Editing with a Smile

   My least favorite task as a writing teacher is grading papers. Math is easy; there is one and only one right answer. Compositions, however, are mostly subjective. The grammar and spelling rules are pretty cut and dried, but there are an infinite number of ways that something may be said, and some are better than others. How do I help my writers mature without crushing them? Here are a few suggestions, gleaned from countless articles by Andrew Pudewa: Find something to affirm. If it is legal, let it be. Edit with a smile, not a lecture. Help as much as needed. How does this look in practice? Here is a paragraph a teacher sent me that her elementary student had submitted. She wasn’t sure how best to help him fix it. The first president came from plain common people. He was a hero of the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. He was born in the backwoods of the Carolinas in 1767. He fought against the British in the American Revolution he was captured by a British officer ordered to shine his boots he bravely refused so the officer slashed his face with a sword. Which left a scar on his face. He hated the officer for the rest of his life. Here is the conversation that I would have had with the student to help him fix it: I like your paragraph! You did a great job making the outline and writing the paragraph. Let’s read through it and make sure it is okay. The first president came from plain common people. That is a nice complete sentence, but I have a question: Is this talking about the first president of the United States, George Washington? (Oops, no.) How about just adding the president’s name, like this: Andrew Jackson was the first president who came from plain common people. Yes? Wonderful. Let’s read on. He was a hero of the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. He was born in the backwoods of the Carolinas in 1767. Both perfect! He fought against the British in the American Revolution he was captured by a British officer ordered to shine his boots he bravely refused so the officer slashed his face with a sword. Whew! I think I needed to take a few more breaths while reading that. I think you just forgot to put in a few periods. Where do you think they should be? He fought against the British in the American Revolution. He was captured by a British officer [add ‘and’ here] ordered to shine his boots. He [Maybe we should identify Jackson again instead of just saying ‘he’?] bravely refused [add a comma here] so the officer slashed his face with a sword. That is much better! Great -ly adverb, by the way. Which left a scar on his face. Hmm. I am afraid that your which is under arrest. It stole the sentence! A which clause needs to be added to a complete sentence; it can't stand alone. Can we just put a comma at the end of the last sentence and then continue with this one? That would make it: ... slashed his face with a sword, which left a scar on his face. Phew! The which doesn’t have to go to jail. [giggle] Now, what is left? He hated the officer for the rest of his life. Perfect! You have all three dress-ups, so you are good to go. Copy it neatly for your final draft. Well done! The student and the teacher both leave this editing session happy. The teacher comes away realizing that additional lessons on adding who-which clauses and on antecedents will be helpful, but they don’t need to be addressed here. Reserve new teaching for future writing lessons. The goal of editing is to just make things legal. The most important thing to remember is to do this with a smile. Your student is not trying to be lazy or purposely forgetting all the things you have taught. Learning to write is like learning to drive a car; it is incredibly complex! Fortunately, you are not risking your life when you sit down to edit with a student writer. Sit back and smile. It will all come together over time.    Jill Pike is a homeschooling mother of eight and an IEW ® Accomplished Instructor. Serving as a moderator of the  IEW Forums, she provides support to thousands of teachers and parents. She has authored many lesson plans offered by the Institute for Excellence in Writing,  including IEW’s popular reading and writing program,  Primary Arts of Language.  After graduating  six  children, Jill and her husband, Greg, continue to home educate their youngest  two  children in Indiana.    Log in or register to post commentsJill Pikes blog Log in or register to post comments