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Year 6

Self-editing the climax of 'A Kind of Spark'

I can edit my own climax of ’A Kind of Spark’, aiming to improve the punctuation, text cohesion and vocabulary.

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New
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Year 6

Self-editing the climax of 'A Kind of Spark'

I can edit my own climax of ’A Kind of Spark’, aiming to improve the punctuation, text cohesion and vocabulary.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Editing is a critical part of the writing process.
  2. Writing is most successful when editing is used to rethink, rephrase and reconsider first ideas.
  3. Editing can be done by oneself, with a peer or with a teacher.
  4. Editing is most successful when it is chunked by punctuation, sentence structure, vocabulary and cohesive devices.
  5. A growth mindset helps us benefit most from editing.

Keywords

  • Cohesive devices - language structures that develop text cohesion

  • Text cohesion - how a text flows to maintain the interest of the reader and achieve text purpose

  • Growth mindset - a desire to keep developing any skill set

Common misconception

Pupils may struggle to adopt a positive mindset towards editing.

Encourage pupils to see this as an opportunity to push themselves towards producing a polished piece of work that shows off all their skills. Having a real audience for the text in mind will help them with this.

The examples in this lesson have been kept relatively general to avoid over-scaffolding of editing. You should refer to local and national guidelines for editing if you are intending to use this piece of writing as evidence of independent writing for the purposes of teacher assessment.
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 of these sentences would appear first in our narrative?
I rush to my seat, putting my hands over my ears as people applaud.
Maggie shook her head as the accusations flew around her.
Correct answer: I sit on the edge of my seat, waiting to be called to speak.
Maggie awoke with a start: someone was banging on her door.
Q2.
In which sentence is the direct speech correctly punctuated?
"You act like you're normal," said one of the villagers "but you're a witch!"
"You act like you're normal" said one of the villagers, "but you're a witch!"
Correct answer: "You act like you're normal," said one of the villagers, "but you're a witch!"
"You act like you're normal," said one of the villagers, "but you're a witch"
Q3.
Which features below can be seen in the following passage? 'I look out and I see a sea of faces in front of me. They're listening. It's working.'
Correct answer: first person
past tense
Correct answer: informal language
Correct answer: present tense
Correct answer: things Addie sees and thinks
Q4.
Which features below can be seen in the following passage? 'Maggie stood in the dark courtroom and she looked down at the angry, shouting faces. Why did they despise her so much?'
Correct answer: third person
present tense
Correct answer: past tense
Correct answer: questions Maggie thinks
Correct answer: compound sentence
Q5.
Which of the following language features help us to show informality?
Correct answer: simple sentences
Correct answer: contractions
complex sentences
Correct answer: sentences starting with 'I'
Q6.
Which steps in the writing process have we now completed for our climax?
Correct answer: planning
Correct answer: oral rehearsal
Correct answer: drafting
editing and improving
publishing

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following is a purpose of editing?
Correct answer: to reconsider our first ideas
Correct answer: to check for and correct mistakes
Correct answer: to make our work as good as possible
to rewrite the whole piece of work
Correct answer: to rephrase or rethink sections of our text
Q2.
Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
When Mr Macintosh pulled back the curtain they saw the plaque.
As Miss Murphy speaks I perch on the too large chair in the office.
Correct answer: Before long, Nina was able to help Keedie to her bed.
Jenna - my former friend Jenna stands by, doing nothing at all.
Q3.
Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
I breathe deeply, looking up; at the tree I want to make them all proud.
Correct answer: I breathe deeply, looking up at the tree; I want to make them all proud.
I breathe deeply, looking up at the tree I want to make; them all proud.
I breathe deeply; looking up at the tree I want to make them all proud.
Q4.
Which passage below uses tense and person consistently?
Addie sat in the office. Miss Murphy glared at me.
I sit in the office and I wished Nina would hurry.
Correct answer: Addie sat in the office. Miss Murphy glared at her.
Addie sat in the office. I wish Nina would hurry.
Q5.
Which of these is true in regards to the formality of the different sections of our text?
The flashback is less formal than the first person section.
Correct answer: The flashback is more formal than the first person section.
Both parts are equally formal.
Q6.
Sam says, "I don't see the point of editing! My work was good already." What would be the best response?
Your work isn't good.
Correct answer: Even good work can be improved - professional writers edit for months!
No piece of work is ever good enough.
Editing is easy - it's just about checking your spellings and capital letters.