Interventions on

Common Errors in
Writing
Group 3
BSEd-ENGLISH 3
 01

Spelling
Spelling
Rules
Choose five (5) words
that you often spell Provide tips to yourself
incorrectly (and your readers)
about how to
remember the spelling
Write a paragraph
using all five (5) words
at least once
Example
I often feel embarrassed that I have trouble with spelling. I definitely need
to remember tricks and spelling tips. For example, the word “finite” is in
the word “definitely”. One word that always gives me trouble is “vacuum”.
I always forget if it has two c’s or two u’s. It’s like “broccoli”. I often forget
if “broccoli” has two c’s or two l’s. At least broccoli looks wrong when
you spell it incorrectly. The word vacuum looks wrong with two u’s! Why
does a word have double u’s anyway? It should be spelled like “volume”.
I’d like to vacuum up this word, or at least one of the u’s! I’m glad that my
students accommodate me. They don’t mind when I forget to double my
letters, as in the word “accommodate”. My students are very
accommodating. They remind me of the proper spelling, and tell me not
to be embarrassed. They sometimes forget which letters to double, too. I
definitely rely on spellcheckers.
 02
Sentence
Constructio
n
Write Concise Sentences
Flowery words and phrases
obscure your ideas. When
writing, being concise is key.
Do not ask what your
country can do for you; ask
what you can do for your
country.
 Do not submit a query concerning
Write clear sentences
what assets and benefits your
Fancy words and country can bestow upon you and
complicated sentences are yours, but rather inquire as to
not always better. Clear what tasks or activities you
sentences are strong yourself can perform and carry
sentences. out that will be useful for the
citizens of your own country.
 Avoid vague and Vary the length of your
unnecessary words sentences
Reserve the short sentences
Instead of using stock or
for main points and use longer
clichéd phrases, try to be
sentences for supporting
more specific about what
points that clarify or explain
you mean.
cause and effect relationships
(longer sentence).
Name the people Use active verbs
Consider replacing “be-verbs”
Directly state who or
(is, am, are, was, were, be,
what group is acting in has/have been) with active
your sentences. verbs that allow you to
compose powerful sentences
shaped around action.
 Use parallel
structure effectively
Simply put, parallelism is the
practice of using the same patterns
in words and structures in order to
provide balance to sentences and
paragraphs. Just as a parallel shape
has two lines with the same distance
between them, a parallelism ensures
you have balance with your language.
• Yara loves running, to swim,
and then biking.
• Yara loves running, swimming,
and biking.
• Lacking parallelism:
“She likes cooking,
jogging, and to read.”
Parallel: “She likes
cooking, jogging, and
reading.” Parallel: “She
likes to cook, jog, and
read.
 Effective Use of
Parallelism and
Repetition • “Until we get equality in
parallelism can also education, we won’t have
involve repeated an equal society.” –Justice
words or repeated phrases. Sonya Sotomayor.
These uses are part of
“rhetoric” (a field that focuses
on persuading readers).
 03
Verb
Tenses
 Give the learner examples of verb
tenses for those verbs most
commonly used incorrectly, and have
the learner keep the examples for
reference.
Create a list of those verbs the
learner most commonly uses
incorrectly. This list will
become the guide for learning
activities in verb tenses.
Draft an agreement with the learner
stipulating what behavior is required Select a peer to model the
(e.g., using correct verb tenses) and correct use of verb tenses for
which reinforcement will be the learner.
implemented when the agreement
has been met.
 Teach the learner what changes
Get the learner to finish written
must be made in a verb to indicate
worksheets in which they must
when an event happened (e.g., past,
supply the correct verb
present, future).
tense to go in the sentence (e.
g., “Yesterday I __ to my house.”
).
 Get the learner to pick out the
Provide the learner
correct verb tense on multiple-
specific verb tenses and have
choice worksheets (e.g., “Tomorrow
them supply appropriate
she __ [ate, eat, will eat] her supper.”).
sentences to go with each (e.g.,
played: “John played at my
house last night.”).
 Get the learner to write sentences Get the learner to listen to
with given verbs in past, present, and examples of incorrect verb
future tenses. tenses and then find each error
and correct it.
 Give the learner the
appropriate learning materials to
Show a sequence of sentences
finish the task (e.g., pencil with
and ask the learner to change
eraser, paper, dictionary,
the tense from past to present,
handwriting sample, etc.). Make
present to future, etc.
sure the learner has only those
appropriate learning materials on
the desk.
Provide the learner a sequence of
sentences (both oral and written)
and ask them to indicate whether
each is grammatically correct.
Ask the parents to encourage
the learner’s correct use
of verb tenses by praising
them when grammar is
appropriate.
Discuss the importance of correct
written communication and what
would happen if the verb
tenses were used incorrectly (e.g.,
confusion as to when an event took
place).
 03

Capitalization
 After checking the
student’s work, require
them to make all
appropriate corrections
in capitalization.
 Inspect the student’s work
at several points
throughout a task to make
sure the student is
capitalizing where needed.
 Display
a capitalization rules chart
in the front of the
classroom.
 Place emphasis on one rule
of capitalization until the
student masters that rule, then
move on to another rule (e.g.,
proper names, cities, states,
streets, etc.).
 Get the student to take part in
writing learning activities that
should cause them to do as
well as possible in
capitalization and other writing
skills (e.g., writing letters to a
friend, rock star, famous
 Get the student to practice
writing words that are always
capitalized (e.g., countries,
 Teach the student
bodies of water, nationalities,
capitalization at each level
languages, capitols, days of
before introducing a new skill
the week, months of the year,
level.
etc.).
 Get the student to practice
 Spotlight all the capitalized
correct capitalization by
letters in a passage or
providing the student with
paragraph and have the
several sentences with errors
student explain why each is
on the smartboard or
capitalized.
overhead projector. The
student is then expected to
 Create a notebook of rules
correct
for capitalization to be used to
the capitalization errors and
proofread work.
 04

Punctuatio
n
 Display a chart of
punctuation rules in front of
the classroom.
 Teach the learner what all
punctuation marks look like
and their uses.
 Make sure the learner
receives instruction in the
rules of punctuation (e.g.,
periods belong at the end
of sentences, question
marks are used when a
question is asked, etc.).
 Get the learner to keep a list
of basic rules of punctuation
at their desk to use as a
reference when writing (e.g.,
use a period at the end of a
sentence, etc.)
 Provide the learner
sentences requiring them to
fill in specific punctuation
they are learning to use (e.g.,
periods, commas, question
marks, etc.).
 Provide the learner a set of
three cards: one with a period,
one with a question mark, and
one with an exclamation point.  Provide the learner a list of
As you read a sentence to the sentences in which the
learner, have them hold up the punctuation has been omitted.
appropriate punctuation card. Get the learner to supply the
correct punctuation.
 Get the learner to
practice correct punctuations  After checking the learner’s
on the smartboard by providing work, require them to make
the learner with several all appropriate corrections in
sentences with errors. The punctuation.
learner is then expected to
correct the punctuation errors
and discuss them with the
teacher.
 Create games to practice
punctuation
 Group checking of the use of
punctuation
 Let them read, read and read.
 Get the learner to take part
in writing learning
activities that should cause
them to do as well as
possible on punctuation and
other writing skills (e.g.,
writing letters to a friend,
rock star, famous athlete,
etc.).
References

Benwell T. (2022). Writing Prompt – Commonly Misspelled Words.

Retrieved from: https://www.englishclub.com/efl/writing-prompts/
spelling/?
fbclid=IwAR2eiJojUGyz1tENiInt6GWUTay0QuQItkf5TSR4mUljk-
lF7h9bpBspxso
Sentence Construction. Retrieved from: https://courses.lumenlearning.
com/englishcomp1/chapter/sentence-construction/?
fbclid=IwAR2xrSXimCDLjh46Bfdkr45Ghmi5V75GKwDaFIS_13Ulb8B6irM
0Js3CMbw
References
Lynch M. (2021). 16 Strategies to help students who do not use correct
verb tenses while writing. Retrieved from: https://www.theedadvocate.
org/16-strategies-to-help-students-who-do-not-use-correct-verb-tenses-
while-writing/?fbclid=IwAR0WciO9J8-
hwv3alEhB9fHKBHfuad3bgL03PpJaeyznK-V_KQNOj1ArGA8

Punctuation. Retrieved from:

https://www.theedadvocate.org/16-strategies-for-teaching-students-to-
use-punctuation/

Capitalization. Retrieved from:

https://pedagogue.app/15-strategies-to-help-learners-who-use-
capitalization-incorrectly-while-writing/