Teaching Children About Revision in Writing

We investigated effects of instruction in the process of revision on children's knowledge of the revision process, on their ability to make revisions on paper, and on the quality of their writing. Fifteen sixth graders received instruction in the process of revision; 15 controls read good literature. After instruction, each child wrote a story, was interviewed about potential revisions, and was given an opportunity to make changes on the first copy and then write another draft. The main variables for knowledge of the revision process were number of spots suggested for revision and average specificity of suggested changes. The main variable for ability to make revisions on paper was total number of revisions made. A quality score was obtained for the first and final drafts. Instruction did affect knowledge of the revision process, and it enhanced revision efforts. Quality judgments tended to increase across drafts for the revision group, whereas they remained stable for the controls.