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279th out of 295 books
—
209 voters
Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer's Workshop
Some teachers love grammar and some hate it, but nearly all struggle to find ways of making the mechanics of English meaningful to kids. As a middle school teacher, Jeff Anderson also discovered that his students were not grasping the basics, and that it was preventing them from reaching their potential as writers. Jeff readily admits, �I am not a grammarian, nor am I punc...more
Paperback, 216 pages
Published
January 1st 2005
by Stenhouse Publishers
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Awesome, awesome, AWESOME! (Don't let the "writer's workshop" part of the title scare you!) First, it's a grammar book that is engaging to read. Second, it is designed in a very user-friendly way with 3 parts: method/philosophy, individual lessons (based on the most common student errors in grammar/mechanics-- and the lessons are clear, fast, and FUN!), and an appendix with forms for the lessons. So, you could skip the method/philosophy part and go right to whatever individual lessons you needed...more
I love the ideas for incorporating grammar instruction with student writing in this book. Anderson's ideas for the Writer's Notebook are solid and realistically able to be implemented in a classroom. He offers great lessons for teaching different grammatical concepts to students, and these lessons nicely complement those presented in Harry Noden's Image Grammar and align with Constance Weaver's Teaching Grammar in Context.
I recommend this book to any classroom teacher faced with teaching gramma...more
I recommend this book to any classroom teacher faced with teaching gramma...more
Full of great examples from mentor texts and real-life classroom dialog, this is a great how-to book for ELA teachers who are using (or thinking of using) writer's workshop in their classroom and who want to teach GUMS in a more authentic way. It contains explanations, both of the techniques and of the conventions (and in case you never knew, didn't understand, or have forgotten them, Jeff doesn't make you feel like a fraud--he even admits he's the last person who ever would have thought he'd wr...more
I'm a glutton for books on education, and I can comfortably say that this is hands-down the most practical, entertaining, and useful book I read in 2008. While I was still reading the book I was able to implement some of Anderson's ideas in my own classroom. He's a middle school teacher but I adapted many of his lesson ideas for my third grade class. He answered every question and eased my discomfort about teaching structure in a fluidly structured environment like writer's workshop. Well done i...more
I have yet to figure out how to teach grammar and mechanics without turning English into the most hated, most boring subject there is; therefore, I teach very little of it. This book makes the case for why grammar and mechanics are so important to teach and offers a lot of practical ideas for how to do it. First, I like his approach -- there is a reason that students make the mistakes they make. To teach mechanics, you have to start with the reasoning behind the mistake students are making. In o...more
This is a nice handbook for every writing teacher's shelf, focusing on each element of grammar or often made grammatical error and how to address it in a writing context.
I especially appreciate the mentor texts included in the book for each grammatical errors tat students commonly make. I also think the appendices, the handouts and exercises, are quite helpful. I found it interesting that they included Cloze assessments, which are traditionally used to gage a students comprehension.
I especially appreciate the mentor texts included in the book for each grammatical errors tat students commonly make. I also think the appendices, the handouts and exercises, are quite helpful. I found it interesting that they included Cloze assessments, which are traditionally used to gage a students comprehension.
This book, for middle/high school English teachers, is one of the most useful content-specific books I've read. Anderson, trained by NJWPT, has great strategies for teaching grammar and mechanics in the context of real writing, even in writing workshop. Almost everything he writes rings true with what I've learned in my 6 years of teaching, AND he gives page after page of useful handouts with quick references for the most egregious errors.
I used this for a Teaching Grammar in Middle Grades course I taught during a summer session. Pre-service teachers were able to do several of the activities in class. Anderson's philosophies fit well with the descriptive, transformational approach I use in the applied grammar course I teach during Fall and Spring. Using the book allowed the teachers to feel less self-conscious about their own grammar skills and to play with language more.
I loved this book! Really made me think about how I taught grammar. Many books of this ilk imply that all kids need to do is look at models and that old fashioned direct instruction is bad. But Anderson shows how to mix both the direct instruction kids need to understand the concept with the modeling and experimentation they need to apply it, and to want to apply it, to their writing.
Awesome lessons that make teaching grammar fun! Anderson's method for setting up the writer's notebook requires too much management for my sixth graders. The lessons/activities for sentence parts and types are especially good. Tomorrow I am we are having a SENTENCE SMACK DOWN!!! Some old Jock Jams tunes will play during transitions. YES!
Technically I've been reading this for a few weeks, but it counts for my teaching book for last week. I liked this book a lot, although I feel like it's definitely geared more toward middle school. I really like the general ideas in this book though, particularly editor's checklists as evolving posters, visual posters for understanding grammar, the use of mentor texts, and sentence stalking. All of these ideas are ones I'd use in my class. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to incorpor...more
I soaked up this over summer break in 2009 and came back to school eager to share Anderson's work with my teammates. This book has a fresh, innovative way to engage students and perhaps even have them enjoying grammar instead of dreading it!
Perfect book for teaching grammar. Anderson promotes teaching grammar as a positive and not for criticism. He replaces sentence corrections with lessons that enable students to use grammar to make their writing better. Check it out!
Interesting tip book that uses grammar as a craft element vs. something taught and viewed only in isolation. Kudos, Jeff. Nicely done. Let's keep those kiddos reading, and looking at the writing craft of what they have read.
This book is brilliant, very useful. Most education literature is limited in how useful it is, but this one, is a gold mine of useful and practical tools. In addition I've learned how to improve my own writing from it!
Some of the best examples of how to teach grammar in context. Jeff Anderson includes a lot of mini-lessons that can be used in any classroom setting or grade. Very grammar-friendly for non-grammar-friendly people!
Only a grammar nerd like me would give this book 5 stars. :) I'm reading it for grad school, and I'd recommend it for language arts & English teachers for both middle school & high school.
An engaging, easy-to-read professional text that provides usable tools for teachers to infuse their classroom with quality grammar instruction.
LOVE this book! It's a must have for anyone who teaches secondary English. The lessons are practical and immediately useful in your classroom.
I'd definitely recommend this to teachers of writing. Anderson's style makes the somewhat-tedious subjects of grammar and mechanics enjoyable.
Love, Love, Love this fantastic and practical book for incorporating grammar into a packed schedule and communication arts classroom.
Great for teaching grammar! Good explanation of what symbols mean and how to model. I will definitely be using this book my first year!
I was fortunate enough to spent a day with Anderson a few weeks ago when he was in town to offer training for middle school language arts teachers. His approach to teaching grammar and mechanics using the context of mentor texts is easily applied and totally ingenious. Attending the training and reading the book have reminded me why I wanted to be an English teacher in the first place -- I love language and the power of words. The strategies in this book can help me more effectively communicate...more
Despite the fact that it took me almost SIX MONTHS to actually finish this book (there was a few months that it didn't get picked up at all) there were some REALLY valuable things to learn from Jeff Anderson's treatise on how to better incorporate grammar into the writing workshop. To me, what made this book worthwhile is that the grammar was actually RELEVANT and not just random textbook drills that teach kids nothing other than how to hate the English language. Jeff Anderson's approach allows...more
I loved this book for ideas of how to teach grammar in the context of writing and reading.
Excellent methods and advice for incorporating grammar instruction within the context of writing. Anderson provides outstanding synopses of key grammatical/stylistic issues, and ways to present them effectively to young writers. This is the first time I've used this book for a course with preservice teachers, and it won't be the last.
Do you want to know what teaching grammar in context really means? Here's the answer.
I believe that Jeff Anderson has it right by teaching grammar using real literature and then having the kids immediately use the info. they've learned about grammar in their own writing journals. His book is incredibly helpful in that he actually gives you books to use and the pages in that book where you can find great examples of whatever grammar rule he is teaching. The only problem I'm having is that I never have had the time to run a real writer's workshop. I'm wondering if this would work...more
Jul 22, 2009
Ede Marquissee
added it
I am basing my teaching of grammar on this book!
Good, but once again - geared towards middle school teachers.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teachers' Book Club: Mechanically Inclined | 1 | 3 | Oct 13, 2011 04:03pm | |
| Teachers' Book Club: Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer's Workshop | 1 | 3 | Oct 13, 2011 04:01pm | |
| Teachers' Book Club: Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer's Workshop | 1 | 2 | Oct 13, 2011 04:01pm | |
| Teachers' Book Club: Mechanically Inclined: Revolutionizing the way you teach grammar!! | 1 | 4 | Oct 13, 2011 03:57pm |
Jul 21, 2012 01:49pm
Jul 23, 2012 06:45am