Revising and Editing: Using Models and Checklists to Promote Successful Writing Experiences. 2nd ed.

Susan Thomas is a middle-school guidance counselor, teacher, and social
worker in Milton, Ontario.

Seasoned teachers agree with Parsons that “computers have not solved
the problems of revising and editing in the classroom.” True editing
goes beyond the use of a spell checker, which cannot do the job that
personal reflection and significant, meaningful revisions are intended
to do. This teacher handbook is about the art of revision—an art that
requires reflection, review, substitution, deletion and reordering of
words, phrases, sentences, ideas, and even entire sections of a draft.

Parsons’s approach to writing is built on a foundation of student
collaboration with the teacher, parents, and peers. His book includes a
manual that is chock full of models and checklists that can be
photocopied for classroom use. Among the many models are guidelines
directed at parent collaborators so that they can support young writers.

Many teachers use the reader’s/writer’s workshop approach in which
peer revision is a mainstay of the writing program. This manual offers
guidelines that can assist the teacher in a training process for peer
editors so that they can work responsibility and effectively in a peer
conference. Such a model empowers not only the student but also the
mentor. I look forward to sharing the editing task with my new crop of
well-trained peer mentors in my next class.