How to Teach Students to Self-edit Their Writing

As students continue to grow and write college application essays, they need to develop many writing and editing skills. Although, not many students are too excited about the editing and revising process. The good news is that editing can be exciting and easy when you use a good strategy.

Teaching your students how to edit their work is one of the most important skills you can teach them. The following tips will assist you in coming up with the best strategy that will help your students edit their work correctly. These tips can also help your offer exceptional essay editing services at your school.

Reinforce the importance of self-editing

First, you can explain to your students the importance of self-editing. It would be best to let your students understand that an essay, article, or any other piece of writing is not complete until the editing step is complete. Consider this to always be your first step when teaching your students self-editing.

Give their work some space

Let your students understand that, to edit their work, they have to read again with fresh eyes. Teach your students patience by taking a time break between writing and revising lessons. Let them put their work away for some hours or even a day before starting the editing process. This practice will help them to approach the work with a fresh perspective for their task.

Make a fresh copy

This approach serves a dual purpose. First, it addresses any anxiety that a student might feel about editing their work. Then having an extra copy means students will always have the first original draft if they need it in the future.

Second, it encourages students to take time when editing their work. Having students copy their work again assists them in focusing on every word in their work. This makes it easy for them to spot small spelling mistakes and grammar errors they might have overlooked.

Show your students the steps to take when they edit their work

Take this chance to break down the process of editing for your students. Each editing step, whether it is editing content, clarity, or grammar, ensure you explain what they are doing.  Tell your students to take notes when you teach them these steps.

If your students are new to editing, teach them how to focus on one thing at a time. For instance, you can ask them to circle every first letter in all sentences. Ask them to check if every first letter of the word is capitalized or not.

Get them to edit other students work

Another tip that can help your students with their editing skills is giving them other students’ work. You should instruct them to spot every mistake in their Coursework writing. This reduces the pressure of editing their own work and also enhances their ability to edit their work.

Let them take advantage of tools like spelling and grammar checkers

Teach your students how to use the grammar and spelling checkers in the word processors to help them when writing. Many students are unable to take advantage of these tools since they do not know their importance. Teach your students that these tools are beneficial, but they should not entirely rely on them.

Tell your students to read their work out loud after editing

This tip helps students notice mistakes they may not recognize when they read-only in their heads. Reading out loud is a great way to share with your classmates.

It allows students to improve their writing and helps them comprehend what they read better. With excellent comprehension, they will be equipped with better ideas that will fit better in their paper.

Put the lesson into context by publishing your students work

When it comes to perfecting the art of editing, practice is certainly essential. If your students feel like the editing process is busy or has lots of work, help them see the value and importance of editing. Not just completing their assignment. Teaching your students how to edit their work and it being published and enjoyed by others is powerful.

Be patient with your students

Self-editing is not a natural skill, especially for students. It can be challenging for them to see the mistakes in their work without any guidance. This is why it is essential to start teaching the skills of editing at an early age.  The process gives them time to develop fully; therefore, patience from teachers is vital.

In summary, these few steps can make a huge difference after teaching your students how to self-edit effectively. Students improve their writing and editing skills by reading their work with fresh eyes, making drafts, and giving clear guidelines.

They also learn the importance of focusing on one point at a time. All the above serve your students well throughout their school years and in the future.