Daily Grammar PracticeA Grammar Program That Makes Sense

Why Grammar?

• Colleges and technical schools say that students aren’t prepared for the demands of academic writing.

Ezarik, M. (2003). Survey: K-12, higher ed grammar disconnect. (CurriculumUpdate: The latest developments in math, science, language arts and social studies). DistrictAdministration, 39(7), 46.

Why Grammar?

• Business leaders complain that employees can’t write grammatically correct documents.

• We expect students to edit for grammatical and mechanical errors, but they can’t apply what they don’t understand.

Why Grammar?

• In order to help students write better and write correctly, we must all share a common lingo, and that lingo is grammar.

lie

rise

sit

intransitive

Why Grammar?

• A student who understands the nuts and bolts of a language can use that language more effectively.

• Students need to know grammar concepts for standardized tests such as exit exams and the SAT.

George Hillocks and Michael Smith (1991) argue that “the teaching of school grammar has little or no effect on students” and that grammar instruction wastes valuable time that could be better spent on writing instruction.

Hillocks, G., Jr., & Smith, M. W. (1991). Grammar and usage. In J. Flood, J. M. Jensen, D. Lapp, & J. R. Squire (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching the English language arts (591-603). New York: Macmillan.

Why Daily Grammar Practice?

• Works like a daily grammar vitamin

The Vitamin Analogy

• Learning through grammar unit: taking a whole bottle of vitamins at once.

• Learning grammar in context or through daily correct-a-sentence: taking random vitamins at random times but not getting a multi-vitamin every day.

• Learning through whole language: eating vegetables and hoping you get what you need.

The Vitamin Analogy

• Learning grammar by trying to make it “fun”: eating candy

• Learning grammar through DGP: getting a good multi-vitamin every day

Why Daily Grammar Practice?

• Is more effective than other daily programs

• Is effective at every grade level

• Is effective for every ability level

• Is effective for English Language Learners

Research on the teaching of grammar to students learning a second language suggests that grammar “provides rules and general guidance that facilitate better understanding of the structures of the target language” (Gao, 2001).

Gao, C. Z. (2001). Second language learning and the teaching of grammar. Education, 122(2), 326-336.

Why Daily Grammar Practice?

• Is easy to incorporate into curriculum

• Takes less time than traditional, less effective methods

Rei Noguchi (1991) states that teachers should “make more time available for other writing activities by making less grammar do more.”

Noguchi, R. R. (1991). Grammar and the teaching of writing: Limits and possibilities. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Why Daily Grammar Practice?

• Forces grammar concepts into long-term memory.

In order to apply skills that they have learned, students need to know the skills on a subconscious level. To achieve this understanding, they “must engage in practice that gradually becomes distributed, as opposed to massed” (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001).

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Why Daily Grammar Practice?

• Enables learners to apply grammar concepts to their writing

• Follows a logical progression at each grade level and from first grade through college

• Breaks concepts into small parts while helping learners to see how all parts work together

Students “struggle to understand concepts in isolation, to learn parts without seeing wholes” (Brooks & Brooks, 1993).

Brooks, J. G., & Brooks, M. G. (1993). In search of understanding: The case for constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Why Daily Grammar Practice?

• Eliminates the need for tedious grammar exercises

• Complements all types of writing instruction

The DGP Process

• Monday: Identify parts of speech

The DGP Process

• Monday: Identify parts of speech

• Tuesday: Identify sentence functions

The DGP Process

• Monday: Identify parts of speech

• Tuesday: Identify sentence functions

• Wednesday: Identify clauses and sentence type

The DGP Process

• Monday: Identify parts of speech

• Tuesday: Identify sentence functions

• Wednesday: Identify clauses and sentence type

• Thursday: Diagram the sentence

The DGP Process

• Monday: Identify parts of speech

• Tuesday: Identify sentence functions

• Wednesday: Identify clauses and sentence type

• Thursday: Diagram the sentence

• Friday: Create a model sentence

Week 27Monday

we read the novel the giver which was

written by lois lowry and then we wrote

an essay about it

1 nompron

av past art n N

rel pron hv

av/past prep N cc adv1 nom pron

av past

art n prep3 obj pron

Week 27Tuesday

we read the novel the giver which was

written by lois lowry and then we wrote

an essay about it

vs dot app

v

s

i( )

op

adv pp

vs

do

t

( )op

adj pp

Week 27Wednesday

we read the novel the giver which was

written by lois lowry and then we wrote

an essay about it

[ ][

] [

]

ind adj dep

ind

cd-cx declarative

Week 27Thursday

we read the novel the giver which was

written by lois lowry and then we wrote

an essay about it

W T G

L L

________,

,

.

Week 27Friday

We read novel (The Giver)

the

which was writtenby Lois Lowry

and

we wrote essay

then

an about it

The DGP Process (Grade 2)

• Identify nouns and pronouns

• Identify adjectives and interjections

• Identify subjects and verbs

• Identify sentence purpose

• Add punctuation and capitalization

Week 1Monday

jimmy and i saw jeffs

new bike

P P

Week 1Tuesday

jimmy and i saw jeffs

new bike

Week 1Wednesday

jimmy and i saw jeffs

new bike

A

Week 1Thursday

jimmy and i saw jeffs

new bike dec

Week 1Friday

jimmy and i saw jeffs

new bike

J I J ’

.

Scope and Sequencefor first grade through collegebased on curriculum standards

for 30 different states

Grade 1

• Monday: Find each common noun, proper noun, possessive noun, and pronoun in the following sentence.

• Tuesday: Find the adjectives and interjections in the following sentence. Use an arrow to show which word each adjective describes. 

• Wednesday: Find the verbs in the following sentence. Then underline the noun or pronoun that is doing the action. 

• Thursday: Identify the sentence purpose as declarative, exclamatory, imperative, or interrogative.

• Friday: On a piece of paper, write this week’s sentence with correct capitalization and punctuation.

Grade 2• Monday: Identify each common noun, proper noun,

possessive noun, and pronoun in the following sentence.• Tuesday: Identify the adjectives and interjections in the

following sentence. Use an arrow to show which word each adjective describes.

• Wednesday: Identify the action verbs and linking verbs in the following sentence. Then underline the simple subject once and the simple predicate twice.

• Thursday: Identify the sentence purpose as declarative, exclamatory, imperative, or interrogative.

• Friday: Write this week’s sentence with correct capitalization and punctuation.

Grade 3• Monday: Identify each common noun, proper noun, possessive

noun, nominative pronoun, objective pronoun, and possessive pronoun in the following sentence.

• Tuesday: Identify the interjections, adjectives, helping verbs, linking verbs, and action verbs in the following sentence. Use an arrow to show which word each adjective describes.

• Wednesday: Identify the simple subject, simple predicate, complete subject, and complete predicate in the following sentence.

• Thursday: Identify the sentence purpose as declarative, exclamatory, imperative, or interrogative.

• Friday: Write this week’s sentence with correct capitalization and punctuation.

Grade 4• Monday: Identify each common noun, proper noun,

possessive noun, nominative pronoun, objective pronoun, possessive pronoun, adjective, conjunction, and interjection.

• Tuesday: Identify each verb and adverb. Then identify the tense of each verb.

• Wednesday: Identify the simple and complete subject and the simple and complete predicate.

• Thursday: Identify the sentence type as either simple or compound and the sentence purpose as declarative, imperative, interrogative, or exclamatory.

• Friday: Write out this week’s sentence using correct capitalization and punctuation including end punctuation, commas, apostrophes, underlining, and quotation marks.

Grade 5• Monday: Identify each common noun, proper noun,

nominative pronoun, objective pronoun, possessive pronoun, adjective, verb (including type and tense), adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

• Tuesday: Identify the simple and complete subject, the simple and complete predicate, and any complements, prepositional phrases, and objects of prepositions.

• Wednesday: Identify the sentence type as either simple or compound and the sentence purpose as declarative, imperative, interrogative, or exclamatory.

• Thursday: Add capitalization and punctuation including end punctuation, commas, apostrophes, underlining, and quotation marks. 

• Friday: Use this week’s sentence to fill in the following diagram structure:

Grade 6• Monday: Identify each word as noun (common, proper, possessive),

pronoun (interrogative, possessive, nominative, objective, demonstrative, indefinite), verb (helping, linking, action, tense), adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction (coordinating, subordinating, correlative), interjection, or article.

• Tuesday: Identify sentence parts including subject (complete and simple), complete predicate, verb (transitive or intransitive), direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, appositive or appositive phrase, and prepositional phrase (adjective or adverb).

• Wednesday: Identify each clause as independent or dependent; identify the sentence type as simple, compound, or complex; and identify the sentence purpose as declarative, imperative, interrogative, or exclamatory.

• Thursday: Add capitalization and punctuation including end punctuation, commas, apostrophes, underlining, and quotation marks. 

• Friday: Fill in the diagram structure using this week’s sentence.

Grade 7• Monday: Identify each word as noun (common, proper, possessive),

pronoun (relative, interrogative, possessive, nominative, objective, demonstrative, indefinite, reflexive), verb (helping, linking, action, tense), adverb, adjective, article, preposition, conjunction (coordinating, subordinating, correlative), interjection, gerund, participle, or infinitive.

• Tuesday: Identify sentence parts including subject (complete and simple), verb (complete and simple, transitive or intransitive), direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, appositive or appositive phrase, and prepositional phrase (adjective or adverb).

• Wednesday: Identify each clause as independent, adjective dependent, or adverb dependent; identify the sentence type as simple, compound, or complex; and identify the sentence purpose as declarative, imperative, interrogative, or exclamatory.

• Thursday: Add capitalization and punctuation including end punctuation, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, underlining, and quotation marks.

• Friday: Diagram this week’s sentence.

Grade 8• Monday: Identify parts of speech including noun, pronoun (type and

case), verb (type and tense), adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction (type), gerund, participle, infinitive, and article.

• Tuesday: Identify sentence parts including complete subject, simple subject, complete predicate, verb (transitive or intransitive), direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, appositive or appositive phrase, prepositional phrase (adjective or adverb), gerund phrase, infinitive phrase, participial phrase, object of preposition, object of infinitive, and object of gerund.

• Wednesday: Identify clauses (independent, adverb dependent, adjective dependent, noun dependent), sentence type (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex), and sentence purpose (declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory).

• Thursday: Add capitalization and punctuation including end punctuation, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, underlining, and quotation marks.

• Friday: Diagram the sentence.

Grade 9• Monday: identify parts of speech: noun, pronoun (type and

case), verb (type and tense), adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction (type), gerund, participle, infinitive, article

• Tuesday: identify sentence parts: subject, verb (transitive or intransitive), direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, appositive or appositive phrase, prepositional phrase (adjective or adverb), gerund phrase, infinitive phrase, participial phrase, object of preposition, object of infinitive, object of gerund, object of participle

• Wednesday: identify clauses and sentence type: independent, adverb dependent, adjective dependent, noun dependent; simple, compound, complex, compound-complex

• Thursday: add punctuation and capitalization: end punctuation, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, underlining, quotation marks

• Friday: diagram the sentence

Grade 10• Monday: identify parts of speech: noun, pronoun (type and

case), verb (type and tense), adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction (type), gerund, participle, infinitive, article

• Tuesday: identify sentence parts: subject, verb (transitive or intransitive), direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, appositive or appositive phrase, prepositional phrase (adjective or adverb), gerund phrase, infinitive phrase, participial phrase, object of preposition, object of infinitive, object of gerund, object of participle

• Wednesday: identify clauses and sentence type: independent, adverb dependent, adjective dependent, noun dependent; simple, compound, complex, compound-complex

• Thursday: add punctuation and capitalization: end punctuation, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, underlining, quotation marks

• Friday: diagram the sentence

Grade 11• Monday: identify parts of speech: noun, pronoun (type and case),

verb (type and tense), adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction (type), gerund, participle, infinitive, article

• Tuesday: identify sentence parts: subject, verb (transitive or intransitive), direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, appositive or appositive phrase, prepositional phrase (adjective or adverb), gerund phrase, infinitive phrase, participial phrase, object of preposition, object of infinitive, object of gerund, object of participle, objective complements

• Wednesday: identify clauses and sentence type: independent, adverb dependent, adjective dependent, noun dependent; simple, compound, complex, compound-complex

• Thursday: add punctuation and capitalization: end punctuation, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, underlining, quotation marks, colons, dashes, hyphens 

• Friday: diagram the sentence

Grade 12• Monday: identify parts of speech: noun, pronoun (type and case), verb

(type and tense), adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction (type), gerund, participle, infinitive, article

• Tuesday: identify sentence parts: subject, verb (transitive or intransitive), direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, appositive or appositive phrase, prepositional phrase (adjective or adverb), gerund phrase, infinitive phrase, participial phrase, object of preposition, object of infinitive, object of gerund, object of participle, objective complement, subject of infinitive, absolute phrase

• Wednesday: identify clauses and sentence type: independent, adverb dependent, adjective dependent, noun dependent; simple, compound, complex, compound-complex 

• Thursday: add punctuation and capitalization: end punctuation, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, underlining, quotation marks, colons, dashes, hyphens

• Friday: diagram the sentence

College Level• Step One: identify parts of speech: noun, pronoun (type and case),

verb (type and tense), adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction (type), gerund, participle, infinitive, article

• Step Two: identify sentence parts: subject, verb (transitive or intransitive), direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, appositive or appositive phrase, prepositional phrase (adjective or adverb), gerund phrase, infinitive phrase, participial phrase, object of preposition, object of infinitive, object of gerund, object of participle, objective complement, subject of infinitive, absolute phrase

• Step Three: identify clauses and sentence type: independent, adverb dependent, adjective dependent, noun dependent; simple, compound, complex, compound-complex 

• Step Four: add punctuation and capitalization: end punctuation, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, underlining, quotation marks, colons, dashes, hyphens

• Step Five: diagram the sentence

Motivating Students to Try

• It’s practice, so there’s no pressure.

• Your students know they don’t get grammar.

• DGP won’t go away like a two-week grammar unit will.

• DGP is served in small helpings.

• Positive reinforcement works!

Evaluating Student Progress

• Pre-test and post-test

Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test

• Kedron Elementary School third-graders

• T=Total language arts• SCR=Sentence

construction and revision

• GM=Grammar and mechanics

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

T S CR

GM

% atLevel 3in 2004% atLevel 3in 2005

Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test

• Kedron Elementary School students

• T=Total language arts• SCR=Sentence

construction and revision

• GM=Grammar and mechanics

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

T S CR

GM

% of 1st-gradersat Level3 in 2004

% of2nd-gradersat Level3 in 2005

Pre-test and Post-test Results

• 44 students tested• Grade 9 pre-test

average: 71.4• Grade 9 post-test

average: 90.1 (+19.7)• Grade 10 pre-test

average: 88.7 (-1.4) 0102030405060708090

100

44students

grade 9pregrade 9postgrade 10pre

Pre-test and Post-test Results• 102 eighth-graders

tested• Average pre-test

score: 69.1• Average post-test

score without DGP: 73.6 (+4.5)

• Average post-test score with DGP: 89.9 (+20.8)

0102030405060708090

100

classA (26)

classB (23)

classC (27)

classD (26)

pre-test

post-test (noDGP)

post-test (DGP)

Evaluating Student Progress

• Pre-test and post-test

• Daily sentences

Evaluating Student Progress

• Pre-test and post-test

• Daily sentences

• Application of concepts

Evaluating Student Progress

• Pre-test and post-test

• Daily sentences

• Application of concepts

• DGP quiz

Warnings

• You must make DGP a priority every day.• Don’t let yourself get discouraged.• The daily habit of doing DGP will take a

couple of weeks to instill.• You must know grammar well to teach it

well.• You have to use the lingo when you talk

about writing.

DGP Plus: Building Stronger Writers

Super Sentences

My friend got a puppy.

No Adjectives Allowed

www.dgppublishing.com

dburnette@dgppublishing.com