Reviewing Own Writing
METAEvaluate whether your own writing achieves the effect you intended on a reader — go beyond checking for correctness to asking whether it actually works
Mastery Evidence
- writing self-evaluation research grades 3-5
- metacognitive awareness of writing (Frontiers 2025)
Assessment Prompt
“After [child] writes something — a story, a letter, a persuasive piece — do they think about whether it would have the effect they wanted on a reader, not just whether the spelling is right?”
Prerequisites2
- Author's word choiceshardAges 7—9
- Understanding WhysoftAges 8—9
Show full prerequisite tree
- Author's word choices hard
Evaluating whether your own writing creates an intended effect requires first understanding how authors' choices create effects on readers — reading like a writer before writing like a reader
- Connecting New & Old Ideas soft
Recognising how authorial choices create effects requires connecting your reading experience to existing knowledge of how language and texts work
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Monitoring Comprehension hard
Recognising authorial effects requires reading for meaning rather than just decoding — you can only notice the effect of a word choice if you are genuinely engaging with meaning
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Noticing the decoding/understanding gap is the English-specific form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Reading for Meaning hard
Noticing the gap between decoding and understanding requires first having the foundational idea that reading means making meaning
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Understanding that reading means making meaning is the English-domain grounding of the universal habit of noticing when you don't understand
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Understanding Why soft
Evaluating whether your writing works requires asking 'why does this passage succeed or fail?' — the elaborative-interrogation habit applied to your own text
- Teaching It Back hard
Asking 'why does this work?' requires first being able to explain what you know — interrogation builds on explanation
- Explaining Mathematical Reasoning soft
The universal self-explanation habit (LtL 7-8) builds on the maths-specific practice of explaining reasoning when prompted (MT 6-7)
- Showing Your Working hard
Age 6-7 explaining with diagrams/logic builds on age 5-6 showing and telling with objects
- Numbers up to 10 into pairs soft
Explaining part-part-whole decompositions exercises showing and telling
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Decomposing numbers into pairs requires understanding addition as combining
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Number bonds to 9 soft
Explaining how to find number bonds to 10 exercises showing thinking with objects
- Numbers up to 10 into pairs hard
Making 10 is a specific application of decomposing numbers into pairs
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Decomposing numbers into pairs requires understanding addition as combining
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Listening and responding soft
Explaining mathematical reasoning orally requires basic listening and responding skills
- What the equals sign means soft
Determining whether equations are true/false exercises evaluating and justifying
- Reading +, −, and = symbols hard
Deep understanding of = requires already being able to read and write number sentences
- Reading and writing numbers to 20 hard
Writing number sentences requires reading and writing numerals
- How Many in Total? hard
Reading/writing numerals 0–20 requires understanding that numerals represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Writing digits 0-9 hard
Writing numerals requires the motor skill of forming digits 0-9 (taught in English handwriting)
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Reading/writing the + symbol requires understanding what addition means
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Subtraction as taking away or separating hard
Reading/writing the − symbol requires understanding what subtraction means
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding subtraction as taking away requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Understanding commutativity of addition requires understanding addition
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Explaining in your own words requires connecting new learning to existing knowledge already held in mind
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
Unlocks2
- Reflecting on Your Language UsehardAges 10—11
- Responding to Writing FeedbacksoftAges 5—7