Grade: Grade 2 Subject: English Language Arts Unit: Comprehension Strategies Lesson: 5 of 6 SAT: Information+Ideas ACT: Reading

Editing Workshop: Improving Your Comprehension Responses

Learn

When you write answers about what you read, it is important to check your work. Editing means looking at what you wrote and making it better.

Why Edit Your Answers?

  • To make sure you answered the question
  • To add details you might have forgotten
  • To fix mistakes
  • To make your answer clear

The CUPS Checklist

Use CUPS to check your writing:

  • C - Capitalization: Did you start sentences with capital letters?
  • U - Understanding: Does your answer make sense? Did you answer the question?
  • P - Punctuation: Did you use periods, question marks, and commas correctly?
  • S - Spelling: Are your words spelled correctly?
Editing Tip: Read your answer out loud. If something sounds wrong, you probably need to fix it!

Complete Answer Checklist

A good answer to a reading question should:

  1. Restate part of the question
  2. Give the answer
  3. Include a detail from the text (if asked)

Examples

Original Text:

"Dolphins are smart sea animals. They live in groups called pods. Dolphins talk to each other using clicks and whistles. They can jump high out of the water and do flips!"

Question: What are groups of dolphins called?

Answer That Needs Editing:

"pods"

Problems:

  • Does not restate the question
  • No capital letter
  • No period
  • Too short

Edited Answer:

"Groups of dolphins are called pods."

Why It Is Better:

  • Restates the question
  • Starts with a capital letter
  • Ends with a period
  • Complete sentence

Original Text:

"Anna woke up and looked outside. Snow was falling! She put on her warm coat, hat, and mittens. Then she went outside to build a snowman with her brother."

Question: Why did Anna put on warm clothes?

Answer That Needs Editing:

"becase she was going outside to play in the sno"

Problems:

  • No capital letter at start
  • "becase" should be "because"
  • "sno" should be "snow"
  • Does not restate the question
  • No period

Edited Answer:

"Anna put on warm clothes because she was going outside to play in the snow."

Practice

Find and fix the mistakes in each answer. Rewrite the answer correctly on the line.

Practice 1

Question: What color was the bird?

Original Answer: "blue"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 2

Question: Where did the family go on vacation?

Original Answer: "they went to the beech"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 3

Question: Who is the main character in the story?

Original Answer: "the mane character is a girl named sara"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 4

Question: What did the rabbit eat?

Original Answer: "carots"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 5

Question: When does the story take place?

Original Answer: "the story takes place at nite"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 6

Question: Why was the boy sad?

Original Answer: "becuz his dog ran away"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 7

Question: What lesson did the character learn?

Original Answer: "she lerned to be kind to others"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 8

Question: How did the problem get solved?

Original Answer: "the frends worked together"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 9

Question: What is this passage mostly about?

Original Answer: "its about how bees make hunny"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 10

Question: What happened at the end of the story?

Original Answer: "at the end the boy fownd his cat"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 11

Question: Who helped the main character?

Original Answer: "her frend helped her"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Practice 12

Question: What is one thing you learned from this text?

Original Answer: "i lerned that plants need water and sun to gro"

Write the edited answer:

_______________________________________________

Check Your Understanding

Read this passage, answer the questions, and then edit your own answers using the CUPS checklist.

"Owls are birds that hunt at night. They have big eyes that help them see in the dark. Owls can turn their heads almost all the way around! They eat mice, bugs, and small animals. Most owls make a 'hoo hoo' sound. Baby owls are called owlets. Owls live in forests, deserts, and even in cities."

Question 1: When do owls hunt?

Your answer: _______________________________________________

Question 2: What are baby owls called?

Your answer: _______________________________________________

Question 3: What special thing can owls do with their heads?

Your answer: _______________________________________________

Now check your answers using CUPS:

  • C - Did you use capital letters correctly?
  • U - Did you answer each question completely?
  • P - Did you use periods at the end?
  • S - Did you spell words correctly?

Next Steps

  • Always edit your writing before turning it in
  • Use the CUPS checklist on all your schoolwork
  • Ask a friend or family member to check your work too
  • Move on to the Unit Checkpoint when ready