Obstacles to Revision for Little Kids

Katherine Bomer hosted a session on fabulous revision strategies for students in grades K-3 at the TCRWP Saturday Reunion yesterday.  I haven’t synthesized my notes from that part of her presentation yet, but did type-up my notes from the part of her presentation where she talked about the obstacles that get in the way of kids revising their work when they’re starting out in Writing Workshop.  Here’s a look at what Bomer said:

I. Topic

a. When kids are writing what they really want to write about, then they do their best writing AND their best revision work.

i. Choice of topic is one of the pillars of Writing Workshop.

b. Kids will learn to revise best when they feel passionate about what they’re writing about.

II. Purpose

a. Kids must have a real purpose for the writing they’re doing.

i. More than “it’s school.”

b. If you don’t have a reason to be making “this thing on paper,” then you really won’t be invested in it.

c. Little kids usually have a purpose for where their writing is going.

i. They need to be thinking about the purpose and where their writing is going constantly.

III. Audience

a. Children must have an audience for their writing.

i. Writing has to “go public” and be read by the public (i.e., publishing).

1. They can be sending it to someone, sharing it as a class-wide celebration, putting it in the class newsletter, putting a book in the library, posting it on a class blog, hanging it in the hallway, etc.
2. The writing needs to “go public” so it can be made better.

b. All young writers need daily contact with another human being (i.e., someone to share their writing with at all stages of the writing process).