Proofreading Tool for Students
Simple Tool Students Can Use to Proofread Their Sentences
Dec 22, 2008
To teach students how to edit their own writing, consider using simple tools to help them remember what to look for. Tools like Hands Up and COPS can provide students a memory aid that will enable them to go through many of the editing steps themselves before turning in written work. Ensuring that students can edit their work is not only useful for your class, but essential for success throughout their lives.
Hands Up for Editing
To teach students this method of editing, all you need is a hand with five fingers. Have the students trace their open hand on a blank piece of paper, and write on each finger what they are looking for when they edit their writing. One finger is for capitalization, one finger is for neatness, one finger is for spelling, one finger is for punctuation, and one finger is for subject. The point of the last finger, staying on subject, is to help prevent students from writing something off topic.
You can either display a Hands Up editing sign on the black board, providing it is big enough for students to see, or you can have small copies made for each student’s desk. The benefit of this method of editing is that once the students learn it, they will always remember because they will always have their fingers with them. Remind students before having them turn in any work to check it for Hands Up editing.
COPS Editing Method
Another cute method of teaching students to edit their own work before turning it in is to teach them the COPS method. C stands for capitalization, O stands for organization or on topic (whichever suits your needs better), P stands for punctuation and S stands for spelling. If handwriting is an issue, this can be included in the organization category. Remind students that they do not want to get arrested by the writing police, so to check their work with the COPS.
Reinforce the fact that students need to edit their work before turning anything in. Making sure that everything they turn in is neat, spelled correctly, with proper use of punctuation and capitalization is not just a rule in class, but an expectation in life. These editing methods can be taught in whole group lessons, if you are using Writers Workshop in your class. During individual conferences, you can review each step of the editing method with the students, but they should have already been taught how to use the method before the conference.
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