Skill-Specific Revising and Editing Checklists

Checklists are such a powerful tool for students in the revising and editing stages of their writing. They provide a structured way for students to assess their work and are a great guide for peer-review and writing workshops. However, in my early years of teaching, I found that the checklists I was using were too broad.

The Problem with Broad Checklists

At first, I used general checklists that asked students to look for issues with capitalization, usage, punctuation, and spelling (CUPS). What I noticed, though, was that students were simply checking off boxes without really thinking about what they were doing. If they saw that they used a capital letter or end punctuation after each sentence, they’d check it off without really stopping to think about whether or not they were using it correctly. It felt like a surface-level approach to editing, and I wanted my students to dive deeper.

A Deeper Approach: Skill-Specific Checklists

That’s when I realized I needed to break it down. Cue the dance music! Most weeks, we were focusing on a specific writing skill anyway, so I wanted to find a way for students to work practice this skill during the revising and editing process.

I started small, with punctuation. Rather than giving them a generic checklist asking, "Did you check your punctuation?" I created a list specifically for comma rules. I printed out a simple list of the comma rules we had covered in our unit and instructed students to read through their papers, highlighting or circling where they had used commas correctly and where they needed to fix mistakes. This transformed the editing process into a sort of scavenger hunt for correct comma usage. 

Seeing how well this worked with punctuation, I expanded it to cover all the other skills we focused on throughout the year. This led to the creation of Skill-Specific Revising & Editing Checklists, each tailored to a different grammar or writing skill. These checklists became a regular part of our writing practice. When we learned end punctuation, I distributed the "Edit End Punctuation" checklist. After our lesson on apostrophes, students received the "Edit Apostrophes" checklist. During our sentence revision unit, they used the "Revise Details" checklist.

Each checklist provided students with clear steps to revise and edit for that specific skill!

The Benefits of Skill-Specific Checklists

The results were amazing. Not only did students feel more confident when editing their work, but they also developed a stronger understanding of each writing rule. Over time, checking for specific errors became second nature. They knew exactly what kinds of mistakes to look for and correct in their own writing.

One of the best parts about these checklists? You can laminate them! Each student can have their own set, using dry-erase markers to check off skills as they edit. This makes the checklists a reusable tool in their writing toolbox.

Once we covered all the major grammar skills, I mixed things up to keep students engaged. Here are some of the activities we used:

1. Skill-Based Revision Stations: Set up centers in the classroom where each station focused on a different skill. Students rotate through the stations to revise and edit their work for a specific skill at each one.

2. Peer Review Workshops: Students swap papers and use the checklists to search for specific errors in their partner's work. This not only helps them improve their peer's paper but also sharpens their own editing skills.

3. Layered Editing: For more complex compositions, use a different checklist each day until the paper is fully polished. By breaking the process into manageable steps, students can focus on perfecting one aspect of their writing at a time.

   
   

Finally, after using skill-specific checklists throughout the year, I returned to the broader CUPS/ARMS checklists for complete revision. This time, students were able to use them more intentionally. They had learned to recognize specific errors, making their final revisions much more meaningful.

If you're interested in using these Skill-Specific Revising & Editing Checklists with your young learners, click on the images below!