Evaluate Writing by Improving and Editing

When we evaluate we are reading and looking at what we like and what we can improve.

Sometimes when we write, we think we couldn't possibly make it better! But there are always ways to improve, such as:

> change our word choices to make them more interesting - we can add adjectives (to describe objects or places) and adverbs (to describe verbs, how something happens)

> join our ideas together using interesting conjunctions

> check for mistakes we might have missed!

Evaluate the sentence below - what do you think?

The little, brown dog, barked when he saw the postman.

That's a pretty descriptive sentence (we hear you cry!)

But wait, we can add even more description to how the dog barked and what the postman was doing!

Using adverbs is a great way to describe how something is happening, not just describing the characters or scene.

So, what do you think the postman was doing?

Maybe the dog barked loudly, or sadly! Maybe the postman was putting a package through the letterbox or he was stomping down the path?

The little, brown dog, barked sadly when he saw the friendly, red-faced postman leave a package outside the front door.

WOW! What an amazing sentence we have made!

When we describe objects with two or more adjectives, these are called 'expanded noun phrases' so be on the lookout for these in this activity!

So we evaluated this sentence:

The little, brown dog, barked when he saw the postman.

And improved it, to this!

The little, brown dog barked sadly when he saw the friendly, red-faced postman leave a package outside the front door.

What do you think? Does this sentence give you a better picture in your head?

In this activity, we will practise adding adjectives, adverbs and description to writing so we can become 'excellent evaluaters'!