Mumbling together

"Mumbling together" is a strategy students can use to edit their own writing and develop an ear for correct language. Students learn to proofread by reading their first drafts aloud to identify left-out words and other errors.

A lesson plan for grades 1–4 English Language Arts

By DPI Writing Strategies

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Related topics

• Learn more about editing, language arts, revision, writing, and writing process.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• learn to read aloud their drafts to identify errors.
• Students will begin to independently use the “Mumbling” strategy

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

30 minutes

Materials/resources

• Student writing - first drafts
• Pencils

Activities

1. Ask students if they have ever read over a piece of their own writing silently, looking for mistakes, but didn’t notice mistakes they had made? Remind students that everyone overlooks their own mistakes when rereading their own writing silently. Our minds fill in the words that we meant to say but did not include/write in the story.
2. Have students locate a first draft of their writing and a pencil.
3. Explain that “Mumbling Together” is a strategy that helps writers find left out words and other errors that they might miss while reading silently.
4. The strategy works in this way: Everyone reads their writing out loud, all at the same time, pointing to each and every word with a pencil eraser. Remind students not to stop to fix mistakes but to make a quick check in the left margin of the paper and keep reading.
5. Explain that at the word, “Go” the whole class will read their writing out loud, pointing to each word. Everyone will be mumbling together, stopping only to make a very quick check mark where they see mistakes. When finished, everyone will correct any mistakes. Say, “Go” and pause for students to read/mumble.

Closure

• Remind students to notice how many mistakes were discovered when reading drafts out loud. Writers then correct the errors that they noticed by “mumbling aloud.” It’s a good strategy for writers to use to be sure that their writing really says what they meant for it to say.
• Reinforce the “Mumbling” strategy by providing time at the end of each writing session for students to mumble together. Eventually, students should internalize the strategy and automatically read over their drafts on their own.

Assessment

• Can students identify missing words and other age-appropriate errors such as incorrect subject-verb agreement?
• Do students complete the “Mumbling” strategy when prompted by the teacher?
• Do students initiate the “Mumbling” strategy after finishing a draft without teacher prompting?