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ChelseyHerrmannsTeacherInquiryProject:AnnotatedBibliography

1. Skretta,J.A.(1996).Whydebatesaboutteachinggrammarandusagetweakmeout
[Electronicversion].
EnglishJournal,85
(7),6467.

a. AfirstyearreadingteacherinLincoln,Nebraskaarguesthatmanystudents,
especiallyhis,viewgrammarinstructionascompletelyirrelevantand
meaningless.Furthermore,grammarinstructiontypicallylooksforfaultsand
errorsinstudentswritinginsteadofhighlightingtheirstrengths.Asoneofthe
authorsstudentswrote,IwouldliketoberewardedforwhatIknowratherthan
alwaysbeingpunishedforwhatIdont(Skretta,1996,p.67).Skrettamaintains
thatbeingfixatedongrammarandtherightwayofwritingisolatesteachersand
studentsandmakesstudentsfeelinadequateandunmotivated.
b. ThisarticleintriguedmebecauseIcouldrelatetomanyoftheauthorspoints.
Manyofmystudentsalsostruggletoseetheimportanceofgrammarinstruction,
hencethereasonformychoiceoftopic.Thevernacularofmystudentsandtheir
familiesoftenusesnonStandardsubjectverbagreementandpronounusage,such
asHedontplayfootballorMeandJakewenttothegame.Myultimategoal
isnotthatstudentsknowwhatagerundisbutthattheycanwriteclearlyand
correctly.Myresearch,however,isshowingmethatthewordcorrectlymaybe
upforinterpretation.Skrettaspointsaboutmeetingstudentswheretheyareand
acknowledgingandpraisingtheirstrengthsdefinitelyresonatedwithme.WhereI
stillstruggleishowtoreconciletheseideaswiththefactthatpeopleare
frequentlyjudgedontheirabilitytowritecorrectly.Ifastudentappliesforajob
onedayanddoesntemploybasiccapitalization,punctuation,orspellingskills,
thereisagoodchanceheorshewillnotgethired.Icanseehowteaching
grammarconceptssuchasvarioussentencestructurescanbecontextualizedinto
writinginstruction,butImnotsureIcanforgetaboutbasicmechanicalerrors.I
willapplythisstudytomyworkbyincludingstrongstudentexamplesinmy
minilessonsandfindingopportunitiessuchasdialogueforstudentstousetheir
vernacular.

2. Jones,S.,Myhill,D.,&Bailey,T.(2013).Grammarforwriting?Aninvestigationofthe
effectsofcontextualisedgrammarteachingonstudentswriting.
ReadingandWriting,
26
(8),12411263.


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a. ThisstudyfromEnglandnotesthatwhileagreatamountofresearchhasbeen
doneontherelationshipbetweendirectgrammarinstructionandstudentswriting
(andfoundnorelationshipbetweenthetwo),verylittlehasbeendonestudying
theeffectsofteachinggrammarwithinthecontextofwriting.Theresearch
questionforthisstudywasWhatimpactdoescontextualisedgrammarteaching
haveuponstudentswritingandstudentsmetalinguisticunderstanding?(Jones,
Myhill,&Bailey,2012,p.1246).Theteachersgrammaticalsubjectknowledge
wasalsostudied.Threegenreswerestudied:fictionalnarrative,argument,and
poetry.Researchersdidfindastatisticallysignificantimprovementinstudents
writingaftertheembeddedgrammarinstructionlessons.
b. Thissourcehelpsmeanswermyresearchquestionbyprovidingevidencethat
embeddinggrammarinstructionwithinwritinginstructionhasapositiveimpact
onstudentwriting.Italsocitesseveralsourcesthathavefoundnocorrelation
betweenexplicitgrammarinstructionandstudentwriting.Thisleadsmystudyin
thedirectionthatthebestwaytoimprovestudentsgrammarandmechanicsin
theirwritingistoteachgrammarwithinthecontextoftheirwriting.Thisstudy
alsoincludednarrativewriting,soitspecificallyaddressedthegenreofmy
researchquestion.Iwilldesignmynarrativeunitaroundaseriesofcontextual
minilessonsinsteadofexplicitgrammarinstructionasthisstudyrecommends.
3. Hillocks,Jr.,G.(2007).
Narrativewriting
.Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann.

a. Thisbookincludeschaptersofferingpracticalmethodsofteachingnarrative
writing.Differentaspectsofnarrativewritingarefocusedon,suchas
incorporatingdetailandfigurativelanguage,creatingdialogue,andwritingabout
scenesandsettings.Thebookalsoincludestwoappendices:onedescribingthe
resultsoftheauthorsstudyimplementingthelessonsincludedinthebookand
theother,titledANoteAboutGrammar,offerstheauthorsphilosophyonthe
teachingofgrammar.Hillocks,arespectedteacherandeducationalscholar,
arguesthatmanyrulesoftheEnglishlanguageareoftenignoredinmodern
speechandwriting,sostrictadherencetosaidrulesisunnecessary.Furthermore,
Hillocksnotesresearchthathasfoundthattraditionalgrammarinstructiondoes
notleadtoimprovedwritingorimprovedcorrectness.Afewgeneralsuggestions
areoffered.


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b. Thesecondappendixinparticulardrewmyattentionduetoitsrelevancetomy
researchquestion.ItalignswithothersourcesIhavefoundthatsuggestrespecting
studentsnaturalgrammarandteachinggrammarandusagewithinthecontextof
writingismosteffective.
Narrativewriting
isalsospecificallyfocusedonthe
narrativegenre,soitoffersteachingmethodsandlessonideastouseinmy
project.Asstatedbefore,Hillocksisahighlyrespectededucator,soheis
definitelyacrediblesource.Thevastlistofreferencesattheendofthebook
providesagreatlistofsourcesifIneedmoreresearchasmyprojectcontinues.
Thisbookwillprovidethefoundationformyunit.Iwillbeginmystudentswitha
narrativeprompttoaccuratelyevaluatetheircurrentskillsandareasofweakness.
Then,likeHillocksrecommends,Iwillplacemystudentsintoheterogeneous
groupsbasedontheoverallqualityoftheirpreliminarynarratives.Studentswill
workwiththesegroupsonvariousminilessonsfromthisbookandothersources
toimprovetheirgrammar,usage,andmechanics.
4. Weaver,C.,Bush,J.,Anderson,J.,&Bills,P.(2006,May).Grammarintertwined
throughthewritingprocess:Aninchwideandamiledeep[Electronicversion].
EnglishTeaching:PracticeandCritique,5
(1),77101.

a. Thispeerreviewedarticlepresentsanumberofideasandrealworldexamplesof
secondaryteachersintegratinggrammarandwritinginstruction,whichtheauthors
argueismoreeffectivethanteachinggrammaroutofcontext.Narrativewritingis
thebasisofmostexamplesinthisarticle,suchasteachersusingexamplesfrom
publishedworksoffictionandhavingstudentsapplyminilessonsonskillssuch
assentencecombininginworksoftheirownnarrativewriting.Minilessonsand
writersworkshoparethetwomainvesselsforintegratinggrammarandwriting
instructioninthisarticle.
b. Iappreciatedthissourcesspecificexamplesofminilessonsthatintegrate
grammarinstructionandnarrativewriting.Theauthorusesanarrative,
Thepaper
bagprincess
,asamentortext.Studentsstudytheuseofparticipialphrases,

experimentwiththem,andeventuallytrythemintheirownwriting.Theauthor
didnotframetheselessonstothestudentsasgrammarlessons,butaswaysto
maketheirwritingmoredescriptiveandinteresting.Thishelpedmeseewhatit
mightlookliketoactuallyteachgrammarincontext.Perhapsattheendofthe
lessons,theteachermighttellstudentsthatthesearecalledparticipialphrasesso


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thestudentshaveanameforthem,buttherulesandtechnicalitiesarenotthe
focusoftheinstruction.Iwonderaboutassessingthesekindsofminilessons.I
willdesignatleastoneofmyminilessonsaftertheonedescribedinthisstudy.
5. Anderson,J.(2005).Mechanicallyinclined.Portland,ME:StenhousePublishers.
a. Thisbook,subtitledBuildingGrammar,Usage,andStyleintoWriters
Workshop,presentsanumberofminilessonsintegratinggrammarandmechanics
intonarrativewriting.Forexample,thelessononsubjectverbagreementfeatures
anexcerptfromafictionalstory,
TheTaleofDespereaux
byKateDiCamillo,asa
mentortext.ThelessonasksstudentstoexaminetheverbtenseoftheDiCamillo
textandamentortextwrittenbythebooksauthor.Next,studentsdoanarrative
freewriteinthefirstpersonpointofviewandusingthepresenttense.Then,
studentslookattheauthorstextagainwritteninthirdpersonanddiscussthe
effects.Finally,studentsrewritetheirownpassagesinthethirdperson.Nearlyall
ofthelessonsinthisbookbeginwitharealworldnarrativementortextand
involvestudentsapplyingthegrammarorusagelessonintotheirownnarrative
writing.
b. MechanicallyInclined
providesrealworld,practicallessonsforintegrating

grammarandusageintonarrativewritinginstruction,whichiswhatothersources
Ihavefoundadvocate.Althoughtheauthor,JeffAnderson,isamiddleschool
teacherandthelessonsseemdesignedformiddleschoolstudents,theconcepts
seemapplicabletohighschoolstudents,perhapsbychangingthementortexts.I
haveusedsomeofthelessonsfromthisbookinthepastbutnotonaconsistent
basis.Iwillchooseacouplelessonsfromthisbookasmyminilessonsinthis
projectbasedontheneedsIobservefrommystudents.

6. Petruzzella,B.A.(1996).Grammarinstruction:Whatteacherssay[Electronicversion].
EnglishJournal,85
(7),6872.

a. Thissourcecomparesattitudestowardgrammarinstructionbetweenresearchers
andclassroomteachers,notingthatthereisoftenadiscrepancybetweenthetwo.
Researchhasseemtohaveconcludedthatexplicitgrammarinstructiondoesnot
improvewriting,yetmostclassroomteachersincludegrammarinstructionintheir
curriculumdespitehavingknowledgeofwhattheresearchsays.Onetheoryis
thatpeoplefrequentlyusegrammartomeanusageandmechanicswhenthey
areactuallydifferentthings.Severalteachersinthearticlenotedthevalueof


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personalizinggrammarinstructionthroughwritingconferencesandteaching
studentsaboutconceptsthatwillhelptheirwritingwhenitseemstheyareready.
b. IwasdrawnintothisarticlequicklybecauseIcouldrelatetotheauthors
frustrationstryingonethingafteranothertohelpstudentsimprovetheirgrammar.
Also,Icouldrelatetothestruggleofbalancingmyknowledgeaboutthefutility
ofteachinggrammarwiththerealitythatsomanyofmystudentsstruggleinthis
area.Sincethissourcetalkedtoactualclassroomteachers,Ifoundsomeoftheir
ideasandsuggestionshelpfulonapracticallevel,likeusingwritingconferences
asavehicleforcontextualizedgrammarinstruction.Still,Ihavetherealitythat
writingconferencesaredifficulttodoinaclassof30students,andthenthereis
thefactthatitisdifficultifnotimpossibletohaveindividualizedgradeswithmy
schoolscurrentgradingsystem.Forexample,ifStudentAneedshelpwith
subjectverbagreementandStudentBneedshelpwithsemicolons,howdoI
gradethem?Igetfrustratedwiththelimitationsofgrades,butIhavetolivewith
theirrealityatleastforthepresent.Iseemyselfusingthissourceinpresentingmy
rationaleformyprojectandinmyreflectionsattheend.

7. Walker,B.D.,Shippen,M.E.,Houchins,D.E.,&Cihak,D.F.(2007).Improvingthe
writingskillsofhighschoolstudentswithlearningdisabilitiesusingthe
Expressive
Writing
program[Electronicversion].
InternationalJournalofSpecialEducation,22
(22),6676.

a. TheseresearchersusedtheDirectInstructionprogram
ExpressiveWriting
(Engelmann&Silbert,1983)tomeasuregainsinwritingforthreehighschool
studentswithaspecificlearningdisabilityinwrittenexpression.
Expressive
Writing
isaprogramthatfocusesonthewritingandtheeditingofbasic

sentences,paragraphs,andstories.Instructionalstrandswithintheprogram
include(a)mechanics,(b)sentencewriting,(c)paragraphandstorywriting,and
(d)editing(Walkeretal.,2007,p.68).Writingsampleswereassessedpreand
postinterventiononthenumberofcorrectwordsequences(CWS).Spelling,
capitalization,punctuation,andstandardEnglishusagemakeupthecomponents
ofCWS.AllthreestudentsshowedgainsinCWSscoresoverthecourseofthis
program.


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b. Althoughthisstudydoesnotseemtoaddressthegenreofnarrativewriting
specifically,itdoesprovideanideaforaninterventionthatmayhelpmystudents
improvetheiroverallgrammarandmechanics,whichIshouldbeabletomeasure
innarrativewritingsamples.Idohaveseveralstudentswithalearningdisability
inwrittenexpression,butIwonderifthisstudymighttransfertootherstudentsas
well.Ihavenotpurchasedtheworkbooksonthe
ExpressiveWriting
program

usedinthisstudy,soIdonotplanonusingtheminmyproject.OnceIimplement
mynarrativewritingunitbasedoffmyothersources,Iwillcomparemyresultsto
theresultsofthisstudyandexaminehowthe
ExpressiveWriting
programmight
comparetomystudy.