Grammar Guru

"Grammar isn’t so much the defining of what language does, as it is an exploration of what has been done with language, asking what we’re doing with our vocabulary, asking how we make words function when we want a certain idea to be communicated clearly."

- Dr. Seth Katz

This page is still under construction as items are moved into more current technology applications

Specific items are also still being written, check back for updates!

Many of the methods and notes used in this program were developed while heavily relying on the book, Grammar: Common Sense and Complexity by Dr. Seth R. Katz (6th Revised Draft, August 2008). I am permanantly indebted to him for his instruction, guidance, and support. Without his help, I would still be a student lost in the meanderings of traditional grammar education. I hope that this method and manner of grammar presentation is as helpful to my students as it was to me.

Click here for my introduction to Grammar instruction (of course you miss my dynamic presentation of Tog and Grog...)

It is my understanding that a thorough understanding of Grammar is beneficial to all students for a variety of reasons. The primary concept in teaching grammar is to help students acquire an understanding of how language works, of how speakers and writers combine certain ideas to create meaning for an audience. As students develop their understanding of these concepts, they should also be able to read more critically, write more effectively, and speak more effectively. This program has been developed based on the idea that language arrives in "chunks." It begins with the smallest chunk (a word), continues by exploring how words form sentences (essential to understanding the concept of phrases), further continues by exploring how each type of word builds into corresponding phrases, continues to explore how words and phrases chunk together to form clauses, etc. As students work their way through this understanding, they should be able to chunk together progressively more complex and eloquent sentences while at the same time begin to better understand and analyze more complex writing. I have learned to appreciate the English language through the study of grammar. I only hope that students can do the same through this program. As I teach the program, I continuously make updates and tweaks to better serve the needs of my diverse students, so be sure to check back often!

For the following Grammar Program, students should...

(in theory, this is how it works, however, grammar instruction should probably be flexible and organic as each person has his or her own unique understanding of the concepts)

1. Print out the handout for each "Part" then use the handout to view the Introduction notes.
2. If the student has any questions, ask the instructor before proceeding
3. When ready, the student completes Homework #1. (Homework #1 represents the objectives of the lesson in isolation, exercises)
4. The student should then have the instructor check Homework #1 and discuss any incorrect answers.
5. If a student needs to relearn certain targets, he or she should go back to the notes and review that section.
6. Once Homework #1 has been corrected/completed with 100% accuracy, the student is ready to move on.
7. Student completes Homework #2 (Homework #2 represents writing in real-life, i.e. articles/paragraphs, etc.)
8. Student checks Homework #2 with instructor and discusses errors.
9. Once the Student has completed Homework #2 with at least 90% accuracy, he or she may take the quiz
10. Student must complete the Quiz with at least 80% accuracy before moving on to the next part