1. CONVENTIONS THE MECHANICAL CORRECTNESS OF YOUR PIECE, WHICH HELPS GUIDE THE READER THROUGH THE TEXT BY TUVIA, SALOME AND MIMI

2. CHECK SPELLING Spell words correctly-even if you have to look them up Correct spelling is a like a piece of art

3. PUNCTUATE EFFECTIVELY Apply punctuation accurately and creatively. Make your piece easy to read. Punctuation is like the nuts and bolts of sentences. Without it, they would fall apart.

4. CAPITALIZE CORRECTLY Capitalize the first word of a sentence, proper nouns, titles, abbreviations, and so forth. Capitalize on your writing skills by capitalizing.

5. APPLY GRAMMAR AND USAGE Take standard English seriously. Break the rules only for stylistic reasons. Correct grammar and usage is like a fancy suit.