w o r k s h o p g u i d e · 8 the craft of grammar classroom extension distribute copies of the...

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author of Mechanically Inclined

Stenhouse Publisherswww.stenhouse.comCopyright @ 2007 by Stenhouse Publishers

All rights reserved. This guide may be photocopied for staff development useonly.

Mechanically Inclined (2005) is available at www.stenhouse.com

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Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Workshop Descriptions

1. Our Histories as Grammar Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42. Short Mentor Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53. Writer’s Notebooks and Grammar Instruction . . . . . . . . . .64. Focused Freewriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75. FANBOYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86. Express-Lane Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97. Pulling It All Together in Writer’s Workshop . . . . . . . . . .108. AAAWWUBBIS! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Handouts• Grammar History Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14• Student Grammar Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15• 20 Most Common Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16• Using Short Mentor Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17• Setting Up a Writer’s Notebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20• Sample Student “Hair” Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21• Freewriting Rules! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22• No Comma in a Compound Sentence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 • Introducing Express-Lane Edits: Returning to Context . .26• Sample Student Express-Lane Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29• Pulling It All Together in Writer’s Workshop . . . . . . . . . . .30• Making the Craft-Grammar Connection by Introducing

AAAWWUBBIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31• AAAWWUBBIS and More! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn

The Craft of Grammar is designed to be used flexibly in work-shop settings. This DVD was filmed over two days in JeffAnderson’s sixth-grade classroom in San Antonio, Texas. Jeffworks in a Title I middle school with a 94 percent Hispanicpopulation. Nearly 100 percent of the students are eligible forfree or reduced lunch.

This guide gives workshop leaders suggestions for the use ofvideo segments, without locking you into one progression orplan for using the materials. Each school community is differ-ent, and we know you will need to adapt the video viewingto a host of time constraints and a wide range of workshopformats.

You might start any workshop by having participants viewthe introductory eight-minute sequence on the DVD, whichgives important background information on the classroomand Jeff’s philosophy for teaching writing and grammar.

The guide includes suggestions for eight different workshopsusing different components of the video. One-hour work-shops might include the following:• Ten minutes of reading • Ten to twenty minutes of video viewing• Ten minutes of silent writing in response to a prompt or

question • Twenty to twenty-five minutes of discussion and wrap-up

Suggested readings from Jeff’s companion book, MechanicallyInclined, are included in this guide. Although viewers canlearn quite a bit from watching the segments and participat-ing in the activities, the book provides vital backgroundinformation that will enhance the learning experience.

Workshop Guide 33

Participants who are insecure about their knowledge ofgrammar rules and terms will find the appendixes and glos-sary in Mechanically Inclined especially helpful. The CD-ROM included with this video contains full-page versions ofall the handouts that are printed at the end of this workshopguide.

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Cue the DVD to Program One, Introduction, and hand outcopies of the Grammar History Survey (page 14) and 20 MostCommon Errors (page 16). Before starting the video, haveeach participant silently fill out the survey for five minutes,and then meet in small groups to discuss responses. Watchthe introduction to The Craft of Grammar. After viewing thesegment, meet again in small groups or as a whole groupand discuss responses to the survey questions.

Questions for Discussion

• What are you most happy with in your grammarinstruction?

• What needs work?• How confident are you about your own grammar and

usage?• Which of the twenty errors on the list do you see most

often? Which errors bother you the most? Why?• What do you hope to learn by watching the video series

and trying out the ideas in your classroom?

Classroom Extension

Ask participants to distribute copies of the Student GrammarSurvey to at least one class and ask them to bring the survey

44 TThhee CCrraafftt ooff GGrraammmmaarr

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results to the next workshop. What do participants noticeabout student histories? What will present the greatest chal-lenge? The greatest opportunity in grammar instruction?

Reading from Mechanically Inclined

Chapter 1: Introduction

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Distribute copies of the handout Using Short Mentor Textsand have everyone read silently. Ask participants to discussthe reading with a partner or in small groups. Cue the DVDto Program One, Segment One, Mentor Text, and watchthrough the class discussion of the “My hair wakes up stu-pid” sentence (approximately seven minutes).

Distribute copies of award-winning or recently publishedchildren’s and young adult novels. Have everyone in thegroup browse through the books and write down sentencesthat could serve as good mentor texts. As a group, talk aboutwhat makes a good mentor sentence and what grammarconnections might be made to specific sentences that partic-ipants wrote down.


• Jeff starts each class with a well-crafted sentence fromchildren’s or young adult literature as an alternative toDaily Oral Language (DOL). What do you think aboutthis practice?

• What do you notice about student responses to the sen-tence?

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• How does this “invitation to notice” build the craft-grammar connection in Jeff’s class?

Classroom Extension

Try replacing DOL or beginning class with one of the sen-tences you selected during the workshop and ask studentsto imitate this mentor text. What do they notice about thesentence? What do you notice about their responses to theactivity?


Chapter 2: Moving from Correct-Alls to Mentor Texts

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Distribute copies of the handout Setting Up a Writer’sNotebook (page 20) and have everyone read it silently. Askparticipants to discuss the reading with a partner or in smallgroups. Cue the DVD to Program One, Segment Two,Writer’s Notebook, and watch through the student writingof sample sentences in their writer’s notebooks.


• Do you have students use writer’s notebooks in yourclass now? Why or why not?

• What benefits do you see in using the notebooks tomake the craft-grammar connection?

• What are the drawbacks?


3

Classroom Extension

Ask all participants to have their students add one grammar-related section to their writer’s notebooks or launch writer’snotebooks with a craft-grammar connection using Jeff’s sug-gestions. Bring sample student notebooks to a follow-up ses-sion and talk about what everyone tried. What worked?What adaptations were made?


Chapter 3: Weaving Grammar and Mechanics into Writer’sWorkshop, pages 27–32

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Distribute copies of the student “Hair” writing sample (page21). Cue the DVD to Program One and watch Segment Twoand Segment Three, Writer’s Notebook and Student Sharing,where the students in the video freewrite about hair. Watchthrough the last student whole-class reading of their writingand ask participants to discuss the scene with a partner or insmall groups.


• How can freewriting be used to build the craft-grammarconnection?

• When and why do you use freewriting now in yourwriter’s workshop?

• Students are eager to share their drafts during work-shop. Why do you think they are willing to read theirdrafts aloud?

Workshop Guide 77

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Classroom Extension

Distribute copies of the handout Freewriting Rules! (page 22).Ask participants to try freewriting with students and use thestudents’ freewrites to make a craft-grammar connection. In afollow-up workshop, have everyone bring in student samplesand discuss the mentor texts teachers selected, the freewritingthat was generated, and how the writing was used as a cata-lyst for discussing grammar or mechanics.


Chapter 3: Weaving Grammar and Mechanics into Writer’sWorkshop, pages 32–37

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Distribute copies of the handout No Comma in a CompoundSentence (pages 23–25) and have participants read silentlyand then discuss it in small groups or with a partner. Cue theDVD to Program Two, Segment One, FANBOYS, and watchtogether.


• What mnemonic devices have you found most effectivefor teaching grammar to your students?

• What mnemonic devices do you remember from yourdays as a student?

• A student gives a wrong answer in the class discussion(suggesting “nor”). How does Jeff handle this error?How would you have handled the error?

5

Classroom Extension

Have everyone talk through one wall display they wouldlike to add to their room to build the craft-grammar connec-tion (i.e., FANBOYS or sentence openers). Ask everyone totry out the change to their walls during the coming week,and return to the next workshop session ready to discusswhat effect the change had on student discussion and writ-ing.


Chapter 4: Off-the-Wall Grammar and Mechanics Instruction

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Distribute copies of the handout Introducing Express-LaneEdits: Returning to Context (page 26) and the studentexpress-lane edit example (page 29). Cue the DVD toProgram One, Segment Four, Express-Lane Edits. Afterwatching it, have participants discuss it with a partner or insmall groups.


• If you were to introduce express-lane edits tomorrow,what elements would you have students look for indrafts? Why?

• How do you teach students to edit their work now?How might you adapt what you do now with editinginstruction to include express-lane edits?

Classroom Extension

Try an express-lane edit with students. Bring student exam-

Workshop Guide 99

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ples of express-lane edits to a follow-up workshop and dis-cuss the classroom experience. What went well in launchingthe activity? What adaptations did participants make?


Chapter 3: Weaving Grammar and Mechanics into Writer’sWorkshop, pages 46–49 Part II, Section 4, The Verb: Are We All in Agreement? pages127–129

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Distribute copies of the handout Pulling It All Together inWriter’s Workshop (page 30). Review an entire integratedclassroom sequence from the video—either Program One’s“Hair” lesson or Program Two’s lesson on compound sen-tences. After viewing the classrom sequence, have partici-pants meet in small groups or as a whole group and discussresponses to the questions below.


• Return to the grammar history survey you took duringthe first workshop. How has your thinking about gram-mar instruction changed through viewing the video andtrying out some of the activities with students?

• What’s the biggest adaptation you’ve made to Jeff’sideas or methods?

• What do you plan to try in the future but haven’tattempted yet?


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Workshop Guide 1111

• What differences do you notice in how your students per-ceive grammar instruction?

• What still needs the most work in your grammar instruc-tion program?

Classroom Extension

Talk with the group about what the best follow-up might be tothe series of workshops you’ve completed using The Craft ofGrammar. You might suggest visiting one another’s classroomsto observe, coteaching during writer’s workshop, or creating astudy group to explore the book Mechanically Inclined in depth.

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Distribute copies of the handout Making the Craft-GrammarConnection by Introducing AAAWWUBBIS (page 31) andAAAWWUBBIS and More! (page 34). Have everyone readthrough the handouts silently and then discuss them withpartners or in small groups. Cue the DVD to the bonus track,Teaching Subordinating Conjunctions: AAAWWUBBIS, andwatch together. After viewing, try the “When I Was Little”writing activity together as a group and ask for volunteers toshare their writing.


• What are your favorite readings to use as mentor texts insparking student writing?

• How do you currently teach students different strategiesfor using commas correctly?

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Classroom Extension

Have everyone try the “When I Was Little” writing activitywith students by reading the Curtis book aloud and askingstudents to write using the pattern. Ask participants to bringstudent work samples to a follow-up workshop; at the fol-low-up, talk about how teachers used the student writing tolaunch a discussion of AAAWWUBBIS.


Part II, Section 2, Pause and Effect: Crafting Sentences withCommas, pages 90–93

The following pages contain forms that can be photocopiedand distributed in the workshop setting. These pages havealso been included in a larger format on the CD-ROM thatcame with this product.

To Start the CD-ROM:PC users: The CD-ROM should start automatically once it’sinserted into your computer’s CD drive. If it does not, thenopen it like any other CD and double-click the file “Main”to start this program.Macintosh users: Insert the disc into the CD drive, double-click the disc icon on your desktop, then double-click the"Mac Users Start Here" file to start the program.

handouts


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GGrraammmmaarr HHiissttoorryy SSuurrvveeyy

How confident are you about your own knowledge ofgrammar and mechanics? Explain.

How confident are you about the quality of your writer’sworkshop or writing process instruction? Explain.

What would you like to improve about your grammarinstruction?

What do you already do well?

Workshop Guide 1155

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How do you feel about grammar and punctuation?

Are you good at grammar and punctuation? How do youknow?

What do you wish your teacher would do when teachinggrammar and punctuation?

What kind of grammar or punctuation do you feel you dowell? What would you like to do better?

What do you remember about grammar instruction thisyear? Last year?

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2200 MMoosstt CCoommmmoonn EErrrroorrss

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(Connors and Lunsford)

1. No comma after introductory element2. Vague pronoun reference3. No comma in compound sentence4. Wrong word5. No comma in nonrestrictive element 1

6. Wrong/missing inflected endings 2

7. Wrong or missing prepositions8. Comma splice9. Possessive apostrophe error10. Tense shift11. Unnecessary shift in person12. Sentence fragments13. Wrong tense or verb form14. Subject-verb agreement error15. Lack of comma in a series16. Pronoun agreement error17. Unnecessary comma with restrictive element 3

18. Run-on or fused sentence19. Dangling or misplaced modifier 4

20. It's versus its error

Adapted from Connors, Robert J., and Andrea Lunsford. 1988. “Frequency of Formal Errors in CurrentCollege Writing, or Ma and Pa Kettle Do Research.” College Composition and Research 39:395–409.

1. Clauses that add information that is not essential to the meaning. These clauses are set off with acomma or commas if they interrupt a sentence.2. The suffixes –s, -es, -ing, or –ed added to the ends of verbs to reveal when an event occurs oroccurred. Students often drop inflectional endings, which causes agreement and tense problems.3. Clauses that must be in the sentence for it to be a complete sentence. Without the restrictive clause,the sentence’s meaning would be altered completely. The man who stole our wind chimes just walked pastthe house. If we took out the phrase who stole our wind chimes, the sentence would read The man justwalked past the house. The foreboding meaning would be lost; thus, we do not insert commas aroundthis phrase because it is essential to the sentence’s meaning.4. Placing a modifier in the wrong place, or not modifying the subject of the sentence, which confusesthe meaning of the message, is a dangling modifier. Incorrect example: Deprived of coffee, the papersremained ungraded. Correct example: Deprived of coffee, the English teacher was unable to grade the papers.

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Using Short Mentor Texts

Students cannot become facile at writing in general and using conventions inparticular if they do them only now and then—no more than I can get thin bydieting on Fridays.

–Janet Angelillo, A Fresh Approach to Teaching Punctuation

Common sense tells us we have to do more than mentionmechanics and grammar: we have to teach them. We can't expect ourstudents to be flexible enough to apply these conventions if we don'tcycle them in front of our students in various ways. By discussing thecolon and figuring out what it does in well-crafted texts, students willbegin to read like writers. Not just for style, but to see how writersachieve that style.

One good thing about daily correct-alls is that they do force stu-dents to consider mechanics and grammar on a daily basis. But the cor-rect-all is rarely applied to students' own writing. It's all about search-ing for what is wrong with writing rather than what is right. Spandel(2003) frames the teaching of grammar and mechanics differently. Inher book Creating Young Writers, she explains how she tells studentsthat she has noticed they are ready for a writer's secret—a secret thatall writers share that helps make their writing sizzle. The goal is not topoint to what is wrong with their writing, but to encourage studentsby showing them what they are ready for now.

Leslie Hart (2002) suggests there are other reasons the brainneeds repetition. He claims that input needs repetition, not in terms ofdrill and kill but a constant cycling: “Repetition within input can bevaluable . . . because what a particular brain is not ready for at onetime will be welcomed and utilized at another.” (145)

I know the value and necessity of cycling through all themechanical issues. We have to cycle through them explicitly and inten-tionally several times for students to recognize the patterns. Until webuild their schemata, students will have a hard time intentionally craft-ing their prose.

If our struggling readers need to see a word forty times to learnit (Beers 2002), then I'll make a leap and say students need to see gram-mar and mechanics rules highlighted in different contexts at least thatmany times to own them. If the kids don't know a particular structureor know that they have options, some may not ever go into the realm

Workshop Guide 1177

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of complex sentences or other effective rhetorical devices that sepa-rate functional writing from effective writing.

My experience teaching English language learners certainlybears this out. In fact, many of my students are flooded daily withoral models of language that don't correlate with what is consideredStandard English. Students need scaffolding and modeling to hear thedifference. It's not automatic for every child.

By the third day of school, the teacher who hates daily correct-alls wants to start a daily routine. Anyone who has worked with achallenging group of students—in other words, all of us—knows thatroutines create safe structures. Brain research says it; Nancie Atwell(1998) and Lucy Calkins (2003) say it. Routines give our studentssomething to count on, a place to hang knowledge, a place to shareand explore every day.

Our kids write every day. I argue that they need a writer's secretevery day, too. I have started calling this an invitation to notice. I ask,“What do you notice?” (about the powerful text). Their comments inresponse to this question drive our discussion. Students need to stareat and relish some well-written snippets of effective mentor texts.Every day we look at some writing to aspire to or imitate—texts thatteach with their artistic punctuation or jaw-dropping grammar. Anappositive becomes much more than merely a renaming of the noun itprecedes or follows; it becomes a construction that allows a writer tocombine sentences for rhythm and effect. One more pattern, one morechoice to add to students' style repertoires. I let my students know Iwill share a writer's secret during the first few minutes of class almostevery day. My students know these first few minutes are important;they know they must listen because they will hear secrets they will beable to use, taking the guesswork out of what makes writing effective.

I share writer's secrets in several ways:• Lift a sentence from literature and let students tell me what is

right about it, generalize some principles, and apply them to their writing

• Lift a sentence from literature and leave out one piece of the punctuation I've taught or make one usage error and have thestudents correct it

• Life a sentence from student writing and imitate its mistake, whether it's a frequently seen error or a point I need to make

• Ask students to imitate a construction and talk about its uses• Ask students to copy down an example of a rule from a men-

tor text, and then discuss it


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In my class, these five minutes each day will never include asentence so riddled with errors that we could never deeply discussthe errors or the purpose for the mechanics. These quick warm-upsrecycle or introduce information that the students need to know.

The key to the writer's secret or invitation to notice is that thementor text is useful and is applied in writing that day—pointed toagain during writer's workshop and at the close of writer's workshop.Evidence of the writer's secret’s use is processed again at the end. Ifit's not yet clear, then more focused practice may follow.

Remember that this practice is only a small part of teaching stu-dents about the uses of mechanics. It supplements and recycles deepinstruction that is steeped in literature and application in studentwriting.

I find establishing a few minutes at the beginning of the classensures that I hit high-payoff grammar and mechanics rules suffi-ciently. Kids' brains can only handle one new thing at a time, so Imake sure this space doesn't become a catchall.

In addition, I provide order in my classroom—a structure androutine kids can count on. Katie Wood Ray (2000) says that we haveto make our workshop routines and rituals as consistent as lunchtime.If I waver, the quality of my workshop suffers. If our kids are going tobreathe conventions, it is essential to insert quick spurts of them moreoften and regularly. We can't wait to edit until the final copy; it paysoff to take time for these quick spurts of well-selected craft andmechanics lessons that are based on student need and whatresearchers say kids need to know.

ReferencesAtwell, Nancie. 1998. In the Middle: New Understandings About Reading,

Writing, and Learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Beers, Kylene. 2002. When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do. Portsmouth,

NH: Heinemann.Calkins, Lucy. 2003. Units of Study for Primary Writing. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann.Hart, Leslie. 2002. Human Brain and Human Learning. Covington, WA: Books

for Educators.Ray, Katie Wood. 2002. What You Know by Heart: How to Develop Curriculum for

Your Writing Workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Spandel, Vicki. 2003. Creating Young Writers. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Adapted from Mechanically Inclined.

Workshop Guide 1199

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Setting Up a Writer's Notebook

by Jeff Anderson

Before students write their first word in their writer's notebook, itneeds to be set up carefully for optimal use as a writing repository. I buycomposition books in bulk at back-to-school sales and give them to stu-dents who can't find or afford them.

Over the past few years, I have formulated some guidelines thatwork for me in constructing this writer's playground. The notebooks are anessential tool to help my students become sentence stalkers (Spandel 2003).

First of all, I find it essential to spend a little time up front emphasiz-ing how important the writer's notebooks will be in our class. Studentsmust get a sense of my reverence for the notebooks and my expectations fortheir care.

After all the students have their notebooks, I instruct students step-by-step on setting them up:

1. Never tear out a page of your notebook. Never. I tell my students, “If you think you must tear out a sheet, see me.”

2. Leave a fly page up front, just like in books.3. Number pages only on the right-hand side, starting after the

fly page.4. Write the page number on the bottom right-hand side. This

takes time, but it is a must. Think of the time saved later when a student can put a sticky note on the cover: Read entry on pages 31-32. Instead of dutifully thumbing through a notebook, I can turn immediately to the correct pages.

5. Only write on the right-hand pages of the notebook. Keep the left-hand pages blank for revising, rethinking, and tinkering with the facing numbered page. This saves space for the experimenting we will do with craft and mechanics in the notebook.

In the video, you’ll notice that students expect to pull out their note-books, turn to a clean page, and start writing. By the middle of the year,routines for the notebook are well established, and we can move quicklyfrom the “Invitation to Notice” (looking closely at a sentence at the start ofworkshop) to focused freewriting and guided practice in the notebooks.

ReferencesSpandel, Vicki. 2003. Creating Young Writers. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.––––. 2005. Creating Writers Through 6-Trait Assessment and Instruction. Boston:

Allyn and Bacon.


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Workshop Guide 2211

SSaammppllee SSttuuddeenntt ““HHaaiirr”” WWrriittiinngg

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Freewriting Rules!

By Jeff Anderson

1. Write. Just write. Keep your hand moving. (The only way to dofreewriting wrong is to not write or to quit early.)

2. Experiment with spelling, punctuation, and grammar. (This asopposed to “don't worry about spelling, punctuation, or gram-mar.” Though we shouldn't worry about it, we should attempt todo the best we can.)

3. Go wherever your writing (thinking on the page) takes you. (Ifanother story comes to mind, maybe that's what you should bewriting about. Go for it.)

4. Be specific. (As you teach strategies like naming concrete nounsand snapshots, encourage those things in first-draft freewritingby praising them when read aloud.)

5. As Natalie Goldberg says, “You are free to write the worst junkin America” (1990, 4). (Students need to know that everyone hasdoubts about their writing. Allowing some writing to be garbageallows our writing to flow and good things to emerge.

ReferenceGoldberg, Natalie. 1990. Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life. New York:Bantam.


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Workshop Guide 2233

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Workshop Guide 2255

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Introducing Express-Lane Edits:

Returning to Context

by Jeff Anderson

One thing all my students are familiar with is the express lane atthe grocery store. Sometimes you don't have time to shop for every-thing. If you only need to get a carton of milk, you can go through theexpress lane and save time and hassle. I take this familiar routine andmerge it into editing tasks.

How often do we get bogged down in the totality of all thatneeds fixing so that editing becomes an ordeal for students as well asthe teacher? What if we narrowed down our editing task to a fewitems? We'd be able to edit more often and more quickly and makeediting in context more a part of the everyday fabric of writer's work-shop. In short, “express-lane edits” get my students to reread theirwork and think about how to edit their writing in ways that clarifytheir ideas. It is also my version of “Clean up on aisle three!” It helpsus focus on our editor's checklist, moving the principles into thewriter's notebook. (For more about creating an editor’s checklist withyour students, see Chapter 3, pages 42–49, in Mechanically Inclined.) Ican post an editor’s checklist on my classroom walls, but if I don't useit, my students won't, and they won't internalize the concepts.

Each student needs a piece of first-draft writing to begin—not afinal copy or a completed essay, but a messy beginning like a writer'snotebook entry or a freewrite. I use freewrites to get my studentswriting fluently; I use express-lane edits to get my students editingfluently.

First, as with most things, I model the process. The first time wedo an express-lane edit, I plan ahead. While students freewrite, Iwrite an entry on a transparency. After the freewrite, I say, “I knowmany of you go to the store a lot. When you're in a hurry, which linedo you go to?

“The express lane.”“It's quick. You're in, you're out,” I add. I explain that, like the

routine they are used to at the store, I want them to become equallyfamiliar with using express-lane edit as a way to reread their writing,a way to “check out” important items in their work.

“For example,” I say, “we've been talking about apostrophes—when to insert and when to delete them. I want to show you a quick

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Workshop Guide 2277

way to deal with this editing item. I call it the express-lane edit.”I turn on the overhead, revealing my freewrite. “Let's take the

freewrite we did on neighbors,” I say. “Now, before I read it, I need tomake my shopping list.” Beneath my writing, on the left half of thetransparency, I draw a box.

“We have to decide what's going to go in the box—a sort ofshopping list.” I write Items to “Check Out” at the top of the box.

“Since we just added apostrophes to our editor's checklist, let's'check out' our freewrites for apostrophes. Should we insert or deleteany?” I write apostrophes in my box. Students copy the box, the title,and the word apostrophes beneath their freewrites in their writer'snotebooks. This is the perfect time for a quick review, and I have stu-dents copy a few details about apostrophes that we have been dis-cussing. Next, we draw another box to the right of the Items to“Check Out” box. “The box on the right is titled ‘Receipts.’ In thisbox, you show me your changes.

“Now we're ready to do the express-lane edit. Before you try, Iwill show you how to do it using my writing.” I read over the text,making my invisible thinking process visible by thinking aloud—modeling my problem-solving process.

As I make changes, I add each change to my Receipts box. Imodel using the language our state test uses, including insert anddelete. I also note when I use the item correctly. This is essential as itshows kids we’re not only shopping for what they need to fix but alsofor what they did well. If we are going to change kids’ attitudes aboutediting, we need to make it about how well we used the conceptsalso. Then I have students do the express-lane edit on their own writ-ing. If they find nothing to change, they read it a second time. If stu-dents still find no mistakes, they read the writing backward, word byword, like some journalists do. If they find nothing at all to correct,they write I found no errors after reading the above writing three times, fol-lowed by their signature. This way everyone always has a receipt.

As an extension, I may cue students to use a specific conventionor grammatical construction before they begin their freewrite. Thenwhatever they were cued to use will be our focus in the express-laneedit.

While students reread their work for the express-lane edit, I liketo play music. A perfect piece for this is “The Typewriter,” by LeonardSlatkin, which is easily and inexpensively available on the iTuneswebsite. Music does much to change the affect of these mechanics-rich experiences.

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If students are only rereading their work, we are still making astep in the right direction. What's really funny is that kids, when lim-ited to what they should edit, for some reason love to edit for some-thing you didn't list. “Sir, I spelled a word wrong. Can I fix that?” Irespond, as if I am doing them a favor, “Well, I guess.” Again, if theonly benefit they get from this is rereading, then that's a start. And, if Iam calling their attention to an important concept in a real context,that's even better. If they actually integrate an apostrophe conscious-ness into their rereading and rechecking process, Hallelujah! That'sthe goal.

The express-lane edit is a class ritual that can be done with orwithout partners and gives us the ever-important repetition in ameaningful context.


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Workshop Guide 2299

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SSttuuddeenntt EExxpprreessss--LLaannee EEddiitt EExxaammppllee


Pulling It All Together in Writer’s Workshop

by Jeff Anderson

If you want to pull together all the advice from this video and apply itin your own classroom, you can distill my principles down to thesesix core ideas:

1. Use the shortest mentor text possible so that kids can cling to thecraft and meaning without being overwhelmed by words andpunctuation.

2. Teach one thing at a time and apply it to daily writing. Thisencourages students to continue inventing and generating textwhile cueing them into specific concepts and strategies.

3. Add quick daily doses of grammar and mechanics experienceswith short mentor texts and editing, so that students have ongo-ing, shared experience playing with and understanding gram-mar and mechanics.

4. Provide rich experiences in the writer's notebook to apply andplay with mentor sentences as new concepts are introduced.

5. Give students scaffolds in the forms of examples and visualinserts for their writer's notebooks to help them start and con-tinue collecting, categorizing, and imitating mentor texts.

6. Saturate your walls with visuals that provide reinforcement ofthe concepts introduced and used by writers. The placement andcolor of these visuals can reinforce key concepts that studentsneed to know, helping them make connections and distinctionsof meaning.


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Workshop Guide 3311

Making the Craft-Grammar Connection

by Introducing AAAWWUBBIS

by Jeff Anderson

When I Was Little is my answer to all students who say, “I don'thave anything to write about.”

“Oh really,” I reply. When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoirof Her Youth (1993), by Jamie Lee Curtis, is a lively picture book thatsparks memories by reflecting on eating Cheetos, naptime, floaties,and time-outs. The text follows an easy-to-imitate pattern. I read italoud.

Afterward, I ask, “What phrase is repeated again and again?”“When I was little,” returns a chorus of voices.“On the top of the first line, I want you to write today's date.

Then, skip a line and write ‘When I Was Little List’ as the title.” (Imodel each step on the overhead as I explain.)

“We are going to make a list of memories that all start with fourwords. Guess what they are?”

As the class chants, “When I was little,” I write the words tostart my list on the overhead: When I was little, I fell in the toilet. “I ambrainstorming by starting off everything on my list with ‘When I waslittle.’”

“Does anyone notice something else I did that we will all needto do each time on our lists?”

“You put something after it,” Damien offers.“Yes, Damien, what did I put after it?”“That you fell in the toilet.”“Right, I put what happened when I was little. Anything else,

class?” I tap on the overhead very near the comma.“You put a comma after ‘little.’”“That's right. We put a comma after ‘little.’” (We'll follow up

with why at the end of the lesson because we need to get listing.)“Now it's your turn. Brainstorm a list and start every memory

with ‘When I was little.’ Don't forget your comma. List as many as

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you can! You have four minutes—go.” I continue listing on the over-head for two more entries, then I turn off the overhead and circulate.As long as almost everybody is listing, I extend the time.

“Now, tell a person near you what's on your list. You have fiveminutes.”

After five minutes I ask, “What did you hear?” I take a fewresponses. “I got so many more ideas when I heard other people'slists. Let's add more to our lists. You have three minutes.”

After three minutes I say, “Let's look back at our lists. Dideveryone remember to use commas and to put a period at the end ofeach sentence? Check and fix. One minute. Go!”

“Looking over your list, do you see anything that's connected?If so, draw lines between them.” I model this on the overhead.

“Now go back and circle one sentence or a group of connectedsentences on your list.” I, of course, circle When I was little, I fell in thetoilet.

“Turn to the first section of your writer's notebook and find thenext clean page. Write today's date above the first line. Skip a line andwrite the title of the list: ‘When I Was Little.’ As soon as you have thatdown, continue freewriting for eight to ten minutes. You can't do itwrong as long as you keep writing. If you run completely dry, referback to your list and write more. Write the entire time.” Studentsshare writing with a partner first, then a few share with the class.

I follow up with some mechanics instruction at the end of theclass or first thing at the next class meeting. “So you told me I neededa comma after ‘When I was little,’ but, at the time, I didn't ask my irri-tating question, ‘Why?’ Why? Why do we put the comma after the‘little?’”

Finally, Natalie ventures a safe answer, “Because it's correct.”“Yes, it is indeed correct, Natalie, but why? Listen to me read it

aloud. ‘When I was little [pause], I fell in the toilet.’”“You paused!” Matthew blurts.“True. The comma told me to pause. There are several words

that, when they are located at the beginning of a sentence, signal youto use a comma to separate the introductory phrase from the rest of


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the sentence. They are comma causers.”Then, I teach students about the AAAWWUBBIS. My friend

Cathy Byrd, a sixth-grade teacher at Rudder Middle School, let me inon the power of the AAAWWUBBIS (As, Although, After, While,When, Unless, Because, Before, If, Since). The joy of this lesson comeswith the AAAWWUBBIS whoop, which is along the lines of a goodWahoo! AAAWWUBBIS (A-WOOH-BIS)! Cathy tells her students thatif they start a sentence with an AAWWUBBIS, they are almost guaran-teed to have a comma in the sentence. I remind them that the commanever immediately follows the AAAWWUBBIS. I tell them that theywill hear or feel the pause when they read the sentence. I put theAAAWWUBBIS list on the board. We practice orally. The studentsmake up a sentence beginning with an AAAWWUBBIS and tell mewhere they would put the comma. Eventually, students include atleast one AAAWWUBBIS sentence in a longer piece they are workingon in writer's workshop.

Later, Cathy teaches students how the AAAWWUBBIS part ofthe sentence is a fragment without the second part of the sentence.She says students “feel very mature when they realize how easilycomplex sentences can be written.”

ReferenceCurtis, Jamie Lee. 1993. When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoir of Her

Youth. New York: Joanna Cotler.


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