The Write Way

to Teach Grammar

Lynne Weber
St. Marks School of Texas

What Doesnt Work

Spend the first six weeks of every school year reintroducing parts of speech, phrases, clauses, types of
sentences, punctuation, usage.
Have the students to do sequential exercises in the
grammar book.
They need to do this because they didnt learn
grammar last year (or the year before, or the year
before, or the year before..)

Why It Doesnt Work

Multiple research project over the last 75 years have
shown that students do not transfer grammar concepts
learned in isolation to their writing.
Students see virtually NO relevance in their daily lives
or in their future work lives to the labels attached to
grammatical concepts, yet most grammar instruction
focuses on the analysis of language rather than the use
of it.

Why They Dont Remember

Students in general do not remember what they learn
about grammar from year to year.
The reason this happens is because they have not
processed the concepts on the levels demanded by
Blooms Taxonomy. Thus, their processing is
temporary and shallow rather than deep and
permanent.
They learn grammar only on the remember or
knowledge level but do not progress to understand,
apply, analyze, evaluate, or synthesize/create.

What Does Work

Use grammar as a tool to help students write better.
Show students how to practice sentence modeling
using inventive syntax from the novels they are reading
in class.
Teach students to embed detail, imagery, and figurative
language in their writing by using the various types of
phrases.
Have students practice sentence construction
techniques that include specific grammatical structures.

Making Cool Sentences

Start with an ordinary sentence that
consists of an article, a subject, and a
verb.

The wombat wobbled.

Add Adjectives and Adverbs

The wily wombat wobbled weirdly.

Add Prepositional Phrases

In the wilderness, the wily wombat
wobbled weirdly toward the billabong.

Add an Appositive Phrase

In the wilderness, the wily wombat,
a furry fellow unfortunately named
Poindexter, wobbled weirdly toward
the billabong.

Add a Subordinate Clause

In the wilderness, the wily wombat, a
furry fellow unfortunately named
Poindexter, wobbled weirdly toward
the billabong as the monsoon zoomed
through the pale Australian sky.

Add Three Absolute Phrases

In the wilderness, the wily wombat, a
furry fellow unfortunately named
Poindexter, wobbled weirdly toward the
billabong as the monsoon zoomed
through the pale Australian sky, the
winds whipping the waves, the rain
streaming down upon the parched land like
confetti, the light fading into an ominous
darkness.

Could You Pass This Quiz?

My sixth graders can!

Write a simple sentence that includes at least one adjective, one adverb,
one prepositional phrase, and one appositive phrase.
Write a compound-complex sentence that starts with a participial phrase.
Write a simple sentence that starts with three absolute phrases.
Write a compound sentence that contains an infinitive phrase. Combine
the independent clauses without using a conjunctive adverb or a
coordinating conjunction.
Write a compound sentence that begins with two prepositional phrases.
Combine the independent clauses using a coordinating conjunction.
Punctuate your sentence correctly.
Write a complex sentence that begins with a subordinate clause.
Punctuate it correctly.
Write a complex sentence that ends with a subordinate clause. Punctuate
it correctly.
Write a compound-complex sentence containing a simile or metaphor.

Why Teach Grammar?

Knowing about clauses and phrases is the only way for a
person to know the reasons WHY punctuation works
the way it does.
Learning to use the different types of phrases
(prepositional, gerund, participial, appositive,
infinitive, absolute) helps writers construct sentences
filled with detail, imagery, and precision.
Teaching students to manipulate sentence structure creates
powerful and able writers.

OK, So How Do You Do That?

Here are a few ways

Sentence imitation
Writing poetry with phrases
Skeleton stories
Shape sentences
Sentence unscrambling and expansion

Writing Poetry with Phrases

Form A
Absolute phrase,
Absolute phrase,
Absolute phrase,
Independent clause split by an appositive phrase,
Prepositional phrase
Prepositional phrase
Prepositional phrase
Prepositional phrase
Prepositional phrase.

Model
Thin branches reaching raggedly for the sky,
Chunky roots planted deep inside the soil,
Feathery boughs sheltering the tiny woodland creatures,
The ancient pine tree, tall sentinel of the forest, keeps its vigil,
At dawn
In the silvery darkness
Without a word
During the solemn ceremony
Of the sunrise.

Form B
Gerund phrase as the subject
finish the sentence with a rhyme.
Gerund phrase as the subject
finish the sentence with a rhyme.
Gerund phrase as the subject
finish the sentence with a rhyme.
Gerund phrase as the subject
finish the sentence with a rhyme.

Model
Reading a book like Moby Dick
takes persistence, tenacity, and a mind thats slick.
Learning to write like Hemingway
will take you more than one school day.
Mastering the art of argument
is a talent that is earned, not lent.
Using the language with talent and flair
will keep you from error and utter despair.

Form C
Independent clause with an appositive phrase in it,
Participial phrase
Participial phrase
Participial phrase
Participial phrase
Participial phrase.

Model
The bats, dark demons of the sunset, swirl and flutter,
squeaking their songs of chaos
gathering in patterns of shadow
blocking the suns streaking
clustered in nightmare battalions
swooping from their underground lair.

Form D
a subordinate clause,
an independent clause:
an infinitive phrase and a prepositional phrase,
an infinitive phrase and a prepositional phrase,
an infinitive phrase and a prepositional phrase,
an infinitive phrase and a prepositional phrase
a final independent clause.

Model
Because cats are wise
They know these things are good:
To sleep on a sunny afternoon pillow,
To point their heads and tails toward the sky,
To snuggle on warm laps,
To survey the world from high perches-These are the wise ways of the feline.

So How Do They Write These ?

How do we help the students use these grammatical
structures without teaching grammar in isolation?
Use the models. The kids will learn the concepts
without direct instruction. All they need is
reinforcement.
Use resources like the Comma Cheat Sheet and the
Phrase Resource Drawer. Dont restrict the students
use of them. Dont worrytheyll learn the names
through constant practice.

Example from the Comma Cheat

Sheet
A subordinate clause is a group of words that has both a subject and a
verb, but it begins with a subordinating conjunction like because,
although, or since, and so it cannot stand alone as a sentence. A
subordinate clause at the beginning of a sentence is followed by a
comma.

Because Alex is a good writer, he writes vividly about his

experiences.
Although Poindexter broke his glasses, he was still able to
complete the test.
Although the elephant had lost its tooth, it still ate Albert.

Example from the Phrase

Resource Drawer
An absolute phrase is composed of a noun plus an adjective
or a participle, plus any modifiers that describe the noun or
adjective.
An absolute phrase is really a tool of concision, allowing
the writer to embed a full thought into a phrase that is
almost a clause.
Basically, to make the absolute phrase, the writer just
removes a to be verb from the clause.

Model
Two independent clauses: Her expression was dejected. Sarah
trudged into the room.
One of the clauses compressed into an absolute phrase: Her
expression dejected, Sarah trudged into the room.
His face was red with embarrassment. Henry withdrew from the
room
His face red with embarrassment, Henry withdrew from the
room.
Her eyes were shining with delight. Polly opened the gift.
Polly, her eyes shining with delight, opened the gift.

Extension
One of the best ways to use absolute phrases is in
triads, or groups of three. Observe the following
examples:
Its tiny wings outstretched, its little voice peeping
urgently, its orange feet pattering through the muddy
grass, the baby duck ran toward its mother.

Its tiny wings outstretched, its little voice peeping urgently,

its orange feet pattering through the muddy grass, the
baby duck ran toward its mother.
Heres another way to do it
The baby duck ran toward its mother, its tiny wings
outstretched, its little voice peeping urgently, its orange
feet pattering through the muddy grass.
Or, you could do a subject/verb split!
The baby duck, its tiny wings outstretched, its little voice
peeping urgently, its orange feet pattering through the
muddy grass, ran toward its mother.

WHICH ORDER BEST FITS YOUR

WRITERLY PURPOSE? WHAT RHETORICAL
EFFECT RESULTS FROM YOUR CHOICES?

Sentence Composing
Check out the following books by Don Killgallon,
published by Heinemann Press, if you want a great
resource to help your students learn to write sentences
with terrific style, voice, and structure.
Sentence Composing for Elementary School
Sentence Composing for Middle School
Sentence Composing for High School
Sentence Composing for College

Killgallons Strategies
Killgallon shows the students how to practice four different
sentence composing strategies:

Sentence Unscrambling
Sentence Combining
Sentence Imitation
Sentence Expanding

Sentence Unscrambling
In these exercises, students unscramble sentences
that have been broken into meaningful chunks.
The purpose of this exercise is to practice putting
parts of a sentence into a logical sequence.

Example of Sentence Unscrambling

he knew
But even as that thought touched
his mind
nor any hope of such
that for him
that had bred him
only the shadow
to drift home
and none of the substance
rootless
and without any stake in the
country
would be

Original Sentence
(from The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliffe)

But even as that thought touched his

mind, he knew that for him to drift home,
rootless, and without any stake in the
country that had bred him, nor any hope of
such, would be only the shadow and none
of the substance of home-coming.

Sentence Combining
Combine all of the following sentences into one, using phrases
and subordinate clauses to provide details.

He heard the bees.

The bees were zooming along the bell-heather.
The heather was in the clearing.
He smelled the scents of the birch-woods.
The birch-woods were sun-baked.
The scents were warm and aromatic.
The scent of the birch-wood was overlaying the cold
saltiness of the sea.
He singled out one among the wheeling gulls.
He watched the gull until it became lost in a flickering
cloud of suntouched wings.

The Original Sentence

(from The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliffe):

He heard the bees zooming among the bellheather of the clearing, smelled the warm,
aromatic scents of the sun-baked birch-woods
overlaying the cold saltiness of the sea; singled out
one among the wheeling gulls and watched it until
it became lost in a flickering cloud of sun-touched
wings.

Sentence Imitation
Original sentence (from The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary
Sutcliffe):

Silence fell between the three, while the

daylight grew around them, and the dogs
snarled and tussled over their lump of meat.
Example of a sentence imitation:

Tension grew within the group, as the sunset

blazed above them, and the mosquitoes hissed
and whined in their swampy beds.

Sentence Expanding
Original sentence (from The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliffe):

The black mass of the barrow rose above them, its crest of thorntrees upreared against the veiled stars.
Example of imitative sentence expanding:

The tall trunk of the tree stood in front of him, (insert an absolute
phrase with nine words in it).
Student sentence:

The tall trunk of the tree stood in front of him, its crown of green
leaves silhouetted upon the autumn sky.

Skeleton Story/Essay
One rainy day in June, John Walker was walking down the street when
he saw a stray dog sitting under a tree looking miserable. John felt
sorry for the dog, so he went over to it and petted it and spoke to it. As
he set off for home, the dog followed him. Though John tried to get it
to go away, the dog insisted on following him all the way to his home.
When he got home, John went into the house and tried to forget the
dog, but its whining and barking were impossible to ignore. John
finally went out to the dog and dried it off and brought it inside the
house. He gave the dog some food and started a fire in the fireplace.
John sat down beside the fireplace with a cup of coffee and a book.
The dog came over and sat beside him. Because he had been lonely for
a long time, John felt contented and happy that the dog had come to
live with him. Welcome home, old fellow, he said with a smile.

Filling in the Details

Add the following elements to the skeleton story:
A triad of absolute phrases in at least one sentence
an additional prepositional phrase in each sentence
an appositive phrase in two sentences
an infinitive phrase
a gerund phrase
two participial phrases
a metaphor or simile
an adjective to each sentence
Examine each verb. If a more precise verb is available, use
it, and add an adverb

One rainy, grey day in June, John Walker, a man without hope, was limping drearily
down the street toward the bank when he spied a stray dog with a sad face
slouching under a tree looking miserable, its tail drooping wetly, its fur bedraggled,
its ribs silhouetted against its soggy fur. Shivering in his thin raincoat, John pitied
the drenched animal despite its appearance, so he approached it warily and petted it
and spoke to it in a kind voice. As he set off for home in the chilly downpour, the
gaunt dog followed him. Though John tried to get it to go away, the dog insisted on
tagging along all the way to his home in a dark, poverty-stricken part of London.
When he got home, John went into the house, a tiny cottage with a thatched roof,
and tried to forget the dog outside his poor dwelling, but its insistent whining and
barking were impossible to ignore. But ignoring the suffering of animals was not
something that kindly John could do. To soothe his conscience, John finally went out
to the dog and dried it off with a warm blanket and brought it inside the small
house. He offered the dog some left-over hamburger in a cracked bowl and lit a
toasty fire in the fireplace. Listening to the dogs quiet sounds of contentment, John
hunkered down beside the fireplace in the corner of the small room with a cup of
hot coffee and a book. The dog came over and sat beside him in the dim firelight.
Because he had been lonely for a long time after his wife had died, John felt
contented and happy that the abandoned dog had come to live with him. Welcome
home, old fellow, he said with a bittersweet smile that flickered over his face like a
fleeting shadow.

Other Strategies
In your handout, you will find lots of other strategies
for helping students learn to write better by using
grammatical elements as their tools.
Harry Nodens Image Grammar Image Palettes
Cumulative (Loose) and Periodic Sentences
Sentence Imitation Exercises
Phrase Practice
Complex Sentence Practice
Style Analysis exercises