Books by Anderson, Noden, Weaver, and Ehrenworth and Vinton

by Sheila Cantlebary

Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer's Workshop by Jeff Anderson (Stenhouse, Portland, ME, 2005)

In her foreword to this gem of a book, Vicki Spandel says that reading it is like having a conversation with a trusted coach. Anderson shares his own journey, starting with his stance as a "nongrammarian." Although he had been admonished as a young teacher to teach grammar and mechanics in context, he was struggling with how to do it effectively. Finding that his eighth graders facing high-stakes testing needed explicit instruction, he set out to discover ways to systematically merge grammar and mechanics with craft. Instead of using prepackaged editing programs, which often draw their examples from incorrect usage, he began to use powerful literature and the students' own good writing to do the teaching. He and his students became "sentence stalkers," looking for great ones. Throughout the book, Anderson provides a series of over thirty detailed lessons. His instructional strategies emphasize four key elements: (1) short bursts of daily instruction focusing on "high pay-off" grammar and mechanics rules during writer's workshop, (2) the use of high-quality mentor texts to teach grammar and mechanics in context, (3) visual scaffolds, including wall charts, and visual cues that can be pasted into writer's notebooks, and (4) regular, short routines, like "express-lane edits," that help students spot and correct errors automatically. Throughout the text, Anderson weaves in a strong research base for his practice.

The appendix features ready-to-use activities such as "Sentence Smack Down," visual scaffolds for sentence patterns, mini handbook pages, and several succinct lists, charts, and guides. A glossary of grammar, usage, and mechanics terms includes Anderson's own helpful mnemonic devices.

"Changing the prevailing negative attitude toward the teaching of grammar and mechanics is my mission," writes Anderson. This book, filled with humor, passion, practical advice, and actual classroom photos and vignettes, will do much to answer that need.

Image Grammar: Using Grammatical Structures to Teach Writing by Harry R. Noden (Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH, 1999)

"In the act of creation, the writer, like the artist, relies on fundamental elements," says Harry Noden. Students can begin to learn what Noden calls "image grammar" by painting with five basic brushstrokes: participles, absolutes, appositives, adjectives shifted out of order, and action verbs. Throughout the book he provides rich examples from media and literature to illustrate these and many other techniques. The first part of each chapter explains its key concepts for writing and links them to the world of art. For instance, he shows how both the artist and the writer must focus on specific details and draws an analogy between the artist's rhythms and the music of parallel structures. The second part of each chapter offers creative strategies for guiding students as they add to their structural palettes. There are guidelines for imitating without plagiarizing and for moving from imitation to creation. The section "Creating Special Effects with Punctuation" shows how to teach students to consider rhetoric rather than rules.

Noden demonstrates techniques for analyzing the structure of not only sentences, but also longer passages. He discusses the myth of topic sentences and shows how students can be taught to look at the grammar or sequence of unity in longer fiction and nonfiction samples.

The final chapter includes advice and checklists for teaching systematic revision of form, style, content, and conventions. Additionally, an interactive companion CD features key teaching strategies, activities, and quoted examples from each chapter in a ready-for-classroom-use format. To spark student writing, the CD contains image collections and links to great sites that provide models and stimuli for writing. Image Grammar is an inspiring treasure trove of ideas for integrating the teaching of grammar and writing in meaningful ways.

The Grammar Plan Book: A Guide to Smart Teaching by Constance Weaver (Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH, 2007)

Renowned expert on the teaching of grammar, Constance Weaver condenses into one useful resource what smart writing teachers need to know about intertwining grammar and writing. Since research has solidly shown that grammar taught in isolation does not produce significant improvements in writing, Weaver offers, instead, ten observations and principles that can guide effective instructional decisions. In Part One of the book, she also shares a framework for the extended teaching of grammatical concepts. This suggested framework provides a sequence of steps that can be used at all grade levels to help students understand and apply a particular construction or skill. A handy summary of basic grammar terminology and types of modifiers that can enrich writing is supplied along with ideas for introducing these constructions during the writing process. To assist teachers in preparing students for such high-stakes standardized tests as the ACT, she shares her analysis of the items on six English tests, categorizing them according to the skills tested and degree of emphasis.

Part Two of the book features a Grammar Planner designed for use by individual teachers, building-level teams, and curriculum coordinators at the state or local level. The text presents a grammar and conventions overview, and the margins provide space to record instructional notes, including in which phase of the writing process the concept will be taught and whether it is to be reviewed for test taking. Weaver even addresses several of the well-established "nonrules" such as "Don't start a sentence with and or but." Finally, a ready-to-customize scope and sequence chart is provided for additional planning purposes.

The Power of Grammar: Unconventional Approaches to the Conventions of Language by Mary Ehrenworth and Vicki Vinton (Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH, 2005)

Through their reading, writing, and teaching, Mary Ehrenworth and Vicki Vinton have developed an understanding of how grammar is linked with a culture of power. In The Power of Grammar, the authors share their insights and research on grammar's influence on power, beauty, and voice. They offer a sample curriculum calendar for a year of writing workshops which embed grammar and conventions instruction throughout the writing process. Three key teaching methodologies help students develop the habits of mind of fluent writers. During direct instruction lessons, students see how teachers make significant choices about their own writing. For inquiry lessons, students investigate the effect of grammar on meaning, and for apprenticeship lessons, they imitate the craft of excellent published writers. Detailed examples of individual lessons show how to implement these practices and also incorporate systematic reteaching of concepts at various stages of the writing process.

A primer on usage is filled with text boxes that highlight clear explanations. Brimming with vibrant mentor pieces of text, student samples, and classroom anecdotes, this inspirational book shows what it looks like when students are actively engaged in both reading and producing powerful language.

Sheila Cantlebary is a reading content specialist at the Ohio Resource Center. As a former teacher in Columbus Public Schools, she taught English, language arts, and reading (7—12), served as a K—12 English language arts coordinator, and was a teacher in the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow program. Her teaching experience also includes facilitating State Institute for Reading Instruction and English Language Arts Academy sessions.

Return to top