Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← English
EnglishReading to writing: stories that change minds30 min★★★ difficulty

Edit like a reader, proof-read like a detective

Finishing a draft is the midpoint. Editing improves meaning and structure; proof-reading catches the small errors that could obscure them.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Writing: Amend the vocabulary, grammar and structure of their writing to improve its coherence and overall effectiveness
  • Writing: Plan, draft, edit and proof-read, considering how their writing reflects the audiences and purposes for which it was intended
  • Writing: Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Amend the vocabulary, grammar and structure of their writing to improve its coherence and overall effectiveness

Key learning points

  • • Edit the whole argument first
  • • Strengthen cohesion
  • • Make vocabulary earn its place
  • • Proof-read in separate passes

This lesson at a glance

  • 30 minutes
  • 15 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

vocabularygrammarstructurewritingimprove

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 15 · Discover7%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 15

Watch first

Edit like a reader, proof-read like a detective

An English teaching video on this topic from Bookfox. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Amend the vocabulary, grammar and structure of their writing to improve its coherence and overall effectiveness

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 15

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Edit the whole argument first

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 15

Learn

Edit the whole argument first

Read only the first sentence of each paragraph. Together, do they form a logical route from issue to evidence, counterargument and judgement? Move, merge or cut paragraphs before polishing individual words.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 15

Learn

Strengthen cohesion

Pronouns, repeated key terms and connectives help ideas travel between sentences. Replace a vague link such as ‘Also’ with the relationship you mean: ‘By contrast’, ‘As a result’ or ‘Despite this’. Check that every ‘this’ has a clear noun to refer to.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 15

Quick check

What should you edit before individual word choices?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 15

Quick check

Which connective signals contrast precisely?

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 15

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
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 15

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Make vocabulary earn its place

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 15

Learn

Make vocabulary earn its place

Replace vague wording with precise verbs and nouns, but do not inflate the style. ‘Limits disturbance’ is clearer than ‘facilitates the minimisation of negative experiential outcomes’. Effective writing sounds controlled, not decorated.

10

Explore the idea

Part 10 of 15

Learn

Proof-read in separate passes

Check one feature at a time: sentence boundaries, commas and apostrophes; then spelling; then missing or repeated words. Reading aloud catches broken rhythm, while reading from the final sentence backwards stops your brain guessing what should be there.

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 15

Quick check

Why proof-read in separate passes?

12

Challenge round

Part 12 of 15

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

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 15

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Effective ____ sounds controlled, not decorated.

14

Mastery quiz

Part 14 of 15

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Edit like a reader, proof-read like a detective

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. What should you edit before individual word choices?

  2. 2. Which connective signals contrast precisely?

  3. 3. Why proof-read in separate passes?

15

Lesson round-up

Part 15 of 15

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 15 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Amend the vocabulary, grammar and structure of their writing to improve its coherence and overall effectiveness

  • Not looked at yet

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

  • Not looked at yet

    Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation

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