Seventh Grade · Writing · week 7

Editing the Sentences and Citing Your Sources

Edit the essay for grammar and mechanics, and add correct in-text citations plus a simple works-cited list for the evidence used.

Editing is a line-by-line pass for correctness: spelling, punctuation, subject-verb agreement, consistent verb tense, and run-on sentences. It comes last, after the bigger revising work, since there is little point perfecting the grammar of a sentence that might still get cut.

Any essay that uses outside evidence needs citations, so a reader can check the source and so credit is given fairly. A simple in-text style names the source right in the sentence or in parentheses -- for example, "(American Academy of Pediatrics)" -- and a short works-cited list at the end names each source, its title, and where it was found.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Read the essay aloud sentence by sentence -- the ear often catches run-ons and tense slips that the eye skims past.
  • Keep this pass strictly mechanical; if a bigger reasoning problem turns up, jot a note but leave the actual argument alone this week.
  • Look up exactly how to cite one real source together, so citing feels like a genuine skill rather than busywork.
  • Check that every piece of outside evidence in the essay has a source named somewhere -- an easy way to catch a missing citation.
Talk about it:
  • What is one grammar error you found and fixed this week?
  • Why does an argument essay need citations at all?
  • What three things belong in a works-cited entry?

Mastery looks like: They correct grammar and mechanics errors in their draft and add accurate in-text citations plus a complete works-cited list for every source used.

Common stumbles: Doing a reasoning revision instead of a mechanical edit and mixing up the two jobs; using evidence without naming where it came from anywhere in the essay.

See it visually

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

Sentence BuilderDrag word tiles into a real sentence, with a capital and end mark.try →Essay & Thesis PlannerShape a thesis and outline an intro, body, and conclusion.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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