FeedWacky Wednesday: Using Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) for Editing Practice
September 24, 2009 in Elementary Educators, six traits of writing, Wacky Wednesday Tags: Advanced Reader Copies, Editing lessons, Editing practice, Writing process
by mrbill www.flickr.com
Here’s a Wacky Wednesday idea I had just the other day when I luckily received an Advanced Reader Copy of Al Capone Shines My Shoes for review. Although there are not many mistakes in it, there were some. I gave away the ARC to a lucky reader of my blog who left a comment, but then I wondered if a lot of people didn’t want an ARC because of the mistakes, especially teachers.
But then that wacky brain of mine kept thinking, and I wondered if we could use ARCs in the classroom with students to meet a couple language arts objectives.
1. Use ARCs to work on editing skills. You would need to read the ARC ahead of your students and find the page/pages where there are mistakes. Then copy the mistake on the board or photo copy (ONLY THAT PAGE–WATCH OUT FOR COPYRIGHT laws) the mistake and see if students can edit the ARC. They will get a kick out of finding the mistakes in a book that is going to be published.
2. Use ARCs to teach the writing process. Older elementary, junior high, and high school students may be interested in the process a book goes through before it gets on the shelf. An ARC is a living example of the process.
Where can you get ARCs?
This is something else I was thinking about. I get some ARCs because I review books for this blog and the local newspaper. If you know any authors, they may have ARCs they could loan you. What about the reviewer who reviews books for your local paper? We are not allowed to keep these books for ethical reasons, so maybe you can work out a deal with a reviewer to get some ARCS.
Anyone know any other ways?
September 29th, 2009 at 2:23 am
This is a great idea! My students love finding mistakes in books that have been printed. (Sometimes they are actual mistakes and sometimes it’s a great learning opportunity for students. A common one is students thinking the author “left out” punctuation marks at the end of a paragraph.)
If you have any ARCs to share, pass ‘em along… : )
September 29th, 2009 at 2:27 am
Thanks, Ann. I only have adult ARCs right now, but if I get a kid one, I will let you know!
Margo