Careless Errors, Gone in a Snip, by Marion Lee Caldwell

No, not a snap – in this self-monitoring system, kids snip inches from a meter strip when they make "No Excuse" mechanics mistakes

These students have discovered a "careless" error in their work and are cutting the required number of centimeters from their meter strip.

Every class has strengths and weaknesses. Last year, my fifth graders didn't use capital letters. Out of 74 maps that I graded, fewer than half had the names of places capitalized. Some students didn't begin sentences with capital letters, and a few didn't even capitalize their own names. My team teachers had observed the same tendency, as well as students' frequent misspellings of common words such as "does." Within days, we discovered another trend: no-name papers. We spent a lot of time tracking down owners of nameless assignments.

Further research showed that the students' carelessness was showing up in assessments. My students' portfolios were "below proficient" in 12 of the 20 district writing assessments. Almost one-third of my students scored "below proficient" in the mechanics subcontent area of the CSAP (Colorado Student Assessment Program). This area is described as: "Student knows and uses conventions correctly including spelling, capitalization and punctuation."

Clearly, something had to be done. How could I get my students to perform what they already knew how to do? Somehow I had to get the students to take this responsibility.

I realized a radical approach would be needed to get the children's attention. After an arduous session of grading endless simple errors in a pile of book reports, I put a plan into action.

The rules of the game.
I cut sentence strips into one-meter lengths and gave one to each child. Students were instructed to mark their meter strips at centimeter intervals. Then I told them the rules of this "game." Every time a student forgot to use a capital letter, he or she would have to cut one centimeter from the meter strip. I gave out a list of "No Excuse" spelling words. Misspelling any of these would also cost one centimeter. Since run-on sentences were appearing regularly, I instituted a three-centimeter penalty. The largest penalty was reserved for no-name papers: five centimeters.

Discovering success.
I then outlined the incentive. In a few months, students would initial all of their remaining centimeters, cut them apart and enter them into a drawing. Ten winners would get an hour of "discovery time" (free choice time) while the rest of the class did schoolwork. From my perspective, an hour of missed instruction was a small price to pay in exchange for kids forming the habit of performing as instructed. Students could easily see that the fewer mistakes they made, the better their chances were of winning discovery time.

Responsibility ramps up.
The plan was initiated September 23rd. Within two weeks, I started to notice dramatic changes in the written work my students submitted. Students were asking questions about what constituted a run-on sentence. Grading became easier and less time-consuming. Fewer no-name papers appeared.

One day I was explaining to my students that they'd misspelled words that were right there – correctly spelled in the question. Nick raised his hand and said, "Mrs. Caldwell, we should lose a centimeter if we misspell a word that's anywhere on the same page." I complimented the genius of his suggestion, and we added the rule. Ironically, Nick was the first to lose a centimeter as a result of his own rule, but he was a good sport about it. Papers became even more readable as students monitored their own spelling.

About a month after beginning our experiment with the meter strips, I asked my students to write a reflective paragraph answering the prompt: "How has the meter strip changed the way you do your work?" Some of their responses follow.

"...I have a hard time spelling. Now when I spell I think about the meter strip. I look in my quick word dictionary and I sound it out. I think the meter strip helps tremendously." –Jamie

"...I revise my work and don't write as many run-on sentences. My goal for the meter strips is to only have to cut off 10 or less. I think the meter strips are a good way of making your writing better!" –Nichole

"...I was doing a literacy packet and I spelled a word wrong and I didn't know how to spell it. So I looked up to the directions to find the word and I didn't have to cut a centimeter off." –Greg

Long-term benefits.
Just before winter break, we had the drawing for "discovery time." By then, the remaining centimeters ranged from 33 to 99. I didn't want anybody's chances to diminish to the point where they might get too discouraged to keep trying. It was time to put our meter strips away and celebrate the careful, mindful work of the past three months.

The experiment was fun, and I noticed that conscientious writing habits continued after the students returned from winter vacation. Students were taking responsibility for performing what they had learned.

I'm confident that my students' conventions and mechanics scores will show improvement in this year's assessments. I haven't had to correct the spelling of "does" in a very long time!

Marion Lee Caldwell is a fifth grade teacher at Marshdale Elementary in Jefferson County, CO.