As a homeschool mom you know that children who learn to write well will do better in college and even in life. Yet it is hard to know the difference between a dangling participle and a sentence fragment. How are we supposed to be able to grade their work or tell them how to write better beyond spelling errors?
Even professional writers such as myself struggle with editing our own work. Then to teach that to my boys has just led to arguments and cries of “But I want to be original, Mom!” My oldest hates to remember what to capitalize, what not to, and when.
I tease Logan that there can only be one ee cummings.
Thankfully, I don’t have to be the mean guy. There are three free online editor programs that will tell the boys when they need to fix what they wrote. It also helps me to be an even more awesome writer than I already am! These programs can remember all the spelling and grammar rules. They also do word choice analysis as well as other important editing tasks.
The Three On-line Editing Programs are Grammarly, Hemingway app, Grammarly, and PaperRater. Some of these apps do some things better than others and some of them are easier to understand than others. It just all depends on which one you feel thinks like you do. I do all three and in that order for all my writing and to grade the
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writing my boys do. Grammarly is a more robust app and this is the second place I turn for editing. It requires you to download an internet browser toolbar extension. That happens once you set up an account and log in. Depending on what browser you are using it will then prompt you to download the proper extension. You upload the document and the free account checks spelling and grammar issues. Depending on the settings you choose the app will “grade” the work on the right hand of the screen. You then work your way down the page to fix the errors. Grammarly checks for grammar, usage, plagiarism, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary use. It won’t tell you the grade level of writing, though. The premium version checks for over 250 different things essential to correct sentence structure and writing styles. This video shows the difference between the free version and the paid version. (Steve Dotto has a ton of fabulous videos about tech tools. Be sure to check out his series on internet security and privacy https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoChQlVtu_g5cCrg5YM4iOC7wnc4nguER.) https://youtu.be/a9pzVavMHJs Hemingway app is what I use for most of my first drafts.
I like that it shows the grade level of the writing. The best blog posts are about a grade 5. That means it is easier to read through fast. People don’t have time to get into heavy-duty reading when these days. This app does not need any download. While you can write in it I find it easier to paste in already written text. It highlights sentences that are hard to read, adverbs, and use of passive voice as you type. Then you rewrite the highlighted areas until they are no longer highlighted. Doing this has forced me to make my writing tighter and more to the point. This video shows what it looks like and how it
works. https://youtu.be/RWLMecynpag PaperRater (http://paperrater.com/free_paper_grader) is the third free online proofreading program. It does not need any downloads and gives stats about word choice, grammar, spelling, and more. You paste your writing on to the site, complete a form and hit enter. The form asks for works cited, education level of the author, the type of paper, and if you want to detect plagiarism. It also asks you to read and agree to their terms of service. Once you click on “Get Report” it goes into action scanning the document. A new window opens showing the things that are wrong and the reasons why on the right. If you click on the errors it will open a window with all the errors in that category. It will also allow you to click through to the next categories to see all the errors. The best thing about PaperRater are the extra features for a free program. A Bad Phrase Score: cliches and awkward word usage Transitional Words score with a mini lesson of good transtional words and how to use them Sentence length info with a link to a guide for effect usage Style rating Passive Voice rating also with helpful links on better word choice A vocabulary score Most importantly, it gives an actual grade! That is why I save this step for last when I am grading writing exercises. Then you can print out a report showing all the things that need changing. PaperRater also has a premium version. http://www.paperrater.com/premium With these three free online proofreading programs you do not have to be afraid to teach writing or grading your child’s efforts.
The focal point of Chapter 4 of Successful College Writing is on how to critically read and decipher text and visuals. It highlights the importance of not just looking at the surface of the words, but diving into their true meaning. Authors put every word and picture into their work for a reason, and it is your job to ensure that you do not fall victim to biases and false information. It is crucial to learn how to identify author's tones, opinions, and overall purpose in their writings. Learning how to analyze these patterns will better equip you in acquiring accurate information and also not adopting these deceptive techniques yourself.
‘Helping students meet the challenges of academic writing’ by Fernsten and Reda is an interesting study how reflective writing practices can be useful for marginalized students, who are struggling with “negative writer self-identity. The possible causes according to Fernsten & Reda are, “issues such as race, class and gender that are marginalized factors for many basic writers”, in addition to the expectations of the dominant academic culture. However, even though Fernsten & Reda illuminated the ‘potential conflicts’ within the academic world, they have failed to provide conclusive evidence that supports their argument regarding their solution. Their reliance on dated research that provides a one sided historical perspective, may no longer accurately reflect current socio/economic issues. In addition, education has been evolving to an inclusive curriculum approach, as immigrated children enter the school system in record numbers. “Persons obtaining legal permanent status in the U.S from the year 2000-2010 are roughly eleven million” (Homeland Security,pg.10/2010). Fernsten & Reda’s confidence of their own limited teaching practices without legitimate comparables from an empirical study leads to their underlying assumptions about the true effectiveness of reflective writing strategies and the causes they believe are associated to a student’s socio/economic background.
However, these techniques that I fostered as a child proved lacking when I entered middle school. It turns out that in comparison to my previous writing, I was no longer writing for my own self-improvement or joy; I was now writing to please someone who was grading the work. After many dissatisfying remarks about my writing, the self-conscious feelings I had as a child crept up on me once again. I felt the need to impress and be perfect. For every paper I wrote from then on, there was that little voice in the back of my head telling me that I had to try twice as hard because English was my second language. For a very long time, I was not able to write a paper without scrutinizing it harshly. “The oppressor,” as Anne Lammot states in “Bird by Bird,” kept me from what I truly wanted to write and made me focus on the unattainable goal of being perfect. Perfection is something that “… limit[s] us…[and] keep[s] us from experiencing life” (Lammott 30). The purpose was not to write for me, but for others, and that was my flaw; I was just writing to please. Technicality was my only worry and I did not worry if what I was writing actually had
Children were taught to speak in a proper manner and because they were taught to speak correctly they wrote in a proper way as well. As technology evolved and texting came more profound grammar was becoming a lost art. In Dana Goldstein’s article ,‘Why Kids Can’t Write’, she talks about what teachers are doing about grammar. The teachers are not doing much about the grammar issue in schools.
What I use to start my paper is what I use when I finish my paper. I use Microsoft Word as my main source of writing my drafts. My secondary method is writing done interesting facts and statements I found during my research that I want to come back to when I am typing the rough draft. I find that writing important things down helps with my time efficiency and keeps me more focused on my research, instead of copy, pasting, and switching screens each time. I believe writing a rough draft with our advancement of technology a waste of time for me, and I choose to use Word for my drafts. It is neatly presented for proofreading. My handwriting is not the best, and I feel that it is easier to read off of a computer screen than reading messy handwriting. Not to mention that Word does a large amount of proofreading for you. Today, everyone is so used to reading off of a computer screen that it has become natural, but depending on who can proofread my paper, it can be right on the screen or from a hard copy. I do believe I work more efficient typing than any other method I used in the past.
This is called "getting rid of the clutter" and helps free your mind of all the junk that goes on in a given day so that your brain can focus on the task at hand - writing.
Not just any random online resources, I used the ones that involved punctuation errors in essay’s. The best thing about using these online resources was, I didn’t have to pay to use it and it was easy to use and very helpful. All I had to do was copy my essay and put it in a text box, and the program had done the rest of the work. After I had put my essay in the text box I click enter, and the program calculated all my punctuation errors I had on my paper. When the program calculated my punctuation errors, it had gave me the correct punctuation that was needed for the text. Then all I had to do was click the correct punctuation and it put it in the essay. I never knew correcting punctuation is no longer than five minutes with just a click of a mouse and a helpful
Now that you 've got finished writing, it 's time to take a look at it again to be sure the essay do not contain spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. It is preferable to show your essay out to someone or get it proofread by one of your English school teachers or friends you can trust.
“Editing allows me to collaborate with people whose talents make up for my weaknesses.” Reading Hugo Lindgren’s article “Be Wrong as Fast as You Can”, this quote stuck out to me more than any other. Last year I began writing for the Crimson White newspaper, and after almost 40 articles I began to realize that I had found a rhythm to writing and began to think that I was pretty good. However, this past summer I spent some time as a copy editor and realized very quickly where my weaknesses were. Being able to edit other people’s work really connected me as a writer to others who were far better than I was. As journalism students we spend so much time reading news, and through doing that we learn so much through other’s style. On the other hand, it was not until I began editing other people’s work that I realized how much I had to learn.
When it comes to writing in any English Class, I had to learn and remember that my style of writing matters in anything I do. It sometimes makes me overthink my writing in general on what I am writing about. You think you remember grammar and the style of writing in elementary through high school, but when you enter college life you are getting more in depth into writing. It sometimes troubled me on when and where you should have commas and a little bit with transitions. Writing was my favorite subject in elementary school, but when I entered college my Freshmen year it thrown me off a bit, but I think as I got more into writing it help me out a whole lot more. I hoping the changes that I make to my writing is writing more often, read through
This semester was my very first semester as a college student. Being the first, it was probably the semester I would learn the most in. I learned the expectations for writing that I will have to live up to for the next four years of my college career. Though my high school teachers were usually demanding because I was in the Honors English section throughout high school, writing in college has still ?raised the bar? for me. Also, in high school, we would have weeks to pick a topic, create a thesis, outline the paper, write the paper, and then revise the paper. In college, the time restraints are not quite as lenient. I?ve had to learn to manage my time and be more productive with what free moments I have. Strangely enough, I?ve found the college English experience to be much more rewarding and enjoyable than in high school.
One of the most prominent forms of writing in children’s lives is essay writing and writing for school. These skills become important later on in life when these children grow up to become adults and the reports that are written are for something far more important than a mark. Past generations were limited to where they can go to have a piece of literature edited. The furthest their resources could expand would have been teachers, or anyone who was willing to edit. Today’s generation has the technology that allows them to seek help from someone who may have problems in their own writing. Computers are the first major improvement to editing. They catch initial and obvious mistakes that would otherwise go unnoticed because a person is so used to their own writing. There are many websites that help students learn how to cite the information. An example of this is Owl Perdue; it teaches people how to cite information for essays, reports. It teaches someone how to cite information from online sources, books, journals, etc. There are also many websites where students who want to learn what grammatical mistakes they make can point out what some of their downfalls are. This allows students (or anyone who wants some of their literary work edited) to learn from their mistakes. Future literary pieces will become easier to enjoy and
A College has a large number of learning skills that can be used for success of each student. As an A student, I am familiar with using A’s educational resources. A few of the resources are extremely handy and adaptable in the application that a student needs. One of the resource tools that I have found most beneficial in my learning process is the A Center for Writing Excellence (CWE). The Center for Writing Excellence offers a plagiarism and grammar checker. Here, I can submit my writing materials to have them checked for plagiarism and grammar errors. I also used the grammar guide frequently. I believe that one of my biggest faults in writing is grammatical errors. The Center for Writing Excellence also offers example papers, essay development, tutorials guides and writing manuals. There are also other resources such as, Axcess Course Materials, Course Syllabus, Student Workshops, and Visual and Audio Tutorials. These tools can be found at ecampus for A College.
In regards to Language Arts education, the prominence of word processors has helped to ease the work of editing and rewriting. Built in spelling ...
Roblyer and Doering (2010) acknowledge that even though “...word processing has become the most commonly used software in education” research on the benefits of its use in the classroom shows controversial findings (p.115). This essay will briefly discuss a few obvious benefits of word processing as well as summarize Bangert-Drowns, 1993; Hawisher, 1989; Snyder, 1993 and Goldberg, Russell, and Cook, 2003 research on how word processing affects student’s writing ability. The essay also includes a personal reflection the how word processing tools benefit students. In the end, however, it is up to the readers to determine if the use of word processing tools in the classroom is a beneficial for student growth in writing.