1. Revising and Editing Checklist - Review
Grade 9 English Language Arts
Monday, October 6, 2014

2. A Note About Revising and Editing
Please make sure that you do NOT erase your work as you revise and edit. Remember that I should be able to see any changes you make, as it shows me that you are thinking about your writing and engaged in the process of making it more effective. If I can’t see it, how will I know you have done it? Messy drafts are normal for good writers!
A Note About Revising and Editing

3. Your paragraphs are not necessarily in the correct order for your good copy.
Put a 1 beside your introduction paragraph
Put a 2 beside your summary paragraph
Put a 3 beside your strongest reason paragraph
Put a 4 beside your second reason paragraph
Put a 5 beside your final reason paragraph
Put a 6 side your opposite reason paragraph
Put a 7 beside your conclusion and rating
This is the correct order for your paragraphs for your good copy
Revising – Part 1

4. Read through your paragraphs again and make sure that:
The topic for each paragraph is clear and at the beginning of your paragraph
That you have included a specific example
That you have explained your example and related it to the topic of the paragraph
Revising – Part 2

5. Read through your paragraphs to ensure that they make sense and that you have supported your points well enough. Remember that you are trying to persuade the reader to agree with your review. They should have no choice but to be convinced of your opinion. Also make sure you have used strong word choice to make your argument.
Revising – Part 3

6. Make sure that you have included enough detail and supporting explanation and that no additional details or ideas are needed.
Ensure that your introduction and conclusion do not have the word “I” in them. Make statements of fact to give your argument more authority, so avoid making “I” statements at the beginning and end.
Revising – Part 4

7. Revising – Part 5 Check your sentence fluency:
Do you have both long and short sentences?
Have you properly punctuated each sentence?
Do you have any incomplete sentences? If so, fix them!
Do you have any run on sentences? If so, fix them!
Do you have variety in how your sentences begin?
Do your paragraphs start is a variety of ways?
Revising – Part 5

8. Ensure that every time you change topics, that you have started a new paragraph! If there is information in a paragraph that isn’t directly related to the point of that paragraph, get rid of it!
Revising – Part 6

9. Read your entire Review again to make sure your changes make sense and are effective! This is a really important step, so do not skip it!
Revising – Final Step

10. Read through your draft for each of the following items, looking explicitly for each one and not trying to catch everything at once!
Check your spelling
Capitalize all first words of sentences and all proper nouns (names of people, places)
Capitalize all important words in a title
If you have used numbers, make sure that numbers ten or less are written out (one, not 1). Numbers more than ten can be in number form (12, not twelve)
Editing – Part 1

11. Make sure you have punctuated the title of your text properly
Make sure you have punctuated the title of your text properly. If you are unsure of how to punctuate your type of text, look it up!
Punctuation:
Have you used punctuation correctly and effectively?
Have you correctly used and included commas?
Do you have correct end of sentence punctuation?
Editing – Part 2

12. Make sure your verbs are in a consistent tense
Make sure your verbs are in a consistent tense. If you are writing in present tense, it should be present tense the whole way through (I am, It is, There is, She/He is). If you are writing in past tense, it should be past tense the whole way through (I was, It was, There was, She/He was)
Editing – Part 3

13. Avoid being too wordy! If you are using extra words that are unnecessary, get rid of them. Also be mindful of including enough description and detail. It is a balancing act...
Double check:
Two, to, too
Their, there, they’re
Its, its
Your, you’re
Editing – Part 4

14. Read through your whole draft to make sure that everything you have changed makes sense and makes your writing more effective. You should be ready, at this point, to type what you have on paper as it is as your good copy.
Editing – Final Step