Non-Negotiable Focal Correction Areas
1. Form plurals with s or es (No apostrophe!!!!!) (Grades 8-12).
Examples: boy…boys
tomato…tomatoes
2. Form possessives with an apostrophe (nouns: singular or plural) (Grades 8-12).
Examples: boy’s (The boy’s dog was lost.)
boys’ (The boys’ clubhouse was dirty.)
3. Do not confuse a possessive with a contraction (Grades 8-12).
Example: its for it’s
4. Match pronouns with the nouns they replace: gender, number (Grades 8-12).
Examples: Jane…she…herself
reader…he or she…himself or herself…
teachers…they…them…themselves
(“Everyone” is a singular pronoun. You cannot use it to replace a plural noun!)
5. Do not confuse words that sound alike or look similar (Grades 8-12).
Examples: their, there, they’re witch, which loose, lose
6. Do not switch verb tense without good reason (Grades 11-12).
(Be sure to write about literature in present tense.)
7. Use active, not passive, voice (Grades 11-12).
Examples: The boy threw the ball. =active voice
The ball was thrown by the boy. = passive voice
8. Do not end phrases, clauses, or sentences with a preposition (Grades 10-12).
9. Use semi-colon and colon correctly (Grades 11-12).
10. Avoid slang, dialect, colloquial, and trite language (Grades 8-12).
11. Apply the rules of capitalization (Grades 8-12).
12. Indicate titles of literature correctly (Grades 8-12).
Examples: Use “quotation marks” for essays, short stories and poems.
Use italics or underlining for novels, plays, films, anthologies.
(Note: MLA prescribes underlining; our Research Guide calls for italics.)
19. Use MLA documentation format precisely (Grades 8-12).
20/ Proofread (Grades 8-12)
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The following are areas of focal correction that teachers will teach rules, provide practice, and assess in appropriate domains:
1. Use commas when required (Grades 8-12) Conventions domain
2. Omit needless words (Grades 8-12). Style domain
Examples: “throughout the entire novel”
“in the year 1492”
3. Form sentences correctly and create a variety of sentence structures and lengths.
Style domain
INCORRECT example: Being in bad shape, I could buy the car inexpensively.
CORRECT example: Being in bad shape, the car was inexpensive.
4. Use who versus whom correctly (Grades 11-12). Style domain
Note: Here’s a quick test: If you can substitute “him,” use “whom.”
5. Use which, and that correctly (Grades 11-12). Style domain
6. Do not use misplaced or dangling modifiers (Grades 10-12). Style domain
(Did he serve steak to the men who were on paper plates? Or, did he serve steak on paper plates to the men?)