South Dakota ELA 6-8.WHST.5.a
The Standard
- 6-8.WHST.5
- Develop and strengthen writing as needed.
Employ the writing process by planning, drafting, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use notes to plan and draft writing in science, history, or technical subjects. They reread for gaps, revise ideas or order, and edit sentences before writing a new version.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can turn a claim and source notes into a draft, then add missing evidence and explain how it supports the claim. They can fix sentence errors and rewrite a paragraph when its order confuses the reader.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students think revision means correcting spelling and punctuation only. Others copy a first draft neatly without changing unclear claims, missing evidence, or the order of ideas.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Give students a note that says five pours of water moved 2 cm of soil downhill. Ask for a claim-and-evidence plan, a two-sentence draft, and a revised version that explains the measurement and fixes sentence errors.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have pairs order three index cards labeled 'Water moves soil,' 'Five pours moved 2 cm,' and 'The soil traveled downhill,' then draft a paragraph.
Write 'Water moves soil, it changes land' on the board and ask which to fix first: the missing evidence or the comma splice.
Give teams the flawed draft 'Water move soil it is strong' and award points for adding a measurement, explaining it, and fixing grammar.
Give students a mock cafeteria survey showing 18 of 25 classmates want more fruit; have them draft and revise a note to the principal.
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Related Standards
- 8.W.5.a
Employ the writing process by planning, drafting, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
- 6.W.5.a
Employ the writing process by planning, drafting, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
- 7.W.5.a
Employ the writing process by planning, drafting, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
- 3.W.5
Develop and strengthen writing as needed, with guidance and support from peers, adults, and digital tools by planning, drafting, revising, and editing.
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