Proof-Reading + Editing ESL Reading and Writing Activity

I’m all about ESL warm-ups. It’s hard for our students if we lead right into the main lesson without giving them a chance to warm up their brains, and start thinking, talking, reading and writing in English. It’s also the perfect opportunity to do some review of the things I’ve taught in previous classes. One of the best ones that focus on reading and writing skills is proofreading and editing.

Many of my warm-ups you’ll see online are loud, active, partner or group focused and require speaking. I like to use a few quieter, individual ones that I know some of the more introverted students appreciate. Proof-reading and editing is one of these quieter activities. It’s also a nice choice for teaching English as a second language online. and it’s also ideal for fostering student autonomy in English writing classes.

Keep on reading for all the details you need to know about this ESL editing activity.

Proof-Reading & Editing ESL Activity

Skills: Writing

Materials Required: Worksheet/whiteboard/PowerPoint, workbook

To keep proper grammar usage fresh in your students’ minds, they should practice frequently. This doesn’t need to be a full grammar lesson; a quick warm-up can do the trick.

You can give your students a variety of errors to correct: word choice, subject and verb agreement, word order, punctuation, passive vs active voice, capitalization, modals, etc. You can give them a worksheet if you have time to prepare it. Otherwise, put a few sentences on the PowerPoint and students can write the correct sentence or passage in their notebooks.

Editing and proof-reading makes an excellent ESL warm-up activity for kids as well as adults. It’s a key concept in academic English as well. It can take only a minute, or up to 10, depending on how difficult you make it. This activity can also reinforce a huge number of concepts—spelling, punctuation, grammar, vocabulary, etc. Just about anything really!

Teaching Tips for ESL Proof-Reading:

Begin by asking students a few review questions about whatever rules they are practicing. (“When do you use capital letters?” or “What is a run-on sentence? How can you fix it?”)

Also do one example sentence with them so they have a clear idea of what they need to do for the rest of them.

Procedure for this Proof-Reading & Editing Warm-Up:

1. In advance, prepare a worksheet or PowerPoint, or write several sentences on the whiteboard. You could even take a previous workbook activity and reproduce it.

2. The sentences or passage should practice previously studied points of grammar by having errors of that sort: word choice, word order, punctuation, capitalization, transitions and conjunctions, etc. (more conjunction activities here).

3. Have students correct the errors. If they are working from a PowerPoint or the white board, have them write the sentences or passage correctly in their notebooks.

4. Go over the answers to this ESL proofreading activity quickly as a class.

You can also use this exercise as a homework activity, or you can use it as a quiz or test. Need more ideas? Check out these Whiteboard Games.

Proofreading Worksheets and Exercises

If you’re looking for some proofreading practice worksheets, I have some good news for you. There are a ton of great resources online that you can just print off and use with your students. Here are some of the best ones:

ISL Collective

English for Everyone

ESL Printables

Do you Like this ESL Proofreading Activity?

If you liked this proof-reading and editing ESL warm-up activity, then you’re going to love this book: 39 ESL Warm-Ups for Teenagers and Adults. Get your classes started off in style and help your students focus on the lesson ahead. There is a wide variety of ESL warm-up games and activities to keep your students excited about what you’ll come up with to start off the class for an entire semester!

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Check out 39 ESL Warm-Ups on Amazon today, but only if you want to get yourself some serious ESL awesome in your life.

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Have your Say about ESL Editing and Proofreading

What are your thoughts about this warm-up activity for English learners? Or, did you use it for an ESL writing exercise? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

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More Ideas for Teaching Writing

Last update on 2022-06-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API