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, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
Common Core State Standards, Grades 6-8, Writing: History, Science & Technical Subjects · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What WHST.6-8.5 Means in Plain English
Students plan, revise, edit or start over on history and science writing, using feedback from classmates and teachers. Every change asks whether the piece does its job for its reader. A history paragraph that retells events when the reader asked why needs a new approach, not new commas.
Fifth graders (W.5.5) plan, revise and edit with guidance and support. In grades 6 to 8 the support thins to some guidance, and each revision is judged by how it serves purpose and audience. Grades 9 to 10 (WHST.9-10.5) drop the guidance and focus on what matters most.
WHST.6-8.5 I Can Statements
I can make a plan before I draft a history or science paper.
I can use feedback to revise for my purpose and reader.
I can try a new approach when my draft misses its purpose.
WHST.6-8.5 Worked Example
Both students got the same conference note on the same draft; only one changed the approach.
Prompt
History essay question: Why did the Mayflower passengers write the Mayflower Compact? Revise this draft paragraph using your teacher’s conference note. Draft: “The Mayflower left England in September 1620. The trip was long and stormy. In November they saw land at Cape Cod. Before they got off the ship, 41 men signed the Mayflower Compact. Then they built Plymouth.” Conference note: “Every fact here is right, but your reader asked why, and this tells what happened next. Try a new approach: lead with the reason.”
Not YetThe Mayflower left England in September 1620, and the trip was very long and stormy. In November they finally saw land at Cape Cod. Before they got off the ship, 41 men signed the Mayflower Compact because they needed rules. Then they built Plymouth.The writer combined two sentences, added “finally” and tacked “because they needed rules” onto the old order. That is editing, not revising: the paragraph still answers what happened next, and its one reason is too vague to explain anything.
Meets the StandardThe Mayflower passengers wrote the Mayflower Compact because they had landed where their permission to settle did not apply. Their patent covered land in the Virginia Company’s territory, but after a stormy crossing they reached Cape Cod in November 1620, far to the north, and dangerous shoals turned them back when they tried to sail south. According to William Bradford, later the colony’s governor, some passengers then said that once ashore no one would have the power to command them. To keep the colony from splitting apart, 41 men signed an agreement aboard the ship to form a “civil body politic” and obey “just and equal laws.” The Compact, in other words, filled the gap the patent left: it gave the settlers a government of their own making.The writer did what the note asked and tried a new approach: the reason now opens the paragraph, and events appear only where they explain it. The vague “they needed rules” becomes a specific cause, a patent that did not cover Cape Cod, backed by Bradford’s account. The reader who asked why gets the answer in the first sentence.
Moves to Use
Reread the question and ask whether the draft answers it.Turn the feedback into one goal before changing anything.When the draft’s structure is the problem, start a fresh paragraph.Keep only the facts that serve the new purpose.Edit spelling and punctuation last, after the revision is done.
Common Mistakes with WHST.6-8.5
Editing in place of revising
The draft comes back with two sentences combined, a comma added and the same structure
Try this: Ask students to write the feedback as one goal at the top, then check whether each change they made moves toward it.
Patching the old draft
“Because they needed rules” added to a paragraph that still retells the voyage in order
Try this: Have students open a blank page and draft the new opening sentence first when feedback says the approach, not the wording, is wrong.
Peer feedback that only praises
“Good job, I liked the part about the storm!”
Try this: Give peer reviewers one question to answer in writing: who is this for, and where does it stop serving that reader?
What did the conference note ask the writer to change, and why?
The approach. The question asked why the Compact was written, but the draft told what happened next, so the reason had to lead the paragraph.
What specific cause does the strong revision give?
The passengers landed at Cape Cod, outside the territory their patent covered, so some said no one could command them once ashore. The Compact created a government to fill that gap.
Why does the weak revision fall short of WHST.6-8.5?
It edits sentences but keeps the time-order structure, so it never addresses the purpose the reader set. Adding “because they needed rules” patches the draft without revising it.