How to Help Elementary Students Write & Proofread Papers

Completing an essay or report can be a daunting task for young students who have never turned in a written project before. Before your student hands in that assignment, he needs to make sure he has proofread his work.

Proofreading not only catches errors, but it also helps improve the overall quality of the work and gives the writer a chance to clarify things where needed. One way to proof your paper is to read it aloud, which enables you to catch word choice issues and add punctuation into the paper in the correct spot.

So, what questions should you ask yourself when proofreading a paper?

1. Is it in the proper format?

2. Does each sentence begin with a capital letter?

3. Is there punctuation at the end of each sentence?

4. Are there any fragments or incomplete sentences?

5. Is everything spelled correctly?

6. Did you use descriptive words and phrases?

7. Is each paragraph indented?

8. Does each paragraph have a topic and conclusion sentence?

9. Is the paper easy to read? Does it “make sense”?

10. Does the paper stay on topic?

While this checklist of ten questions certainly won’t guarantee a good grade, it will help students become better writers and better proofreaders. When you know what to look for, you can correct it in your paper before it becomes an issue.

For more information on the importance of reading, check out some of my other articles:

• How to Give Out Reading Grades
• Why Reading to Children is Important
• How to Teach Your Child to Read Easily
• How to Help Students Understand What They Read
• What are the Strengths and Weaknesses of Saxon Phonics?