SELF-EDITING CHECKLIST

Self-Editing Checklist

⃞ Are the first letters of all proper nouns CAPITALIZED?

⃞ Are the first letters of the first word in all sentences CAPITALIZED?

⃞ Are all RUN-ON SENTENCES corrected by either inserting a conjunction (examples: and, or, but, etc.), or by splitting them into two sentences, or by re-wording?

⃞ Did I use the spacebar to put ONE SPACE AFTER (but not before) all of my COMMAS, and PERIODS? [This does NOT apply to commas and periods that are used inside numbers (as in math), only to those used after words.]

⃞ Do I have PARAGRAPHS and are they INDENTED by using the TAB key?

⃞ Am I using PROPER GRAMMAR?  Remember that every sentence’s verb must agree with its subject.  So constructions like “She have” and “They has” are WRONG.  (Should be “She has” and “They have.”)

⃞ Have I been careful NOT TO CONFUSE WORDS that are often confused?  Examples: there, their, they’re; and to, too, two; its, it’s. etc.

⃞ Have I SPELLED ALL MY WORDS CORRECTLY?  Pay close attention to the “red-line” function on your Chromebooks.  It’s true that sometimes it red-lines correctly-spelled words that Google Chrome doesn’t recognize.  But in most instances it redlines words that are truly misspelled. PAY ATTENTION TO THE REDLINE FUNCTION!!

⃞ DO ALL OF MY SENTENCES MAKE SENSE? It is VERY IMPORTANT that you READ OUT LOUD to yourself all that you have written, and that you LISTEN TO YOUR OWN VOICE READING IT to make sure you have not left out words or put words together in ways that DO NOT MAKE SENSE?

⃞ Have I avoided CONVERSATIONAL words like “Well.”  as in statements like “Well, I’m going to tell you”?

⃞ Have I avoided REPEATING MYSELF?  One error eighth-graders often make is repetition of ideas or thoughts that are unnecessary.  As in: “The sun is a very large star.  It is huge.”  Also, have I avoided fluffy sentences such as telling the reader what you’re about to tell them?   Don’t do that!

⃞ Have I CAPITALIZED all instances of the pronoun “I” as in “What do I know?”