Editing on a Word Document (Track Changes)

Age
9-12

Materials
Smartboard or an LCD projector. Students need their notebooks, with a list of common editing errors they wrote down during the lesson, "Editing (Math Curse)" A copy of "From the Adventures of a Math Girl" (see "handouts/attachments" below). There's a second attachement with all of the changes "tracked."

Preparation
Standard Editing conventions, Editing (Math Curse), keyboarding experience. This editing will be done on typed drafts students have made.

Presentation
1. Place unedited "From the Adventures of Math Girl" on the Smartboard or LCD. Turn on "Track Changes"

2. Under the "View" menu, go to "Toolbars" and "Track Changes."

3. Go through the piece with students, asking for their suggestions about what to edit. This time, make the changes as you go, right on the word document. The software will automatically show the changes.

4. Continue until the piece is either fully edited, or until you have done enough work to make your point.

5. Show the second handout with all the changes tracked.

Suggestions for Student Work:

Establish files on your classroom computer of the unedited "From the Adventures of Math Girl." Students, when they log on, can change the name of the file to their own, such as "Mary-Math Girl." With these files, students can then practice using "track changes."

Control Of Error
Word documents will show a red underline for many mistakes.

Points Of Interest
Track changes will require students to pay close attention to words, what to delete, what to add, and make them feel more professional as writers.

Purpose
Direct Aim: Students will learn how to use track changes.

Indirect Aim: Computer literacy

Variation
Students use a document of their own.