| Exemplary Prose: |
| Essential Writing Skills in Context |
Proofread for common spelling errors including homophone pairs too/to,
there/their, our/are.
Spelling is one of those topics that can really get the English teachers talking around the water cooler. Many teachers believe that spelling is of the utmost importance in writing and if a child doesn't spell well it will hurt their writing score. Others recognize the importance of spelling, mainly for the purpose of communicating, but don't think it's imperative that every student master spelling. I fall in the middle. I still remember getting an F on an essay I turned in to my sixth grade teacher because I spelled separated wrong three times. Luckily, those days of subjective grading are gone thanks to the six point writing rubric, which only looks at spelling as a part of your writing.
For the purpose of the HSGQE, I would advise you to consciously try to learn common words and homonyms. Don't misspell simple, common words such as school, store, or America. Be careful when using contractions. Don't write your when you mean you're. Avoid writing our when you mean are. And whatever you do, don't confuse their with they're (or there, for that matter). If you would like to practice these confusing words, look for the homonym page in the Printable Worksheet section.
Below is a sample question on spelling from the HSGQE writing practice test.
In the paragraph below, there are five mistakes
in capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. List each mistake and its
correction on a separate piece of paper.
Answer: The paragraph should read as follows:
The film, Star Wars, is a creation by George Lucas about a young man, Luke Skywalker, who discovers his true strength of character through adversity. Driven to join the rebellion against the Empire after the deaths of his aunt and uncle, Luke befriends Han Solo, a smuggler with troubles of his own. Together they rescue Princess Leia and destroy the Empire's Death Star.