essay editing worksheets

essay editing worksheets

Importance of Essay Editing Worksheets

1. Benefits of Using Essay Editing Worksheets

So with this in mind, why would you use an essay editing worksheet over simply proofreading it yourself or asking a friend to read it and tell you what needs work? The greatest benefit is that a worksheet given by an instructor is often very direct in what it is asking for. This means that you can get much more precise feedback on your writing and identify specific weak areas. Usually, a friend is not going to be too direct in what they say out of fear of offending you. And say, for instance, you asked a friend to proofread your essay on identity politics and post 9/11 American society. They may have zero knowledge on the subject or may not understand your essay and just tell you it looks fine. This kind of general feedback is obviously not too helpful. Using a worksheet also allows you to get a self-review of your own essay as it may be easier to be critical of yourself when answering specific questions as opposed to an again, very general idea of your essay. And lastly, using a worksheet is more efficient. Proofreading can be a tedious and slow task, and reviewing your essay to answer specific questions can be an easier and faster way to identify errors or weak areas in your writing.

There are many ways you benefit from using essay editing worksheets to review what you have written. This is a convenient and easy way to go about this task. It will help you identify areas of weakness in your writing; that is, it will allow you to realize where you need to work harder on your writing. And it will help you with other writing, not just the particular assignment you are working on. An additional benefit is that by doing this, you are practicing the useful skill of self-review. This is a skill that you will be using on any essays or articles that you write in the future, and it is also taught to others for an array of subjects and objectives. At some point or another, you will have to proofread the writing of others as well, and this is just more practice for your own writing or for the possible task of reviewing the writing of others.

2. Key Elements Covered in Essay Editing Worksheets

There are a great many advantages to the usage of this book. It can be an excellent approach to learn concepts for the first time, a comprehensive review/study guide, or a no-fuss way to assist build up writing and grammar skills. When tired of workbooks and worksheets, some concepts are easiest explained visually or through an example, and the material presented here is very tutor-friendly. The answers to the exercises are included, making the book a nice self-teaching tool and an ideal guide for homeschoolers. And since strong writing and grammar skills are required in so many subjects and tests, this book is beneficial to at least about any student. Acing any writing or grammar part of a test almost always guarantees a higher score, and some English teachers may also require this as a supplemental text to a tough grammar curriculum.

The work has an exceptional approach to familiarizing students with applied English and grammar skills and covers a really wide variety of subjects, not simply English and literature. Examples can be pulled from nearly every subject, and this selection makes the book applicable to numerous grades and ages of scholars. Worksheets can be used with scholars in major through high school – that is a really comprehensive book! Because the entirety is so well-explained, this can be an excellent resource for students who are looking to work independently, and the drills and practice activities are excellent for test-prep.

3. Step-by-Step Guide to Effective Essay Editing

Be Clear – When making an improvement, make sure it is within the scope of your essay. Do not wander off into irrelevant and unnecessary changes. Remember that editing is aimed at improving the essay, not detouring it off into another tangent. This is a common problem in many ‘over-edited’ essays. Finally, remember to keep a copy of all drafts so that there is a ‘record of progression’ from start to finish of the essay. This is very helpful in assessing the dynamic changes in large pieces of writing.

Consult the results – It is recommended to make any significant edits to structure and content before you check grammar and spelling. There is no point spending time polishing the perfect sentence or finding the most apt word to use, only to find that your time has been wasted since the entire paragraph is to be scrapped or radically altered.

Focus – Concentrate on one part of the essay at a time. Do not try to cover too much ground at any one time; to do so will only result in a piece of writing that is muddled and incoherent. By focusing on one section at a time, it is much easier to ensure high quality, clarity, and conciseness. This clarity is, of course, of vital importance if the essay is to be graded as a good piece of work. It is necessary to avoid a bad grade on a piece of work due to a hasty, rushed-through editing job. After all the hard work you put into your essay, it would be a common and unfortunate mistake to find that poor editing lets your work down.

4. Common Mistakes to Avoid During Essay Editing

Poor proofreading – As with point 9, a lot of students fail to do this too. This links back to all the careless mistakes in work, although they were not seen as mistakes at the time as the work was written. It is essential that proofreading is done by a fresh pair of eyes. A very good method of doing this is by asking someone else, who is to be trusted and has good written skills, to take a look through the work. They will probably recognize certain awkward sentences or errors that you missed. This can be seen as a mini-target for yourself: to correct the few mistakes that someone else found.

No planning – Make sure you plan your work before you start. It is very easy to start writing and then end up going off on a tangent as the writing develops. This is similar to a sportsman going out on a sporting event without a game plan or strategy. Quite soon, he will return to the ‘drawing board’ to put right what went wrong. Imagine the amount of time wasted. The same principle applies to an essay; an absence of planning means an absence of a clear goal. Failure to plan equals the plan of failing.

Here are some common mistakes that are made while editing an essay:

5. Conclusion: Enhancing Your Essay with Editing Worksheets

We just answered the question “What is the importance of essay editing worksheets?” Throughout this paper, we’ve discussed the need for such a tool, and just as importantly, strategies to use the worksheet for maximum feedback. To enhance your worksheet, take it to class and have your peers complete it in small groups. Then ask your instructor to review your draft with a specific focus in mind. The more dirty work you do, the more valuable your assignment will become. Ultimately, revising and polishing your paper with editing worksheets will allow your argument and evidence to shine. You’ll see improvement in organization, transitions, and style. Learning to spot a variety of errors will help you fix your sentences with better structure and grammar. Collectively, you’ll eliminate countless little mistakes that can distract your reader from the point of your paper. With more focus and clarity, you will be better prepared when it comes time to turn your assignments in for evaluation. Teachers, using the worksheets to guide students through successive drafts will build the skill of editing and revising; these are abilities that carry over to various aspects of writing and life. It will also encourage self and peer assessment. See our guides on self-editing and peer evaluation for these teaching strategies in greater depth. Editing worksheets for spell checking and grammar will take place soon. Until then, try using the criteria on our other worksheet printables to practice finding errors. With all these tools, you are certain to create quality improvement in student writing.