Running Head: GRAMMAR MINI-LESSONS

Grammar Mini-Lessons
Daniel Coffin
Concordia University, Nebraska

Submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for EDUC 622
December 5th, 2015

GRAMMAR MINI-LESSONS
I hated them as a student and yet relied upon them heavily as a teacher of

English: PowerPoint presentations, guided notes, oral drills, correction activities, and
worksheets, all designed to illustrate and instruct students in a particular aspect of
English language grammar. The contradiction bothered me, and it was right that it did,
according to Constance Weaver, who says that research indicates that the teaching of
grammar in isolation (i.e., with worksheets and the like) does not translate into improved
student writing (as cited in Zaner-Bloser, 2011, p. 110). Whatever it is students learn
from such activities, it does not induce them to craft the polished prose their teachers
are looking for. So what, then, is the alternative?
Rather than teach every grammar concept in isolation, one after another, Weaver
suggests cutting down on the number of concepts taught, teaching them thoroughly,
and teaching them in conjunction with a writing assignment - that is, teaching them in
context (as cited in Zaner-Bloser, 2011, p. 115). Following are a few examples of what
mini-lessons designed to teach grammar concepts might look like as part of a writingintensive classroom. All have been drawn from Jeff Andersons excellent text about
writing instruction, Mechanically Inclined.
One of the greatest grammar challenges I face as a middle-school English
teacher is the incomplete sentence. It is human nature to speak with ones peers
informally, without regard to proper sentence structure, and my students write exactly
the way they talk. I have gotten into the habit of borrowing Jeff Andersons lesson on
sentence structure which he calls Two Word Sentence Smackdown (2005, p. 65-67).
We start by gathering two word sentences from our classroom and DEAR
reading materials and recording them on a chart in class. Once we have a long enough

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list, we start to examine these sentences as a class. What function does each of the
words serve in the sentence? What do all of the words on the left have in common?
What do all of the words on the right have in common? Through exploration and
discussion, students collectively realize that the words on the left are subjects (people,
places, and things) and the words on the right are verbs (actions undertaken by the
subjects of the sentence).
We then extend the lesson by having the class write up a stack of index cards in
two colors: pink and green. On the pink cards, students write verbs. On the green cards,
students write subjects. Each student gets one of each. They then roam around the
room finding other students with whom they can make new sentences. The students
then write these new sentences in their writers notebooks. Occasionally, students will
hook up a subject with a verb conjugated improperly for that subject (e.g., a student with
an I subject card and a student with a guesses verb card). These students I will have
write their sentences down, with an asterisk next to them. I will remind them to check
these when we talk about subject-verb agreement in a few days. The lesson culminates
with a freewrite. I will challenge students to use at least five two word sentences in their
freewriting. Afterward, when students share their writing, I will ask students how the
writing sounded when students used two word sentences sparingly, when they used
them exclusively, and when they intermingled longer and shorter sentences. This will
get them thinking about sentence structure from a stylistic point of view.
In general, students love this lesson. Its easy, the game aspect hooks their
interest while we talk about something that might not otherwise be interesting, and it
translates directly into writing outcomes (both conventions and style).

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Discussion of subjects and verbs leads naturally to the topic of subject-verb
agreement. Again, I use a lesson authored by Jeff Anderson (2005, p. 118-119) to
illustrate how verbs change form to connect with different subjects and in different
tenses. I use the mentor text Anderson suggests, a paragraph from Kate DiCamillos
The Tale of Despereaux written in the past tense that features many irregular verbs.
Upon reading and discussing this text as a class, we notice how just throwing a -d or ed on the end of a word isnt always sufficient. We then rewrite the past tense verbs in
the passage as a class into present tense.
At this point, I turn my students loose to write in their writers notebooks for five
minutes. They write a brief (1-2 paragraphs) personal narrative; this is supposed to be
told in the first person and in the present tense. I will write something at the same time
they do and then display it on my SMART board once the freewrite is finished; I always
use an anecdote from school that features a student. Once everyone has read my
passage, I then change the point of view from first person to third; at this point, I can
include a little extra narration from the students perspective, which never fails to get a
laugh. We then talk about how the verbs changed when I changed the point of view. Mr.
Coffin is now not an I in the story, but a he, and the verbs attached to those subjects
must change accordingly. I turn them back to their notebooks for another five minutes to
rewrite their narratives from first person to third as I did. Following this second round of
writing students will share both versions of their narratives while other students take
notes in their writers notebooks about verb changes that surprised them. I will offer
constructive critiques if none of the students get to it first. This activity has worked well
for me because students love writing about themselves and I think they are intrigued by

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the possibilities of writing about events in their lives from the imaginary perspective of a
third-person observer. This activity helps to outline some patterns of verb conjugation
which will help them, with practice, to recognize when their subjects and verbs disagree
and how to fix them so they do.
The only grammar-specific Common Core standard for sixth grade deals with
pronouns (proper case, correcting vague usage, etc.), so this is a special focus for my
writing instruction. With a little classroom discussion and a viewing of the excellent
Schoolhouse Rock cartoon Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla, students get excited about the
utility of pronouns and I inevitably see them used more frequently in their freewriting,
until the day comes when I see so many I cant possibly figure out which pronouns
refers to what antecedent.
I then know that the class is ready for a mini-lesson on vague pronoun usage.
Like Jeff Anderson suggests, I will take a selection from the text Kira-Kira by Cynthia
Kadohata and create a Cloze with all of the pronouns removed (2005, p. 108-109). I will
then reproduce the pronouns on little pieces of paper which students can manipulate
into the blanks, using context from the sentences to figure out which pronouns go
where. After students have settled on placement for their wayward pronouns, I will
distribute an unaltered copy of the mentor text for us to read and compare to our
versions. There is enough vagueness in a few sentences where valid changes can be
made to the pronouns; we discuss how while still technically correct, changing the
pronouns nevertheless changes the meaning of the sentence.
This has been a successful activity for me. Again, students enjoy the puzzle of
figuring out where pronouns go based on the clues left for them. The nature of this

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activity makes it like a game. The understanding they gain leads to better writing; they
see how confusing it can be when antecedents are unclear, and they learn just how
much meaning pronouns contribute to the sentence as a whole. They learn through
experience to take care with the pronouns they employ in their own writing.
In each of these three mini-lessons, students learn valuable grammar concepts
which they can immediately put to use in their own writing to good effect. They learn
hands-on the craft of writing. They dont necessarily learn all of the terminology like a
grammarian would, but why should they? My intent as a sixth-grade English teacher is
not to create grammarians, but passionate and effective writers. I believe cutting out as
much of the boring skill & drill work to make time for more writing helps me to do that.

REFERENCES
Anderson, J. (2005). Mechanically inclined: Building grammar, usage and style into
writers workshop. Portland: Stenhouse Publishers.
Tompkins, G.E. (2012). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product. (6th Ed.).
Boston: Pearson.

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Zaner-Bloser (2011). Writing research: A guide to curriculum planning. Columbus, OH:
Zaner-Bloser.

REFLECTION
Unlike most of the last few writing assignments, I felt this came very easily to me. I
suppose that I was better prepared because I keep reflections on past assignments as a
matter of course, and teaching grammar in context is something that my colleague and I
have been working on for the last couple of years. There is a danger, however, when
one is writing about something really familiar to gloss over important details which then

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leaves the material opaque to an outside reader for whom it is unfamiliar. It was for this
reason I read my first draft to my wife, who made some suggestions regarding my
explanations of the various mini-lessons which I felt were fruitful. It was went I was
typing this reflection that I then thought about my students, some of whom really
struggle when it comes to peer editing, especially if they are supposed to be focusing on
content rather than conventions. They dont know what to look for when they are
assessing the structure or flow of a piece of writing. I wonder if I had authors first
discuss or describe their topic before handing it over, would the editors then be better
prepared to read and assess no, this writing doesnt say what you just said to me? I
might have to try this in class this week.