1. Editor’s Guide Please be a polite editor. Only edit one section at a time.

2. Editing for Fluency To edit for fluency, you must READ OUT LOUD! Begin when your teacher instructs you. Add missing words missing letter if needed, using a caret symbol. Write “SP?” over any words which you think may be misspelled (or words you find it hard to read). Do they ever have incomplete sentences (like starting a paragraph with “Paragraph about ‘Sky Tree’”)? Write “sentence fragment” near these.

3. Editing for Organization Check the thesis, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Is everything in the right order? If not, let them know what needs changed. Is there ever a place where you’re wondering, “Why did they put this in here? It belongs in the next paragraph!” Tell them this. As they move from one paragraph to the next do they use transition words? Does the writer introduce each quotation? Or does he/she just stick the quote in without leading into it: “White settlers ‘won’ the West in a just war,” (no intro) According to Beers, who claims historical books can’t be trusted, “White settlers ‘won’ the West in a just war,” in various school text books, contrary to the reality (“N. Scott Momaday,” pg. 30).

4. Editing for Organization Part 2 Did the writer double-space, making it easy for an editor to make corrections and suggestions? If not, remind them to double-space at the top of the page. Did they restate the thesis with a summary? Does the essay have a conclusion that wraps things up? Did they indent each paragraph adequately (measure with your thumb). Count to see if they have five paragraphs. If they could indent farther, make a paragraph symbol. Is there a centered title at the top of the page? If not, write “title needed” or “center your title” at the top.

5. Editing for Word Choice If there are any sentences which are poorly worded or need clarification, indicate this with the letters “WC.” Explain the problem in the margin, as needed. Did they use 15 vocabulary words in the essay? Take a look at their vocabulary lists. See if you can find any of those words in their essays. Do you think they took good notes before writing this essay? Did they get any of the information from the stories or poems wrong? Tell them so in the margin.

6. Editing for Word Choice Part 2 Look through the student’s chosen vocabulary words. Did he/she use 15 of these? If you find places where you could insert his/her vocabulary words to improve the word choice, do so. If you think they might have misused one of their vocabulary words, write WC? over that word. (For example, perhaps they used the words “glottal stop” when what they should have used was “glottis” instead.) Write “WC” over all personal words (me, I, my…).

7. Edit for Conventions Use proofreading symbols to fix mistakes like speeling, punctuation & other errors Are book/poem/story titles correctly capitalized? The sky tree Did they use quotation marks around poems’ and short stories’ titles? If they talked about Chief Seattle’s speech, did they underline the title Brother Eagle, Sister Sky?

8. Edit for Conventions Part 2 Did they remember to use parenthetical citation? If not, use a caret to insert a citation for them: –(Bruchac, “Native American Oral Traditions” pg. 15). –(Bruchac, “The Sky Tree” pg. 20). –(Used-as-a-Shield, “The Earth Only” 21). –(Lopez, “Coyote Finishes His Work” pg. 22). –(Bruchac, “The Blackfeet Genesis” pg. 24). –(Beers, “N. Scott Momaday” pg. 30). –(Momaday, “The Way to Rainy Mountain” pg. 32). Did they remember to use quotation marks around the words that came from a book or Wikipedia article? If not, put the quotes in for them.

9. Edit for Voice Does the writer ever copy from their outline or flowchart without using complete sentences? For example, do they ever have opening words like “This is my paragraph about N. Scott Momaday”? Tell them this sounds strange. Do they ever say, “My thesis is …”? Let them know that it doesn’t sound right to use the word “thesis” in your thesis.

10. Edit for Voice Part 2 Do they offer explanations for vocabulary words that the average Internet browser may not know? For example, do they explain what “Pre-Columbian” means? If not, offer suggestions in the margin. Do they explain the stories, poems, or essays they’re talking about, or do they just assume anyone reading this essay will already be familiar with them? Tell the writer where they need to summarize the stories’ plots or mention that “The Earth Only” happens to be a poem.

11. Edit for Ideas and Content Did the writer write about Native American literature? If they didn’t mention concepts related to Native American literature throughout the essay, tell them that they’re off-topic and make suggestions for improvement. Review the thesis. Did the writer manage to prove the thesis by the end of the paper? Or did he/she slip away from the thesis at some point? Make notes in the margin where you think they need to go back to their thesis. Your teacher is going to do a survey to see what topics are being covered. Be prepared to tell your teacher the thesis of the paper.

12. Edit for Ideas and Content Part 2 Do you believe the writer spend too much time talking about history? If so, remind them that they need to talk about literature, not history. Did you understand everything the writer said? What didn’t you understand? Write questions about anything that isn’t clear. Take a look at the outline. Does the essay follow the outline? If not, do you think there’s a chance the essay might be plagiarized? If so, politely let them know by writing something like, “If your essay doesn’t match your outline, Mrs. Fogelsong might think you copied this from an online source.”