teaching strategies
Choosing the Best Verb: An Active and Passive Voice Mini-Lesson
 | This mini-lesson explores verb choice in a variety of online resources then encourages students to draw conclusions about verb use which they can apply to their own writing. |
Action Is Character: Exploring Character Traits with Adjectives
| In this lesson plan, students "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using lists of accurate, powerful adjectives. In class discussion, students support their lists with details from the novel. |
Choosing the Best Verb: An Active and Passive Voice Mini-Lesson
| For most students, speech and informal writing flows naturally. When it comes to more formal writing, however, students frequently choose passive voice constructions because to them, the verbs sound more academic or more formal. This mini-lesson explores verb choice in a variety of online resources then encourages students to draw conclusions about verb use which they can apply to their own writing. |
Style: Defining and Exploring an Author's Stylistic Choices
| In this activity, students will find examples of specific stylistic devices in sample literary passages then search for additional examples and explore the reasons for the stylistic choices that the author has made. |
Become a Character: Adjectives, Character Traits, and Perspective
| In this activity, students "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using lists of accurate, powerful adjectives. In class discussion, students support their lists with details from the novel. |
Every Punctuation Mark Matters: A Mini-Lesson on Semicolons
| In this mini-lesson, students first explore Dr. King's use of semicolons in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and their rhetorical significance. They then apply the lesson to their own writing by searching for ways to follow Dr. King's model and use the punctuation mark in their own writing. |
Avoiding Sexist Language by Using Gender-Fair Pronouns
| In this lesson plan, students write a response to a short prompt which includes no information about the participants' gender. Once the writing is complete, students and teacher analyze the narratives for the use of pronouns and what the pronoun choices reveal about language use. |
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professional readings
To Grammar or Not to Grammar: That Is Not the Question!
|  In this March 2001 Voices from the Middle article authors Constance Weaver, Carol McNally and Sharon Moerman argue that, taught in the context of writing, grammar can enhance and improve students' writing. |
Engaging Grammar: Practical Advice for Real Classrooms
|  Amy Benjamin challenges the idea of "skill and drill" grammar in this lively, engaging, and immensely practical guide. Her view of grammar is grounded in linguistics and teaches us how to make informed decisions about teaching grammar—moving beyond fixing surface errors to teaching how grammar can be used as the building blocks of sentences to create meaning. |
Grammar for Teachers: Perspectives and Definitions
| Read sample chapter 5, "What To Do With Grammar," of Grammar for Teachers: Perspectives and Definitions by Constance Weaver for samples of how to teach grammar within the context of writing. |
Grammar Alive! A Guide for Teachers
|  "Discovering Grammar", chapter two of Grammar Alive! A Guide for Teachers provides vignettes on how teachers help students discover the grammar in authentic texts and their writings. Free access to the sample chapter is provided in the NCTE store. |
Grammar and the Teaching of Writing: Limits and Possibilities
|  In this book, Rei R. Noguchi suggests the formal study of grammar is far removed from daily language use. Read the sample chapter, "Teaching the Basics of a Writer's Grammar" which describes how students can "crack the grammar code" to develop a "writer's grammar" they can use. |
Rainbow Teachers Rainbow Students: Billy's Story: Grammar in Context
| In English Journal, February 1998, Gretchen Haddox shows how she teaches grammar through her students' writing. While taking us through her process with the entire class, Haddox illustrates the process through the work of one student. |
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related resources
Code-Switching: Teaching Standard English in Urban Classrooms
|  University researcher Rebecca Wheeler and urban elementary teacher Rachel Swords offer a practical, hands-on guide to code-switching, providing teachers with step-by-step instructions and numerous code-switching charts that can be reproduced for classroom use. |
Grammar Kit
 | Learn to teach grammar in context with this practical resource from NCTE. Featuring Grammar Alive! and 12 articles from English Journal, Voices from the Middle, and Language Arts, this kit provides strategies for teaching grammar in context, addressing dialect and language variations, and teaching grammar to English language learners. |
NCTE Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
| This NCTE special interest group focuses on improving the teaching of grammar at all levels from elementary to college. |
NCTE Consultants Specializing in Grammar Instruction
|  Need help with grammar instruction? Invite Amy Benjamin or other consultants from the NCTE Professional Development Consulting Network to present on current content and effective practices for teaching grammar in context. Consultants are available for the 2005-2006 school year.
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NCTE Position Statement on Grammar Exercises to Teach Reading and Writing
| This resolution was prompted by the continuing use of repetitive grammar drills and exercises in the teaching of English in many schools. Proposers pointed out that ample evidence from 50 years of research has shown the teaching of grammar in isolation does not lead to improvement in students' speaking and writing, and that in fact, it hinders development of students' oral and written language. |
Support for the Learning and Teaching of English: On the Teaching of Grammar
|  SLATE Starter Sheets offer insight into what does and doesn't work and the research to support it. |
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