Grammar Instruction to Improve Writing

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Grammar Instruction to Improve Writing

• Why?
• What?
• How?

Presented by Amy Benjamin Engaging Grammar
Practical Advice for Real Classrooms (NCTE,
2007)
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I
teaching grammar.
Takes away from real writing instruction
Im not sure Im right.
Not interesting. Not fun.
Rigid.
Doesnt transfer. Doesnt stick.
Too negative.
Its like math.
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1. Grammar is a system of making sentences out of
parts.

The parts have to match (agree)
Number (singular or plural) Gender
(masculine, feminine, neutral) Case
(subjective, objective, possessive)
Tense (past, present, future)
2. Writers and speakers place the parts in a
certain order and that order affects the impact
of the message.
3. The two main parts of language are nouns and
verbs. Everything else either modifies nouns or
verbs or joins words, phrases, and clauses.
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What should the study of grammar accomplish?
1. Better communication between teachers and
students about language
2. Understanding the rhetorical effects of
grammatical choices What can a sentence do? How
can I be in control of my sentences?
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The Basics I
Group of words, either noun modifiers or verb
modifiers not both
Phrase
Noun verb (plus their modifiers)
Clause
Sentence
Clause that can stand alone
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The Basics II
I can put the in front of it (and it makes
sense) It will answer this question What?
Noun

• Noun Phrase A noun its modifiers
• the big bad wolf
• the big bad wolf with the green hat
• the big bad wolf with the green hat that
  we
• saw jaywalking across 52nd Street

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The Basics III
I can put he in front of it. or I can put
must in front of it. The word that changes
when I say yesterday or right now is the
verb.
Verb
Verb Phrase A verb its auxiliaries
see have seen will be
seeing, should have seen, etc.
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Declarative
Does the group of words tell you Who or what?
and What about it?
Interrogative
Can you put It is true that. in front of it?
Exclamatory
Imperative
Complete Sentence
Can you turn it into a yes/no question?
Can you add a Stick-on question?
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The bicycle as a metaphor for what makes a
complete sentence
Predicate Wheel tells What about it?
Subject Wheel tells Who or what?
From An Easy Guide to Writing by Pamela Dykstra
(McGraw Hill)
You can find the complete PPT for this metaphor
at
http//www.ateg.org/grammar/tips/bike.ppt
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Prepositional Phrases

• How can we teach them?
• Why should we teach them?

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Why learn to identify prepositional phrases?
Vary sentence structure
Develop time and place dimension
Punctuate introductory elements
Eliminate redundancy
Achieve subject-verb agreement
Create parallel structure
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kissed
When
,
he turned into
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Noun phrase expansion
standing over the fish bowl
the
IT
in the kitchen
adventurous
adventurous
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Use of Modifiers

• Why should we teach modifiers?
• How should we teach modifiers?

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EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
SUBJECT
VERB
to know the truth.
seemed
Her mother
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EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
SUBJECT
VERB
to know the truth..
Her mother
seemed
,although Hatsue didnt know it,
Subordinate Clause
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EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
SUBJECT
VERB
to know the truth..
Her mother
seemed
,dark with rage,
Adjective Prepositional Phrase
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EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
SUBJECT
VERB
to know the truth..
Her mother
seemed
,shrinking with age,
Adjective (Participle) Prepositional Phrase
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EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
SUBJECT
VERB
to know the truth..
Her mother
seemed
,a traditional and stoic woman,
Appositive (additional noun information)
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EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
SUBJECT
VERB
had ltlargelygt been
about sex.
Their marriage
,she understood after Carl was gone,
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Verbs

• Why should we teach them?
• How should we teach them?

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Welcome to Verb Land, USA
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Why Teach Verbs?
Strong verbs energize writing.
Writers must decide on a consistent verb
tense.
3. Writers must decide whether to use
active or passive voice.
4. Errors in verb usage are highly stigmatized
Incorrect form of irregular verbs (I seen,
brung, have went, have sang, etc.)
5. Whether we have an action verb or a BE verb
determines pronoun case use and adjective/adverb
use.
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Verb Land, USA
Base form walk, sing Progressive form walking,
singing Past form walked, sang Participial form
(have) walked, (have sung)
TO BE I am,was We are,were You are
were He, she, it is They
are,were
Active Voice I stole the cookie from the
cookie jar. Passive Voice The cookie was
stolen from the cookie jar by me. (BE
Participial form passive voice)
Sense Verbs feel, look, sound smell,
taste Also seem, become, appear grow
Verbals 1. Participle
(acts as adjective) the dancing bear
the stolen cookie 2. Infinitive (acts as
noun, adj. or adv.) Let us never fear to
negotiate. The law to reduce noise has passed. We
went to London to see the queen. 3. Gerund
(Acts as noun) Teaching makes me happy.
ACTION TOWN
BE TOWN
ACTION verbs are modified by adverbsShe sings
happily. ACTION verbs take objective case
pronouns as objects We saw him steal the cookie
from the cookie jar.
BE verbs are completed by adjectives He is
happy. BE verbs take subjective case pronouns
as complements It was I who stole the
cookie from the cookie jar.
Modal Auxiliaries Would Will Should
Shall Could May Can Might
Must
Auxiliaries Have creates the perfect
tenses (has sung, etc.) Be creates the
progressive tenses (am singing, etc.)
Auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries combine with
action verbs to create various tenses.