Jack Swanson

    What you see below is a brief outline of a very successful method of teaching grammar.  The entire exercise, from breaking up into base groups to taking the quiz, usually takes about two weeks during an 18-week semester.  Should you have any questions, you're always welcome to contact me.

Grammar – One Strategy

Introduction – Four famous grammar problems:

• Subject verb agreement
• Fragment
• Run-on, Comma Splice, Fused Sentence
• Pronoun-antecedent agreement

Step 1

Establish Base Groups of four students each.

Each person in the group chooses to study and become an expertise in one of the four grammar problems.

Step 2

Students leave their Base Groups and join their Expert Groups to review the grammar packet, which I steal from our Writing Center.  Their tasks are as follows:

• Define the grammar problem.
• Complete the exercises in the packet.
• Review their answers.
• Decide on 10 broken sentences that best demonstrate the problem.
• Give me a copy of the 10 sentences.

Step 3

Return to Base Group.  Using the ten sentences as samples, each expert teaches the others what the problem is and how to correct it.

Step 4

Test – using the very sentences they used to teach one another.

Step 5

Correct the test – in class, each corrects someone else’s test.

Score the test:

• 50% personal score
• 50% average of base group score, so the grade of each is dependent on the success of the others in the group
• Total is the value of one essay