Liam wrote a story and read it to his class. His teacher said, "You should add more details about where the story happens."

Ignore the advice and leave it the same

Aisha wrote an opinion paragraph about her favorite game. A classmate said, "I like your idea, but tell us why you like the game."

Add reasons and examples to support her opinion

Mateo finished his story but his teacher said, "The ending feels sudden. Can you add a closing sentence?"

Add a closing sentence that wraps up the story

Olivia wrote steps for a class project. Her teacher said, "Use words like 'first', 'next', and 'then' so readers know the order."

Add time-order words such as 'first', 'next', and 'then'

Jamal read his story aloud. A peer said, "I can't tell who is talking in this part."

Add quotation marks and a speaker tag like 'said Mom' or 'said Jamal'

Sofia's teacher noticed every sentence in her paragraph is very short. The teacher said, "Try using different sentence lengths so the writing flows better."

Combine ideas to make some longer sentences and keep some short ones

Ignore the suggestion and keep all short sentences

Noah used the word "went" many times. His teacher suggested using stronger verbs to make the story more interesting.

Replace 'went' with stronger verbs like 'raced', 'strolled', or 'hurried'

Keep the word 'went' everywhere

Replace 'went' with stronger verbs like 'raced', 'strolled', or 'hurried'

Emma drew a picture to go with her writing. Her teacher said, "Please add a short caption so readers know what the picture shows."

Add a caption that describes the picture

Only add more colors to the drawing

Carlos turned in an informative paragraph. His teacher wrote, "Check commas, periods, and capital letters."

Edit punctuation and capitalization to fix commas and periods

Change the topic of the paragraph

Edit punctuation and capitalization to fix commas and periods

Mia wrote a story but a classmate said, "I don't know when this happened."

Add time words like 'last night', 'then', or 'after that'

Ethan wrote an informative paragraph but forgot to say the main idea first. His teacher said, "Start with a clear topic sentence."

Write a strong topic sentence that tells the main idea at the start

Remove facts from the paragraph

Priya gave reasons in her opinion piece, but a peer said, "I want an example for each reason."

Add one simple example that shows each reason

Change the topic to something else

Zoe wrote, "She was sad." Her teacher suggested showing feelings with details instead of telling.

Write how she acted or felt, for example, 'She hugged her knees and watched the rain.'

Keep the sentence 'She was sad.'

Remove the character from the story

Write how she acted or felt, for example, 'She hugged her knees and watched the rain.'

Jackson wrote dialogue but forgot to put each speaker on a new line. His teacher advised, "Start a new line when a different person speaks and use quotation marks."

Put each speaker on a new line and use quotation marks

Isabella finished a first draft. Her teacher wrote, "Nice work. Now check spelling, punctuation, and capitalization."

Edit the draft for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization

Second Grade ELA Writing Strategies | Strengthen Writing with Feedback

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What does it mean to strengthen writing through feedback?

Feedback is advice or suggestions that help you improve your work. When someone reads your writing and tells you what is clear and what could be better, that is feedback. Good writers listen to feedback and make changes to strengthen their writing.

Examples:

Teacher’s feedback: “You need a stronger ending.” Change: The student adds a final sentence that sums up the story.
Peer’s feedback: “I don’t understand who is talking here.” Change: The writer adds quotation marks to show dialogue clearly.

Helpful hint

Feedback is not criticism—it’s a tool to make your writing the best it can be.

Why is feedback important?

Feedback helps writers see things they may have missed. It gives a fresh perspective and helps make the writing more clear, detailed, and interesting. Without feedback, mistakes or missing information might stay in the writing.

Example Sentences:

No feedback: “I went to the park. It was fun.” (too short, not clear)
With feedback: “My teacher said, ‘Tell what you did at the park.’ So I added: ‘I climbed the slide, played tag, and ate a snack with my friend.’” (clearer, more detailed)

Helpful hint

Ask yourself: Does my writing answer the reader’s questions? Feedback can help you check.

How to listen to feedback

Listening to feedback means paying attention to what others say about your writing. Writers do not have to use every suggestion, but they should think carefully about each one. The goal is to make the writing stronger, not to feel upset.

Examples:

Feedback: “Your sentences are all the same length.” Response: The student adds shorter and longer sentences to improve the flow.
Feedback: “I like your story, but I want to know how it ends.” Response: The writer adds a final event to complete the story.

Helpful hint

Say “thank you” for feedback—it shows respect and helps you stay open to learning.

Making changes after feedback

Strong writers use feedback to revise their work. Revising means making changes to add more detail, fix mistakes, or make ideas clearer. Revising is different from editing: editing checks for spelling, punctuation, and grammar; revising makes the story stronger.

Examples:

First draft: “My dog ran.” Feedback: “What does your dog look like?” Revision: “My brown dog ran quickly across the yard, wagging his tail.”
First draft: “I like pizza.” Feedback: “Why do you like pizza?” Revision: “I like pizza because the cheese is gooey and the crust is crunchy.”

Helpful hint

Revising after feedback makes your writing richer, clearer, and more fun to read.

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GG.1 Learn to listen to feedback and make changes

What does it mean to strengthen writing through feedback?

Why is feedback important?

How to listen to feedback

Making changes after feedback