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58 Proofreader's Guide

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320
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Proofreader's Guide Opening Page

Start-Up Activity

The “Proofreader’s Guide” is a reference section for punctuation, mechanics, spelling, commonly misused words, sentence structure, and parts of speech. This section is designed to make the information easy to use. Have students turn to page 322. As they will see, the subject—periods—is at the top of the page. Down the left-hand margin, the rules for using periods are named. Then in the main part of the text, each rule is explained and examples are given.

With your help, students should 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. Have students in pairs follow the directions below to search for basic types of information in the “Proofreader’s Guide.”

  • Go to “Marking Punctuation,” beginning on page 321. Write the names of the first three punctuation marks listed on this page.
  • Go to “Checking Mechanics,” beginning on page 332. List five common abbreviations.
  • Go to “Using the Right Word,” beginning on page 344. Write a new set of sentences for hear and here.
  • Go to “Understanding Our Language,” beginning on page 354. List the eight parts of speech.

Special Note: You should also help students use the index (pages 421–432) 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 using question marks?

For more activities like the ones included in this teacher's guide chapter, see the Write on Track SkillsBook.

Think About It

“I know that spelling, punctuation, and grammar are boring, but they are necessary.”

—Beverly Cleary

Page 321 from Write on Track

Marking Punctuation

Pages 321–331 cover the rules for using periods, commas, colons, apostrophes, quotation marks, hyphens, questions marks, exclamation points, parentheses, and underlining (italics). To assess your students’ understanding of punctuation, have them punctuate the sentences in the “Punctuation Practice” activity.

  1. Summer vacation starts in June
  2. My favorite colors are purple red and pink.
  3. Morning recess starts at 10 30.
  4. It s snowing really hard.
  5. My grandma always says,  Be nice.
  6. When can I go swimming
  7. Nature is a popular television show.
LAFS Standard:
TEKS Standard:
NE ELA Standard:

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Page 332 from Write on Track

Checking Mechanics

Pages 332–339 cover capitalization, plurals, numbers, and abbreviations. To assess your students’ understanding of the mechanics of the language, have them edit sentences from the “Editing for Mechanics” activity.

  1. my family has moved two times.
  2. a famous basketball player is stephen curry.
  3. I live on state street.
  4. we stacked five boxs in the garage.
  5. there were two mouses in the basement.
  6. our gym teacher is mr jones.
LAFS Standard:
TEKS Standard:
NE ELA Standard:

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Page 340 from Write on Track

Checking Your Spelling

Pages 340–341 provide a list of spelling words that students can refer to when they are proofreading their writing. Connect this information with “Becoming a Better Speller” on pages 250–253.

LAFS Standard:
TEKS Standard:
NE ELA Standard:

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Page 344 from Write on Track

Using the Right Word

Pages 344–349 list words that are commonly confused. Review these words as needed with your students and give them practice with especially troublesome pairs of words. To assess your students’ understanding of commonly misused words, present the sentences in the “Using the Right Word” activity: (Have students decide if the underlined word is used correctly.)

  1. My ant is a very kind person. (incorrect, should be aunt)
  2. We saw two deer in our backyard. (correct)
  3. I wonder if its cold outside. (incorrect, should be it’s)
  4. She braided the horse’s mane. (correct)
  5. The students shared there stories. (incorrect, should be their)
  6. Joe ate to much turkey. (incorrect, should be too)
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Page 350 from Write on Track

Understanding Sentences

Pages 350–353 cover parts of sentences, types of sentences, and kinds of sentences. Connect this information with “Writing Basic Sentences” on pages 47–49. To assess your students’ understanding of sentences, ask them questions like the ones from the “Understanding Sentences” activity.

My cat eats canned food.

  1. What is the simple subject of this sentence? (cat)
  2. What is the complete subject? (my cat)
  3. What is the simple predicate (verb)? (eats)
  4. What is the complete predicate? (eats canned food)
  5. Is this a simple or compound sentence? (simple)
  6. Is it a declarative or interrogative sentence? (declarative)
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NE ELA Standard:

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Page 354 from Write on Track

Understanding Our Language

Pages 354–365 cover the parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Review the different parts of speech as needed with your students. To assess your students’ understanding of the parts of speech, ask them questions about the sentence from the “Understanding the Parts of Speech” activity.

Paula plays the piano, and she writes nature poems.

  1. What are the three nouns in the sentence? (Paula, piano, and poems)
  2. Which of these nouns is a proper noun? (Paula)
  3. What are the two verbs in the sentence? (plays and writes)
  4. Are the verbs linking verbs or action verbs? (action verbs)
  5. What word is an adjective? (nature)
  6. What word is an article? (the)
  7. What word is a conjunction? (and)
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