Career Search: Finishing Touches ~ Part 3 of 3

Students working together to put finishing touches,
 the "editing phase" on their building project.

REVIEW:  In Part 1, Career Search, we discussed laying the groundwork for selecting the topic. establishing a thesis, and constructing the topic sentences that help guide body of the essay.  Part 2 featured the framework and working parts of the MLA essay; it builds the actual structure. Now, in Part 3 it is time for the finishing touches.

ADDING THE BLING:  Sure, a house can be a house without the the paint and trim, but it might not be much to look at.

This is similar to the editing process.

LET MSWORD BE YOUR "RED PEN":
Above and beyond a spell check, Word features GRAMMAR AND STYLE check.

• In Word 2007, students can click on the REVIEW tab at the top, SPELLING AND GRAMMAR, and OPTIONS in the bottom left corner. 
• In Word 2010, students can click on the Outlook icon in the upper left corner and select OPTIONS.  

From here, students should click on the "Grammar Only" dropdown arrow above RECHECK DOCUMENT and change it to GRAMMAR & STYLE.  Now, click on SETTINGS to the right of the dropdown box, and then click OK.  

http://visual.ly/oxford-comma-0 

Now, it's time to check out what's inside!  I always click "comma required before last list item" because I like the oxford comma.  

Other common errors that the Grammar and Style check will find are:

• fragments and runons
• comma splices
• fragments
• misused apostrophes
• unclear pronouns
• wordiness

Using this feature in Word not only saves the life of a teacher's red pen, it helps a student own his or her independent  revisions BEFORE they show it to another soul.  One important mini lesson I always give starts with: Why?

"Why is the computer suggesting you add a comma after this phrase.  Do you agree with the computer's suggestion?"

WHAT IF A STUDENT DISAGREES WITH THE COMPUTER'S SUGGESTION?

"YOU are the author. You CAN tell the computer, 'Thank you for your suggestion, but I'm going to keep it how I wrote it'."  Knowing that they can choose to ignore a blue or green underlined correction, also leads to the understanding that, if they decide to take the computer's suggestion for edits, they own that change and should know why the change is recommended; when they don't, the procedure has been for them to ask; in the end, they will be tested on the concept, so they may as well learn it now!

FIND:  I also show students the FIND icon in the HOME tab.  I click on the binoculars and show them how to type in words like "thing" so they can find all their typically used "wimpy words."  Word will highlight ever combination that has "thing" inside.  I then chalenge the kiddos to select a more concise, precise word.    I also scan the paper and have students find words like "so," "and," and the like.   Too many repeats of aword.  Finally, I scan for repeats of the same word at the beginning of the sentences.  .  

SYNONYMS:  Just as a realtor will complete a final walk-through to fix finishing touches before putting the house on the market for all to see, a writer should make last minute fix-it before publishing.  

PEER EDITS:  Typically, after completing an initial edit on their paper, students are ready to have someone look over their paper, but this editing process is another topic for another time.  I take the column where the students can earn the most points, and change into a peer review checklist.  Students will be able to become exposed to other student's good and bad ideas.  

Before I collect the essays, I distribute the rubrics for students to staple onto their papers; this is another opportunity for students to have clear expectations.  After all, students should understand WHY they earned the grade on the paper.  

REFLECTION:  "It's like having you sit with me but there's less nagging and and it saves your red pen!"