Editing for Grammar and Style
The Second-Level Writing Handbook //
Creating and Implementing Effective Writing Assignments //
Responding to Student Writing //
In-Class Writing Activities //
Peer Response //
Preventing Plagiarism //
OSU Resources.
Download Editing for Grammar and Style as a Microsoft Word file.
To help students develop skills in editing for grammar and style, you can engage them activities which encourage them to look at language closely and to recognize grammatical and stylistic patterns in their own work.
1) Commenting on Grammar and Style
When commenting on drafts of an assignment, you can underline specific places where you notice particular patterns of sentence-level issues (rather than "fixing" every error). Try to name these issues in the left margin of your underline, such as "comma splice," "run-on," or "subject-verb agreement." If possible, provide chapters or page numbers in the class writing handbook that the student should consult. Also, encourage the student to meet with you individually to discuss these issues.
Time allotment: 3-5 minutes, per paper.
2) Revising for Style
Pull out sentences from student drafts of an assignment and write them on the board or type them on overhead transparencies. Choose sentences that are grammatically correct yet stylistically need some editing. Ask students individually to rewrite one sentence at a time, and then ask volunteers to come up to the board and present their revisions. Tell students to focus on issues of word choice, clarity, tone, etc. Point out the differences in each student's revised sentence by making reference to these abstract concepts using concrete examples from what they've written on the board. Emphasize that each sentence is "correct," but the goal is to make each sentence better-have the most desired rhetorical effect, and discuss these various effects.
Time allotment: 15-30 minutes.
3) Analyzing Style
In class, have students look at a draft of the current assignment and choose a body paragraph. Ask students to count how many words are in each sentence. Ask them to track how they begin sentences-subject/verb, transition word or phrase, introductory phrase, etc. Also, ask them to analyze the kinds of sentences that are in each paragraph such as simple, compound, complex, etc. (You'll probably need to explain these or refer students to a writing handbook.) Ask students to revise the paragraph by varying sentence length and construction, to play around with different ways of organizing the paragraph and its idea(s).
Time allotment: 30-45 minutes.
4) Making the Time to Self-Edit
On the day that students will be handing in their final drafts of an assignment, do not collect them right away. For the first 10 or 15 minutes of class, have each student read his or her paper backwards, one sentence at a time, and in pencil or ink correct any typos or surface errors they find. They may be hesitant to write on their clean type-written pages, but you may want to point out to them that you believe it's the mistakes and not the student's corrections that dirty up the page! (Another variation of this activity is to have students exchange papers and instead of having their peers correct any surface-level issues, they should underline any parts of the paper that they believe the writer should edit. Then have students get their drafts back and re-read their papers for the underlined parts; students then choose what and how to edit before turning in their final drafts.)
Time allotment: 10-15 minutes.
