Year 6 English · Cohesion, editing and reading your own writing aloud · Lesson 13.4

Year 6 English: Editing and proofreading: improving a draft

Part of the Year 6 English cohesion, editing and reading your own writing aloud chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

13.4

Editing and proofreading: improving a draft

Year 6
Evaluate and edit your own and others' writing, and proofread for spelling and punctuation (Y5-6 writing)

Story. Dev has written a draft about a bike ride. Before he hands it in, he edits the meaning and the grammar, and then he proofreads the spelling and the punctuation.

Editing improves the meaning, the grammar and the vocabulary of a draft: it checks agreement, tense and word choice. Proofreading is the final check for spelling, punctuation and layout, done after the meaning is right.

Editing and proofreading

1Edit the meaning: does each part make sense to the reader?

2Edit the grammar: do the verbs agree with their subjects, and is the tense consistent?

3Proofread the spelling and punctuation, one word at a time.

Key ideas

Edit for meaning and grammar first, then proofread for spelling and punctuation.
Check that the subject and verb agree, and that the tense is consistent.
Read the corrected sentence aloud in your head.

Worked example 13.4.1

Correct the agreement: The children was playing in the garden. Write the corrected sentence.

Method. Check the subject and the verb.

Find the subject. The children is plural.
children
Match the verb. A plural subject takes were.
were
Write the answer.
The children were playing in the garden.

Check. The children were playing. ✓

Worked example 13.4.2

Proofread the spelling: recieve. Write the correct spelling.

Method. Check the letters, using the rule i before e, except after c.

Find the rule. After c, the e comes before the i.
c-e-i
Write the word. Receive has ei after the c.
receive
Write the answer.
receive

Check. receive follows the rule. ✓

Worked example 13.4.3

Edit the pronoun: Mum and me went to the park. Write the corrected sentence.

Method. Check which pronoun is the subject.

Find the subject. Mum and I are the subject of went.
Mum and I
Choose the pronoun. I is the subject pronoun, so it is used.
I
Write the answer.
Mum and I went to the park.

Check. I is the subject pronoun. ✓

Watch out

Watch out: proofread after editing. A correct spelling of a wrong word is still wrong, so check the meaning first.

Exam tip

Grown-up tip. Ask your child to read a draft of their own aloud, to stop at each full stop, and to say whether the sentence makes sense.