Using Grammar to Improve Writing


Book Description

How we frame grammar instruction matters. If you view it as "fixing incorrect sentences," you teach it that way. If you view it as "building strong, compelling sentences," you take a different approach. Using Grammar to Improve Writing explains a new way to teach grammar--systematically and purposefully--in order to strengthen student writing. It offers detailed guidance on which grammar standards to teach when and how to use grammatical forms to capture ideas. This new approach will enable students to write more efficiently and effectively.Using Grammar to Improve Writing answers these questions: -What should we STOP doing?-How can we teach grammar more effectively and integrate it with writing more systematically?-How can we help students who are not on grade level?-Which other factors affect how well we write?-What should we teach, grade by grade, in K-12 ELA?Though pitched as a grammar instructional manual, this is secretly a book about how to teach students how to write clearly. It should be useful not only to K-12 educators but also to college writing instructors and writers interested in strengthening their practice.




The Literacy Cookbook


Book Description

Proven methods for teaching reading comprehension to all students The Literacy Cookbook is filled with classroom-tested techniques for teaching reading comprehension to even the most hard-to-reach students. The book offers a review of approaches that are targeted for teaching reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. The book also includes information on how to connect reading, writing, and test prep. Contains accessible and easy-to-adopt recipes for strengthening comprehension, reading, writing, and oral fluency. Terrific resources are ready for download on the companion website. The materials in this book are aligned with the English Language Arts Common Core Standards The website includes an ELA Common Core Tracking Sheet, a handy resource when writing or evaluating curriculum.







Academic Writing and Grammar for Students


Book Description

Grappling with grammar? Struggling with punctuation? Whether you′re writing an essay or assignment, report or dissertation, this useful guide shows you how to improve the quality of your work at university – fast – by identifying and using the correct use of English grammar and punctuation in your academic writing. Using tried and tested advice from student workshops, Alex Osmond shares practical examples that illustrate common mistakes, and shows you how to avoid them. You’ll also discover guidance on: Writing structure – the what and how of crafting sentences and paragraphs Conciseness – how to express your point succinctly and clearly, showing you understand the topic Effective proofreading – the importance of the final ‘tidy up’, so your work is ready to hand in Referencing – common systems, and how to reference consistently (and avoid plagiarism). This new edition also includes separate chapters on critical thinking and referencing, exploring each topic in more detail, and learning outcomes in every chapter, so you can identify what new skills you’ll take away. The Student Success series are essential guides for students of all levels. From how to think critically and write great essays to planning your dream career, the Student Success series helps you study smarter and get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips and resources for study success!




Grammar to Enrich & Enhance Writing


Book Description

In this book, the author looks at what's wrong with the way grammar has been taught traditionally, and outlines current theories, research, and principles underlying grammar instruction for writing, advocating that grammar instruction be incorporated throughout the writing process, not broken out into isolated units. She offers teaching ideas and lesson plans for primary and secondary students, and gathers practicing teachers to describe their methods for responding to student errors, helping English language learners, and supporting code switching among speakers of African American English. Exercises for students and examples of student work at all levels are included.




Mechanically Inclined


Book Description

Some teachers love grammar and some hate it, but nearly all struggle to find ways of making the mechanics of English meaningful to kids. As a middle school teacher, Jeff Anderson also discovered that his students were not grasping the basics, and that it was preventing them from reaching their potential as writers. Jeff readily admits, “I am not a grammarian, nor am I punctilious about anything,” so he began researching and testing the ideas of scores of grammar experts in his classroom, gradually finding successful ways of integrating grammar instruction into writer's workshop. Mechanically Inclined is the culmination of years of experimentation that merges the best of writer's workshop elements with relevant theory about how and why skills should be taught. It connects theory about using grammar in context with practical instructional strategies, explains why kids often don't understand or apply grammar and mechanics correctly, focuses on attending to the “high payoff,” or most common errors in student writing, and shows how to carefully construct a workshop environment that can best support grammar and mechanics concepts. Jeff emphasizes four key elements in his teaching:short daily instruction in grammar and mechanics within writer's workshop;using high-quality mentor texts to teach grammar and mechanics in context;visual scaffolds, including wall charts, and visual cues that can be pasted into writer's notebooks;regular, short routines, like “express-lane edits,” that help students spot and correct errors automatically.Comprising an overview of the research-based context for grammar instruction, a series of over thirty detailed lessons, and an appendix of helpful forms and instructional tools, Mechanically Inclined is a boon to teachers regardless of their level of grammar-phobia. It shifts the negative, rule-plagued emphasis of much grammar instruction into one which celebrates the power and beauty these tools have in shaping all forms of writing.




Improve Your Grammar


Book Description

This new edition of Improve Your Grammar covers all the areas where grammatical mistakes are typically made. Using realistic academic contexts, each unit explains the key grammar in a clear and lively way, and checks understanding with easy-to-use practice exercises that build the user's confidence.




Grammar for Improving Writing and Reading in Secondary School


Book Description

This practical book is chiefly intended to help English teachers tackle an area of the new English programme that causes anxiety and about which a large proportion are still uncertain: grammar. Grammar has been an uncertain classroom topic for many years; taught often as a duty, without real progression. In this book, the latest knowledge about grammar is treated as a central component of the meaning making process, in both reading and writing. Pupils can become better readers and write with greater confidence and control as a result of using this approach to grammar. Teachers of other subjects may also benefit from knowing how to integrate some grammatical teaching into the textual interactions of their lessons.




Reading Reconsidered


Book Description

TEACH YOUR STUDENTS TO READ WITH PRECISION AND INSIGHT The world we are preparing our students to succeed in is one bound together by words and phrases. Our students learn their literature, history, math, science, or art via a firm foundation of strong reading skills. When we teach students to read with precision, rigor, and insight, we are truly handing over the key to the kingdom. Of all the subjects we teach reading is first among equals. Grounded in advice from effective classrooms nationwide, enhanced with more than 40 video clips, Reading Reconsidered takes you into the trenches with actionable guidance from real-life educators and instructional champions. The authors address the anxiety-inducing world of Common Core State Standards, distilling from those standards four key ideas that help hone teaching practices both generally and in preparation for assessments. This 'Core of the Core' comprises the first half of the book and instructs educators on how to teach students to: read harder texts, 'closely read' texts rigorously and intentionally, read nonfiction more effectively, and write more effectively in direct response to texts. The second half of Reading Reconsidered reinforces these principles, coupling them with the 'fundamentals' of reading instruction—a host of techniques and subject specific tools to reconsider how teachers approach such essential topics as vocabulary, interactive reading, and student autonomy. Reading Reconsidered breaks an overly broad issue into clear, easy-to-implement approaches. Filled with practical tools, including: 44 video clips of exemplar teachers demonstrating the techniques and principles in their classrooms (note: for online access of this content, please visit my.teachlikeachampion.com) Recommended book lists Downloadable tips and templates on key topics like reading nonfiction, vocabulary instruction, and literary terms and definitions. Reading Reconsidered provides the framework necessary for teachers to ensure that students forge futures as lifelong readers.




Image Grammar


Book Description

For decades, scholars have urged teachers to integrate grammar and writing, yet few have provided teachers with enough strategies and materials to do so. With this ground-breaking book, Harry Noden meets this need in a unique way.