Editing Stations

So often, we ask children to 'check their work'. We may even give them a little ticklist of what to tick: full stops at the end of sentences, capital letters for names , check spellings. These are great to help the children to focus and to check for 'silly mistakes', if they know how to correct them. But what if they don't? 

There's a difference between checking and learning. 

I have heard a lot about editing stations. I was keen to try them but wanted to ensure that they were not a lesson-long ticklist, but an actual way to learn how to improve writing. 

I am still toying around with it. So far, I have tried it a few times and they have worked very successfully. I now want to refine them to really get the most out of them So, here's how I have been using them:

After writing the first draft, we have a lesson of Editing Stations. The children are already in 6 teams of 4. On each table, I put an activity and the resources needed. The children begin at their own table, where they usually feel most comfortable and get going the quickest. I set a timer for 7 or 8 minutes. When the timer goes off, they put the table back as they found it (an important step) then move to the next one with ONLY their book. 

By far the best thing I thing I've learnt was a bit of an accident! After the lesson, I put the editing station papers on display on the wall. I found that the children asked me could they 'do an editing station' after they'd finished their next piece of writing! I now display them all and have hung some from the wall in plastic wallets, so they can take them to their tables. 

As you can see, some of mine and hand-written. However, the 4 printed ones are below to download for free and get you started (file below the pics). In addition to these, I sometimes have a 'next step spot', where they check their next step from their previous piece of writing.

editing_stations.pdf
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Here is what I think makes great editing stations: 

• never use the word 'check'
• have a different 'equipment' and methods on each station: highlighters, underlining, coloured pens, whiteboards, sticky notes, some independent and some in pairs etc. 
• have a balance of 'correcting' activities and 'improving' activities
• give advice and tips, explaining clearly what needs to be done
• short activities that can easily be completed in 7 or 8 minutes
• repeat them. Next year, I'm going to have about 4 'core stations' to include every time and then a couple that change based on what we've been learning. I'm hoping this makes the 'core stations' stick in their minds. 
• have them edit their own work, not their peers. 

So, there you have it. My experience so far of editing stations. I'd love to hear from you if you have a go, so please do leave a comment to let me know how it went, if you have any advice, if you've done them any other way... ideas always welcome! I'll do another post when I have a bit more experience of them and I'll try to get some pics of them 'in action', so you can see the impact it's had on writing. Enjoy!