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Rebekah McCloy

Dr. Ian Nolte and Dr. Meghan Marshall

ENG 402

8 Sept. 2020

ELA WV State Standards Activity

Original State Standard

ELA.8.24

With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as

needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well

purpose and audience have been addressed. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate

command of the Language standards up to and including grade 8.)

Paraphrase of State Standard

Students are able to improve their writing with input from classmates, teachers, and mentors

through preparation and multiple attempts at revising and editing.

Classroom Activity

As part of the revision process, students will be required to get in groups of two

(groups of three if the class has an uneven number of students in it) and read their written

work out loud to their partner(s). Both of the students in the group will have a printed out

copy of each other’s work as well as a printed out copy of their own work. In this activity,

following the author’s reading of their work, both them and the partner(s) will, in the
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margins of their copy of the draft, write down notes for revision. Then, the author will sit

and listen as their partner (or one of their group members) reads the same piece out loud.

Following the reading, both people will put any more comments that they have regarding

the work in the margins. Once this has been done for one partner, they will do it for the

other as well. In other words, both pieces will be workshopped in this way. This activity is

meant to take up a significant portion of the class period. If there is extra time at the end of

class, students can begin the revision work on their piece.

In order to properly exemplify the state standard, this would only be one step of the

revision process. Perhaps, one could call it Phase One. Phase Two of revisions would

include a class-wide workshop. Depending on the class size, the teacher would take several

class days and dedicate them to Phase Two of the revision process. Students would be

required to submit their written works to a Discussion Board created by the teacher on the

class page at least three days before their workshop day. Workshop days will be assigned in

advance. Students will be required and expected to read and comment constructively on

each person’s written work. These comments should be extensive and submitted on the day

before the workshop for the piece occurs. The teacher will also be reading and commenting

on the student work. On workshop day, ten minutes will be dedicated to each piece. The

student will be required to read a little snippet from their work before the workshopping

on their piece commences. Students are to remain silent, listen, and take notes during the

time in which their piece is being workshopped.