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Proofreading Symbols Scavenger Hunt

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Proofreading Symbols Scavenger Hunt

Omar is preparing a weather station report for the community. Help him find and fix the editing clues. Use these symbols: ^ = insert; / = delete; ¶ = start a new paragraph; circle a letter = capitalise; stet = leave as it was. Australian spelling is used.

Decode the symbols

Match each proofreading symbol to its job.

1.Match each symbol on the left with the correct instruction on the right: ^, /, ¶, circle a letter, stet. Instructions: insert missing text; delete unwanted text; begin a new paragraph; make a letter a capital; ignore a suggested change and keep the original.

^
/
¶
Circle a letter
stet

Delete unwanted text
Keep the original text
Make a letter a capital
Insert missing text
Begin a new paragraph

2.The report says, “The wind was strong and cold.” Omar wants to add the word “very” before “cold”. Which symbol should he use at the insertion point?

^
/
¶
stet

Search the weather report

Read Omar’s draft carefully. Look for spelling, capitals, punctuation and sentence-boundary problems.

3.Draft: “on monday, the weather station recorded a sudden storm. Xavier checked the rain guage at noon the wind gusts were strong, so he closed the equipment shed. later, Omar wrote the results in his note book.” Find the misspelt word and write the correct spelling. Use Australian spelling.

4.In the draft, which two words need capital letters because they begin sentences? Write the words as they currently appear.

5.Find the place where two complete thoughts have run together without a full stop. Copy the words where the first sentence should end.

6.The phrase “rain gauge” is written as two words in this report. Which proofreading action best fixes “note book” to the standard one-word spelling “notebook”?

Insert a space using ^
Delete the space using /
Start a new paragraph using ¶
Use stet

7.Rewrite Omar’s draft as a corrected report. Keep the meaning, fix all errors, and use clear sentence punctuation: “on monday, the weather station recorded a sudden storm. Xavier checked the rain guage at noon the wind gusts were strong, so he closed the equipment shed. later, Omar wrote the results in his note book.”

Edit with care

A good editor makes useful changes and leaves correct writing alone.

8.True or false? If you are unsure whether a word is wrong, you should delete it immediately rather than check it.

TrueFalse

9.Xavier has written “The rain stopped at 3 pm.” He wants to move the sentence about the rain to a new paragraph because it begins a new idea. Which symbol should he place at the start of that sentence?

10.Write one sentence explaining why proofreading symbols are useful when you edit someone’s writing.