Summit first graders are calling on the C. O. P. S. to patrol their writing. Using the acronym C. O. P. S., students are applying an editing strategy by actively looking for appropriate capitalization, organization, punctuation, and spelling. Initially, students will practice this strategy as we check sentences through the daily review. Once students have a firm grasp of each step, they will be encouraged and supported in applying the C. O. P. S. strategy in their own writing.
C – Students will check for capitalization at the beginning of the sentence, in titles, and in proper nouns.
O – Students will check for word spaces, legible handwriting, and complete thoughts. They will be encouraged to read sentences out loud asking whether or not it sounds right.
P – Students will check that sentences end with the correct form of punctuation and that commas and apostrophes are used appropriately. For first grade, this entails using a comma in a series and an apostrophe in a contraction.
S – Students will check that words are spelled correctly.
