Tips and Tricks For Explaining Grammar to Kids Ideas from Getting it Right: Fresh Approaches to Teaching Grammar, Usage, and Correctness (Smith & Wilhelm, 2007) Kate Grindon, PhD JCPS Literacy Goal Clarity Coach

Let’s Start With Your Kids  What is your kids’ biggest area of deficiency?  Mechanics? (punctuation, spelling, quotation marks, etc.)  Grammar? (how sentences are constructed: sentence structure, phrases & clauses)  Usage? (tenses, possessive pronouns)  Be as specific as you can!

JCPS Today  Drop in Language Mechanics scores from 36.3% P/D to 30.3% P/D ( to )  English EXPLORE tests 7 th grade  Consistent drop from 6 th grade writing to 8 th grade writing:  38.8% P/D in 6 th, 29.5% P/D in 8 th ( )  40.2% P/D in 6 th, 25.9% P/D in 8 th ( )  ALL GRADES MATTER!

What We Know  Sentence combining activities and experimentation result in significantly improved writing. (Hillocks, 1986, p. 142)  Should be taught as mini-lessons before writing is turned in or assessed.  Teach one thing at a time, layer on.

Proficient Writing for Standardized Tests:  Effectively and insightfully develops a point of view on the issue  Demonstrates outstanding critical thinking, using clearly appropriate examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its position.  Is well organized and clearly focused, demonstrating clear coherence and smooth progression of ideas.  Exhibits skillful use of language, employing a varied, accurate, and apt vocabulary.  Demonstrates meaningful variety in sentence structure.  Is free of most errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics.

If we want their writing to improve…  “Because we are interested in engaging kids in activities that will improve their writing, their writing is our focus. We don’t suggest having them read sentences and then underline the verbs. We don’t have them circle auxiliary verbs. We don’t do any kind of project that only involves making lists of individual verbs” (p. 18).

Don’t be Sheldon…

Picking Your Battles  Not all errors are worth it  What do the Standards actually ask?  Complete sentences!  The terminology trap

Terms That Are Worth It  Noun  Verb  Pronoun  Adjective  Adverb  Preposition  Conjunction  Interjection  Subject  Predicate  Passive/ Active  Singular/ Plural  Phrase/ Clause/ Sentence  Possessive  Compound  Agreement  Participle  Antecedent

The Red-Pen Problem “If errors happen for a reason, you can’t fix them simply by noting their existence!” (p. 15) A pig doesn’t get fatter by weighing it. Circling errors doesn’t make them go away. Students must:  Understand the problem  Recognize it  Have a strategy to fix it

So WHY Do Kids Struggle? (Ch. 4) 1.Dialect/Language Interference Subject/Verb Agreement (mine/mines) ESL issues (Mandarin lack of tenses, Romance language word-order rules) 2.Consolidation Errors Used in writing but not in speaking Citing others’ work Making assumptions about the reader’s background knowledge

So WHY Do Kids Struggle? 3.Not Writing Like a Reader Students add things to their writing as it occurs to them- don’t go back and read it In spoken language, sentence fragments make sense Leads to a disconnect with fragments in writing 4.Inexperience with Print Words and sentences are not always written how they sound Nexstore and ossum Should’ve and should of Supposed to and suppose to Paragraphing Text structures and transitions New modes- we speak in narration!

So WHY Do Kids Struggle? 5.Lack of Confidence Particularly a problem with new structures and genres Use more fillers  “I think that...”  “Thank you for reading my essay…”  “There are in my opinion many reasons why most students basically should decide to join extracurricular activities.” 6.Overreliance on Technology More homophone problems than ever! Grammar checks may not always be accurate

“Moose Takes” When you write the chocolate moose tastes suite And poems are red allowed, That polar bares have dancing feat And reign was ones a cloud When you say for pears add up to ate, And wails swim in the see, You can fool the spell-checker, But you can’t fool little me.

So WHY Do Kids Struggle? 7.Not Knowing the Rules Happens with the trickier rules  Commas with subordinating conjunctions  Who/whom Shotgun Method Must be taught intentionally and using real examples (not worksheets)  See pages in Getting it Right  See Jeff Anderson (Mechanically Inclined, Everyday Editing)

What About Your Kids?  Go back to the area where you think your kids struggle the most. WHY do you think they struggle with it? What’s your diagnosis?

Some tricky rules that are hard to explain: Ok, how do I get kids to understand…

A Coordinating Conjunctions Refresher: FANBOYS  For  And  Nor  But  Or  Yet  So Comma Rules  ONLY gets a comma when sandwiched between two complete sentences (independent clauses): sentence, FANBOYS sentence.  NEVER put a comma after a FANBOYS.  Driver’s license rule!

Subordinating Conjunctions! AAAWWUBBIS  After  Although  As  When  While  Until  Because  Before  If  Since A WHITE BUS  After/ Although/ As  WHen/ WHenever/ WHether/ WHile  If  Though  Even if/ Even though/ Ever since  Ever since  Because/ Before  Unless/ Until  Since

To Comma or Not to Comma…  If the subordinating conjunction comes at the BEGINNING at the sentence, put a comma after it  After school, I get to take a nap!  Even though it’s raining, I have to walk the dog.  If the subordinating conjunction comes in the MIDDLE of the sentence, NO COMMA!  I get to take a nap after school!  I have to walk the dog even though it’s raining.

Appositives  AKA Nonrestrictive phrases  AKA Introductory/concluding phrases  Extra info  Commas on both sides  Like handles to pull it out of a sentence My sister, who lives in North Carolina, owns a farm. My sister owns a farm. Dr. Johnson, my cardiologist, said I was fine. Dr. Johnson said I was fine.

Commonly Confused Words  Effect/Affect  The ‘e’s connect:  The humidity really affected my hair.  What is the effect of all this humidity on my hair?  Less/fewer  ‘s’ goes with ‘s’ingular nouns (things you can’t count)  I have less money than I want to have. (singular)  The express checkout is for ten items or fewer. (items is plural)

Its/It’s There/They’re/Their Too/To/Two Your/You’re Whose/Who’s

Active and Passive Voice  Use the zombie rule: If you can add the phrase “by zombies” to your sentence and it makes sense, it’s passive voice. Bob was asked to chair the committee. Bob was asked to chair the committee by zombies. Ms. Fielding asked Bob to chair the committee.

Active and Passive in Real Writing American Bomb Kills 10 Iraqi Civilians Ten Iraqi Civilians Killed By American Bomb Ten Iraqi Civilians Killed Ten Iraqi Civilians Are Casualties Sox Win Another One! Yankees Beaten Again Sox Trounce Yanks in Extra Innings Bronx Bombers Let Another One Slip Away

Verbals  Gerunds: Verbs acting like nouns  End in –ing Swimming is my favorite sport. My neighbors did not appreciate my singing.  Participles: Verbs acting like adjectives  Present participles end in –ing The crying baby woke his parents at 3am.  Past participles usually end in –ed The cooked ham smelled amazing.

Technically also a verbal:  Infinitives: Co-dependent verbs  Always look like TO + VERB  Can be anywhere in a sentence I like to go hiking on the weekends. Sarah has the potential to do great things. To travel around the world takes a lot of money. I’m going to the mall later.

Verbals in Real Writing  ADD to help with “show don’t tell” : I approached the door of the house. I was afraid. Trembling and sweating, I approached the door. Hands trembling and neck sweating, I approached the door.  REMOVE to help with poetry: Wandering the woods searching for a sign I wander the woods and search for a sign

Who v. Whom  The “little word” test  If a “little word” goes with it, it’s whom  You want me to give this to whom?  If that sounds dumb, it’s who  I don’t know who you’re talking about.  The “Himlich Maneuver” test  Him = whom  Whom did you invite tonight? (Did you invite him?)  Who made dinner? (Him made dinner.)

Who v. That  All the Whos down in Whoville…  PEOPLE ALWAYS GET A “WHO”  Sarah’s the lady who ran over my foot with her car.  John is the man that lives next to me.

Which v. That  You never need a witch which!  There was an earthquake in China, which is terrible!  My house, which is in the Highlands, needs a new paint job.  Use that if it’s important info  The earrings that my grandmother left me are my most prized possession.

It’s not about a specific lesson:  “What’s critical is not the precise form the lessons would take, but rather the insights that guide the construction of the lessons. First, any lesson should be designed to give students tools for the writing they’re currently working on, not simply to give them a term to learn. Second, students should learn terms and how to use them through extended practice in their own writing, as opposed to only doing a work sheet or analyzing someone else’s writing in a textbook” (p. 27).

An Effective Proofreading Process In Getting it Right!  Page 82  Page 87 for sentence fragments  Proofreading Clue is essential!

Make a Proofreading Guide  Make one for your kids’ most significant error  Use page 82 as a guide  Use Jeff Anderson for example/mentor sentences  Include a Proofreading Clue or alert word

Helpful Pages for Teachers:  Top Twenty Errors of college freshmen p. 65  Tips for Proofreading for Fragments p. 97  Lists of transitions p. 111  Principles for promoting confidence and self-efficacy p. 123, 139

Interesting Activities/Helpful Pages for Kids:  Sensoriums pp , with examples in Appendix  Combining/Writing Descriptive Sentences pp  Sample Spelling Rules pp  Dual Grade Sheet with Peer Review p  Peer Revision/Editing Sheet p  Portfolio Submission Report p. 88  Help Sheet (to be filled out by peer reviewers) p. 99  Organizing by classifying information pp  Genre Mystery Pots (practice putting sentences in order) pp. 104, 109, 110  Inductive Exercises (inquiry-based learning of rules) pp  CSI Log (peer conferencing) p. 138

Resources  Resources for you:  Getting it Right: Fresh Approaches to Teaching Grammar, Usage, and Correctness (Smith & Wilhelm, 2007)  Mechanically Inclined (Anderson, 2005)  Everyday Editing (Anderson, 2007)  Resources for your kids:  The Oatmeal (who v. whom, apostrophes)  Grammar Girl (short, easy explanations)  Grammar Bytes (videos, explanations, etc.)

Closure  Please fill out the exit slip and leave it in your bucket.