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Year 4

Editing the build-up of 'A Christmas Carol'

I can edit the build-up of my story based on 'A Christmas Carol'.

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New
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Year 4

Editing the build-up of 'A Christmas Carol'

I can edit the build-up of my story based on 'A Christmas Carol'.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Editing is the process of making changes to improve writing.
  2. The job of an editor is to check punctuation and to make improvements to sentence structure and language choices.
  3. When editing punctuation, missing or incorrectly used capital letters, full stops and commas are checked.
  4. When editing sentence structure, changes to the way sentences are constructed to improve text flow are made.
  5. When editing vocabulary, reviews of word and phrase choice are made to ensure appropriate tone is achieved.

Keywords

  • Editing - the process of improving writing to improve text flow and overall quality

  • Punctuation - a set of standardised symbols and marks used in written language to structure sentences

  • Sentence structure - the way words are arranged and organised within sentences to convey meaning

  • Vocabulary - the language choices made by the writer

Common misconception

Children may think that the editing process is just about correcting mistakes.

Explain to the children that all writers use editing as opportunity to improve their work as well as correcting mistakes. Even renowned authors make changes to their writing (vocabulary choice/sentence structure) in order to improve it.

Ensure children have access to a vocabulary bank that will support them in up-levelling their vocabulary choices. If time allows, children can also use this lesson to edit the setting description and the opening they wrote for their narrative.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
the sharp tolling of bells began to ring
The sharp tolling of bells began to ring
Correct answer: The sharp tolling of bells began to ring.
the sharp tolling of bells began to ring.
Q2.
Match the types of fronted adverbial to the correct examples.
Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of time,In the middle of night, ... / Just at that moment, ...

In the middle of night, ... / Just at that moment, ...

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of place,In the darkest corner of the room, …

In the darkest corner of the room, …

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of manner,Hauntingly, ... / Fearfully, ...

Hauntingly, ... / Fearfully, ...

Q3.
Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
Correct answer: Sternly, Marley warned Scrooge of the consequences of his selfish ways.
Sternly Marley warned Scrooge of the consequences of his selfish ways
Sternly Marley warned Scrooge of the consequences of his selfish ways.
Q4.
Which of the following is an example of reported speech?
"You have not been kind to others," Marley declared.
Marley exclaimed, "You need to change your ways!"
Correct answer: Marley harshly reprimanded Scrooge for his cold and cruel treatment of others.
Q5.
Match each word class to its example.
Correct Answer:verb,pounded

pounded

Correct Answer:adverb,sternly

sternly

Correct Answer:adjective,rapid

rapid

Correct Answer:noun,heart

heart

Q6.
A __________ sentence is formed of two main clauses joined with a co-ordinating conjunction.
Correct Answer: compound, Compound

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the type of punctuation to when it is used.
Correct Answer:full stop,at the end of a sentence

at the end of a sentence

Correct Answer:comma,to separate words in a list or to separate clauses

to separate words in a list or to separate clauses

Correct Answer:capital letter,at the beginning of a sentence and for proper nouns

at the beginning of a sentence and for proper nouns

Q2.
What is incorrect in the following sentence? "Sternly marley warned Scrooge, of his selfish ways."
missing capital letter at beginning of sentence
Correct answer: missing capital letter for a proper noun
Correct answer: comma in the wrong place
comma needed for an ENP
Q3.
When editing for sentence structure, what should you do first?
Correct answer: Read each sentence to check it makes sense.
Use conjunctions to form different sentence types.
Add in missing words.
Q4.
Which of these words could be missing from the following sentence? 'As the air grew colder, the ghost of Jacob Marley.'
Correct answer: appeared
spooky
Correct answer: emerged
haunting
Q5.
Why do we edit language choices in our writing?
to ensure the writing is punctuated correctly
to ensure the writing makes sense
Correct answer: to ensure the text is written in the right tone and meets its purpose
Q6.
What changes could I make to the word choices in the following sentence to enhance it and achieve its intended purpose? 'Scrooge sat in the corner of the room and the colour drained from his face.'
Correct answer: change 'sat' to a more precise and descriptive verb
add a preposition to show where Scrooge was
Correct answer: add an adjective to describe Scrooge's face