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Revising and Editing

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you edit a draft to correct errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics, finding the one change that fixes the sentence?

Editing for grammar and usage on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: correcting errors in subject-verb and pronoun agreement, verb tense, commonly confused words, capitalization, and spelling in a draft, identifying the single best correction, as tested in editing items and rewarded in the Standard English Conventions trait of the long composition.
How to edit a draft on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: correcting subject-verb and pronoun agreement, tense, commonly confused words, capitalization, and spelling, and choosing the single best correction. Tested in editing items and rewarded in the essay's conventions trait.
9 min answer →

What forms do revising and editing questions take on the computer-based MCAS, and how do you approach each format?

Revising and editing item types on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: how revising and editing are tested through multiple-choice, multiple-select, and technology-enhanced formats (selecting the best revision, choosing the correct edit, hot-text to mark an error, drag-and-drop to reorder), and a method for each, including the value of reading the whole draft for context.
The revising and editing item types on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: multiple-choice, multiple-select, and technology-enhanced formats (best revision, correct edit, hot-text, drag-and-drop reorder), with a method for each and the habit of reading the whole draft for context.
9 min answer →

How do you revise a draft to make it clearer and better developed, improving ideas, focus, and organization rather than just fixing grammar?

Revising for clarity and development on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: improving a draft at the level of ideas, focus, and organization (adding a missing detail or transition, removing an off-topic sentence, sharpening a vague statement, reordering for logic), distinguishing revising from editing, as tested in revising items and applied to the long composition.
How to revise a draft on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: improving ideas, focus, and organization (adding a detail or transition, cutting an off-topic sentence, sharpening vagueness, reordering), as distinct from editing. Tested in revising items and applied to the long composition.
9 min answer →

How do you fix sentence-boundary errors, fragments, comma splices, and run-ons, and combine short sentences for variety and flow?

Sentence boundaries and combining on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: fixing fragments, comma splices, and run-ons by recognizing independent and dependent clauses, and combining short, choppy sentences using coordination, subordination, and other joins to improve flow and variety, in editing and revising items and the long composition.
How to fix sentence-boundary errors and combine sentences on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: correcting fragments, comma splices, and run-ons via clause recognition, and joining short sentences with coordination and subordination for flow. Tested in items and applied to the essay.
9 min answer →

How do you improve word choice in a draft, replacing vague or repetitive words with precise ones and matching the word to the tone and audience?

Word choice and precision on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: replacing vague or general words with precise, specific ones, removing wordiness and unnecessary repetition, matching word choice to tone and audience (formal versus informal), and using connotation deliberately, in revising items and the long composition.
How to improve word choice on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: replacing vague words with precise ones, cutting wordiness and repetition, matching word choice to tone and audience, and using connotation. Tested in revising items and rewarded in the essay's writing.
9 min answer →