1 - Introduction ~5 mins
Welcome
Your Something Real proposal is nearly ready to share with a real reader: a work-experience supervisor, a club officer, a local business, or your teacher. Before anyone else sees it, you need a clean pass for typos and awkward sentences. Built-in spell-check and grammar tools catch a lot, but they also miss things a careful human ear still has to find.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Run spell-check and grammar check and decide which suggestions to accept
- Add words to the dictionary when appropriate
- Explain tool limits including homophones, proper nouns and context
- Proof your proposal with tools plus a human read-aloud pass and record the changes you made
Warm-up
Which of these would a spell-checker almost certainly miss: recieve, Gaelscoil, or We need stationary for the stall? Hold your answer in your head. You will test the idea in a few minutes.
2 - Key Concepts ~6 mins
Proofing is a two-pass job: machine first, human second. Start with how that looks in practice, then name the tools.
Worked example: Aoife’s pitch
Aoife is writing a short enterprise pitch for custom phone cases at a local market. Her draft said:
I am openning a small stall at the market in Galway. There cases will use GAA colours. I will recieve stock from a printer in Cork. We need stationary for the price tags. The Gaelscoil fundraiser is my first test of demand.
- Tool pass: spell-check caught openning (fix to opening) and recieve (fix to receive). It flagged Gaelscoil — Aoife added that word to the dictionary instead of changing it. Some tools may also offer a fix for There cases; if yours does, accept it with care.
- Human pass: reading aloud, she heard stationary (not moving) when she meant stationery (paper and tags). Spell-check stayed quiet because both are real English words.
- Your turn: you will paste the same sample, run the tools, then listen for what they miss.
| Concept | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Spell-check — underlines words it does not recognise and suggests replacements | Typos make a real reader doubt your idea early | recieve flagged, then fixed to receive |
| Grammar check — flags sentence patterns it thinks are wrong | A clean sentence is easier for a supervisor to act on | There cases may become Their cases if that is what you mean |
| Add to dictionary — teaches the tool a word you use on purpose is allowed | Irish and club names get flagged forever unless you add them once | Gaelscoil, Intreo, or your GAA club name |
| Tool limits — tools miss some wrong-but-real words, meaning, and rhythm | Accept All can keep wrong real words and change correct local ones | stationary for paper can look fine until a human hears stationery |
The read-aloud pass is the second half of the habit: read slowly (whisper or mouth the words is fine) or use Read Aloud if available, so your ear notices missing words, wrong real words, and sentences you would not say to a work-experience supervisor.
3 - Step-by-step Task ~15 mins
Open a temporary scratch file, paste a short practice paragraph with planted mistakes, run spell-check and grammar tools, choose which suggestions to accept, add one correct local word to the dictionary, then do a read-aloud pass. This is training only — your real portfolio proofing comes next.
Paste-ready sample (copy exactly, mistakes included):
I am openning a small stall at the market in Galway. There cases will use GAA colours. I will recieve stock from a printer in Cork. We need stationary for the price tags. The Gaelscoil fundraiser is my first test of demand.
4 - Common Issues ~3 mins
Common Issues
Keep this table open as a quick reference while you practise and while you proof your real proposal. You do not need to copy it.
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| I cannot find Editor or Spelling and grammar | In Word for the web look under the Review tab for Editor (sometimes labelled spelling and grammar). In Google Docs open Tools, then Spelling and grammar. You can also right-click any red or blue underline on a word (Chromebook: two-finger tap or Alt+click). |
| A correct Irish name or place keeps getting flagged | Right-click the word and add it to the dictionary (Word) or personal dictionary (Docs). Do not “fix” a correct local name just to clear the underline. |
| Spell-check says the document is clean but a sentence still sounds wrong | That is normal. Read the line out loud (whisper is fine). Watch for wrong real words (stationary/stationery, principle/principal), homophones (their/there/they’re), and missing little words. |
| I accepted a suggestion and now the sentence is worse | Use Undo with {{kbd:Ctrl+Z}} (Windows/Chromebook) or {{kbd:Cmd+Z}} (Mac), then choose Ignore or a different suggestion. Decide one suggestion at a time. |
5 - Independent Practice ~20 mins
Independent Practice
If the pane feels noisy, slow down and decide one suggestion at a time. Undo is always there.
- Open your Project Portfolio folder, then open {{code:03_documents}}, then open {{code:03_proposal_draft}}. Fallback: if you do not have that file yet, create {{code:03_proposal_draft}} in {{code:03_documents}}, paste or write 4–5 sentences about your own Something Real idea, then continue with the same two-pass proof.
- Tool pass: In Word for the web use {{menu:Review -> Editor}} (sometimes labelled spelling and grammar). In Google Docs use {{menu:Tools -> Spelling and grammar -> Spelling and grammar check}}. Accept or ignore each suggestion on purpose. Add correct project or local names to the dictionary (right-click the word; on a Chromebook use a two-finger tap or Alt+click).
- Human pass: read the whole proposal slowly. Whisper or mouth the words if you prefer. Fix wrong real words, missing words, and anything you would not say to a supervisor.
- At the end of the same file, add this Proofing log template and fill it in:
Proofing log
Tool: … (or write Tool found nothing / only one issue)
Tool: … (optional second line if you found more)
Read-aloud: … (or write one sentence you checked and why it was already clear) - Keep the file named {{code:03_proposal_draft}} in {{code:03_documents}}. Cloud auto-saves, so do not rename it or export it away from the portfolio folder.
- {{code:03_proposal_draft}} reads cleanly with no obvious red underlines left unresolved (fixed, ignored on purpose, or added to the dictionary)
- At the end of the file, heading Proofing log with at least one Tool line and one Read-aloud line filled in (optional second Tool line when more issues appear; use the nothing-to-fix note if a pass found nothing)
- At least one honest human-pass outcome is logged (a fix you heard, or a clear sentence you verified)
- File still named {{code:03_proposal_draft}}, saved in {{code:03_documents}}, and still sounds like your real project — bankable document evidence for your Key Assignment portfolio strand
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