Lesson Plan - - Proofreading

INTRODUCTION:

This lesson is designed to teach common proofreading marks and skills. It should be used to in
conjunction with other lessons designed to meet following USOE objective.

OBJECTIVE The student will be able to proofread and make corrections using word processing software.
0302
INDICATORS
1.  Edit documents using proofreader's marks.
2.  Make spelling and punctuation corrections on a variety of documents.  

PROCEDURES:

This lesson should be introduced using the lecture/discussion method. While presenting the slides
students should be asked if they can think of examples of poor professional documents (papers,
reports, newspaper articles, etc.) they have noticed. Following the presentation, the teacher should
read or show a document with errors to see if the students can pick out the errors and determine
how to fix them.

Following the presentation/discussion the students will practice proofreading on a documents

provided by the teacher. Additionally, students will complete proofreading assignments in their
keyboarding book and proofread and apply proofreading marks to documents produced during
keyboarding assignments (book and software assignments).

After practicing with proofreading marks, students should be tested on applying proofreading
marks, keying documents with proofreading marks applied, and identifying proofreading marks.

MEASUREMENT:

Following a lecture complimented by a slide presentation, a demonstration on how to apply

proofreading marks, and the completion of at least two proofreading documents (one with errors
and one with proofreading marks applied) each student will:
1. Apply proofreading marks to a test document with 90% accuracy
2. Key a document from a test document with proofreading marks applied with 100%
accuracy
3. Identify common proofreading marks with 90% accuracy

SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT:

Required Supplies and Equipment:

 Computer system Supplies Provided to the Student
 Word processing software  Proofreading Marks Handout
 Internet access  Practice Documents
 PowerPoint  Test Document
  Textbook

BODY
TEACHER NOTES
See how students respond. If you
Motivation:
can find any poorly written ads or
articles you can use them to make
Would you hire this firm: “Let us infest you money. We
the point.
now where to put it and you probably make much more than we does
on the infestment.”

Why or Why not?

Facts:
Modify this information to suit
your delivery style.
 Businesses, governments, and movement leaders depend
upon the written word to get their message across, sell
Feel free to modify as required.
their product, or convince people to support their ideas.

 People’s writing skills are not always as good as we

would like them to be

 Even people who have good writing skills make mistakes

Although developing good proofreading skills won’t make

you a perfect writer, it will enable you to produce better
documents in and out of school.

Being a good proofreader is recognized as a desirable skill by

employers.

Content: Talk through the presentation.

Add information as required
PowerPoint Slide Presentation

 Proofread Copy to: Encourage student interaction

o Ensure the Accuracy of the document Give ideas on best ways to review
the document for these things
o Find and correct spelling, grammar, and (read from right to left, etc.)
punctuation errors (This is the major objective for
this class) Is it supportive; does it challenge?

o Ensure that the document gives the right impression Don’t let mixed tenses stand.
 o Make sure the tense, tone, intent are supported by the
document

BODY (continued)

(slides, cont.) TEACHER NOTES

o Document looks and sounds Professional Lends credibility

o That an overall professional appearance, clarity,

Catches attention, saves the
conciseness
reviewer/reader time
 Who Proofreads and why do they do it

o Anyone who takes pride in their work to

 Ensure accuracy

 Prevent giving a bad impression

 Help put best foot forward

Bottom Line: Improve overall
o Business professionals quality of the product

 To ensure that the message is clear, concise,

and accurate

 To give the reader a good impression of the

company

 Ensure proper response and avoid legal issues

 How do we Proofread You know what you need to do

and how important it is, so get
o It is important to prepare to proofread ready!

 Have all needed items at hand and remove Pen, pencil, dictionary,
unnecessary clutter thesaurus, etc.

 Good in any work situation

 Remove distractions
TV, radio, people, etc.
 Anything that might draw your
attention away from the project
 BODY (continued)
See if the document makes
sense.
o Begin by reading for content

 To proofread effectively, you need to know

what the document says Ask students what this means
 Determine intent Ask students why this is
important
 Is it to persuade, sell, refute, etc.

 Determine tense Talk about any examples of

student work you know about.
 Is it past, present, future Ask students to share about a
time when this was pointed out
 Is it consistent on one of their papers
o Look for errors in spell, grammar, and punctuation

 Apply proofreading marks

Performance:
Can be PowerPoint or a slide
 Put the proofreading marks slide back up made from the handout

o Discuss each of the most commonly used marks Point out errors with
corrections and ask the students
o Open keyboarding book to proofreading and compare if they think they actually
marks happen in written documents

o Look at pages with marks on them

Student involvement is
o On an overhead, show a page with errors and have the especially important at this
students tell you where the errors are and have point. They will remember it
volunteers come up and place proofreading marks on much better if they and their
it with an overhead pen peers are figuring it out
together
 Hand out proofreading handout and practice paper

o Give students time to work alone on the papers Students should be ready to
proofread on their own
 Observe student performance
 Assist as necessary
 BODY (continued)

Remind students that this should be

 Peer Review Time
done in the right spirit. Not to point
out errors that their fellow student
o Have students trade papers and see if they missed any
made, but to assist both in learning
errors before giving the answers. this helpful skill
o Allow them to show each other what they found on
the other’s paper
If possible, have student mark
 Display Corrected Paper missed errors in a separate color
o On the overhead, show a copy of the paper the Talk about the process
students have just proofread that you have already put
the marks on - - or, put the marks on as you find the
errors with the students

 Back to Keyboarding
Century 21 Keyboarding and
o Have the students start their word processing program Information Processing book
should be used if available
 Give the student a practice paper with
proofreading marks on it and have them key it

 Should end up error free

 Peer review is useful for a quick check on how

well they have done Discuss with students as necessary
to ensure they understand the skills
 Assign book lessons
A practice matching document can
 Complete print and grade according to book be used to practice identifying
instructions proofreading marks

Measurement:
These tests should be completed on
1. Apply proofreading marks to a test document with their own without help from their
90% accuracy peers
2. Key a document from a test document with
proofreading marks applied with 100% accuracy
3. Identify common proofreading marks with 90%
accuracy
 CONCLUSION

Summary:

Restate lesson objectives and solicit feedback from the students about what they have learned.

Remind students that this isn’t a Keyboarding or English skill but one that should be used on all
documents while proofreading or editing text.

Remotivation:

Many benefits are derived from applying good proofreading skills.

Ask students to try to name a few, then state some

 Better end product

 Ensures clearer communication
 Develop a reputation for excellence
 Less confusion
 Objectives are clear
 Etc.

Closure:

Announce next lesson, give out assignments/homework etc.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR TEACHERS:

1. The proofreading marks in the PowerPoint presentation can be printed as an overhead for use
during the lesson but after the presentation. However, before you do this you will need to delete
the writing from the top of the marks. Also, the handout may work better for this purpose.

2. The proofreading marks handout is provided in Word format and PDF format. It may be fuzzy so
you may want to make your own sheet.

3. The last slide contains links to web sites with proofreading marks. These sites contain much more
information than proofreading and may be useful for other lessons or to emphasize that
proofreading is just one tool used in the writing process.

4. Side notes on the lesson plans are only suggestions. I recommend that each teacher personalize
this lesson to fit their own needs in the area of emphasis, examples, etc.

5. This lesson and all its parts should be posted on the Sunset Jr. High web site (Business Dept.) soon
and will be available for you to download. If you have any problems or questions please contact
me at pcrawford@dsdmail.net