Kirsten Perfilio, Dyslexia Specialist
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Just 'COPS' it!

3/2/2015

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Getting a child to edit his work can be tough, especially if he is a struggling reader and writer.  It can be an overwhelming task: where to begin?

A simple solution is to use a “COPS” sheet.  Cops is an acronym for Capitalization, Overall appearance, Punctuation, and Spelling.  Since the majority of the population, regardless of ability, are visual learners, a poster that includes a picture really helps.  You can get a poster here, and a checklist here.

When your child is finished writing, whether the assignment is a sentence, a paragraph, or an essay, having him self-monitor by using a COPS checklist is helpful.  It breaks down the task of editing so that he is only looking for one thing at a time to fix. 

1.        Capitalization: are the beginnings of all sentences capitalized? Are proper names and places capitalized?  Are there any capitals that don’t belong?

2.       Overall Appearance: do the sentences make sense?  Is there space between the words?  Is it legible?

3.       Punctuation: is the proper punctuation used at the end of each sentence?  Is any additional punctuation where it belongs?

4.       Spelling: are the words spelled correctly?

Basically, your child will be reading over his work four times, looking for one specific thing each time.  I have used this for years with students of all ages, and it works well.  Of course, your child may not find every error in his work, but self-editing will make him more mindful of his writing.

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    Kirsten Perfilio

    Former special education teacher, dyslexia specialist, dyslexia teacher trainer, FDU adjunct professor, mom of two

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     kperfilio@gmail.com     Serving Union County and parts of Middlesex, Somerset, and Morris counties.  
     347-645-4017                 Also available for Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, webcam, phone, and email consultations.
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