grammar mini lessons coffin week 6

7/23/2019 Grammar Mini Lessons Coffin Week 6

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Running Head: GRAMMAR MINI-LESSONS 1

Grammar Mini-Lessons

Daniel Coffin

Concordia University, Nebraska

Submitted in partial fulfillment of

the reuirements for !DUC "##

December $th, #%&$



GRAMMAR MINI-LESSONS 2

' hated them as a student and yet relied upon them heavily as a teacher of

!n(lish) *o+er*oint presentations, (uided notes, oral drills, correction activities, and

+orksheets, all desi(ned to illustrate and instruct students in a particular aspect of

!n(lish lan(ua(e (rammar he contradiction bothered me, and it +as ri(ht that it did,

accordin( to Constance .eaver, +ho says that research indicates that the teachin( of

(rammar in isolation /ie, +ith +orksheets and the like0 does not translate into improved

student +ritin( /as cited in 1aner-2loser, #%&&, p &&%0 .hatever it is students learn

from such activities, it does not induce them to craft the polished prose their teachers

are lookin( for So +hat, then, is the alternative3

4ather than teach every (rammar concept in isolation, one after another, .eaver

su((ests cuttin( do+n on the number of concepts tau(ht, teachin( them thorou(hly,

and teachin( them in con5unction +ith a +ritin( assi(nment - that is, teachin( them in

conte6t /as cited in 1aner-2loser, #%&&, p &&$0 7ollo+in( are a fe+ e6amples of +hat

mini-lessons desi(ned to teach (rammar concepts mi(ht look like as part of a +ritin(-

intensive classroom 8ll have been dra+n from 9eff 8nderson:s e6cellent te6t about

+ritin( instruction, Mechanically 'nclined

;ne of the (reatest (rammar challen(es ' face as a middle-school !n(lish

teacher is the incomplete sentence 't is human nature to speak +ith one:s peers

informally, +ithout re(ard to proper sentence structure, and my students +rite e6actly

the +ay they talk ' have (otten into the habit of borro+in( 9eff 8nderson:s lesson on

sentence structure +hich he calls <+o .ord Sentence Smackdo+n= /#%%$, p "$-">0

.e start by (atherin( t+o +ord sentences from our classroom and D!84

readin( materials and recordin( them on a chart in class ;nce +e have a lon( enou(h




list, +e start to e6amine these sentences as a class .hat function does each of the

+ords serve in the sentence3 .hat do all of the +ords on the left have in common3

.hat do all of the +ords on the ri(ht have in common3 hrou(h e6ploration and

discussion, students collectively reali?e that the +ords on the left are sub5ects /people,

places, and thin(s0 and the +ords on the ri(ht are verbs /actions undertaken by the

sub5ects of the sentence0

.e then e6tend the lesson by havin( the class +rite up a stack of inde6 cards in

t+o colors) pink and (reen ;n the pink cards, students +rite verbs ;n the (reen cards,

students +rite sub5ects !ach student (ets one of each hey then roam around the

room findin( other students +ith +hom they can make ne+ sentences he students

then +rite these ne+ sentences in their +riter:s notebooks ;ccasionally, students +ill

hook up a sub5ect +ith a verb con5u(ated improperly for that sub5ect /e(, a student +ith

an <'= sub5ect card and a student +ith a <(uesses= verb card0 hese students ' +ill have

+rite their sentences do+n, +ith an asterisk ne6t to them ' +ill remind them to check

these +hen +e talk about sub5ect-verb a(reement in a fe+ days he lesson culminates

+ith a free+rite ' +ill challen(e students to use at least five t+o +ord sentences in their

free+ritin( 8fter+ard, +hen students share their +ritin(, ' +ill ask students ho+ the

+ritin( sounded +hen students used t+o +ord sentences sparin(ly, +hen they used

them e6clusively, and +hen they intermin(led lon(er and shorter sentences his +ill

(et them thinkin( about sentence structure from a stylistic point of vie+

'n (eneral, students love this lesson 't:s <easy,= the (ame aspect hooks their

interest +hile +e talk about somethin( that mi(ht not other+ise be interestin(, and it

translates directly into +ritin( outcomes /both conventions and style0




Discussion of sub5ects and verbs leads naturally to the topic of sub5ect-verb

a(reement 8(ain, ' use a lesson authored by 9eff 8nderson /#%%$, p &&@-&&A0 to

illustrate ho+ verbs chan(e form to connect +ith different sub5ects and in different

tenses ' use the mentor te6t 8nderson su((ests, a para(raph from Bate DiCamillo:s

The Tale of Despereaux +ritten in the past tense that features many irre(ular verbs

Upon readin( and discussin( this te6t as a class, +e notice ho+ 5ust thro+in( a <-d= or <-

ed= on the end of a +ord isn:t al+ays sufficient .e then re+rite the past tense verbs in

the passa(e as a class into present tense

8t this point, ' turn my students loose to +rite in their +riter:s notebooks for five

minutes hey +rite a brief /&-# para(raphs0 personal narrative this is supposed to be

told in the first person and in the present tense ' +ill +rite somethin( at the same time

they do and then display it on my SM84 board once the free+rite is finished ' al+ays

use an anecdote from school that features a student ;nce everyone has read my

passa(e, ' then chan(e the point of vie+ from first person to third at this point, ' can

include a little e6tra narration from the student:s perspective, +hich never fails to (et a

lau(h .e then talk about ho+ the verbs chan(ed +hen ' chan(ed the point of vie+ Mr

Coffin is no+ not an <'= in the story, but a <he,= and the verbs attached to those sub5ects

must chan(e accordin(ly ' turn them back to their notebooks for another five minutes to

re+rite their narratives from first person to third as ' did 7ollo+in( this second round of

+ritin( students +ill share both versions of their narratives +hile other students take

notes in their +riter:s notebooks about verb chan(es that surprised them ' +ill offer

constructive critiues if none of the students (et to it first his activity has +orked +ell

for me because students love +ritin( about themselves and ' think they are intri(ued by




the possibilities of +ritin( about events in their lives from the ima(inary perspective of a

third-person observer his activity helps to outline some patterns of verb con5u(ation

+hich +ill help them, +ith practice, to reco(ni?e +hen their sub5ects and verbs disa(ree

and ho+ to fi6 them so they do

he only (rammar-specific Common Core standard for si6th (rade deals +ith

pronouns /proper case, correctin( va(ue usa(e, etc0, so this is a special focus for my

+ritin( instruction .ith a little classroom discussion and a vie+in( of the e6cellent

Schoolhouse 4ock cartoon <4ufus avier Sarsparilla,= students (et e6cited about the

utility of pronouns and ' inevitably see them used more freuently in their free+ritin(,

until the day comes +hen ' see so many ' can:t possibly fi(ure out +hich pronouns

refers to +hat antecedent

' then kno+ that the class is ready for a mini-lesson on va(ue pronoun usa(e

Like 9eff 8nderson su((ests, ' +ill take a selection from the te6t Kira-Kira by Cynthia

Badohata and create a Clo?e +ith all of the pronouns removed /#%%$, p &%@-&%A0 ' +ill

then reproduce the pronouns on little pieces of paper +hich students can manipulate

into the blanks, usin( conte6t from the sentences to fi(ure out +hich pronouns (o

+here 8fter students have settled on placement for their +ay+ard pronouns, ' +ill

distribute an unaltered copy of the mentor te6t for us to read and compare to our

versions here is enou(h va(ueness in a fe+ sentences +here valid chan(es can be

made to the pronouns +e discuss ho+ +hile still technically correct, chan(in( the

pronouns nevertheless chan(es the meanin( of the sentence

his has been a successful activity for me 8(ain, students en5oy the pu??le of

fi(urin( out +here pronouns (o based on the clues left for them he nature of this




activity makes it like a (ame he understandin( they (ain leads to better +ritin( they

see ho+ confusin( it can be +hen antecedents are unclear, and they learn 5ust ho+

much meanin( pronouns contribute to the sentence as a +hole hey learn throu(h

e6perience to take care +ith the pronouns they employ in their o+n +ritin(

'n each of these three mini-lessons, students learn valuable (rammar concepts

+hich they can immediately put to use in their o+n +ritin( to (ood effect hey learn

hands-on the craft of +ritin( hey don:t necessarily learn all of the terminolo(y like a

(rammarian +ould, but +hy should they3 My intent as a si6th-(rade !n(lish teacher is

not to create (rammarians, but passionate and effective +riters ' believe cuttin( out as

much of the borin( <skill E drill= +ork to make time for more +ritin( helps me to do that

4!7!4!NC!S

8nderson, 9 /#%%$0 Mechanically inclined: Building grammar, usage and style into

writer’s workshop *ortland) Stenhouse *ublishers

ompkins, G! /#%&#0 Teaching writing: Balancing process and product /"th !d0

2oston) *earson




1aner-2loser /#%&&0 riting research: ! guide to curriculum planning Columbus, ;F)

1aner-2loser

4!7L!C';N

Unlike most of the last fe+ +ritin( assi(nments, ' felt this came very easily to me '

suppose that ' +as better prepared because ' keep reflections on past assi(nments as a

matter of course, and teachin( (rammar in conte6t is somethin( that my collea(ue and '

have been +orkin( on for the last couple of years here is a dan(er, ho+ever, +hen

one is +ritin( about somethin( really familiar to (loss over important details +hich then




leaves the material opaue to an outside reader for +hom it is unfamiliar 't +as for this

reason ' read my first draft to my +ife, +ho made some su((estions re(ardin( my

e6planations of the various mini-lessons +hich ' felt +ere fruitful 't +as +ent ' +as

typin( this reflection that ' then thou(ht about my students, some of +hom really

stru((le +hen it comes to peer editin(, especially if they are supposed to be focusin( on

content rather than conventions hey don:t kno+ +hat to look for +hen they are

assessin( the structure or flo+ of a piece of +ritin( ' +onder if ' had authors first

discuss or describe their topic before handin( it over, +ould the editors then be better

prepared to read and assess <no, this +ritin( doesn:t say +hat you 5ust said to me3= '

mi(ht have to try this in class this +eek

grammar mini lessons coffin week 6

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