The Middle School Grammar Toolkit: Using Mentor Texts to Teach Standards-Based Language and Grammar in Grades 6-8 / Edition 2

by Sean Ruday

Overview

Teaching grammar can be overwhelming and is often an overlooked part of effective instruction. The Middle School Grammar Toolkit to the rescue! Now in its second edition, this comprehensive guide makes grammar instruction fun and meaningful.

You will learn how to:

• Teach grammar in a practical and applicable way by presenting each grammar rule as a useful writing tool for students.
• Use mentor texts—excerpts from great literature—to help students understand grammar in action.
• Promote metacognition along the way, so that students become responsible for their own learning.
• Implement innovative instructional strategies and tools aligned with Common Core and other state standards.

Throughout the book, you’ll find step-by-step recommendations for teaching grammatical concepts, such as understanding intensive pronouns, choosing language that expresses ideas precisely, forming verbs in different moods, and maintaining consistency in style and tone, and much, much more. Organized to help students meet the Common Core State Standards and other state language standards for Grades 6–8, the book includes tips addressing teaching for each of these grades, classroom snapshots that show you the tools in action, and specific instructional recommendations to engage students.

New! The second edition features revised classroom snapshots and exemplars to showcase successful practices, and new flowcharts to visually represent instructional recommendations. The expanded, free annotated bibliography is updated to include contemporary, high-quality young adult literature and gives examples of key grammatical concepts found in each work. These resources are available as Supplemental Downloads on our website.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367435622
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/21/2020
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Sean Ruday is an Associate Professor of English Education at Longwood University and a former classroom teacher. He frequently writes and presents on innovative ways to improve students' literacy learning. You can follow him on Twitter at @SeanRuday and visit his website at www.seanruday.weebly.com.

Table of Contents

Meet the Author vii

Acknowledgments viii

eResources ix

Introduction "Grammar Tools": Helping Middle School Students Understand the Importance and Uses of Grammar 1

Part I Grammatical Concepts Aligned with Grade 6 Common Core Language Standards 13

1 Understanding the Impact of Intensive Pronouns 15

2 Achieving Clarity with Proper Pronoun Case 25

3 Using Punctuation to Set Off Nonrestrictive Elements 36

4 Maintaining Consistency in Style and Tone 48

Part II Grammatical Concepts Aligned with Grade 7 Common Core Language Standards 61

5 Using Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences 63

6 Using Phrases and Clauses while Recognizing and Correcting Dangling Modifiers 76

7 Choosing Language that Expresses Ideas Precisely and Eliminates Wordiness and Redundancy 90

8 Distinguishing among Connotations of Words with Similar Denotations 102

Part III Grammatical Concepts Aligned with Grade 8 Common Core Language Standards 113

9 Explaining the Functions of Verbals 115

10 Forming and Using Verbs in the Active and Passive Voices 125

11 Forming and Using Verbs in the Indicative, Imperative, Interrogative, Conditional, and Subjunctive Moods 138

12 Using Punctuation to Indicate a Pause or Break 152

Part IV Putting It Together 165

13 Assessing Students' Knowledge 167

Conclusion Final Thoughts and Tips for Classroom Practice 175

Annotated Bibliography 181

References 191

Appendix: Reproducible Charts and Forms You Can Use in Your Classroom 194