Students will learn how to revise a personal narrative essay effectively. At the end of this lesson, students are going to: 
- provide and accept constructive feedback to prepare for writing the narrative essay's final draft,
- edit drafts for
+ character, setting, issue, solution, and theme development. 
+ precise wording. 
+ showing rather than telling. 
+ efficient introduction and conclusion, structure, and conventions.

- What is the objective? 
- What makes writing clear and effective? 
- What will appeal to the audience the most? 
- Who is the target audience? 
- Why do authors write? 
- What effects do language conventions and grammar have on written and spoken communication?

- Conventions of Language: Mechanics, usage, and sentence completeness. 
- Focus: The center of interest or attention. 
- Imagery: Descriptive or figurative language in a literary work. 
- Literary Devices: Tools used by the author to enliven and provide voice to the writing (e.g., dialogue, alliteration). 
- Literary Elements: The essential techniques used in literature (e.g., characterization, setting, plot, theme). 
- Narrative: A story, actual or fictional, expressed orally or in writing. 
- Point of View: How an author reveals characters, events, and ideas in telling a story; the vantage point from which the story is told. 
- Style: How an author writes; an author’s use of language; its effects and appropriateness to the author’s intent and theme. 
- Theme: A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work. 
- Tone: The attitude of the author toward the audience and characters. 
- Voice: The fluency, rhythm, and liveliness in writing that make it unique to the writer.

- copies of the Narrative Essay Revising and Editing Guidelines (LW-7-3-3_Revising and Editing Guidelines) for each student
- set of colored highlighters or markers for each student
- copies of each student’s essay, one for each student in the peer group
- copies of the PSSA Grades 6–8 Narrative Scoring Guidelines (LW-7-3-3_PSSA Grades 6–8 Narrative Scoring Guidelines) for each student

- Before assigning the end-of-unit assessment, observe and evaluate students' in-class discussions, and review and provide feedback on students' first drafts of their narratives.

Explicit instruction, modeling, scaffolding, and active engagement 
W: Every student completes a final draft of a personal narrative after editing a rough draft. 
H: Students take part in editing sessions in small groups. 
E: Students assess both their own and their peers' essays using a task-specific rubric. 
R: After getting feedback, students edit their essays and provide comments on those of their group members. 
E: Before writing a final essay, each student revises a rough draft based on feedback from others and self-evaluation. 
T: As students go through the writing process, you might find that you need to spend more time at different stages working with students who require more practice. Students can schedule one-on-one conferences with you if they think they would benefit from additional practice with editing and revising.
O: Teachers could encourage students to post their narratives online. 

Topic: How can the writing process's revision and editing steps help us make a better narrative essay?

Part 1

"You've all put a lot of effort into researching the components and strategies in your drafts, and you've collaborated in groups to create your theme. You will now go over your writing using the Narrative Essay Revising and Editing Guidelines. Provide and receive feedback on how the guidelines are being used in your small groups." Distribute copies of the Narrative Essay Revising and Editing Guidelines (LW-7-3-3_Revising and Editing Guidelines) to every student. Assign students to small groups and explain that these guidelines will be used to evaluate the narrative essays and provide feedback to the writers. For reference, students should also have their finished graphic organizers. Inform them that they will use your and their peers' feedback to create a final draft of the essay.

Describe how the goal of the peer editing process is to find the essay's weak points so the writer can make necessary corrections before drafting the final version. Students should also highlight the essay's strengths or what they liked best. Describe how specific feedback is the most beneficial. Suggested some alternative sentences: "I really don't understand how the problem was solved," or "I'm not sure the main character learned the lesson that you hinted at," in place of "I don't like the ending."

Utilizing the highlighters, students should identify specific areas of the essay that require improvement after providing an overall response. You can designate a different colored highlighter for every section of the revision guidelines, such as pink for focus and content, yellow for organization, etc. Make sure the students take their time on this task. Observe the groups to guarantee that they advance well.

Part 2

The students can now begin writing the final draft after their groups have finished editing. Divide the process into two rounds of revisions if you think that students have too many edits to make in light of all the feedback they have received. One round should concentrate only on your suggestions from the previous lesson, and the other should take into account the adjustments made by their peers. Tell them that before correcting grammatical and conventional mistakes, they should make significant changes to the content and organization.

"It's now time for you to write the last draft. There are lots of editing options and comments to think about. Make the required changes to the content organization before you start editing the grammar and conventions. The organization of your content is what will bring the essay together and give it a sense of completion. Grammar and convention corrections will give the essay a polished feel if the content is well organized."

As needed, assist students in reviewing how to properly cite sources in conversation.

Provide copies of the LW-7-3-3_PSSA Grades 6–8 Narrative Scoring Guidelines to your students so they can follow the guidelines. Make it clear that you will be assessing the essay using these rubrics. To make sure they have covered every point of the rubric, they should consult the guidelines while they are writing their final drafts.

Extension:

Ask students to post their stories on the internet. Students can read and discuss each other's stories on the free ClassChatter website. Only those who possess the password that the teacher generated can view and comment on the posts.
Viewing an example of a revised or marked-up essay will be helpful for students who require more revision opportunities.
Students can schedule one-on-one conferences with you if they are having trouble with the editing and revision phases.