Rx:Revise: A TEACHER’S GUIDE

What is it?

Rx:Revise is a collection of instructions to students that address some of the most accessible ways that students can improve their writing on their own as they transition from rough to final draft, or from one completed piece to the next.

Why have it? How does it work?

Think about what happens after your students hand in their writing: You collect the papers and carefully evaluate them. Then you return them to the students. But what happens next? How do students move ahead? Do they advance? Do they even look at your comments and corrections?

Rx:Revise is available so that you can direct students to instructions that respond to their demonstrated writing needs. Students are then expected to apply these instructions, either on their own time or as part of your class. They may apply the instructions to a work in progress, or as a “post-mortem” on a completed piece.

How is it used?

I’ve tried to make Rx:Revise as user friendly as possible. You have a list of the topics, as well as the instructions to the students.

Rx:Revise is available online through a link on my website ( You may choose to have your students access Rx:Revise online. Or you may choose to print out a few of your favorite Rx:Revise topics and have them available in folders in your classroom. Some teachers use Rx:Revise topics for whole class instruction. That will work, but I think that Rx:Revise is best used for differentiated instruction based upon a student’s particular demonstrated needs.

All writers, novices and professionals, gravitate toward certain weaknesses: lack of focus, lack of development, weak language, lack of organization and transition. You may have students diagnose their own revision needs; you may employ peer readings of works in progress; you may read the drafts and comment yourself. You always write comments on their completed works. In any of these cases, you can direct students to the appropriate Rx:Revise topic to help them improve via their own efforts in response to feedback.

After receiving the Rx: Revise Topic # from a student editor (or from you), it is the student’s responsibility to access and read the topic and make the indicated revision. If you use the on-line version, the student can use the key words of the topic to access the page on which it appears in the collection.

Rx:Revise is here to help you help your students, at your discretion and in accordance with your own teaching style. Please use it just as you see fit.

What do Rx:Revise Topics contain? Why are they structured in this way?

Each topic consists of an explanation of the concept, examples, and then a practice segment, introduced by the words “Now, You:” Most of the practice segments take the student back to the original piece of writing that generated the Rx:Revise, thus its effectiveness is immediate.

Rx:Revise is structured in this way because the student may need to address the same topic multiple times. Because the topics are applied specifically to the student’s own writing, rather than to made-up sentences such as you’d find in an exercise book, the students are always directed back to their own writing, improving it in very specific ways.

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Is Rx:Revise geared for a certain level?

Rx:Revise is appropriate for students from the mid-elementary grades through high school and beyond. Its language is simple, and it addresses writing problems that apply to all subject areas.

What follows is the list of Rx:Revise topics, a Student Guide, and Assignment Tracker that will help you keep a record of who has done what in RxRevise.

Rx:Revise LESSONS

Rx:Revise Lessons: Grammar, Punctuation, Capitalization, Spelling

Lessons 1-5: Focus

  1. Addressing the task
  2. Writing a claim statement
  3. Writing an introduction
  4. Staying focused I: “Anchor” words
  5. Staying focused II: “Q & A” thinking

Lessons 6-10: Development

  1. Elaboration I: Think visually
  2. Elaboration II: Using in, on, at, for, with
  3. Elaboration III: Textual references
  4. Give reasons

10. Be specific: Names, places, events, facts and figures

Lessons 11-15: Organization

11. Outline form

12. Transition

13. Other organizers

14. Comparison/Contrast form

15. Going from general to specific

Lessons 16-20: Language

16. Using Tier III words

17. Conciseness

18. Pack your sentences with meaning

19. Repetition (the good kind)

20. Clarity

Rx:Revise: Student’s Guide

What is Rx:Revise?

Rx:Revise is a collection of instructions that will help you improve your writing in specific ways.

How do I use it?

Your teachers will explain to you how they want you to use Rx:Revise. They will direct you to certain topics, based on what they find in your writing.

Why do we have it?

Writing and communication skills are extremely important for success in school and in other areas of life. Rx:Revise will help you become a better communicator and a sharper thinker.

Do I get graded on my Rx:Revise work?

Whether specific grades will be assigned to Rx:Revise work will be up to the individual teachers. However, as you do Rx:Revise lessons, your writing and thinking will impove. These improvements can’t help but to bring you better grades and success in school.

Rx:Revise Tracker

ASSIGNMENT______

STUDENT / Rx /  / Notation

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