You have practiced editing a variety of writing throughout this course. It is now time to look at editing practices specific to writing news articles. 

You’ve written GOOD articles. But before you turn them in, edit them — go over the article again, fixing mistakes, maybe rewriting some things — and turn it into a GREAT news article.  Here’s how:

1. Make sure you have included who – what – when – where – why – how.

2. Don’t editorialize . That means, don’t put in what you think or believe.  For example, don’t write:  “Science is the most useful subject you can take in school.”  That’s your opinion and other people might disagree with you.  And, besides, how can you prove it?

3. Write clearly, using simple words. Imagine that you are telling the story to your friend.

4. Check the spelling of all words, especially people’s names.

5. Make sure your quotes are accurate and in the proper form, like this: “I enjoy being a safety patrol,” Carol said.  Remember: the comma goes inside the quote mark.

6. Numbers.  Spell out numbers 1 to 9, and use figures for 10 and above.  For example, “We have two cars and 12 children.”  Spell out a number at the beginning of a sentence.
   
        Wrong:  “120 children are in the fourth grade.”
   
        Right:  “One hundred and twenty children are in the fourth grade.”  Or, “There are     
        120 children in the fourth grade.”
   
   It is OK to start a sentence with the number of a year:  “2001 has been an exciting year.”

Go to your writer's notebook and complete 5.4 Edit Your Story. Once you have completed the exercise upload your writer's notebook to the dropbox.