-ons.
- Ask students to highlight one change in color so you can see real revision, not just recopying.
Step by step
Five lessons from draft to final copy
Use this sequence with any multi-paragraph piece, such as an argument or an informational essay. Each lesson needs about 40 minutes.
- Revising is not editingShow the same paragraph twice, once edited and once revised. Students compare the versions and list what changed. Build a class chart that separates the two jobs.
- Add and removeModel adding a specific example to a vague claim and cutting a sentence that repeats an idea. Students make one addition and one cut in their own draft, marked in color.
- Move and substituteModel reordering paragraphs so the strongest point lands last, then replacing weak words like good or stuff. Students try both and explain one choice to a partner.
- Focused peer conferencePartners read each other's drafts and answer two set questions: where was the argument clearest, and where did you need more. Writers choose one suggestion to act on.
- Edit with CUPSStudents make four quick passes, one each for capitals, usage, punctuation and spelling, reading aloud for the punctuation pass. They then write a clean final copy.
Ready-made option
Grade 6 writing support with editing tools
The Grade 6 ELA Pack ($10.99, parts bought separately $14.96) contains Grade 6 Writing Prompts with structure, vocabulary and editing tools, Grade 6 Grammar Practice on sentence types and parts of speech, Grade 6 academic word study, and the reading story The Lighthouse Mystery. The editing tools and grammar pages support the CUPS pass, and the prompts give students drafts worth revising. If you want a full middle school writing strand with planning, drafting, revising and editing built into units, ELA Complete – Middle School starts at $149.90. For students who need more grammar groundwork, the Grade 5 ELA Pack ($13.99) is a good step back.
Honest limits
Things to plan around
The pack provides prompts, editing tools and grammar practice. It does not teach revision by itself; the modeling, conferences and color-coded changes described above are still your part, and so is choosing the genres your students write. It is a set of practice packs rather than a full writing curriculum, so check it against your state or district writing standards. If your sixth grade team wants to share it, send Teach Lessons a short message before doing so. Should it not fit your class, you can exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value; cash refunds are not offered.
Good to know
More teacher questions
What is the difference between revising and editing?
Revising changes what the writing says and how it is organized: adding evidence, cutting repetition, reordering ideas, choosing better words. Editing fixes the surface: capitals, grammar, punctuation and spelling. Teaching them as separate steps on separate days helps students stop treating a spell check as revision.
How do I make peer review useful in 6th grade?
Give partners one or two specific questions to answer and a sentence frame to use, such as I was confused when, or Your strongest reason is. Model a good and a weak conference first. Then let the writer decide which suggestion to use, so they stay in charge of their work.
How many drafts should 6th graders write?
Quality of revision matters more than the number of drafts. One draft with a few real, focused revisions shown in color is often better than three neat recopies. For longer pieces, plan at least one revision day and one editing day before the final copy is due.
Should I grade revision?
Many teachers give credit for the revision process, for example by checking that students made a set number of meaningful changes in color or wrote a short note on what they changed and why. That signals that revision is part of the work, not an optional extra.
Does the Grade 6 ELA Pack line up with my state's writing standards?
Teach Lessons makes no claim that the Grade 6 pack follows Common Core or any state standards. The pack is organized around Grade 6 literacy skills. Compare the prompts and editing tools with your state or district writing standards, and add any genres or skills your standards require that the pack leaves out.
How do I help students who say their writing is already perfect?
Ask them a specific question about the draft, such as what is the best example in your second paragraph, or which sentence could a reader skip. Revision often starts once a student has to defend a choice. Showing your own messy revisions also makes changing a draft feel normal.
Drafts that actually change
Separate revising from editing, give one focus at a time, and keep the editing tools close at hand.
Shop the Grade 6 ELA Pack