Draft

Use your plan to tell your story. For example:

Beginning1. Mom had questions at the store.

Beginning
1. Mom had questions at the store.

Revise

When you revise a draft, you make your writing better. First, you need to know what a reader thinks of your work. Johanna read her paper to a partner.

Johanna’s Draft

My Mom and I went to the store. I spoke to the clerk. My Mom had a question at the store, but didn’t know the English words.

Johanna’s partner says:

“I’m confused. When did you talk to the clerk?”

Then Johanna knew she needed to make a change.

Johanna’s Revision
illustration of text with proofreader's mark showing moved copy

She moved a sentence to make the sequence of events clear.

Now follow these steps to revise your draft.

  • 1 DECIDE WHAT TO CHANGE

    Read to a partner. Ask your partner to list the events in order. Look to see if the list matches what happened first, next, and last. Do you need to move anything to keep events in order?

  • 2 MARK YOUR CHANGES

    If you need to move some text, use this mark: illustration of proofreader's move mark, a circle with an arrow.

Reflect

  • • Did you tell how you helped someone?

  • • Did you describe how you felt?

  • • Are the events in sequence?