First Grade · Writing · week 26

Editing Checklist: Capitals, End Marks, Spelling

Use an editing checklist (capital letters, end marks, spacing, and best-guess spelling) to check and correct an informational piece.

Editing is different from revising. Editing checks the SURFACE of your writing: capital letters, end marks, spacing between words, and spelling your best.

A checklist helps you catch mistakes one at a time instead of all at once. Go through your piece and check off each item.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Make an actual small checklist card together (four boxes to check off) so the process feels concrete and satisfying.
  • Go through the four items in the SAME order every time, so it becomes an automatic habit.
  • Praise using the checklist itself, not just a perfect result -- the habit is the goal at this age.
  • Remind your child that best-guess spelling is fine for now -- the goal is trying their best, not perfection.
Talk about it:
  • What are the four things on your editing checklist?
  • Which item on the checklist did you have to fix the most?
  • Why is it helpful to check one thing at a time instead of everything at once?

Mastery looks like: They use a four-item checklist to independently find and fix capital, end mark, spacing, and spelling errors.

Common stumbles: Trying to check everything at once and missing items instead of going through the checklist one at a time.

See it visually

Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.

Punctuation PowerThe same words as a statement, a question, or a shout — hear it change.try →Sentence BuilderDrag word tiles into a real sentence, with a capital and end mark.try →
Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Writing for this learner.
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