Sections "B. ORGANIZING" and "C. REVISING" Activities Page    (See also "Activities for Groups.") --- Activities for Sections "B" and "C" Activity 1. Find an old paper to revise.  Find (or think of) an old paper of yours, preferably from a few years earlier.  How would you fix it now?    Activity 2. Write your friends' conversation.  Listen to your friends (or to yourself).  Write down several instances of what was said and how you would write it correctly if placing it in a formal paper. Activity 3. Interview a friend.  Do "2" above, but as an interview of one friend or family member.        Activity 4.  Write several made up conversations. Pretend you are talking with your closest friend or relative and write down something you might say to that person.  Then rewrite it, according to how you would say it to a stranger.  Then write a third version as if you were preparing a paper or, perhaps, a public speech.     Activity 5. Use "circle sentencing" on varied sentence lengths. Practice making varied sentence lengths using circle sentencing. Do this as a whole class: First, everyone should get out a sheet of lined paper, write "1. Once upon a time, ______________," and complete the sentence in an interesting, silly, or unusual way.  Second, everyone should pass this paper to the next person clockwise or in his/her row, read the new paper in front of her, write "2. __[long sentence]__," and complete the blank with something that ties in with #1 and is a long sentence.  Third, everyone should pass his or her paper to the next person, read the new paper in front of her, "3. __[short sentence]__," and complete the blank with something that ties in and is a short sentence.  Continue to pass the papers, add new sentences to each sheet, one at a time, and vary the length of the sentence each time.  In this manner, sentences "2," "4," "6," etc. will be long sentences, and sentences "3," "5," "7," etc. will be short sentences.   Keep the sentences circling for ten to twenty-five minutes.  Then add a final, concluding sentence or two of any kind.  Then read some of the results.  If you wish, choose just a few for your instructor to read: mark the paper in front of you using a scoring system of 4 stars (****; 4 is very interesting, 3 good, 2 okay, 1 not interesting).    Activity 6. Use pairs to practice comma rules.  Break into pairs. Both of you should get out a pen or pencil and paper. Throughout this exercise, both of you will write down the results that you decide on together. (For example, you will decide on a sentence for #2 below: even though it is the same sentence that you choose together, both of you should write it individually on your own paper.) Choose a serious subject or news event about which you both feel strongly and believe similarly. Develop a sentence that states the subject you have chosen and how you feel about it. Both of you then should write this sentence, each of you individually, on your own paper. Next, each of you should write the letter "(a.)." Then look at the comma rules in the "Punctuation" chapter's "Common Comma Rules."   After the "(a.)" you have written, add a sentence that goes along with what you wrote in the previous sentence; however, in this "(a.)" sentence, you must use a comma according to the comma rules as described in Comma Rules A.  This sentence will be a continuation of your discussion of your serious subject. Once you have developed a sentence using Comma Ryule A, then each of you should write it down individually on your own piece of paper. In your sentence on your papers, circle the comma or commas that you have used for Comma Rule A. Next, continue by writing the letter "(b.)" and making up a third sentence using the Comma Rule B. Each of you then should write down this sentence on your own paper. Circle the comma(s) you have inserted because of Comma Rule B. Continue on with Comma Rules C, D, E, and F in the same way, writing a sentence for each and circling the comma(s) in each. Add a brief ending of one or two sentences. If there is time, one individual each from several of the pairs may want to read his or her results, and that person should read aloud the commas—by saying "comma"—whenever the person sees a comma on the page. --- Find more activities for groups and classes in the Home Page section's General Activities for Groups. --- Return to top.