Painless grammar

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CAN BE (ALMOST) PAINLESS CANDACE PERKINS BOWEN 2016 JEA ADVISERS INSTITUTE GRAMMAR

Transcript of Painless grammar

Page 1: Painless grammar

CAN BE (ALMOST) PAINLESS

CANDACE PERKINS BOWEN2016 JEA ADVISERS INSTITUTE

GRAMMAR

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One final thought…

Kyle Weins, the co-founder of iFixit and Dozuki, companies that write product manuals, is adamant in his refusal to hire individuals who do not know how to use grammar properly. He writes, “She [Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves] thinks that people who mix up their itses ‘deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave,’ while I just think they deserve to be passed over for a job — even if they are otherwise qualified for the position.”

Weins readily acknowledges that language changes, but he quickly adds that such changes do not exempt individuals from knowing and using grammar well. He argues that “good grammar is credibility,” essentially summarizing Aristotle’s concept of ethos.

“In defense of learning grammar rules,” by Taylor Massey, Cengage Learning

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What’s your grammar background?

Take the Kent State School of Journalism and Mass Communication diagnostic

So….?

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Top 10 grammar demons

1. Thinking you don’t have to know grammar to write well

2. Subjects and verbs that don’t agree3. Nouns and pronouns that don’t agree4. Lack of parallelism5. Confusing who and whom 6. Confusing that and which7. Confusing possessives and contractions8. Dangling and misplaced modifiers9. Misused commas10. The dreaded passive voice

When Words Collide, by Lauren Kessler and Duncan McDonald

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An approach that works

It doesn’t matter what you call the parts, but students need to learn structure. Traditional grammar terms (noun, gerund, clause, etc.) “New” grammar terms: Main parts, lead-in parts, in-

between parts, add-on parts (Steve Peha, president of Teaching that Makes Sense) Transitional grammar terms

Explain as you use whatever term (this –ing word, a gerund, is used as a noun. What do nouns do?)

Teach the structure as a system and also in the context of their writing.

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Two-pronged approach

Prong One: First teach grammar systematically because it IS a system. The sentence Parts of speech Agreement Punctuation Clarity & conciseness Style PART TWO: Speedy grammar and word use guide

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Prong two: Integrate it with writing

Check sheets for returned papers

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More integrating

Sentences from their papers, the cheesier the better, sometimes with sound. (other ppt)

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And even more integrating

Focus on one problem area with sentence pairs. Choose a problem, say, commas. Have them find five comma errors on past papers. Write them as they did originally (incorrectly). Then write the sentence with the comma error corrected

and tell why. After the teens went to the dance they drove back to

McDonald’s. After the teens went to the dance, they drove back to

McDonald’s.Use that idea for a grammar final or other test.

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Some bits of fun

For class, have students Make cookies (or other food) in the shape of

punctuation marks and then have students describe how the mark is used while others are eating. (Yes, I know…some places, that’s a no-no)

Dress up as punctuation and do same. Celebrate National Grammar Day – always March 4th.

Sometimes online grammar sites have special contests or activities.

Celebrate National Punctuation Day – always Sept. 24 Digital options: Grammar Bytes (ChompChomp)

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Some other bits of fun

The Glamour of Grammar,” by Roy Peter Clark of the Poynter Institute

Grammar Girl podcasts and “Quick and Dirty tips,” podcasts and Facebook

Poynter NewsU – especially “Clean Your Copy: Grammar, Style and More”