Page 390 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade8_Flipbook

Editor’s / Writer’s Checklist
Organizational Elements
Does your title express the topic and engage the reader?
Do you have an engaging hook or lead to open your essay?
Do you end your introductory paragraph with a thesis statement that states an opinion on a topic and suggests an organization?
Do you have topic sentences that relate to the thesis statement?
Do your body paragraphs contain detail and commentary to support your topic sentences?
Do you include transitions to link ideas?
Do your body paragraphs contain concluding sentences that also act as transitional statements to the next paragraph?
Have you ended your essay with a strong conclusion that comments on the significance of your thesis ideas?
Sentence Elements
Have you revised to make sure all sentences are complete sentences?
Do your sentences contain vivid verbs and descriptive adjectives when appropriate?
Is the verb tense of your writing consistent? Do the subject and verb agree?
Is pronoun use appropriate and consistent?
Is parallel structure used to advantage and when appropriate?
Do you vary sentence beginnings? Have you started sentences with a subordinate clause?
Are your sentence types (simple, compound, complex) and lengths varied for interest and emphasis?
Have you tried to include figurative and sensory language for effect?
Have you used appositives when appropriate?
Have you checked punctuation use for correctness, especially for appositives, complex sentences and parallel structure?
Have you incorporated and punctuated quoted material correctly?
Graphic Organizers 363
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