ClassX Video Lessons Youtube Channel Teaching Without Frills Opinion Writing for Kids | Episode 8 | Editing Your Writing
Editing is like fixing up your writing to make it the best it can be! When you edit, you look for mistakes and fix them. You check if there are spaces between words, if capital letters are in the right places, if punctuation marks are correct, and if the spelling is your best. Let’s see how we can do this together!
Here’s a page of writing: “Do you like books about animals? If so, you should read The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. It is a fantastic book!” Let’s check it out. Are there spaces between each word? Yes! Are capital letters used correctly? Oh, wait! The title of the book needs capital letters. Much better! Is the punctuation correct? Yes! Did I use my best spelling? Yes!
Now, let’s look at the next page. It’s a story about a naughty rabbit named Peter, who doesn’t listen to his mom. Let’s check: Are there spaces between words? Yes! Did I use capital letters at the beginning of each sentence and for Peter’s name? Yes! How about punctuation? Oops, one sentence isn’t a question. It needs a period. There we go! Is the spelling my best? Yes!
On the next page, Peter is supposed to gather blackberries with his siblings, but he sneaks into a garden and gets into trouble. Let’s check again: Are there spaces? Yes! Are capital letters in the right places? Yes! Is the punctuation correct? Yes! How about spelling? Oh, I spelled “with” wrong. It should have a -th at the end. Perfect!
I’ll keep using my checklist to make sure every page of my writing is the very best it can be! Thanks for learning about Opinion Writing with us!
Editing Adventure: Create your own short story about an animal. Write a few sentences and then use an editing checklist to make it the best it can be! Check for spaces between words, capital letters, punctuation, and spelling. Ask a friend or family member to help you find any mistakes you might have missed. How does your story change after editing?
Punctuation Hunt: Go on a punctuation hunt around your home or classroom. Look at books, magazines, or signs and find examples of different punctuation marks like periods, question marks, and exclamation points. Make a list of the sentences you find and discuss why each punctuation mark is used. Can you find a sentence that uses more than one type of punctuation?
Capital Letter Detective: Be a detective and find examples of capital letters in your environment. Look at street signs, book titles, and names of people or places. Write down what you find and explain why each word uses a capital letter. Can you think of a sentence that uses capital letters in different ways?
**Opinion Writing for Kids**
**Editing**
Editing means fixing mistakes in your writing. You will check to make sure you have spaces between each word, correct capitalization, correct punctuation, and your best spelling! Let’s start with my first page of writing. I will use a checklist to ensure I am checking each item on my list.
This page says, “Do you like books about animals? If so, you should read *The Tale of Peter Rabbit* by Beatrix Potter. It is a fantastic book!” Let’s see… do I have a space between each word? Check! Do I have capital letters in the correct places? Hmm… wait a minute! Titles of books should be capitalized! Much better. Check! Do I have correct punctuation? Check! Did I use my best spelling? Check!
Now I’m ready to check the next page! It is a story about a naughty rabbit named Peter, who doesn’t listen to his mom. Let’s see… I have spaces between my words. I used capital letters at the beginning of each sentence and at the beginning of Peter’s name. Punctuation… hmm…? Wait, this sentence isn’t a question! I meant to use a period! There we go. And I used my best spelling. Great!
Next page! He is supposed to gather blackberries with his siblings, but instead, he sneaks into a garden and gets into a lot of trouble. I see spaces. I see capital letters where they belong. I see correct punctuation. My spelling… hmm, that’s not how you spell “with”! It has a -th on the end! Perfect!
I’m going to keep checking each page with my checklist until all of my writing is its very best! Thanks for watching this series about Opinion Writing from Teaching Without Frills.
