LA+22+October


 * //Alright, so it's editing day today. I'm assuming that you all have a strong start on your short stories and are ready for some constructive feedback.

"I BELIEVE THAT..." Rather than warming up with a freewrite, I want you to warm up your editing brains. Go to [|this site] and play the Sentence or Fragment game. Read the intro bit to it to learn a really cool and easy way to discover if a sentence is a run-on, fragment, or correct. A big thanks to Mr. Gautreau for sending this activity our way. You are a true LA Gangsta.

I would like everybody to do this activity until they score at least a 30/40. When you reach this plateau, please show me and I will record it for your report card. A WORD OF WARNING to those of you who wish to hit the 'back' button to correct your errors. This will cause your game to end and you will need to start over. If you read the sentences carefully and listen to instruction, you should do ok on this pretty quickly.

When you have finished this, and I have recorded your mark, please look through the hard copy of your writing (which was homework) and edit your own story for run-ons and fragments. They will be there. I guarantee. They're like a rash. That was a simile.

When the majority of us have finished this activity, we will be editing each others' work. I would like you to exchange your printed work with another person in the room. Please pick somebody that DOES NOT sit near you. Return to your seat and do the following things:

1. Read the story CAREFULLY. 2. As you read, have a pencil in your hand. If, at any time, you find yourself asking a question about the story (ie. Well, what does THIS mean? Who IS that?), then write it down in pencil on the story. 3. Take out the editing sheet that I gave you (I'm checking that you still have it) and re-read the story. Make any editing notes you can find. Concentrate on paragraphing, sentence structure and spelling. 4. When you have reached the end of the story, please write down TWO things that you liked about the writing. 5. Write down ONE piece of constructive criticism or a suggestion about the writing. 6. Hand the story back to the author.//**