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Your partner in education<br />

YEARS 5–6<br />

EDITING<br />

SKILLS<br />

<strong>Editing</strong> <strong>explanations</strong><br />

Literacy<br />

Australian Primary Publisher<br />

of the Year 2015 <strong>and</strong> 2016


EDITING SKILLS (Ages 11 + )<br />

Published by R.I.C. Publications ® 2005<br />

Copyright © R.I.C. Publications ® 2005<br />

RIC–<strong>20864</strong><br />

This master may only be reproduced by the<br />

original purchaser for use with their class(es). The<br />

publisher prohibits the loaning or onselling of this<br />

master for the purposes of reproduction.<br />

Copyright Notice<br />

Blackline masters or copy masters are published <strong>and</strong><br />

sold with a limited copyright. This copyright allows<br />

publishers to provide teachers <strong>and</strong> schools with a<br />

wide range of learning activities without copyright<br />

being breached. This limited copyright allows the<br />

purchaser to make sufficient copies for use within<br />

their own education institution. The copyright is not<br />

transferable, nor can it be onsold. Following these<br />

instructions is not essential but will ensure that you,<br />

as the purchaser, have evidence of legal ownership<br />

to the copyright if inspection occurs.<br />

For your added protection in the case of copyright<br />

inspection, please complete the form below. Retain<br />

this form, the complete original document <strong>and</strong> the<br />

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School Order# (if applicable):<br />

Signature of Purchaser:<br />

Internet websites<br />

In some cases, websites or specific URLs may be recommended. While these are checked <strong>and</strong> rechecked at the<br />

time of publication, the publisher has no control over any subsequent changes which may be made to webpages.<br />

It is strongly recommended that the class teacher checks all URLs before allowing students to access them.<br />

View all pages online<br />

http://www.ricgroup.com.au


Foreword<br />

<strong>Editing</strong> skills consists of a selection of texts written in specific formats to provide punctuation,<br />

spelling <strong>and</strong> grammatical practice. Detailed descriptions of concepts, such as specific<br />

parts of speech <strong>and</strong> punctuation, are also included, as well as vocabulary enrichment <strong>and</strong><br />

aspects of writing.<br />

The aim is to provide students with varied, structured experiences in proofreading <strong>and</strong><br />

editing written texts. A high level of proficiency in these skills is vital for accurate selfmonitoring<br />

of written work.<br />

Other titles in this series are:<br />

• <strong>Editing</strong> skills 6–7<br />

• <strong>Editing</strong> skills 8–9<br />

• <strong>Editing</strong> skills 10–11<br />

Contents<br />

Teachers information<br />

Teacher information................................................................................................................... iv – v<br />

Curriculum links................................................................................................................................ v<br />

Overview of activity content.....................................................................................................vi – vii<br />

Punctuation, spelling, grammar, vocabulary <strong>and</strong> writing information.................................viii – xiii<br />

Writing format information.....................................................................................................xiv – xv<br />

Writing format checklists .................................................................................................... xvi – xxii<br />

Student proofreading <strong>and</strong> editing checklist................................................................................ xxiii<br />

Worksheets<br />

Dear diary.................................................. 2–3<br />

Piggy banks............................................... 4–5<br />

Ancient Greek myth.................................. 6–7<br />

Where is the king?..................................... 8–9<br />

Revulsion................................................10–11<br />

Chocolate...............................................12–13<br />

How the woodpecker was born............14–15<br />

Left-wing.................................................16–17<br />

Violence on the news........................... 18–19<br />

The St Bernard...................................... 20–21<br />

Kelly’s holiday....................................... 22–23<br />

How to be a successful note taker....... 24–25<br />

The question mark................................ 26–27<br />

The hothouse........................................ 28–29<br />

A miraculous escape............................ 30–31<br />

Michael McCoy...................................... 32–33<br />

Mobile madness.................................... 34–35<br />

Making a papier-mâché piggy bank..... 36–37<br />

What is an urban myth?........................ 38–39<br />

Travelling toad....................................... 40–41<br />

Go <strong>and</strong> play!.......................................... 42–43<br />

Constable Hector Plod’s report........... 44–45<br />

The word ‘love’ in tennis...................... 46–47<br />

Surface tension....................................... 48–49<br />

We should earn regular pocket money.. 50–51<br />

The runaways....................................... 52–53<br />

The castle on the hill............................ 54–55<br />

Mighty microbes.................................. 56–57<br />

Princess Caraboo................................. 58–59<br />

Making a tepee..................................... 60–61<br />

Achilles’s heel....................................... 62–63<br />

Impressionism...................................... 64–65<br />

Tsunami!............................................... 66–67<br />

Rowan Atkinson................................... 68–69<br />

Special groups...................................... 70–71<br />

Give me strength.................................. 72–73<br />

The fleet awakens................................ 74–75<br />

Taking better photos............................ 76–77<br />

Cooking fish – the easy way................. 78–79<br />

A night to remember............................ 80–81<br />

Classical composers............................. 82–83<br />

Music forever......................................... 84–85<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills iii


Teacher information<br />

The following is an explanation of how to use the pages in this book.<br />

Teachers pages<br />

A teachers page accompanies each student worksheet. It provides the following information:<br />

The lesson focus indicates the focus for each<br />

student page. This will include aspects from<br />

the areas of punctuation, spelling, grammar,<br />

vocabulary <strong>and</strong> writing. Some of these may involve<br />

simple recognition of a concept, or use an alreadyknown<br />

aspect. More detailed teacher information<br />

about punctuation, spelling, grammar, vocabulary<br />

<strong>and</strong> writing can be found on pages viii–xxiii.<br />

Teacher information gives brief background<br />

information about each text type. More detailed<br />

information can be found on pages xiv– xv.<br />

Answers to all worksheet activities are provided.<br />

The corrected text is given with punctuation errors<br />

in bold. Correct spelling is highlighted in italics, as<br />

well as being provided in the answers section.<br />

Proofreading <strong>and</strong> editing<br />

marks<br />

Editors use a number of consistent<br />

symbols to indicate where changes<br />

are to be made in a text.<br />

Teachers may require students to use<br />

these ‘professional’ proofreading <strong>and</strong><br />

editing marks to indicate errors in the<br />

text on the student pages.<br />

NOTE:<br />

All spelling is taken from the<br />

Macquarie Dictionary, Revised<br />

Third Edition, while all punctuation<br />

is according to the Style manual<br />

for authors, editors <strong>and</strong> printers,<br />

Sixth edition, Revised by Snooks &<br />

Co. These are st<strong>and</strong>ard references<br />

for contemporary professional<br />

publishing.<br />

= insert (something)<br />

The weather hot<br />

The boys hat<br />

He went swiming.<br />

= delete (something)<br />

I went to to the shops.<br />

The dog broke it’s collar.<br />

+ lc = lower case<br />

a<br />

lc<br />

I don’t like Maths.<br />

+ cap. = capital letter<br />

+ correction = spelling<br />

‘<br />

was<br />

m<br />

cap.<br />

‘I’m telling mum.’<br />

He wos playing football.<br />

iv <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


Student pages<br />

Teacher information<br />

• A specific text type is identified <strong>and</strong> presented for the students to read. The text has<br />

punctuation, spelling <strong>and</strong> grammatical errors for the student to identify.<br />

There are also opportunities presented for the students to work in the areas of grammar,<br />

vocabulary <strong>and</strong> writing as specified by the worksheet or teacher.<br />

• The texts are presented in two ways. One allows students to become familiar with<br />

formats they may encounter in some st<strong>and</strong>ardised tests; both follow a similar format for<br />

identifying <strong>and</strong> correcting proofreading <strong>and</strong> editing errors.<br />

The student activities follow a common format.<br />

Format 1<br />

The title of the text is given.<br />

The specific text type is<br />

given <strong>and</strong> the text presented.<br />

Format 2<br />

Headings indicate which punctuation,<br />

spelling, grammatical, vocabulary <strong>and</strong><br />

writing mistakes need to be identified <strong>and</strong><br />

corrected by the student. Extra practice is<br />

given in particular areas.<br />

Student instructions are written in a consistent format to encourage students to concentrate<br />

on the activity.<br />

Where an instruction requires students to ‘find capital letters etc.’, teachers should select<br />

their own method for students to use; for example, circle, highlight with a coloured marker,<br />

underline or write over the error. Some proofreading <strong>and</strong> editing marks may be used. (See<br />

teachers notes page iv.)<br />

Curriculum links<br />

Year 5<br />

Re-read <strong>and</strong> edit student’s own <strong>and</strong> others’ work<br />

using agreed criteria for text structures <strong>and</strong> language<br />

features (ACELY1705)<br />

Year 6<br />

Re-read <strong>and</strong> edit students’ own <strong>and</strong> others’ work<br />

using agreed criteria <strong>and</strong> explaining editing choices<br />

(ACELY1715)<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills v


Activity content overview<br />

Activity content Page number<br />

PUNCTUATION 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85<br />

Full stops<br />

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

Capital letters: begin. of sentences<br />

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

proper nouns<br />

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

Question marks<br />

• • • • • • • • • •<br />

Exclamation marks<br />

• • • • • • • • • •<br />

Commas: in a list<br />

• • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

grammatical<br />

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

Apostrophes: contractions • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

possession<br />

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

Quotation marks<br />

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

Colons<br />

• • • • • • • • •<br />

Semicolons<br />

• • • • • • • • •<br />

Hyphens<br />

• • • • • • • • • • •<br />

Dashes<br />

• • • • • •<br />

Parentheses • • • • • • • • • •<br />

SPELLING<br />

Misspelt words<br />

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

Confused words<br />

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

Plurals: adding ‘s’ <strong>and</strong> ‘es’<br />

• •<br />

change ‘y’ to ‘i’ • •<br />

Rec.<br />

Expl.<br />

TEXT TYPE<br />

N<br />

P<br />

D<br />

Rep.<br />

N<br />

Rec.<br />

Expo.<br />

Rep.<br />

N<br />

P<br />

Expl.<br />

Poet.<br />

Rec.<br />

Poet.<br />

Expo.<br />

P<br />

Expl.<br />

Rep.<br />

Rec.<br />

Rep.<br />

Expl.<br />

P<br />

Expo.<br />

N<br />

D<br />

Expl.<br />

Rec.<br />

P<br />

N<br />

Rep.<br />

Expl.<br />

Rec.<br />

Expo.<br />

Rep.<br />

D<br />

Expl.<br />

P<br />

Rec.<br />

Rep.<br />

N<br />

vi <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


Activity content Page number<br />

GRAMMAR 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85<br />

Nouns: common nouns<br />

collective nouns<br />

• • • • •<br />

•<br />

Pronouns<br />

• • • • • • • • • • • • •<br />

Adjectives<br />

• • • • • •<br />

Verbs: active/passive • • • • • •<br />

tenses<br />

• • • • • • • • • • •<br />

infinitives<br />

• •<br />

Subject-verb agreement<br />

• • • • • • • •<br />

Adverbs<br />

• • • • • • • •<br />

Prepositions<br />

• • • • • •<br />

Conjunctions<br />

Indefinite article: ‘a’ or ‘an’ • • •<br />

• •<br />

VOCABULARY<br />

Enrichment<br />

• • •<br />

Synonyms<br />

• • • • •<br />

Antonyms<br />

• • • • •<br />

Compound words<br />

• • • • •<br />

Compound words: hyphenated<br />

• •<br />

Shortened forms<br />

• • •<br />

Similes • •<br />

WRITING<br />

Paragraphs<br />

• • • • •<br />

Double negatives<br />

• • • • •<br />

Tautology<br />

• • • • • • • • •<br />

Convoluted language<br />

• •<br />

Analogy<br />

•<br />

Repeated <strong>and</strong> omitted words<br />

• • •<br />

Errors of fact • • • • •<br />

Rec.<br />

Expl.<br />

TEXT TYPE<br />

N<br />

P<br />

D<br />

Rep.<br />

N<br />

Rec.<br />

Expo.<br />

Rep.<br />

N<br />

P<br />

Expl.<br />

Poet.<br />

Rec.<br />

Poet.<br />

Expo.<br />

P<br />

Expl.<br />

Rep.<br />

Rec.<br />

Rep.<br />

Expl.<br />

P<br />

Expo.<br />

N<br />

D<br />

Expl.<br />

Rec.<br />

P<br />

N<br />

Rep.<br />

Expl.<br />

Rec.<br />

Expo.<br />

Rep.<br />

D<br />

Expl.<br />

P<br />

Rec.<br />

Rep.<br />

N<br />

Narrative – N Explanation – Expl. Procedure – P Recount – Rec. Report – Rep. Exposition – Expo. Description – D Poetry – Poet.<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills vii


Punctuation, spelling, grammar, vocabulary <strong>and</strong><br />

writing information<br />

PUNCTUATION<br />

Please note: In some cases, teachers will need to exercise their own judgment with regard to<br />

punctuation, as certain aspects, particularly commas <strong>and</strong> exclamation marks, are to an extent<br />

discretionary <strong>and</strong> depend on the individual writer’s intent.<br />

Capital letters<br />

Capital letters are needed for:<br />

• sentence beginnings; e.g. My dog is very friendly. He welcomes everyone.<br />

• proper nouns – people’s names (Chloe Parker), names of places (Indian Ocean), days of<br />

the week (Saturday), months (December), holidays <strong>and</strong> festivals (Christmas ), countries<br />

(America), nationalities (Russian), languages (Italian) <strong>and</strong> religions (Buddhism).<br />

• titles; e.g. World Health Organisation<br />

NOTE:<br />

R.I.C. Publications employs minimal capitalisation for titles of books <strong>and</strong> other<br />

publications as recommended by The Style manual for authors, editors <strong>and</strong> printers,<br />

sixth edition 2002.<br />

To kill a mockingbird<br />

Snow White <strong>and</strong> the seven dwarfs<br />

Exclamation marks<br />

Exclamation marks are used to end exclamations <strong>and</strong> imperatives (comm<strong>and</strong>s) <strong>and</strong> for<br />

emphasis at the end of a statement.<br />

I love it!<br />

Don’t touch!<br />

She ate every bit of it!<br />

Note: If overused, exclamation marks lose their effect.<br />

Commas<br />

Teacher information<br />

Commas are used to separate items in a list or series.<br />

I enjoy reading, playing squash, skiing <strong>and</strong> swimming.<br />

Grammatical commas are used to:<br />

• make the meaning of a sentence clear.<br />

Jane said her mother is very busy.<br />

Jane, said her mother, is very busy.<br />

• indicate where a pause is needed in a sentence.<br />

Many years ago, dinosaurs roamed the Earth.<br />

Apostrophes for possession<br />

(Jane’s mother is very busy.)<br />

(Jane is very busy.)<br />

Apostrophes are used to show that something belongs to someone or something.<br />

The placement of the apostrophe can be challenging but the simple rule is that it is placed<br />

after the owner or owners. (The ‘tail’ of the apostrophe ‘points’ to the owner(s).)<br />

the boy’s shoes (one boy) ............... the boys’ shoes (more than one boy)<br />

the lady’s hats (one lady)............... the ladies’ hats (more than one lady)<br />

the son’s pets (one son)................... the sons’ pets (more than one son)<br />

viii <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


Grammatical contractions<br />

Grammatical contractions are words that have been made by joining <strong>and</strong> shortening two<br />

words. An apostrophe is used in place of the missing letters.<br />

Quotation marks<br />

would not..............wouldn’t<br />

I would............................I’d<br />

Quotation marks are used:<br />

• to enclose quoted speech<br />

will not......................won’t<br />

they are.................. they’re<br />

Single or double quotation marks are accepted but must be used consistently.<br />

‘You’re late again’, my mother complained.<br />

“I’m sorry”, I replied.<br />

• To enclose quotes within quotes, one set is used outside <strong>and</strong> the other inside.<br />

He reported, ‘My mother complained, “Late again, John”’<br />

• To cite a title.<br />

Colons<br />

I read the book ‘Black Beauty’.<br />

A colon is a marker of relationship <strong>and</strong> sequence.<br />

Colons are used:<br />

• before offset lists<br />

You need to take:<br />

warm socks,<br />

sturdy walking shoes,<br />

a raincoat.<br />

• between a statement <strong>and</strong> an explanation.<br />

I remember you: we went to the same school.<br />

• with quotations.<br />

Semicolons<br />

Malcolm Fraser said: ‘Life wasn’t meant to be easy’.<br />

A semicolon, despite its name, is not a half colon; it is much stronger than a comma, closer<br />

to a full stop. It is generally used where a full stop is possible, but using one would separate<br />

the sentences too strongly.<br />

It can be used:<br />

• when two sentences are closely connected.<br />

The footballers are leaving the field; some are looking very dejected.<br />

• before words <strong>and</strong> expressions such as, ‘therefore’, ‘for example’ <strong>and</strong> ‘however’.<br />

Hyphens<br />

There are many animals native to this area; for example, wallabies, kangaroos <strong>and</strong><br />

wombats.<br />

Hyphens are short strokes (without a space on either side) used to join words or parts of<br />

words.<br />

ice-cream<br />

Teacher information<br />

pre-existing<br />

Note: Students should be encouraged to refer to a modern dictionary to check for current<br />

hyphenation, which changes over time in response to common use.<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills ix


Punctuation (continued)<br />

Dashes<br />

A dash is used to indicate a text break but should not be overused.<br />

It can be used:<br />

• to separate a word or group of words within a sentence.<br />

Climbing mountains is fun—if you are young <strong>and</strong> fit.<br />

• before a specific list.<br />

Do you know the Wilsons—Peter <strong>and</strong> Jane?<br />

• between numbers or words to mean ‘to’ or ‘until’.<br />

Read chapters 1–4.<br />

• in place of parentheses (round brackets)<br />

The tsunami—2004—caused horrendous damage.<br />

Parentheses (round brackets)<br />

The main use of parentheses is to enclose <strong>explanations</strong> <strong>and</strong> asides.<br />

Parentheses are used:<br />

• to add explanatory words<br />

Ian Thorpe (Australia) won his race.<br />

• to express the same thing in a different way<br />

He ran 6 km (kilometres).<br />

• To set-off an aside<br />

GRAMMAR<br />

Nouns<br />

He won the race in record (yet to be confirmed) time.<br />

Nouns are naming words of people, places <strong>and</strong> things:<br />

teacher, school, desk.<br />

Proper nouns name individual people (Bill), places (Kings Park) <strong>and</strong> others (Christmas,<br />

December, Sunday). Proper nouns are written with capital letters.<br />

Common nouns are any other nouns.<br />

Collective nouns are a subset of common nouns:<br />

Pronouns<br />

a team of players.<br />

A pronoun is a word substituted for a noun:<br />

They asked him to help them.<br />

Personal pronouns refer to you, me <strong>and</strong> other people:<br />

Adjectives<br />

Teacher information<br />

I, me, you, she, us, them.<br />

Adjectives modify (enhance or change) the meaning of nouns <strong>and</strong>, less commonly,<br />

pronouns:<br />

parched l<strong>and</strong>; green, fertile l<strong>and</strong>; poor old me; lucky you<br />

x <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


Verbs<br />

Verbs are ‘doing’ words:<br />

swim, like, look.<br />

Auxiliary verbs join other verbs to form verb groups:<br />

have eaten, will be asleep.<br />

Active <strong>and</strong> passive verbs<br />

In English, verbs are classified as either active or passive.<br />

Active verbs indicate that the subject ‘does’ or ‘is’ something. They are straightforward <strong>and</strong><br />

cause little difficulty.<br />

We went to the shopping centre.<br />

(subject) (verb)<br />

The passive voice is often used when it is not necessary to tell who is responsible for the<br />

action.<br />

Cats should be fed regularly.<br />

Students should be encouraged to use active verbs in preference to passive ones because<br />

they make sentences more direct <strong>and</strong> positive.<br />

Verb tense There are three basic tenses. Because there are so many irregular verbs in<br />

English, tense can be complex.<br />

Infinitives<br />

regular<br />

irregular<br />

the past..................... the present.......................the future<br />

played...............................play................................will play<br />

has played.......................plays......................... should play<br />

went.................................. go................................... will go<br />

has gone.......................... goes............................should go<br />

NOTE: The future <strong>and</strong> the past tenses often use auxiliary verbs.<br />

The infinitive is the basic form of a verb <strong>and</strong> is usually introduced by ‘to’:<br />

to work, to be, to eat<br />

Subject-verb agreement<br />

Verbs have to agree with their subjects:<br />

The children cheer loudly.<br />

(subject-plural) verb<br />

The child cheers loudly<br />

(subject-singular) verb<br />

Many English verbs are irregular, which can cause problems, particularly for students from<br />

non-English speaking backgrounds:<br />

He is at school.<br />

He was busy.<br />

They are at school.<br />

They were busy.<br />

In some sentences the subject of a verb is separated from the verb <strong>and</strong> not easy to locate.<br />

Students should be encouraged to ask themselves ‘who’ or ‘what’ before the verb.<br />

Adverbs<br />

‘The boy, although really late for school <strong>and</strong> likely to get into trouble, dawdled.’<br />

‘dawdled’ is the verb.<br />

‘The boy’ is the subject. (who dawdled?)<br />

Adverbs are words that modify (enhance or change) the meaning of verbs:<br />

He ran quickly.<br />

There are adverbs of:<br />

Teacher information<br />

I’ve seen this before.<br />

time........................e.g. yesterday<br />

place......................e.g. downstairs<br />

manner...................e.g. carefully<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills xi


Prepositions<br />

Prepositions show the relationship between nouns <strong>and</strong>/or pronouns in the same sentence.<br />

Common prepositions include: across, about, between, by, during, for, from, in, of, since,<br />

through, until, without, up.<br />

Conjunctions<br />

He disappeared during the night.<br />

I’m afraid of spiders.<br />

I enjoy reading books about travel.<br />

Conjunctions are joining words. They can join different language units:<br />

• One word with another .........................e.g. black or white<br />

• One phrase with another........................e.g. on the beach <strong>and</strong> in the s<strong>and</strong><br />

• One clause with another........................e.g. He asked me if I could cook.<br />

• One sentence with another....................e.g. I was hot so I went for a swim.<br />

SPELLING<br />

Singular <strong>and</strong> plural nouns<br />

Adding ‘s’ <strong>and</strong> ‘es’<br />

The most commonly used plural is made by adding ‘s’; e.g. books, games.<br />

It is usually necessary to add ‘es’ to nouns ending in ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘s’, ‘x’ <strong>and</strong> ‘z’ to make the<br />

plural easier to pronounce; e.g. washes, dishes, classes, foxes <strong>and</strong> waltzes.<br />

Words ending in ‘o’ are also often made into a plural by adding ‘es’:<br />

potatoes, tomatoes<br />

There are many exceptions, including radios, merinos, silos, zeros, photos <strong>and</strong> sopranos.<br />

Students should be encouraged to consult a dictionary if uncertain about the spelling of a<br />

specific word.<br />

Changing ‘y’ to ‘i’ <strong>and</strong> adding ‘es’<br />

Many nouns <strong>and</strong> verbs ending with ‘y’, change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ before adding ‘es’:<br />

lady (singular noun)<br />

curry (singular noun)<br />

I cry<br />

VOCABULARY<br />

Shortened forms<br />

There are three categories of shortened forms:<br />

• Shortened words:<br />

ladies (plural noun)<br />

curries (plural noun)<br />

he cries (verbs)<br />

– abbreviations (first letter, some other letters, but not the last letter):<br />

Mon., Cont., Co.<br />

(full stop needed)<br />

– contractions (first letter <strong>and</strong> last letter <strong>and</strong> sometimes other letters):<br />

Mr, dept, Qld<br />

• Shortened phrases:<br />

(no full stop)<br />

– acronyms (strings of initial letters pronounced as a word):<br />

• Symbols:<br />

radar, Qantas, sonar<br />

(no full stops)<br />

Internationally recognised representations of units of measurement, words <strong>and</strong> concepts:<br />

km, %, @<br />

Teacher information<br />

(no full stops)<br />

xii <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


Similes<br />

A simile is a figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another in one particular<br />

respect:<br />

as fast as greased lightning<br />

to run like the wind<br />

Similes can enhance descriptions by helping to convey the writer’s intended meaning.<br />

Writing<br />

Tautology<br />

Tautology is combining two or more words, which in effect say the same thing:<br />

I followed after him.<br />

He has never at any time smoked.<br />

Examples of tautology include:<br />

blend together, close proximity, combine together, cost the sum of, divide up, during<br />

the course of, few in number, for a period of, grateful thanks, just recently, may<br />

possibly, mutual cooperation, small in size, return back, repeat again.<br />

Convoluted language<br />

Convoluted language is unnecessarily complicated, complex language, often using passive<br />

verbs, lengthy sentences <strong>and</strong> unnecessary words. Students should be encouraged to use<br />

clear, concise language to express ideas:<br />

Analogy<br />

Teacher information<br />

In the fullness of time, taking into account the exigencies of the existing situation,<br />

<strong>and</strong> in complete recognition of the delicacy of this matter, your proposal will be<br />

duly brought to the light of day, unpacked <strong>and</strong> addressed in a cooperative group<br />

context.<br />

(We will look at your proposal later.)<br />

An analogy is usually used to explain something complex by using something familiar:<br />

An atom is like our solar system. (The nucleus is the sun <strong>and</strong> the electrons are the<br />

planets in orbit around it.)<br />

Stones were to some ancient people as dollar notes are to modern people.<br />

Analogies are helpful in pointing out relationships that may not at first be obvious, but they<br />

have their limitations. It is said that an analogy ‘breaks down’; this means that it is only<br />

suggestive <strong>and</strong> doesn’t hold true in every detail.<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills xiii


Teacher information<br />

Writing format information<br />

Exposition<br />

– is a framework which argues for<br />

a particular position <strong>and</strong> attempts<br />

to persuade the audience to share<br />

this view.<br />

– includes:<br />

• Introduction:<br />

statement of the problem <strong>and</strong><br />

the writer’s position<br />

• Arguments:<br />

presented in a logical manner<br />

with supporting detail, usually<br />

from the strongest to the<br />

weakest<br />

• Conclusion:<br />

– uses:<br />

an evaluation restating the<br />

writer’s position.<br />

• persuasive language<br />

• paragraphs to state <strong>and</strong><br />

elaborate on each point.<br />

An exposition may be written in<br />

the form of an essay, a letter, a<br />

policy statement, a critical review,<br />

an advertisement, an editorial or a<br />

speech.<br />

Explanation<br />

– is a framework which outlines how or why something<br />

occurs, works or is made.<br />

– includes:<br />

• Statement:<br />

precisely what is to be explained<br />

• Explanation:<br />

a clear account in logical sequence of how <strong>and</strong><br />

why the phenomenon occurs<br />

• Conclusion:<br />

OR<br />

an evaluation <strong>and</strong> comment about what has been<br />

explained.<br />

• a definition<br />

• a description of the components or parts<br />

• the operation—how it works or is made<br />

• the application—where <strong>and</strong> when it works or is<br />

applied<br />

• special features—interesting comments<br />

• evaluation or comment.<br />

– uses:<br />

• subject–specific terms <strong>and</strong> technical vocabulary<br />

where appropriate<br />

• simple present tense<br />

• linking words to show cause <strong>and</strong> effect.<br />

An explanation may be written in the form of an essay, or<br />

a h<strong>and</strong>book—for example, how a kite works—a science<br />

text, a health text or a social studies text.<br />

Description<br />

– is a framework which describes the characteristics, components or function of specific living<br />

or non-living things.<br />

Physical characteristics of living things are described or the components of non-living things<br />

<strong>and</strong> their functions. Special features are also discussed. This type of writing can be used to<br />

describe, for example, a specific breed of animal, object or picture.<br />

– includes:<br />

• Introduction: what it is<br />

• Description: its appearance: colour, shape, size etc.<br />

• Interesting details/special features<br />

• Concluding statement.<br />

– uses:<br />

• adjectives extensively<br />

• conjunctions.<br />

A description may be written in poetic form <strong>and</strong> may describe a person, place, animal, thing<br />

or emotion.<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills xv


Student explanation checklist<br />

Title:<br />

Definition:<br />

A precise statement or definition is provided.<br />

Description:<br />

There is a clear account of how <strong>and</strong> why the<br />

phenomenon occurs.<br />

Information is relevant <strong>and</strong> correct.<br />

Information is provided in a logical order.<br />

Explanations are clearly <strong>and</strong> simply stated.<br />

Concluding statement:<br />

The conclusion includes an evaluation or comment.<br />

Writing skills:<br />

• Linking words are used to show cause <strong>and</strong> effect.<br />

• The simple present tense is used.<br />

• Technical vocabulary <strong>and</strong> subject-specific<br />

terms are used.<br />

• Spelling <strong>and</strong> punctuation have been checked.<br />

Name: Date:<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills<br />

Writing format checklists<br />

Student explanation checklist<br />

Title:<br />

Definition:<br />

A precise statement or definition is provided.<br />

Description:<br />

There is a clear account of how <strong>and</strong> why the<br />

phenomenon occurs.<br />

Information is relevant <strong>and</strong> correct.<br />

Information is provided in a logical order.<br />

Explanations are clearly <strong>and</strong> simply stated.<br />

Concluding statement:<br />

The conclusion includes an evaluation or comment.<br />

Writing skills:<br />

• Linking words are used to show cause <strong>and</strong> effect.<br />

• The simple present tense is used.<br />

• Technical vocabulary <strong>and</strong> subject-specific<br />

terms are used.<br />

• Spelling <strong>and</strong> punctuation have been checked.<br />

Name: Date:<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills xix


Student proofreading <strong>and</strong> editing checklist<br />

Use this page to check your work. You will not need to tick all of the boxes.<br />

Name:<br />

Date:<br />

Title:<br />

Punctuation:<br />

I have included:<br />

• full stops<br />

• capital letters for:<br />

• question marks<br />

• exclamation marks<br />

• commas:<br />

beginning sentences<br />

proper nouns<br />

in lists<br />

for pauses<br />

to make meaning clear<br />

• apostrophes: in contractions<br />

• quotation marks<br />

• colons<br />

• semicolons<br />

• hyphens<br />

• dashes<br />

• brackets<br />

Spelling:<br />

I have:<br />

to show ownership<br />

• checked the spelling of any unknown words<br />

Grammar:<br />

I have included:<br />

• a variety of different verbs<br />

• correct verb tenses<br />

• correct verb-subject agreement<br />

• appropriate adverbs to describe verbs<br />

• interesting adjectives to describe nouns <strong>and</strong> pronouns<br />

• suitable conjunctions<br />

• a variety of prepositions<br />

Writing:<br />

I have read through my writing to check that:<br />

• it makes sense<br />

• it is easy to underst<strong>and</strong><br />

• there are no repeated or omitted words<br />

• paragraphing is appropriate<br />

• there are no double negatives or tautologies<br />

• there are no errors of fact<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills xxiii


Piggy banks<br />

Lesson focus<br />

Teachers notes<br />

Punctuation<br />

• Commas in lists<br />

• Grammatical commas<br />

• Apostrophes to show possession<br />

• Quotation marks<br />

• Hyphens<br />

Grammar<br />

• Verb tenses<br />

Teacher information<br />

Spelling<br />

• Confused words: their/there, be/bee,<br />

too/to/two, been/bean<br />

• Misspelt words<br />

• Plurals (‘s’ <strong>and</strong> ‘es’)<br />

Writing<br />

• Errors of fact<br />

An explanation outlines how something works, is made or how or why things happen.<br />

Answers<br />

Ever wonder why some people keep their savings in a<br />

moneybox shaped like a pig? It is all due to the incorrect<br />

meaning of a word!<br />

The origin of the piggy bank can be found in the Middle<br />

Ages, when most pots, dishes, jars <strong>and</strong> other containers<br />

used in people’s homes were made of a cheap clay<br />

known as ‘pygg’. Metal was rarely used as it was too<br />

expensive. A pot made from pygg was kept by many<br />

households for storing the family’s savings. This money pot<br />

became known as the ‘pyggy bank’.<br />

But when potters in 19th century Engl<strong>and</strong> were asked by<br />

customers to make pyggy banks, they misunderstood<br />

<strong>and</strong> produced pig-shaped containers. Instead of<br />

correcting the mistake, people took to the idea <strong>and</strong>,<br />

ever since, the piggy bank has been a well-loved<br />

type of moneybox.<br />

their<br />

due<br />

of<br />

be<br />

dishes<br />

were (verb)<br />

too<br />

was (verb)<br />

households<br />

known<br />

were (verb)<br />

customers<br />

produced<br />

to<br />

been<br />

type<br />

1. (a) Missing punctuation is in bold type.<br />

(b) (i) Hyphenated words are underlined.<br />

well-loved, pig-shaped<br />

(ii) Teacher check<br />

2. (a) Correct verbs are underlined in bold.<br />

are – were (line 6), is – was (line 8), will be – were (line 11)<br />

3. Spelling errors are in italic type.<br />

(a) dishes, households, customers<br />

(b) their, due, of, be, too, known, produced, to, been, type<br />

4. In the 19th century in Engl<strong>and</strong>, potters made pig-shaped moneyboxes <strong>and</strong> people took to the idea.<br />

4 <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


Piggy banks<br />

Read the explanation.<br />

<strong>Editing</strong> skills<br />

Ever wonder why some people keep there savings in a<br />

moneybox shaped like a pig? It is all dew to the incorrect<br />

meaning off a word!<br />

The origin of the piggy bank can bee found in the Middle<br />

Ages, when most pots dishs jars <strong>and</strong> other containers<br />

used in peoples homes are made of a cheap clay<br />

known as ‘pygg’. Metal was rarely used as it was to<br />

expensive. A pot made from pygg is kept by many<br />

householdes for storing the familys savings. This money pot<br />

became nown as the ‘pyggy bank’.<br />

But when potters in 19th century Engl<strong>and</strong> will be asked by<br />

customeres to make pyggy banks they misunderstood<br />

<strong>and</strong> prodused pig-shaped containers. Instead of<br />

correcting the mistake people took two the idea <strong>and</strong><br />

ever since, the piggy bank has bean a well-loved<br />

tipe of moneybox.<br />

1 Punctuation<br />

(a) Write the 5 missing commas <strong>and</strong> 2<br />

apostrophes Circle the quotation marks.<br />

A hyphen (-) is used in some words to connect<br />

smaller words together; for example,<br />

‘happy-go-lucky’, ‘self-pity’, ‘able-bodied’.<br />

(b) (i) Circle the 2 words in this text that<br />

contain hyphens.<br />

(ii) Choose one of the words. Use a<br />

dictionary to find three hyphenated words<br />

that contain one of the smaller words.<br />

3 Spelling<br />

(a) In this text, the wrong verb tense has<br />

been used 3 times. Find each of these<br />

<strong>and</strong> write the correct verb tense in the<br />

space at the end of the line.<br />

(a) Three plural words from the text are<br />

misspelt. Write the correct spelling on the<br />

line at the end of the row.<br />

(b) Write the correct spelling of 10 misspelt<br />

words in the space at the end of the line.<br />

4 Writing<br />

(a) Correct the errors of fact in this sentence.<br />

In the 19th century in Engl<strong>and</strong>, metal workers<br />

made pig-shaped moneyboxes, but people<br />

did not take to the idea.<br />

2 Grammar<br />

We can change the ‘tense’ of a verb to tell what<br />

happened in the past, what is happening in the<br />

present or what will happen in the future; for<br />

example, ‘He said it’ (past tense); ‘He says it<br />

(present tense); ‘He will say it’ (future tense).<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills 5


The question mark<br />

Lesson focus<br />

Teachers notes<br />

Punctuation<br />

• Grammatical commas<br />

• Question marks<br />

• Quotation marks<br />

• Apostrophes in grammatical contractions<br />

Grammar<br />

Spelling<br />

• Confused words: be/bee, peace/piece, see/<br />

sea<br />

• Misspelt words<br />

Writing<br />

• Prepositions<br />

• Double negatives<br />

• Tautology<br />

Teacher information<br />

An explanation outlines how things work, or how or why things happen.<br />

Answers<br />

The question mark is an important part of punctuation.<br />

It would be difficult to recognise questions in a piece of<br />

writing without them. But how did the symbol ‘?’come<br />

to be used?<br />

Long ago, people who wrote in Latin, the language of<br />

ancient Rome, had to write the word ‘questio’ (question)<br />

at the end of each question in a piece of text. But this was<br />

clumsy <strong>and</strong> took up a lot of room on the page. So<br />

‘questio’ began to be shortened<br />

to ‘QO’. However, this created a new problem—‘QO’<br />

could be confused for part of a word.<br />

The next development was for writers to write the ‘Q’<br />

on top of the ‘O’. Over time, the ‘Q’ turned into a<br />

curly scribble that doesn’t have any meaning <strong>and</strong> the ‘O’<br />

became a dot. And that’s how the humble question<br />

mark was born. Will you think about this the<br />

next time you see one?<br />

important<br />

recognise<br />

symbol<br />

be<br />

language<br />

ancient<br />

piece<br />

clumsy<br />

shortened/abbreviated<br />

created<br />

confused/mistaken<br />

development<br />

turned<br />

scribble<br />

humble<br />

born<br />

see<br />

Answers<br />

1. Missing punctuation is in bold type.<br />

2. (a) (i) on (ii) in (iii) of<br />

(iv) about<br />

(v) into<br />

3. (a) Spelling errors are in italic type.<br />

important, recognise, symbol, be, language, ancient, piece, clumsy, created, development,<br />

turned, scribble, humble, see<br />

4. (a) One way of correcting the double negative has been underlined.<br />

(b)<br />

‘…that don’t have no meaning…’ should read ‘… that doesn’t have any meaning… ‘ or ‘… has<br />

no meaning …’<br />

Examples of tautology are underlined in bold type.<br />

The three phrases are ‘shortened <strong>and</strong> abbreviated’ (could be replace by ‘shortened’ or<br />

‘abbreviated’), ‘confused or mistaken’ (could be replaced by ‘confused’ or ‘mistaken’) <strong>and</strong> ‘born<br />

<strong>and</strong> came to be’ (could be replaced by ‘born’).<br />

26 <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


The question mark<br />

Read the explanation.<br />

<strong>Editing</strong> skills<br />

The question mark is an importtant part of punctuation.<br />

It would be difficult to recognisze questions in a piece of<br />

writing without them. But how did the cymbel ‘?’ come<br />

to bee used<br />

Long ago people who wrote in Latin, the languge of<br />

anchient Rome had to write the word questio’ (question)<br />

at the end of each question in a peace of text. But this was<br />

clummsey <strong>and</strong> took up a lot of room on the page. So<br />

‘questio began to be shortened <strong>and</strong> abbreviated<br />

to ‘QO’. However this creatted a new problem—‘QO<br />

could be confused or mistaken for part of a word.<br />

The next developement was for writers to write the ‘Q’<br />

on top of the ‘O’. Over time the ‘Q’ turend into a<br />

curly scribbel that don’t have no meaning <strong>and</strong> the O<br />

became a dot. And thats how the hummble question<br />

mark was born <strong>and</strong> came to be. Will you think about this<br />

the next time you sea one<br />

1 Punctuation<br />

(a) Find the 4 missing commas, 2 question<br />

marks, 5 quotation marks <strong>and</strong> 1 apostrophe<br />

for a contraction.<br />

2 Grammar<br />

Prepositions are positional words placed before<br />

nouns <strong>and</strong> pronouns to indicate their relation to other<br />

words: for example, He swam between the flags.<br />

(a) Write the missing prepositions from the text.<br />

4 Writing<br />

A double negative statement<br />

incorrectly uses two negative<br />

words; for example, ‘I haven’t<br />

got no more,’ should be ‘I<br />

haven’t any more’ or ‘I have<br />

no more’.<br />

(a) Circle the line in the text containing a double<br />

negative. Write it correctly.<br />

(i) room the page<br />

(ii) questions<br />

a piece of writing<br />

(iii) the language<br />

(iv) think<br />

(v) turned<br />

3 Spelling<br />

this<br />

ancient Rome<br />

a curly scribble<br />

(a) Write the 14 misspelt words in the space at<br />

the end of the line.<br />

A tautology is the unnecessary repetition of<br />

an idea in a phrase or sentence; for example,<br />

‘descend down’, ‘repeat again’.<br />

(b) Underline 3 examples of tautology in the<br />

text. Choose one word to replace each of the<br />

phrases. It may be one of the words used in<br />

the phrase. Write it in the space at the end of<br />

the line.<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills 27


What is an ‘urban myth’?<br />

Teachers notes<br />

Lesson focus<br />

Punctuation<br />

• Commas grammatical<br />

• Apostrophes in contractions<br />

• Apostrophes to show possession<br />

• Question marks<br />

• Exclamation marks<br />

• Dashes<br />

Spelling<br />

• Confused words: been/bean, desert/<br />

dessert, right/write<br />

• Misspelt words<br />

Grammar<br />

• Subject-verb agreement<br />

• Pronouns<br />

• Adjectives<br />

• Nouns<br />

Teacher information<br />

An explanation analyses how things came to be the way they are, how things work or why things<br />

happen.<br />

Answers<br />

An urban myth is one of those stories we all hear about, that<br />

Comma<br />

seems fantastic but true. You know the sort, usually told by<br />

Comma<br />

someone whose ‘brother’s best friend’s girlfriend’s mother’ told Apostrophe for possession (3)<br />

them about it, so ‘it must be true’. Or perhaps it’s one of the Apostrophe in contractions<br />

many email urban myths that circulate around the electronic<br />

many<br />

world. However, closer investigation nearly always shows the story<br />

Comma<br />

to be just that—a story made up by someone with a fabulous<br />

Dash<br />

imagination.<br />

One urban myth which has been around for nearly 40 years now<br />

been<br />

concerns the man who strapped a solid fuel rocket engine to his<br />

concerns<br />

car—just to see what it would do. He accelerated down a<br />

Dash<br />

highway in the desert <strong>and</strong> then fired off the rocket. The car<br />

desert<br />

blasted up to almost 480 km/h! But when he tried to stop, the<br />

Exclamation mark<br />

car’s brakes melted <strong>and</strong> the tyres blew out. Unable to take a Apostrophe for possession<br />

bend in the road, the car became airborne, flying for more than Commas (2)<br />

a kilometre, before slamming into the side of a mountain. Great<br />

kilometre<br />

story, huh? What a shame it never happened.<br />

Question mark<br />

There are entire websites devoted to exposing urban myths. A<br />

are (verb)<br />

search engine will point you in the right direction.<br />

right<br />

Answers<br />

1. (a) Missing punctuation is in bold type.<br />

2. (a) The correct verb has been underlined.<br />

There are<br />

(b) Answers will include we, you, them, he.<br />

(c) (i) solid fuel (ii) Great/fantastic (iii) closer<br />

(iv) electronic (v) fabulous (vi) right<br />

3. (a) Spelling errors are in italic type.<br />

many, been, concerns, desert, kilometre, right<br />

38 <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


What is an ‘urban myth’?<br />

Read the explanation.<br />

<strong>Editing</strong> skills<br />

An urban myth is one of those stories we all hear about that<br />

seems fantastic but true. You know the sort usually told by<br />

someone whose ‘brothers best friends girlfriends mother’ told<br />

them about it, so ‘it must be true’. Or perhaps its one of the<br />

meny email urban myths that circulate around the electronic<br />

world. However closer investigation nearly always shows the story<br />

to be just that a story made up by someone with a fabulous<br />

imagination.<br />

One urban myth which has bean around for nearly 40 years now<br />

concirns the man who strapped a solid fuel rocket engine to his<br />

car just to see what it would do. He accelerated down a<br />

highway in the dessert <strong>and</strong> then fired off the rocket. The car<br />

blasted up to almost 480 km/h But when he tried to stop, the<br />

cars brakes melted <strong>and</strong> the tyres blew out. Unable to take a<br />

bend in the road the car became airborne flying for more than<br />

a kilometer, before slamming into the side of a mountain. Great<br />

story, huh What a shame it never happened.<br />

There is entire websites devoted to exposing urban myths. A<br />

search engine will point you in the write direction.<br />

1 Punctuation<br />

(a) Write in 5 missing commas, 4 missing<br />

apostrophes for possession <strong>and</strong> 1 for a<br />

contraction, 1 missing question mark, 1<br />

exclamation mark <strong>and</strong> 2 dashes. In the space<br />

at the end of each line where punctuation<br />

is missing, write the name of the type of<br />

punctuation which you had to include.<br />

2 Grammar<br />

(a) Find the sentence which has a verb which<br />

does not agree with its subject.<br />

Circle the verb <strong>and</strong> write the correct verb in<br />

the space at the end of the line.<br />

(b) Write 3 personal pronouns from the text.<br />

(c) Write adjectives from the text for the nouns<br />

given.<br />

(i)<br />

(ii)<br />

(iii)<br />

(iv)<br />

(v)<br />

(vi)<br />

3 Spelling<br />

rocket<br />

story<br />

investigation<br />

world<br />

imagination<br />

direction<br />

(a) Circle 6 misspelt words <strong>and</strong> write the correct<br />

spelling in the space at the end of the line.<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills 39


The word ‘love’ in tennis<br />

Lesson focus<br />

Teachers notes<br />

Punctuation<br />

• Capital letters for sentence beginnings<br />

• Capital letters for proper nouns<br />

• Quotation marks<br />

• Colons in titles<br />

Grammar<br />

• Pronouns<br />

Spelling<br />

• Confused words: no/know, where/were,<br />

an/a, of/off<br />

• Misspelt words<br />

Writing<br />

• Double negatives<br />

• Errors of fact<br />

Teacher information<br />

An explanation outlines how something works, is made or how or why things happen.<br />

Answers<br />

Tennis: love at first sight<br />

If you have ever watched a game of tennis, you will<br />

know that the word ‘love’ is used to mean ‘no score’.<br />

This has been the case since at least the mid-1700s. How<br />

did this come about? Why would someone ‘love’ to play<br />

if he or she has scored no points?<br />

‘Love’, as it is used in tennis, is actually derived from a<br />

French word. Tennis originated in France where<br />

people involved in the game decided that the numeral ‘0’<br />

looked like an egg. So, instead of calling ‘zero’ when<br />

a player had not scored any points, they used the French<br />

word for egg instead – ‘l’ouef’ (pronounced ‘lerf’).<br />

When the game of tennis become popular in<br />

Engl<strong>and</strong>, the English soon turned ‘l’ouef’ into a<br />

recognisable word to them – ‘love’. The word has been<br />

used during tennis games ever since.<br />

watched<br />

know<br />

case<br />

about<br />

actually<br />

where<br />

numeral<br />

an<br />

they (pronoun)<br />

pronounced<br />

of<br />

turned<br />

them (pronoun)<br />

during<br />

1. Missing punctuation is in bold type.<br />

2. (a) The corrected pronouns are underlined.<br />

them – they (line 10), him – them (line 14)<br />

3. Spelling errors are in italic type.<br />

(a)<br />

(b)<br />

know, where, an, of<br />

watched, case, about, actually, numeral, pronounced, turned, during<br />

4. (a) One way of correcting the double negative statement is underlined in bold.<br />

(b)<br />

‘if he or she has not scored no points’ should read ‘if he or she has scored no points’ or ‘if he or<br />

she has not scored any points’.<br />

The word ‘l’ouef’ means ‘egg’ in French. When tennis arrived in Engl<strong>and</strong>, ‘l’ouef’ became ‘love’<br />

instead. The word has been used in tennis since at least the mid-1700s.<br />

46 <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


The word ‘love’ in tennis<br />

Read the explanation.<br />

<strong>Editing</strong> skills<br />

Tennis love at first sight<br />

If you have ever wached a game of tennis, you will<br />

(no, know) that the word ‘love’ is used to mean ‘no score’.<br />

This has been the cayse since at least the mid-1700s. How<br />

did this come abbout? why would someone love’ to play<br />

if he or she has not scored no points?<br />

‘Love’, as it is used in tennis, is actualy derived from a<br />

french word. Tennis originated in france (where, were)<br />

people involved in the game decided that the numral ‘0<br />

looked like (an, a) egg. so, instead of calling ‘zero when<br />

a player had not scored any points, them used the French<br />

word for egg instead – ‘l’ouef’ (pronounsed ‘lerf’).<br />

When the game (of, off) tennis become popular in<br />

engl<strong>and</strong>, the english soon terned ‘l’ouef into a<br />

recognisable word to him – ‘love’. the word has been<br />

used duering tennis games ever since.<br />

1 Punctuation<br />

(a) Find the missing<br />

quotation marks, 7<br />

capital letters <strong>and</strong> the<br />

colon in the title.<br />

4 Writing<br />

(a) Circle the line in the text containing a double<br />

negative. Write it correctly.<br />

2 Grammar<br />

Pronouns are words that<br />

replace nouns; e.g. ‘I’, ‘he’,<br />

‘she’, ‘him’, ‘it’.<br />

(a) Circle the 2 incorrect pronouns used in the<br />

text. Write the correct pronoun in the space<br />

at the end of the line.<br />

3 Spelling<br />

(a) Choose the correct spelling from each pair of<br />

words in brackets <strong>and</strong> write it in the space at<br />

the end of the line.<br />

(b) Write the correct spelling of the misspelt<br />

words in the space at the end of the line.<br />

(b) Correct the errors of fact in these sentences.<br />

Draw a line through the error <strong>and</strong> write the<br />

correction above it.<br />

The word ‘l’ouef’ means ‘tennis’ in<br />

German. When tennis arrived in France,<br />

‘l’ouef’ became ‘love’ instead. The word<br />

has been used in tennis since at least the<br />

early 1600s.<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills 47


Mighty microbes<br />

Teachers notes<br />

Lesson focus<br />

Punctuation<br />

• Capital letters for sentence beginnings<br />

• Full stops<br />

• Apostrophes to show contractions<br />

• Grammatical commas<br />

• Commas in a list<br />

• Parentheses (round brackets)<br />

• Semicolons<br />

Grammar<br />

• Verb tense<br />

Spelling<br />

• Misspelt words<br />

Writing<br />

• Tautology<br />

Teacher information<br />

Explanations analyse how or why things happen or how they work.<br />

Answers<br />

It would be ideal to eat all of our food fresh, but this is not possible for many reasons: some foods<br />

are seasonal but we still like to eat them all year round; some foods are imported (brought in) from<br />

other countries because we do not grow them here; <strong>and</strong> other foods just don’t last very long at all.<br />

These foods change because micro-organisms digest them, making them rot or ‘go off’.<br />

Micro-organisms (or microbes) are microscopic <strong>and</strong> found everywhere, all over the place. They are<br />

in the air, on tables <strong>and</strong> even on our skin. When food is left unprotected or touched by fingers,<br />

these micro-organisms grow <strong>and</strong> multiply rapidly, at a fast rate. They like warm, damp conditions<br />

which allow them to break down <strong>and</strong> rot food <strong>and</strong> other materials like leaves <strong>and</strong> paper. Food will<br />

keep longer if we deprive the micro-organisms of the conditions they like. We preserve foods so that<br />

they last longer. Preserving generally means keeping food away from water <strong>and</strong> air.<br />

Although microbes can be harmful, they can also be useful. They<br />

produce the bacteria that makes cheese <strong>and</strong> yoghurt. They help rot<br />

dead organisms <strong>and</strong> put nutrients back into the soil. Yeast is also a<br />

micro-organism. Without yeast we could not have bread, cakes or beer!<br />

1. Missing punctuation is in bold type.<br />

2. Correct tense is underlined.<br />

(a) grew – grow (line 3), liked – like (line 7), had – have (line 14)<br />

3. (a) Spelling errors are in italic type.<br />

reasons, digest, conditions, bacteria, yoghurt<br />

4. (a) Examples of tautology are underlined in bold.<br />

‘found everywhere, all over the place’ <strong>and</strong> ‘multiply rapidly, at a fast rate’<br />

56 <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


Mighty microbes<br />

Read the explanation.<br />

<strong>Editing</strong> skills<br />

It would be ideal to eat all of our food fresh, but this is not possible for many reesons: some foods<br />

are seasonal but we still like to eat them all year round, some foods are imported (brought in) from<br />

other countries because we do not grew them here, <strong>and</strong> other foods just dont last very long at all.<br />

these foods change because micro-organisms dijest them making them rot or ‘go off’<br />

Micro-organisms (or microbes) are microscopic <strong>and</strong> found everywhere, all over the place. They are<br />

in the air on tables <strong>and</strong> even on our skin. When food is left unprotected or touched by fingers,<br />

these micro-organisms grow <strong>and</strong> multiply rapidly, at a fast rate. They liked warm damp condishuns<br />

which allow them to break down <strong>and</strong> rot food <strong>and</strong> other materials like leaves <strong>and</strong> paper. Food will<br />

keep longer if we deprive the micro-organisms of the conditions they like. we preserve foods so that<br />

they last longer. Preserving generally means keeping food away from water <strong>and</strong> air.<br />

Although microbes can be harmful they can also be useful They<br />

produce the bacterea that makes cheese <strong>and</strong> yoghert. They help rot<br />

dead organisms <strong>and</strong> put nutrients back into the soil. Yeast is also a<br />

micro-organism. Without yeast we could not had bread cakes or beer!<br />

1 Punctuation<br />

(a) Write in the missing commas (3 in a list <strong>and</strong><br />

2 grammatical), 2 full stops, 2 capital letters<br />

<strong>and</strong> 1 apostrophe in a contraction.<br />

Brackets are used where additional<br />

information is given.<br />

(b) Underline the brackets used in the text for<br />

this purpose.<br />

3 Spelling<br />

(a) Write the correct spelling for the 5 misspelt<br />

words below.<br />

A semicolon is used to separate clauses or<br />

phrases in a sentence. It indicates a pause—not as<br />

strong a pause as a full stop or colon, but stronger<br />

than a comma; for example, ‘He wouldn’t stop<br />

talking; he was being annoying’, ‘You may go;<br />

however, pack up first’.<br />

(c) Change two commas in the first paragraph into<br />

the semicolons they should be.<br />

2 Grammar<br />

(a) In this text, incorrect tense has been used<br />

3 times. Find each of these <strong>and</strong> write the<br />

correct tense above the words.<br />

4 Writing<br />

Tautology is the unnecessary repetition of an idea<br />

in a phrase or sentence; for example, ‘descend<br />

down’, ‘repeat again’.<br />

(a) Circle two examples of tautology.<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills 57


Tsunami!<br />

Lesson focus<br />

Teachers notes<br />

Punctuation<br />

• Capital letters for proper nouns<br />

• Parentheses (round brackets)<br />

• Grammatical commas<br />

• Apostrophes to show possession<br />

Grammar<br />

• Prepositions<br />

Spelling<br />

• Confused words: sea/see, two/too<br />

• Misspelt words<br />

Vocabulary<br />

• Compound words<br />

Writing<br />

• Errors of fact<br />

Teacher information<br />

Explanations analyse how things work or why things happen.<br />

Answers<br />

Tsunami is a Japanese word for a long, low sea wave. Tsunamis<br />

are often called tidal waves, but in fact they have nothing to do with<br />

the tides. They are caused by volcanic eruptions, undersea l<strong>and</strong>slides<br />

or coastal earthquakes. The plates which make up the Earth’s<br />

surface (tectonic plates) suddenly move against each other, causing<br />

an earthquake.<br />

Tsunamis occur all the time, usually in the Pacific Ocean, but most of<br />

these are too small to notice. Every few years, however, large tsunamis<br />

kill hundreds or thous<strong>and</strong>s of people.<br />

Before a tsunami strikes, the coastal waters can retreat hundreds of<br />

metres, exposing the beach <strong>and</strong> seabed. Tsunamis can reach speeds<br />

of 800 to 960 kilometres per hour. Out deep, the waves are small, but<br />

as they move away from the epicentre, approaching the coastline,<br />

they can increase to a height of 100 metres or more.<br />

The biggest earthquake for 40 years occurred between the Australasian<br />

<strong>and</strong> Eurasian plates, in the Indian Ocean, on Boxing Day 2004. The quake<br />

caused a tsunami that travelled as far as one kilometre inl<strong>and</strong>, causing<br />

widespread destruction <strong>and</strong> devastation across many Asian countries.<br />

sea<br />

Comma<br />

volcanic<br />

Apostrophe<br />

Brackets<br />

earthquake<br />

Proper nouns<br />

too<br />

thous<strong>and</strong>s<br />

Comma<br />

reach<br />

Comma<br />

epicentre<br />

height<br />

Proper noun<br />

Proper nouns<br />

Comma<br />

Proper noun<br />

1. Missing punctuation is in bold type.<br />

2. (a) (i) with (ii) of (iii) across<br />

3. (a) Spelling errors are in italic type.<br />

sea, volcanic, earthquake, too, thous<strong>and</strong>s, reach, epicentre, height<br />

4. Compound words are underlined.<br />

nothing, undersea, l<strong>and</strong>slides, earthquakes, earthquake, however, seabed, coastline, inl<strong>and</strong>,<br />

widespread<br />

5. After an earthquake, the waves travel away from the epicentre, increasing in height as they<br />

approach the coast.<br />

66 <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


Tsunami!<br />

Read the explanation.<br />

<strong>Editing</strong> skills<br />

Tsunami is a Japanese word for a long, low see wave. Tsunamis<br />

are often called tidal waves but in fact they have nothing to do with<br />

the tides. They are caused by volcanik eruptions, undersea l<strong>and</strong>slides<br />

or coastal earthquakes. The plates which make up the Earths<br />

surface tectonic plates suddenly move against each other, causing<br />

an earthquacke.<br />

Tsunamis occur all the time, usually in the pacific ocean, but most of<br />

these are two small to notice. Every few years, however, large tsunamis<br />

kill hundreds or thousends of people.<br />

Before a tsunami strikes the coastal waters can retreat hundreds of<br />

metres, exposing the beach <strong>and</strong> seabed. Tsunamis can reech speeds<br />

of 800 to 960 kilometres per hour. Out deep the waves are small but<br />

as they move away from the episentre, approaching the coastline,<br />

they can increase to a heigt of 100 metres or more.<br />

The biggest earthquake for 40 years occurred between the australasian<br />

<strong>and</strong> eurasian plates, in the indian ocean, on boxing day 2004. The quake<br />

caused a tsunami that travelled as far as one kilometre inl<strong>and</strong> causing<br />

widespread destruction <strong>and</strong> devastation across many asian countries.<br />

1 Punctuation<br />

(a) Find 9 capital letters for proper nouns, 5<br />

grammatical commas, 1 missing apostrophe<br />

for possession <strong>and</strong> 1 set of brackets to show<br />

additional information has been added.<br />

On the line at the end, state the punctuation<br />

you corrected.<br />

2 Grammar<br />

Prepositions are positional words that show<br />

relationships; for example, ‘the eye of the storm’.<br />

(a) Choose a preposition from the text to<br />

complete these.<br />

(i) nothing to do<br />

(ii) thous<strong>and</strong>s<br />

the tides<br />

people<br />

4 Vocabulary<br />

(a) Underline the 10 compound words in the text.<br />

5 Writing<br />

(a) Correct the errors of fact in this sentence.<br />

Write it below.<br />

After an earthquake, the waves move<br />

towards the epicentre, decreasing in<br />

height as they approach the coast.<br />

(iii) causing devastation<br />

many countries<br />

3 Spelling<br />

(a) Write the correct spelling of the misspelt<br />

words in the space at the end of the line.<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills 67


Taking better photos<br />

Teachers notes<br />

Lesson focus<br />

Punctuation<br />

• Capital letters for sentence beginnings<br />

• Full stops<br />

• Apostrophes in grammatical contractions<br />

• Apostrophes to show possession<br />

Grammar<br />

• Pronouns<br />

• Adjectives<br />

Spelling<br />

• Misspelt words<br />

• Confused words: lose/loose, be/bee,<br />

to/too, sun/son<br />

Vocabulary<br />

• Compound words<br />

Teacher information<br />

An explanation outlines how something works, is made or how or why things happen.<br />

Answers<br />

• Fill the viewfinder with the main subject. Use a telephoto lens or get closer. Tiny subjects lose<br />

their sense of importance. You may even be able to take just part of the main subject to illustrate<br />

the whole. For example, for a ship, you might only want to take the bow <strong>and</strong> front half.<br />

• Don’t cut important bits off. Make sure the subject’s important parts fit inside the crop marks in the<br />

viewfinder. Be especially careful about cutting people’s heads off!<br />

• Balance your photograph. In your mind, divide your planned photograph into thirds horizontally<br />

<strong>and</strong> vertically. Where those thirds intersect is where you should place the parts of the subject you want to<br />

emphasise, because a human eye is naturally drawn to those intersections.<br />

• Don’t shoot into the sun. Unless you’re doing it for a special effect, keep the sun behind you or off to<br />

one side if possible. Shooting into the sun will cause silhouettes <strong>and</strong> lens ‘flares’.<br />

• Keep the camera still. A simple rule, but one that’s too often forgotten. Movement<br />

equals blurred photos.<br />

• Watch the background, especially when taking portraits. People look funny when<br />

they appear to have tree branches or chimneys growing out of their heads!<br />

• Shoot upwards from a low position to make the subject appear more important.<br />

Shoot downwards from a high position to make the subject appear less<br />

important.<br />

1. (a) Missing punctuation is in bold type.<br />

2. (a) Pronouns are underlined.<br />

Answers will include: their, you, your, it, they<br />

(b) Adjectives are underlined bold.<br />

main, telephoto, important, crop, people’s, planned, human<br />

3. (a) Spelling errors are in italic type.<br />

lose, be, illustrate, vertically, naturally, special, sun, too, portraits, chimneys<br />

4. (a) viewfinder, background, Teacher check<br />

76 <strong>Editing</strong> skills R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au


Taking better photos<br />

Read the explanation which gives a few hints for taking better photographs.<br />

<strong>Editing</strong> skills<br />

• Fill the viewfinder with the main subject. Use a telephoto lens or get closer. Tiny subjects loose<br />

their sense of importance. You may even bee able to take just part of the main subject to illistrate<br />

the whole for example, for a ship, you might only want to take the bow <strong>and</strong> front half.<br />

• Dont cut important bits off. Make sure the subjects important parts fit inside the crop marks in the<br />

viewfinder be especially careful about cutting peoples heads off!<br />

• Balance your photograph. In your mind, divide your planned photograph into thirds horizontally <strong>and</strong><br />

verticaly where those thirds intersect is where you should place the parts of the subject you want to<br />

emphasise, because a human eye is naturaly drawn to those intersections.<br />

• Dont shoot into the sun. Unless youre doing it for a spesial effect, keep the son behind you or off to<br />

one side if possible shooting into the sun will cause silhouettes <strong>and</strong> lens ‘flares’.<br />

• Keep the camera still. A simple rule, but one thats to often forgotten movement<br />

equals blurred photos.<br />

• Watch the background, especially when taking portrates. People look funny when<br />

they appear to have tree branches or chimnies growing out of their heads!<br />

• Shoot upwards from a low position to make the subject appear more important.<br />

Shoot downwards from a high position to make the subject appear less<br />

important.<br />

1 Punctuation<br />

(a) Write in 4 apostrophes in contractions <strong>and</strong> 2<br />

which show possession.<br />

(b) Write in the 5 missing capital letters <strong>and</strong> 5<br />

full stops.<br />

(v)<br />

(vi)<br />

(vii)<br />

heads<br />

photograph<br />

eye<br />

2 Grammar<br />

(a) Underline 4 different pronouns in the text.<br />

(b) Write the adjectives from the text which<br />

modify these nouns:<br />

(i)<br />

(ii)<br />

subject<br />

lens<br />

3 Spelling<br />

(a) Write the correct spelling of the 10 misspelt<br />

words above each incorrect word.<br />

4 Vocabulary<br />

(a) Write 2 compound words from the text <strong>and</strong><br />

two more of your own.<br />

(iii)<br />

(iv)<br />

bits<br />

marks<br />

R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au <strong>Editing</strong> skills 77

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