Name:Period:

The Dirty Dozen

Keep your work clean. Do not make these 12 mistakes that will make your work “dirty.” Youwill lose two points per infraction!

Directions: Study each rule and complete the practice sections. Do your best throughout the entire packet because we will randomly choose sections to grade.

Dirty Dozen Rule #1:

Do not spell these commonly misspelled words incorrectly. Learn how to spell these or lose two points every time you don’t spell them correctly in your writing! More will be added as the year goes on.

  • Believe (not belive)
  • Definitely (not defiantly)
  • Opinion (not opion)
  • Character (not charcter)
  • Chose/choose (one is past tense one is present tense)

Practice: Study the correct spelling and quiz yourself or have someone else quiz you.

Dirty Dozen Rule #2:

IT’S vs. ITS: Know which to use when!

  • It’s is a contraction for it is. Place that apostrophe in between it and the s when you mean to say it is and use the contraction it’s.

It’s a fact that my students make this mistake on a daily basis.

She said that it’s the one on the left.

  • Its is a possessive pronoun.

The dog chased its tail for 20 minutes.

The house shook and its shutters slammed viciously against the windows.

PRACTICE: Write its or it’s on the correct line.

  1. The bear showed ______teeth and roared loudly.
  1. ______time to turn the clocks back soon.
  1. The cat licked ______whiskers after ______meal.
  1. About the report, Molly said that ______due on the last day of the month.
  1. Applesauce is delicious; ______best served with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

Dirty Dozen Rule #3:

Know vs. No: Know when to say no!

Do you know when to use “know” and when to use “no”? Always show that you know and don’t make me scream, “NOOOOOOOOOO!”

  • To know something is to have knowledge of it. Come on! You know this!
  • No means no…that’s a negative…do we really need to do exercises for this one? NO! But we will do some anyway!

PRACTICE: Write no or know on the line.

  1. He does not ______his times tables.
  1. Do you ______when my birthday is?
  1. ______! I do not like strawberry ice cream.
  1. She ______how to make the best pies!

Dirty Dozen Rule #4:

Than vs. Then

  • Than is a conjunction used for comparison:

Ten is greater than five.

I ate much less pasta than Steven who ate an entire pound!

  • Thenhas numerous meanings.

1. At that point in time:

I wasn't ready then.

Will you be home at noon? I'll call you then.

2. Next, afterward

I went to the store, and then to the bank.

Do your homework and then go to bed.

3. In addition, also, on top of that

He told me he was leaving, and then that I owed him money.

It cost $5,000, and then there's tax too.

4. In that case, therefore (often with "if")

If you want to go, then you'll have to finish your homework.

I'm hungry!
Then you should eat.

PRACTICE

In the space provided, write three sentences using than, then write three sentences using then.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Dirty Dozen Rule #5:

You’re vs. Your: You’regoing to need to knowyourrule here! You do not want to have points taken away fromyourgrade becauseyou’renot being careful!

  • You’re is a contraction of the words you and are:

You’re my BFF.

Did anyone ever tell you that you’re rude? Well let me be the first!

  • Your is a possessive pronoun; it shows ownership.

Natalie, Can we study at your house after school?

Tim, Mrs. Baughman found your book on the floor after LA class.

PRACTICE: Fill in the blank with your or you’re.

  1. ______face was on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
  1. I heard ______alarm clock going off this morning at 6am.
  1. If ______late for class, you will get a lunch detention.
  1. Tina, ______musical talents will be featured up on the stage tonight.
  1. Please sign out by the door if ______going to the restroom.

Dirty Dozen Rule #6:

There, They’re, Their

What's the difference between their, there, and they're? They're really not that complicated; once you understand their differences,there shouldn't be any more confusion.

  • Theiris the third person plural possessive adjective, used to describe something as belong to them. Their is nearly always followed by a noun.

Where is their car?

Are these their pens?

Their books are on the table.

  • Therehas several different uses.

1. Adverb that means the opposite of "here"

He's over there.

Stop right there.

2. Pronoun that introduces a noun or clause.

There is something strange going on.

Is there a phone?

3. Adjective that emphasizes which person.

That guy there seems to be in trouble.

Those there look good.

4. Noun that means "that place."

From there, we drove to Boston.

I'm not going in there!

  • They'reis the contraction of "they are" and is often followed by the present participle (verb form ending in -ing).

They're going to be late.

Is that what they're saying?

I think they're lying.

PRACTICE: Write their, there, or they’re on the correct line.

1. This is ______room and this is ours.

2. If ______ready, we can go.

3. When ______older, they'll understand.

4. Do you want to sit here or ______?

5. What happened to ______dog?

6. Did you eat at ______house again?

7. I can't believe ______not here yet!

8. Put that envelope on the table over ______.

Dirty Dozen Rule #7:

To, Too, and Two: What's the difference between to, too, and two? It's not too difficult to use them. Take more than two minutes of time to learn what they mean – and do some practicing too.

  • To has two (2) functions. First, as a preposition, in which case it always precedes a noun.

I'm going to the store.

He went toItaly.

Secondly, toindicates an infinitive when it precedes a verb.

I need to study.

We want to help.

  • Tooalso has two uses. First, as a synonym for "also":

Can I go too?

I think that's Paul's book too.

Secondly, toomeans excessively when it precedes an adjective or adverb.

I'm too tired.

He's walking too quickly.

  • Twois a number.

One, two, three...

I have two cars.

PRACTICE: Write to, two, or too on the correct line.

1. This belongs ______David.

2. He's going ______eat.

3. I ate ______much at lunch, and now I am uncomfortable.

4. She ate ______pieces of pie.

5. Take these papers ______the office for me, please.

6. ______of my favorite hobbies are cooking and reading.

7. I heard that she is a big Bruno Mars fan ______!

8. ______earn a good grade on the test, I need ______study for ______hours tonight.

Dirty Dozen #8:

All texting abbreviations are banned; use Standard English spellings!

PRACTICE: Write the correct Standard English versions of these text talk abbreviations, which are only a few of the ones I see used into my students’ work. These are not the only ones banned; they’re just a few! All text talk is forbidden!

Text Abbreviation / Standard English
u
LOL
ur
w/o
2nite
B4
IDC
IDK
K

Dirty Dozen Rule #9:

Capitalization: Capitalize the first word of a sentence, proper nouns, and the pronoun I.

PRACTICE: Correct the following sentences by making capitalization edit marks beneath letters that need to be capitalized.

  1. mrs. baughman’s room is in the middle hallway of memorial middle school.
  1. we went to south carolina for our vacation this year.
  1. maddie baughman likes to sing one direction songs in the shower.
  1. patty and i are on a mission to try every flavor of rita’s water ice.
  1. i was not happy at the ocean city beach yesterday when a seagull pooped on me.

Dirty Dozen Rule #10:

Titles of whole works are underlined (or italicized when typed). Larger works such as books, movies, CDs, newspapers, and magazines should always be underlined or italicized.

I enjoy reader The New Yorker, a magazine filled with stories, poetry, and articles.

Currently, I am reading a novel entitled The Life of Pi.

Dirty Dozen Rule #11:

Use quotation marks to show that a work is a short story, poem, song, and works that are part of a collection.

My favorite poem is “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

Do you like the song “The Scientist” by Coldplay?

PRACTICE for rules #10 and #11: Indicate if a work is a larger work by underlining the title; indicate if a work is a shorter work by placing quotations around the title.

  1. My husband must read his newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, on the weekends.
  1. Do you subscribe to the magazine called Sports Illustrated?
  1. Have you ever heard the song Rapper’s Delight?
  1. Lemonade Mouth is a great movie about five kids who don’t feel like they truly fit in at school.
  1. In LA class, we just finished reading a short story called Raymond’s Run.

Dirty Dozen Rule #12:

Use proper punctuation at the end of a sentence. Seems simple but students these days do not place periods at the end of their sentences or question marks at the end of questions! And one exclamation point will suffice to show that the sentence is exclamatory. No multiple exclamation points!

No PRACTICE needed. You know how to do it, so just do it!