Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Module: Week 14 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objective covered: Objective 7 — Edit locally for grammar and mechanics, correcting the most common surface errors (fragments, comma splices, run-ons, agreement, punctuation). · SLO A

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 14 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday session pattern with Week 14 meeting Tue Dec 1 and Thu Dec 3, and end-of-week work due Sunday Dec 6, 11:59 p.m. Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 14 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 14: Editing — Grammar, Mechanics & Common Errors

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

Last week you revised — you re-saw the big stuff: thesis, structure, argument. This week you do the other pass, the one that happens last: you edit and proofread. Editing is where you fix the surface errors that make a reader trust you less — fragments, comma splices, run-ons, agreement slips, and punctuation mistakes — without changing what you meant. The whole point of this week is a single, high-value habit: slow down and read for one error type at a time. Most surface errors don't survive a careful, out-loud proofread.

The week's big question

"When my ideas are right, how do I catch and fix the small errors that make a reader stop trusting the writing — and how do I do it without breaking my own voice?"

By Friday you'll be able to spot a fragment, a comma splice, and a run-on on sight, fix each in more than one valid way, catch the classic agreement and apostrophe slips, and run a real proofreading pass on a messy paragraph.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all five out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Proofread on purpose — read aloud, slow down, and hunt one error type at a time instead of skimming for "anything wrong."
• [ ] Tell the three sentence-boundary errors apart — a fragment (an incomplete sentence), a comma splice (two complete sentences joined by only a comma), and a run-on / fused sentence (two complete sentences with no punctuation between them).
• [ ] Fix a comma splice or run-on five valid ways — a period; a semicolon; a comma + a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS); subordinating one clause; or a dash/colon where it fits.
• [ ] Catch agreement and reference slips — make the verb match its real subject, and make a pronoun agree with (and clearly point to) what it stands for.
• [ ] Fix the punctuation that trips everyone — commas, its vs. it's, apostrophes for possession vs. contraction, and semicolons.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Heads-up on the AI work: this is the week the chatbot's editing habits get dangerous. Ask it to "fix the grammar" and it will happily over-correct — flattening your voice, changing your meaning, and "fixing" sentences that were already correct. Your job this week is to verify every change it makes, one at a time. The tool drafts; the writer decides what's actually wrong.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. If life happens, reach out before the deadline — I'd much rather hear from you early.

How to succeed this week

• Editing is a separate pass — do it last. Don't try to fix commas while you're still deciding what the paragraph says. Re-see first (that was Week 13); clean up second (that's this week).
• One error type at a time. Read once just for sentence boundaries, again just for apostrophes, again just for agreement. Hunting "everything at once" is how errors slip through.
• Read it aloud. Your ear catches what your eye skips — a run-on makes you run out of breath; a fragment leaves you hanging. It is the single best free proofreading tool you have.
• The test for a sentence boundary is clauses, not length. A short string can be a complete sentence; a long string can still be a fragment. Ask: can each side stand alone? — not is it long?
• A comma is not strong enough to glue two sentences together. That move has a name (a comma splice) and a fix (a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a conjunction).

You don't need to memorize grammar terminology to do well here — you need to slow down and look. Come to class ready to fix some genuinely broken sentences out loud (yes, including a few of mine). See you Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 14

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Nov 30, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Nov 30."

Subject: Week 14 — fix the small stuff that makes readers stop trusting you ✍️

Hi everyone,

Quick gut-check before we start. Read this out loud: "The deadline is tomorrow, I still haven't started my essay." Feel the little stumble in the middle? That's a comma splice — two complete sentences glued together with a comma that isn't strong enough to hold them. By Friday you'll spot that in a second and fix it three different ways without thinking.

This week — Editing: Grammar, Mechanics & Common Errors — we tackle the big question: When my ideas are right, how do I catch and fix the small errors that make a reader stop trusting the writing — without breaking my own voice? We go after the usual suspects: fragments, comma splices, run-ons, subject–verb agreement, and the punctuation that trips everyone (yes, its vs. it's).

Four things not to miss:
1. Lecture Tutorial 14 — drill the error-spotting with one approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) and submit the share link. Due Sun Dec 6.
2. Quiz 14, Discussion 14, and Assignment 14 also close Sun Dec 6 — Quiz 14 is closed to AI; start the discussion early so you have time to reply to two classmates.
3. Writing Studio 14 — "The Proofreading Pass" — our weekly workshop. This week you'll take a paragraph that's a mess of fragments, comma splices, and run-ons, and clean it up the right way. It's hands-on and oddly satisfying.
4. Open the Start Here page first — it lays out everything in order with due dates.

One promise: editing is learnable and mechanical — it is not a mysterious gift some people have. There's a small set of common errors, each with a clear test and a clear fix, and once you know them you'll see (and squash) them everywhere. The flip side this week: a chatbot will gladly "fix your grammar" and quietly rewrite your meaning and your voice in the process. The skill is catching it — the tool drafts, you judge.

Bring a strong opinion to class on whether "correct grammar" is a fixed set of rules or a matter of audience and occasion — we'll argue about it (respectfully) on Thursday.

See you soon,
Prof. Lindgren