Spelling Counts

Spell checkers are great tools but they function even better when you know when and why they work.

1. Find the spell checker in your word processor. Look under the Edit or Tools menu, check the manual, or ask someone who may know.
   
2. Select Check Spelling, Check Document, or Writing Tools. Then choose Check Document Spelling to search your whole paper or Check Selection Spelling to examine one highlighted word. The computer will search your writing for words not in its dictionary. When it finds such a word, it stops and displays the word in a window, along with a list of words that are spelled correctly. These are words your computer thinks you intended to type.
   
3. It's up to you to decide if:

• the highlighted word is indeed misspelled or is just an unusual word--maybe a proper name, a scientific term, or a place perhaps that's not listed in the word processor's dictionary. You'll need to check another dictionary (or ask your parents or teacher) if you think the word is correct.
  
• one of the words in the correct list is the one you really want. If so, double-click on the word (or click Change) and it will automatically replace the misspelled word in the paragraph.

Now you are ready to take a last look at your final draft.