Virginia SOL 9.W.3.A
The Standard
Revise writing for clarity of content, accuracy, and adequate elaboration.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students reread drafts and revise ideas, not just surface errors. They clarify meaning, correct inaccurate information, and add relevant details, evidence, or explanation where readers need more.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students identify unclear wording, unsupported points, and inaccurate details in a draft. Their revisions make ideas easier to follow and add specific evidence or explanation without repetition.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat revision as correcting spelling and punctuation only. They may add extra sentences that repeat ideas, overlook unsupported claims, or assume readers know missing context.
How to Assess It
- Give students a vague, unsupported paragraph and ask them to revise one unclear sentence, correct one inaccurate detail, and add one relevant explanation.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a printed paragraph to cut apart, reorder, and expand with one evidence strip and one explanation strip.
Ask students to explain which revision improves a sample paragraph most, then defend their choice with two details from the text.
Play Revision Relay, where teams rotate through drafts to fix one unclear idea, one inaccurate detail, and one weak explanation.
Have students revise a school announcement so families receive clear, accurate details and enough information to act.
Free download
Printable 9.W.3.A Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 9.W.3.A, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetKeep exploring
Related Standards
- 6.W.3.A
Revise writing for clarity of content, word choice, sentence variety, and transition among paragraphs.
- 11.W.3.A
Revise writing for clarity of content, accuracy, and depth of information.
- 12.W.3.A
Revise writing for clarity of content, accuracy, and depth of information.
- 10.W.3.A
The 10th Grade version of this standard.
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.