CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.5
The Standard
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6—12
What This Standard Means
Students need to improve a draft through a real writing process, not just fix spelling. They should plan before writing, get feedback, revise for purpose and audience, edit for clarity, and sometimes try a new structure or angle.
Mastery looks like a student explaining what changed and why. The final piece should fit the task, use the right tone, and make sense to the reader. Students often get stuck making surface edits only, ignoring feedback, or writing for the teacher instead of the intended audience.
Ways to Teach It
- Give students a messy lab conclusion and have them use colored pencils to mark places to add evidence, clarify wording, and change tone.
- Ask students to write: Who is my audience, what do they need to know, and what should they think after reading?
- Collect exit slips where students name one revision they made today and explain how it helped the reader.
- Show two real complaint emails, one vague and one clear, then have students identify which writer got the better result.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approa...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approa...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approa...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.5
With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
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