With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 6 here.)
Common Core State Standards, Grade 6, Writing · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What W.6.5 Means in Plain English
Sixth graders get a partner’s note, such as “your best fact is buried at the end,” and decide what to do: reorder, cut, add evidence or start over with a new approach. Editing comes after, using the grade 6 Language rules, like fixing vague pronouns and pronoun shifts.
Fifth grade (W.5.5) names the same five steps, with guidance and support. Sixth grade adds “some”: the writer, not the adult, should start deciding what to fix. Seventh grade (W.7.5) adds a focus on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
W.6.5 I Can Statements
I can plan a piece and revise it using a partner’s feedback.
I can rewrite a weak part or try a new approach.
I can edit for the grade 6 pronoun, comma and spelling rules.
W.6.5 Worked Example
Here the weak text is a draft and the strong one is the same student’s revision after one partner conference.
Prompt
Revise this paragraph from your argument for a water bottle filling station, using your partner’s note: “Your best fact is buried at the end, and I kept losing track of who ‘they’ is.” Then edit it for the grade 6 pronoun and comma rules.
Not YetThey say a lot of kids don’t drink enough water at school, and you get tired when you are thirsty. The fountain by the gym which is the only one on our floor is broken half the time. The nurse saw 40 students with headaches last month, they told her they were thirsty.This is the draft. The strongest fact, the nurse’s 40 visits, sits at the very end, “They” in the first sentence points to no one, the paragraph shifts from “kids” to “you,” the clause about the fountain needs commas, and the last sentence is a comma splice.
Meets the StandardLast month the school nurse saw 40 students for headaches, and many of them told her they were thirsty. That matters, because students who do not drink enough water tire quickly and lose focus in class. Part of the problem is easy to see. The fountain by the gym, which is the only one on our floor, is broken about half the time, so many students simply go without. A filling station would give every student on our floor a reliable place to drink.The revision answers both parts of the note. The nurse’s 40 visits now lead the paragraph, and the vague “They say” is gone. Editing fixed the grade 6 conventions: the paragraph stays with “students” instead of shifting to “you,” commas set off the clause about the fountain, and the comma splice is joined with “and.”
Moves to Use
Turn each part of the partner’s note into one specific change.Try a new order: move the strongest evidence to the front.Replace every they or it that could point to more than one thing, or to nothing.Edit last for the grade 6 rules: pronoun shifts, commas around extra information and run-ons.
Common Mistakes with W.6.5
Waiting for the teacher to say what to fix
A draft handed back unchanged with “What should I change?” written at the top
Try this: Have students write one revision goal at the top of each draft before any conference, then show the change that meets it.
Pronouns that point nowhere
“They say a lot of kids don’t drink enough water,” with no one ever named as they
Try this: Have students circle every they, it and this and draw an arrow to the noun it means, replacing any that have no arrow.
Revising only at the word level
A second draft with three synonyms swapped in and every sentence in the same order
Try this: Require one structural change per revision, such as reordering, cutting or adding a sentence, before any word-level edits count.
Rubric GeneratorFree ToolBuild a short rubric for revision day: one row for acting on feedback, one for the order of evidence and one for the grade 6 pronoun rules.RevisionConventionsGrade 6