Quick and Dirty Revising

Students will be able to use two easy techniques to improve word choice and sentence fluency.

Materials: A draft of writing, pencils


Sentence Beginnings

Have students circle the first word of every sentence.

If they are using the same sentence opener much of the time (e.g., "then"), have them work to recast these sentences.


Sentence Length

Have students count the words in each sentence. They should have a mixture of short and long sentences. (Be sure you have clearly defined "short" and "long.")

Have them recast sentences, striving for a balance of both.