The Writer as an Artist Grammar as Brushstrokes

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The Writer as an Artist Grammar as Brushstrokes

• Karen Greco
• Tomball , High School
• Tomball, Texas
• July 72004

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Tomball is a rural community, 25 miles north
of Houston. Hewlett Packard provides their tax
base. The district has one high school , two
junior highs and six elementary schools.
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Classroom Profile

• Straight Seven Schedule
• 55 min. classes
• 25-30 students per class
• I teach four classes of English IV Reg.
• two classes of English IV AP.
• Sponsor The Writers Club (45 students)

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Supportive Research

• Harry R. Noden
• Image Grammar, Using Grammatical Structures to
  Teach Writing
• Parallel structure has rhythm.
• The writer is like an artist, and he or she can
  add details to each sentence in the same way that
  artists use brush strokes for detail.

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Supportive Research

• Donald M. Murray
• Crafting a Life in Essay, Story, Poem
• Writing poetry is profound fun, a serious game
  played with a light touch. Poetry says more in
  fewer words. Poetry is the bouillon cube of
  literature meaning is compressed in the readers
  mind.

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Supportive Research

• Constance Weaver
• Teaching Grammar in Context
• Grammar is best learned developmentally and in
  context. Students can learn to edit their
  writing to develop a rich language.

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The Pocketbook an simple product

• Fold blank paper into halves 3xs
• Crease the center for a sharp edge.
• Gently tear the center fold.
• Return the book to the hot dog fold.
• Push to make diamond shaped hole.
• Continue to press into 1/8 page book.

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The Writer as a Painter

• Article- a, an, the
• Noun- stuff
• Pronoun- represents stuff
• Adjective- describes stuff
• Adverb- how stuff moves
• Preposition- relationship of stuff
• Participles- ing or ed verb
• Absolutes- nouns participles

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Adding Brush Strokes

• A simple stem sentence The dog ran after the
  cat.
• Add a participle as a brush stroke.
• Barking and snarling, the dog ran after the
  cat.
• Painting with Absolutes
• Teeth barred, the dog ran after the cat.
• Painting with Appositives
• The dog, a huge St. Bernard, ran after the
  cat.
• Painting with action verbs
• The dog sprinted suddenly after the cat.

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Additional Product

• Use an index card to write a prepositional
  poem.
• Each line should a with a prepositional phrase,
  then add additional brushstrokes to enrich the
  language.

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In the Middle

• On a dark corner,
• beneath the broken street light,
• within my fragile heart, I felt a crack begin.
• After you left me, for another woman,
• In my silence and pain, I began to wonder How
  can I start again?

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Celebrate variety!