[LIT] building background knowledge

[Rickey]

Caroline:
I do the everyday edits from Education World.  I have done them as the 
morning bell ringer for the last two years.  Students grab an edit on their 
way in.  I take the lunch count as they find the errors.  I then put an 
overhead of the edit on and pull popsicle sticks with their numbers on them. 
The person is then asked to give me one correction.  We use proper 
proofreading marks and proper vocabulary, some sixth graders don't know an 
apostrophe from a comma.  If the class finds all ten errors in ten pulls of 
popsicle sticks, with no mistakes, I place a letter on the board to spell 
EDIT PARTY!  We then have popcorn and a movie on a Friday afternoon.  Each 
year I throw about 4 -5 edit parties.  I also erase letters if computers are 
left on, a messy desk, or chairs not stacked at the end of the day.  I 
usually wait until everyone feels safe in the classroom to start this 
process, but once I do, they turn into grammar experts.  I also like the 
information they are given to broaden their background knowledge.

Susan