Discuss the first draft
Work on spelling
Help your students develop their spelling skills by using the strategies on page 17 of this guide. Discuss the strengths and limitations of these strategies.
Work on grammar
Encourage self‐correction. Have your students tell you where they think there may be errors in a text. Help the students to identify incorrectly used words by asking them, “does this sentence make sense?” or “does this sound right?”
Proofread
Remind your students that successful writers always proofread their writing. Share your proofreading strategies with your students. These may include:
Grammar
When editing, it is important to discuss grammar and grammatical rules. Grammatical rules can help writers by telling them how their written language is normally put together. However, because different language styles - formal, informal, dialects - have their own grammar, many people are confused by grammatical rules.
If your students speak English as a second language, they may be very interested in grammar. However, students who speak English as their first language often do not like talking about grammar. If it is appropriate, bring grammar into your discussions by talking about the flow of writing, word order, or the form of language in the students’ writing.