These lessons are intended for a classroom setting that has access to computers for an extended period of time. The lessons require students to use computers to access electronic copies of written papers, utilize corpus websites and programs, find peer reviewed articles and news publications from NewsEla. The intended grade level for these lessons is for high school juniors and seniors in an English Literature classroom or advanced writing class. However these lessons can be adapted for teaching editing practices for younger age groups and ELL learners.
Students should have some practice with the editing process and should have some proficiency with peer editing. Though the following lessons practice the editing process from localized points of view, the end result should have a global effect on the paper. The activities focus on removing repetitive words, editing for an active voice (stylistic writing), reducing the use of be verbs, and text comparison for word choice. Since using corpus based tools, students should have some knowledge and experience using the programs. Though these activities assume student knowledge and use of corpus based tools, underdeveloped lessons in utilizing with links to tutorials have been included.
The activities are intended to be sequential, and will last up to a week, if you include one day to introduce students to using the corpus based tools.The activities are mainly student driven with the guidance of a teacher in the classroom. All activities include the use of one or more corpus based tools, a worksheet to practice specific editing techniques, most which are transferable to the students written paper, and and example of a completed worksheets. These activities lead to practical editing techniques on students written drafts, and should result in a paper with less repetitive words, limitation to the use of be verbs, and use of word choice based on comparative analysis.
Before beginning any of these activities all students should have a completed draft of a paper and should have access to the paper electronically to complete the activities. Examples used are taken from a literary analysis of the writings from Mark Twain and can be shown as a guide for further understanding. Since the paper that students are editing is their own they should have a good understanding of the topic content within their paper and should be able to navigate the contents of the paper with relative ease. Some activities will work directly with the students paper, while utilizing corpus tools, and others will use corpus tools to prep students to practice editing techniques.
Students should have some practice with the editing process and should have some proficiency with peer editing. Though the following lessons practice the editing process from localized points of view, the end result should have a global effect on the paper. The activities focus on removing repetitive words, editing for an active voice (stylistic writing), reducing the use of be verbs, and text comparison for word choice. Since using corpus based tools, students should have some knowledge and experience using the programs. Though these activities assume student knowledge and use of corpus based tools, underdeveloped lessons in utilizing with links to tutorials have been included.
The activities are intended to be sequential, and will last up to a week, if you include one day to introduce students to using the corpus based tools.The activities are mainly student driven with the guidance of a teacher in the classroom. All activities include the use of one or more corpus based tools, a worksheet to practice specific editing techniques, most which are transferable to the students written paper, and and example of a completed worksheets. These activities lead to practical editing techniques on students written drafts, and should result in a paper with less repetitive words, limitation to the use of be verbs, and use of word choice based on comparative analysis.
Before beginning any of these activities all students should have a completed draft of a paper and should have access to the paper electronically to complete the activities. Examples used are taken from a literary analysis of the writings from Mark Twain and can be shown as a guide for further understanding. Since the paper that students are editing is their own they should have a good understanding of the topic content within their paper and should be able to navigate the contents of the paper with relative ease. Some activities will work directly with the students paper, while utilizing corpus tools, and others will use corpus tools to prep students to practice editing techniques.