Home School Writing Cooperative
Week Eight - Convention
Conventions are the mechanical correctness of the piece - spelling, grammar and usage, paragraphing, use of capitals, and punctuation. Writing Conventions include spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and paragraphing. The writer should use conventions to enhance the readability of the paper. Spelling should be correct on all words. Punctuation should be smooth and guide the reader through the paper. Capitalization should be used correctly. Paragraphing should reinforce organization. The writer may manipulate conventions for effect.
1) Begin with a discussion regarding students’ restaurant experience and selection of food. Ask questions like "How do you decide what to order in a restaurant?", "What kind of restaurants do you like?", "What is your favorite kind of food?"
2) Share menus emphasizing the descriptions given to various dishes. Some use "adjective piling" while others rely on hyperbole. Many menu descriptions focus on the ingredients used in a particular dish. Have some fun with this.
3) Students write descriptions for their own menu items. It could be for an entree, a salad, a dessert, a fast food restaurant. The focus is on choosing the right adjectives for sensory appeal.
4) You could publish these in a classroom menu using a fun restaurant title such as Chateau Candice.
5) An adaptation could be to take a prison lunch menu and describe the daily offerings in a way that is humorous or original.
Read the paper all the way through.
Read the criteria item and enter Y for Yes, N for No, and S for Sort of.
Mark your score in the space provided.
Give 1 point for each Y, 1/2 point for each S and 0 points for each N
___ ___ The writer uses capitals correctly.
___ ___ Periods, commas, exclamation marks and quotations marks are in the right places.
___ ___Almost every word is spelled correctly.
___ ___The writer indented each paragraph.
___ ___ The writer's spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization make the paper easy to read and understand.
Homework Week Eight
Grammar worksheets & Students will create their own rubric of common writing errors through conferencing with teacher and assignments. Students will write a five paragraph paper on how they would teach others to overcome their writing errors.
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