Creative Writing - Junior Secondary 2 - Composition

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STEPS

TEACHER’S ACTIVITY

LEARNERS ACTIVITY

1

INTRODUCTION

The teacher revises the previous lesson and introduces the new topic by outlining useful tips for editing essays

Editing involves improving the overall structure, content, and clarity of an essay. It focuses on making the essay more organized, coherent, and effective. Here are some useful tips for editing:

1. Check the Structure and Organization:

• Ensure clear organization: Verify that your essay has a logical flow from introduction to conclusion. Each paragraph should develop one clear idea.
• Review the thesis statement: Is your thesis clear and present in your introduction? Does the essay stay focused on it throughout?
• Check transitions: Ensure that there are smooth transitions between paragraphs and ideas to maintain coherence.
• Paragraph order: Check whether the paragraphs are in the right order for clarity. Rearrange if necessary.

2. Improve Content and Clarity:

• Be concise: Remove unnecessary words, sentences, or details that don’t add value to your argument or story.
• Enhance clarity: Make sure every point you make is clear and easy to understand. If something is vague, add explanations or examples.
• Eliminate repetition: Avoid repeating the same points in different paragraphs. Condense similar ideas into one clear section.
• Strengthen arguments: Ensure your arguments are supported by evidence, examples, or explanations. Weak arguments should be revised or replaced.

3. Enhance Tone and Style:

• Check tone consistency: Make sure the tone of your essay matches its purpose. For formal essays, maintain a serious and professional tone; for informal writing, it can be more conversational.
• Use varied sentence structures: Avoid using too many short or overly complex sentences. A mix of sentence lengths and types keeps the essay engaging.
• Improve word choice: Replace vague or imprecise words with more specific or vivid ones. Use appropriate vocabulary for your audience and topic.

4. Edit for Focus:

• Stay on topic: Ensure every paragraph ties back to the thesis statement and main idea. Remove any tangential or unrelated content.
• Keep the introduction and conclusion relevant: Check if the introduction sets up the topic properly and if the conclusion reinforces the essay’s main points effectively.

5. Edit for Consistency:

• Check consistency in tense and point of view: Ensure that you don’t switch tenses or point of view (e.g., from first-person to third-person) unintentionally.
• Maintain consistency in formatting: Titles, subheadings, fonts, and spacing should all be consistent throughout the essay.

Learners observe, learn and participate

2

EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION/TEACHER MODELLING

The teacher then outlines useful tips for proofreading essays

Proofreading is the final step and focuses on correcting minor errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting. It’s about refining the essay to make it error-free.

1. Check Grammar and Sentence Structure:

• Subject-verb agreement: Ensure that subjects and verbs agree in number (singular/plural). Example: “She writes” (correct) vs. “She write” (incorrect).
• Tense consistency: Ensure that you use the same verb tense throughout your essay unless a shift in time frame is required.
• Check sentence fragments and run-ons: Make sure every sentence is complete with a subject and verb. Avoid overly long sentences or combining too many ideas into one.

2. Correct Spelling and Punctuation:

• Use spell check tools: Run the essay through a spell checker, but also manually review it since spell checkers can miss context-based errors.
• Watch out for homophones: Words like “their,” “there,” and “they’re” sound the same but have different meanings. Double-check to ensure you’ve used the correct ones.
• Check punctuation marks: Look for missing or misplaced commas, periods, quotation marks, colons, and semicolons. Example: “Let’s eat, Grandma” (correct) vs. “Let’s eat Grandma” (incorrect).
• Watch out for apostrophes: Make sure they are correctly used in contractions and possessives (e.g., “it’s” for “it is,” and “its” for possession).

3. Pay Attention to Word Choice:

• Catch repetitive words: Look for words or phrases that are repeated too often and replace them with synonyms or rephrase sentences for variety.
• Look out for typos: Carefully read through the essay to catch typing errors. Some errors (like typing “form” instead of “from”) might not be flagged by spell check.

4. Check Formatting:

• Ensure proper spacing: Check that there is consistent spacing between paragraphs and sentences. Pay attention to indentation.
• Check font style and size: Make sure that the essay follows the required font, size, and any other formatting guidelines (if applicable).
• Ensure proper citation style: If you’re using external sources, ensure that you’ve cited them correctly in the required format (MLA, APA, etc.).

5. Proofread Aloud:

• Read your essay aloud: This helps you notice awkward phrasing, missing words, or unclear sentences that you might overlook when reading silently.
• Have someone else proofread: A fresh pair of eyes can catch errors you might miss. Ask a friend or family member to read it over.

6. Take Breaks and Proofread in Stages:

• Step away before proofreading: After completing your essay, take a break before proofreading. This gives you a fresh perspective and helps you spot errors more easily.
• Proofread in stages: Focus on one type of error at a time. For example, check grammar first, then move on to punctuation, then formatting, etc

Learners observe, learn and participate

3

EVALUATION

The Learners are asked to

1. Outline five useful tips each for

a. editing essays

b. proofreading essays

- Learners observe, learn and participate

4

CLASS-WORK

Learners are asked to edit and proofread the below essay

Last weekend I went to the hospital it was a weird day, I wasn’t feelin good so my mom taked me there. The hospital was big and had many people. We wait long time, and the nurse didn’t say nothing. After a while, a doctor come, he was very busy. He look at me quickly, gave me some medicine and say "you go home." The hospital smelled funny, and I was bored. I didn’t like going there but I guess it helped me feel better, I think. Hospitals are not fun places to visit but sometimes you have to.

Learners observe, learn and participate

5

ASSIGNMENT

Learners are asked to edit and proofread the below essay

Being the best version of yourself is hard. People say to be you but what does that mean? I eat chips and watch TV all day, is that good? My friend says I should exercise but I don’t like running. One time I tried yoga but fell over and it was embarrassing. Sometimes I feel sad because I don’t know what to do to be better. Everyone says to follow your dreams, but I just want to sleep. Maybe if I just eat more ice cream I will be happy. Being me is okay, but I want to be better somehow

Learners participate

6

CONCLUSION

The teacher marks their books, corrects it and commends the Learners