I discuss this important step every time I
present the school visit program Creating Nonfiction: Researching, Writing, and
Revising. I’ve given this talk many times over the years, updating it as I
develop a better understanding of how I work and how I can best explain the
process to young writers.
Recently, many teachers have told me they
really like the Let It Chill Out part of my presentation and that it has made
them re-think how they ask their students to revise. They’ve come up with lots
of great ideas—letting manuscripts chill out during lunch and recess or over
the weekend or even during a school break.
The best idea of all came from the
fourth-grade teaching team at Kennedy Elementary School in Billerica,
MA. As the teachers listened to me describe the 10-year process of revising No Monkeys, No Chocolate, they hatched a
plan for a whole-school project I love.
This year, the first graders will write a
piece of nonfiction. Next year, when the students are in second grade, teachers
will share the No Monkeys, No Chocolate
Revision Timeline on my website and ask the children to revise the piece they wrote in first
grade.
Good
idea, right? But it gets even better. Both drafts will be placed in a folder,
and the students will revise the piece again in third grade, fourth grade, and
fifth grade. Wow!
Imagine
how different the final piece will be from the original. It will allow children
to see tangible evidence of their growth as writers and give them a true sense
of how long it can take to write a book.
Wow--what a great idea! It will be so interesting to see how the stories evolve.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to share this with the teachers at my son's school. I think it's a really cool idea! Thanks!
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