Editing

As stated in the previous post, the children have been taking time to edit their work.  One of the most important parts of being an author is reading over your work and making changes.  With teacher help, the children were able to look at their work and make it stronger.  

They started out by typing what they wrote by hand.

They then read their printed work to themselves aloud and to each other.  I asked them to look at their work closely and see if there was something they felt needed to be spelled differently or if there could have been something done differently to make it even better.  For some children they thought their work was perfect and made sense.  This is a hard concept.  

They then passed their work to their peers.  I asked beforehand if it would be okay and everyone (but one) agreed.  As adults we sometimes have a hard time with our hard work being put under a microscope.  Some of the children had a hard time accepting others' ideas for changes, but we all agreed it was up to the author to make the final decision.  

When everything was changed and final drafts completed, we discussed how the children's work could be represented visually.  Authors choose illustrations or photographs that help get the meaning of their words across to the reader.  I asked the children what picture they could capture to make their words stronger.  Each child took at least one photograph to put next to their words.

My job now is to put their words and pictures together in one place.  We will make final changes, come up with titles, and press the "publish" button together!