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EnglishCrafting and controlling writing25 min★ difficulty

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

proof-readconsideringwritingreflectsaudiences

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 14 · Discover7%
1

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

2

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.

3

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.

4

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.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 14

Quick check

What should you decide before drafting?

6

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.

Stop here for now
7

Quick check

Part 7 of 14

Quick check

What does editing mainly check?

8

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.

9

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.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 14

Quick check

A good proof-reading technique is to...

11

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

12

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).

13

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. 1. What should you decide before drafting?

  2. 2. What does editing mainly check?

  3. 3. A good proof-reading technique is to...

14

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 Luna

Do 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.

Extract

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

  1. Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
  2. How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
  3. Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.
  • Reading response

    Reading

    Read 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

    Writing

    Write your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.

    250–350 words

  • Reading log

    Reading

    Note 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

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    Plan, draft, edit and proof-read, considering how their writing reflects the audiences and purposes for which it was intended

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