Plan, draft, edit, proof-read
No good writer gets it right first time — the real skill is in the planning and the editing, not just the first draft.
Part of your national curriculum
- Writing: Plan, draft, edit and proof-read, considering how their writing reflects the audiences and purposes for which it was intended
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Plan, draft, edit and proof-read, considering how their writing reflects the audiences and purposes for which it was intended
Key learning points
- • Plan
- • Draft and edit
- • Proof-read
This lesson at a glance
- 25 minutes
- 14 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 14
Watch first
Plan, draft, edit, proof-read
An English teaching video on this topic from Jeddle. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Plan, draft, edit and proof-read, considering how their writing reflects the audiences and purposes for which it was intended
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 14
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Plan
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 14
Learn
Plan
Before writing a review of an album, jot down your purpose (to inform and persuade fans) and audience (music fans your age). A quick bullet-point plan — intro, three tracks discussed, verdict — stops you rambling once you start writing.
Explore the idea
Part 4 of 14
Learn
Draft and edit
Your first draft just needs to exist. Editing means checking bigger things: does every paragraph serve the purpose? Have you kept the audience in mind? Cut a paragraph that drifts off-topic even if it's well written.
Quick check
Part 5 of 14
Quick check
What should you decide before drafting?
Reset break
Part 6 of 14
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 7 of 14
Quick check
What does editing mainly check?
Learning cycle
Part 8 of 14
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Proof-read
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 9 of 14
Learn
Proof-read
Proof-reading is the final, close pass for spelling, punctuation and small slips — reading aloud or backwards, sentence by sentence, helps you spot errors your eyes would otherwise skim over.
Quick check
Part 10 of 14
Quick check
A good proof-reading technique is to...
Challenge round
Part 11 of 14
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 12 of 14
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Before ____ a review of an album, jot down your purpose (to inform and persuade fans) and audience (music fans your age).
Mastery quiz
Part 13 of 14
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Plan, draft, edit, proof-read
3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. What should you decide before drafting?
2. What does editing mainly check?
3. A good proof-reading technique is to...
Lesson round-up
Part 14 of 14
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
The last bus
The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.
She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.
Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.
Original extract written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
- How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
- Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.
Reading response
ReadingRead the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
WritingWrite your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.
250–350 words
Reading log
ReadingNote the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.
20 minutes' reading
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover
How this is going
- Not looked at yet
Plan, draft, edit and proof-read, considering how their writing reflects the audiences and purposes for which it was intended
