Yesterday, writers worked with their buddies to peer edit. Both reader and writer held a pencil as the piece was read aloud. When either partner noticed a mistake in the writing they would make a check mark. Writers focused primarily on proper capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. However, they also kept an eye out for missing words and incorrect verb tenses. (We don't teach them to look for verb tenses. We teach them to notice when the writing doesn't sound right.) Finally, each writer corrected the errors in their own writing.
Today, writers used their "Have-a-Go" to improve their spelling. The "Have-a-Go" has four columns. Third grade spellers recorded misspelled words in the first column. They were encouraged to look at the spelling carefully and think about what part of the word didn't look right. In the second and third columns, third grade writers tried to get closer to the dictionary spelling by using what they knew about the words and letters in the English language. Finally, students looked up the word in a dictionary and recorded the "dictionary" spelling in the fourth column. Whew! They worked hard!
Tomorrow, third grade writers will begin typing! We can't wait to send our finished articles home for you to read!