Week 6

Proofreading Strategies Catching our mistakes. (Totally useless for errors!)

Can you find the
the mistake?

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 

Proofreading is about looking at our own writing to find our mistakes—the problems we can solve as soon as we notice them.

Strategy 1

Have a partner read your paper to you out loud, exactly as written. Ask them to read slowly, pausing after each sentence. If you hear them say something that sounds wrong, correct it on the paper. Note: we are not correcting each other's papers; all we're doing is reading out loud.

Proofreading is about looking at our own writing to find our mistakes—the problems we can solve as soon as we notice them.

Strategy 2

Read your paper to yourself, out loud, backwards—that is, read the last sentence first, and then work your way back to the beginning.

As before, read your paper exactly as written. Pause after each sentence, and make any corrections you find necessary.