Teaching

Grammar and Mechanics in

Writing Workshop

Grammar vs. Mechanics

Grammar includes principles that
guide the structure of sentences
and paragraphs.
He likes to eat pizza, but I like
spaghetti.

Grammar vs. Mechanics

Mechanics is how we punctuate
to achieve meaning
(punctuation, capitalization,
paragraphing, formatting).
Lets eat Grandma.
Lets eat, Grandma.

Why Teach Grammar and

Mechanics?
Grammar and mechanics shape
meaning
Allow writers words to be understood
by the reader

I say we spray!, shouted Dad taking aim with

a squirt.
Yes! Spray! Spray! cried out Mom and Emily.
So spray already! sputtered Oliver.
So they spritzed him and sprayed him. And they
gooped, glopped, and moussed him. They even
hair-pinned him flat in five places for good measure.
Aaah, they said, sighing a confident, job-welldone sigh.
Olivers bedhead was now one slick gelhead.
And then
Margie Palatini, Bedhead

How do we teach it?

Studies show that teaching
grammar in isolation is not
the most effective teaching
strategy.
Teach grammar in context.
Apply grammar/mechanics
to students writing.

Teach Grammar
and Mechanics
As principles to be studied,
explored, examined, and
practiced rather than rules
Tools to serve a writer in
creating text reader will
understand

Focus on Craft instead of

Correctness
Students need grammar and
mechanics tools so they have
choices and can make decisions
about crafting their writing
Make editing and revising activities
as regular as breathing.

They cant even

What are they using correctly?
What are they attempting to do?
Make a list of grammar and
mechanics errors you notice over
and over in students writing

Boys
- Is the writer able to arrange words, sentences, and
paragraphs
to convey meaning?
- Does the writer understand the sentence as a unit,
even if the
punctuation isnt correct?
-Does the writer understand verb tense?
--What grammatical understandings is this student
approximating?
-- Does the writer understand simple conventions such
as contractions, indenting, use of punctuation, subjectverb agreement?

Spending hours correcting

grammar and
punctuation?

Hours of worktons of hope little

result
Marking every error does as much
good as yelling down a hole. Nancie Atwell

What do I teach?
Base your teaching on the errors
they make. Use Treasures/Trophies
as a resource and guide.
Base your teaching on the
strategies they need.
20 Most Frequent Errors

20 Most Frequent Errors

-sentence fragments

-tense shift

-run-on sentence

-its vs. its error

-subject-verb agreement

-vague pronoun reference

-no comma in a compound sentence

-pronoun agreement error

-possessive apostrophe error

-wrong/missing prepositions

-no comma after introductory element -wrong word

-lack of commas in a series

-unnecessary shift in person

-wrong/missing inflected endings

-comma splice

-no comma in nonrestrictive element

-dangling or misplaced modifier

-unnecessary comma with restrictive element -wrong tense or verb form

(Connors and Lumsford)

Argument: Correct-Alls vs.

Mentor Texts
DOL helps with editing
sometimes.
More than one concept
Visually absorbing incorrect
writing

What is a mentor
text?
Any text or piece of text that can
teach a writer about an aspect of
writers craft, from sentence
structure to quotation marks to
show dont tell.
Sentence Stalking

We Know We Need to
Teach Grammar in
Context
Context is about meaning.
The key is meaning, not length.
Use mentor sentences to teach
grammar and mechanics
principles.

Teaching Grammar
Teach one thing at a time
Apply it to daily writing
Use the shortest mentor text
possible
Give students time to work with
the principle
Scaffold for maximum success
Display visuals for constant
reinforcement

At first they may

Copy directly
Overuse concept
Attach meaning to
the wrong things

And you
Keep teaching, reteaching, repeating,
mentioning, thinking
aloud, noticing,
encouraging
Writing is recursive
Students may need WEEKS
to master one principle

If struggling readers need to see a

word forty times to learn it (Beers
2002), then Ill make a leap and say
students need to see grammar and
mechanics rules highlighted in
different contexts at least as many
times to own them.
- Jeff Anderson

Mini Lessons on Grammar

and Mechanics
Short! 5 - 10 Minutes!
Best taught at the beginning of
Writing Workshop
Display and read mentor text
Make observations
Play around with punctuation, etc.
Make more observations

Discuss rule or principle

Moving Past a 4

Various Sentence
Structures are Used
Simple sentences
Complex sentences
Compound sentences
Sentence variety ., !, ?

Assumption
A sentence has a subject and verb. It must make
sense and stand on its own.
His mother yelled, Be careful crossing the street.
The boy raced across the street.

What makes a sentence?

Sentsentence
Subject
(who or what did
something)

Verb
(what did they do?)

stands on its own

Cows moo.
Cows moo?
Cows moo!
Sentence Fluency begins
in the
ear.

A fragment is missing a subject or verb

and/or doesnt make sense.
A car came zooming
big and bold
when I was little
Kids need to be able to identify and fix fragments. In order
to do this, they must understand the simple sentence.
Everything builds on this understanding from compound
to complex.

The ability to pare down a sentence to its

essential core is the first tool students
need in order to uncover the craft of all
sentences.
Jeff Anderson, Mechanically
Inclined

Sentence Smack Down

When I was five. I had a Chuckie

doll. I would scare everybody with
Chuckie. Chuckie was about two
feet, had orange hair, little red and
white shoes, overalls, and plastic
knife. To make Chuckie look more
like the real thing. From the kitchen
drawer. Like a mini-butcher knife. I
super glued it into
Chuckies hand.

Sound familiar?

Compound Subject
My mother looked at the map. My sister looked
at the map.
My mother and my sister looked at the
map.
Compound Predicate
The leaves fall on the ground. The leaves cover
the ground.
This is
easy!

The leaves fall and cover the ground.

Compound Sentences
Essential tool in a writers toolbox.

I like teaching reading but I dont

like teaching PE.

What do you notice?

Every day was a happy day, and every night was
peaceful.
-E.B. White, Charlottes Web

Nick Allen had plenty of ideas, and he knew what

to do with them.
-Andrew Clements, Frindle
I want to buy a new car, so I have to save some
money.
I want to take a cruise to Hawaii, but I dont have
enough time.

What do you notice?

Every day was a happy day, and every night was
peaceful.
Every night was peaceful, and every day was a happy
day.
Every day was a happy day and every night was
peaceful
Every day was a happy day every night was peaceful.

Probing Questions
-What do you notice?
-What else?
-Whats the punctuation doing?
-How does it sound as we read
it?
-What would change if we
removed this or that?
-Which do you prefer? Why?

Building the Compound

Sentence Pattern

Sentence

I want to go,
room.

for
and
*
nor
but *
or *
yet
so

sentence

but

I have to clean my

I want to go, but I have to clean my

Compound Sentences

Notice, Notice, Notice

I hit a double, and then
everything changed.
He forgot his lunch money, so he had
to eat a peanut butter sandwich.
I thought I lost my homework, but it
was under my bed.

Grammar Notebooks

Download Mentor
Sentences
ELR Cab Conference

Build Grammar Section of

Writers Folder
Explain principle
Students cut and paste principle and
mentor sentence in writers folder
Subsequent days
Students imitate sentence and/or pattern
Leave room below -- encourage students
to find more sentences from their reading
to add

Lets Give it a Try

Invitation to imitate
I sat near the back with Stephen, and he
kept pestering me.

Stephen is my best friend, but Im not

sure he would admit it.
There was only about a block to go
before our bus stop, but I couldnt stand
Stephens whining.
-Andrew Clements, The Report Card

Lets Give it a Try

Invitation to imitate

I sat near the back with Stephen, and

he kept pestering me.

I sat on the floor with Harry, and he

kept licking me.
-Andrew Clements, The
Report Card

Collecting Sentences

Next Steps
Add compound sentence(s) to daily
writing
Collect sentences
Practice combining
I tried calling her as soon as I got
home from school.
Her line was busy.

Celebrating Grammar
For homework have children, Shop the
World looking for sentences that follow
the pattern (or have them write one)
Share the sentences aloud
Celebrate, reread, compare, contrast,
enjoy, and review the craft of grammar
Display sentences all over the room
Empower kids -- I can do that, too!

If struggling readers need to see a

word forty times to learn it (Beers
2002), then Ill make a leap and say
students need to see grammar and
mechanics rules highlighted in
different contexts at least as many
times to own them.
- Jeff Anderson

Principles Weve Learned

Construction of a Simple Sentence
Subject + Verb + stands on its own
Construction of a Compound Sentence
Sentence, + Conjunction + sentence.

Moving on
Complex Sentences

Dependent
Vs.
Independent

Independent clause
(Simple sentence)

Subject

Verb

An Independent Clause
Is a sentence
Stands on its own
Is perfectly fine as it
is

We can write complex

sentences.
Not all of our sentences have to be
short;
We need long and short sentences.

 Cant be a whole new sentence

Cant stand on its own it must
be

mustleanonan

independentclause(sentence)

Invitation to Notice
Sentence

closer

They are shouting your name, asking if dinner is ready yet.

-Jim Grisley, Winter Birds

Abraham was growing fast, shooting up like a sunflower.

-Russell Freedman, Lincoln: A Photobiography

Furlough found his brother in the library, standing on the

top of the great open book.
-Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux

Download Mentor
Sentences
ELR Cab Conference

Lets Give it a Try

The dog approached me.

There are three basic

complex sentence
patterns
Add information at the beginning of
a sentence
Add information in the middle of a
sentence
Add information at the end of a
sentence

ComplexSentences
Thethreebasicpatterns

Beginning

, interrupting ,

,closing.

Where should we add the

dependent?
At the Beginning?, Middle?,
End?
Which one sounds the best?
Does it add detail to the sentence?

Flappingitswings theduckflew.

Theduck flappingitswings flew.

Theduckflew flappingitswings.
Which do you like better?

You are the artist you get to decide which is best.

Dependents can be many things, but they will

always:
Begin
> Interrupt
> Close
> Add detail to an independent clause
>