These proofreading exercises are embedded into an ongoing, high interest  story.  There are 5 episodes in each story.  In this class, we will do two complete stories. The stories are written about middle school students and their various adventures. 
Proofreading is an essential skill to learn.  It helps students look at their own  writing more  carefully so that they know they are communicating precisely and accurately (and, teachers love it when kids know how to proofread!!). Skills covered will be: spelling, punctuation, commonly confused words, verb tense, 
Lesson plan:
Week One:  we will learn proofreader's marks and discuss why proofreading is essential for final copies of writing. We will read the first segment of the set of stories and proofread them together.  We will discuss what the errors are and why they need fixing. 
Weeks 2-10-- for each successive week, we will review proofreader's marks,  read the next segment of the story and continue with the proofreading process. We will also make predictions about what will happen next in the story and answer comprehension questions.
Week One:  "Watergate" ( not the political scandal!) Part 1: A Pledge for Justice 
Week Two:  "Watergate"   Part 2: The Hunt for Evidence 
Week Three:  "Watergate"  Part 3: Fincher Talks 
Week Four:  "Watergate"  Part 4: Cooper's Speech 
Week FIve:  "Watergate"   Part 5: Mr. Nitman's Decision
Week Six: "Instascam"  Part 1: A Mysterious Instagrammer
Week Seven:  "Instascam" Part 2: From Funny to Frustrating
Week Eight:  "Instascam" Part 3: The Man Behind the Gram
Week Nine:  "Instascam"  Part 4: The Volleyball Picture
Week Ten:  "Instascam" Part 5: Malina's Post
I will choose one specific skill each week to focus on, depending on what errors are found in the story.  
Examples of possible topics:  Capitalization, punctuation, common spelling errors, subject-verb agreement, misuse of adjectives or adverbs, switching verb tense, etc. 
Students will take turns reading and looking for the mistakes.  Through discussion, they will share what errors they found and possible ways to fix those errors.  They will explain how the mistake can lead to less precise and accurate communication. This will help them discover errors in their own writing.