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Start-Up Activity
The “Proofreader’s Guide” is a reference section for punctuation, mechanics, spelling, commonly misused words, sentence structure, and parts of speech. Inform your students that a proofreader is someone who checks for mistakes in writing.
This section is designed to make the information easy to use. Have students turn to page 264. As they will see, the subject—periods—is at the top of the page in red. Each rule for using periods is named in bold black. Each rule is followed by an example.
With your help, students will learn to use the “Proofreader’s Guide” whenever they have a question about a certain rule. Such questions will naturally arise during the editing step of the writing process.
To help students learn about this section, have them individually or as a class complete the Proofreader's Scavenger Hunt:
-
Go to page 264. Name the second rule for using a period. (after an abbreviation)
-
Go to page 265. Name the third rule for using an exclamation point. (after an “excited” word)
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Go to page 271. Name the first rule for using a capital letter. (for the first word in a sentence)
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Go to page 274. Name the abbreviation for Sunday. (Sun.)
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Go to page 286. Identify whether its or it’s in the contraction for ”it is.” (it’s)
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Go to page 291. Name the second type of sentence listed on this page. (asking a question)
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Go to page 294. Tell how pronouns are used. (Pronouns stand for nouns in sentences.)
Special Note: You should also help students use the index (pages 346–351) to access information about specific rules. You can do this by providing students with a series of Index-based questions like the following:
On what page would you find information about verbs in a sentence?
Think About It
“Your favorite writers may not know all the rules, but they have editors who do.”
—Dave Kemper
Chapter Opening Downloads:
Start-Up Activity
The “Proofreader’s Guide” is a reference section for punctuation, mechanics, spelling, commonly misused words, sentence structure, and parts of speech. Inform your students that a proofreader is someone who checks for mistakes in writing.
This section is designed to make the information easy to use. Have students turn to page 264. As they will see, the subject—periods—is at the top of the page in red. Each rule for using periods is named in bold black. Each rule is followed by an example.
With your help, students will learn to use the “Proofreader’s Guide” whenever they have a question about a certain rule. Such questions will naturally arise during the editing step of the writing process.
To help students learn about this section, have them individually or as a class complete the Proofreader's Scavenger Hunt:
-
Go to page 264. Name the second rule for using a period. (after an abbreviation)
-
Go to page 265. Name the third rule for using an exclamation point. (after an “excited” word)
-
Go to page 271. Name the first rule for using a capital letter. (for the first word in a sentence)
-
Go to page 274. Name the abbreviation for Sunday. (Sun.)
-
Go to page 286. Identify whether its or it’s in the contraction for ”it is.” (it’s)
-
Go to page 291. Name the second type of sentence listed on this page. (asking a question)
-
Go to page 294. Tell how pronouns are used. (Pronouns stand for nouns in sentences.)
Special Note: You should also help students use the index (pages 346–351) to access information about specific rules. You can do this by providing students with a series of Index-based questions like the following:
On what page would you find information about verbs in a sentence?
Think About It
“Your favorite writers may not know all the rules, but they have editors who do.”
—Dave Kemper
