English Department - Grammar Resources
Grammar Bytes! (chompchomp.com) is an interactive grammar Web site that can be used in the classroom or as a resource for students to use at home. It contains lessons, interactive quizzes, PowerPoint presentations, and downloadable handouts. It covers most of the grammar basics, such as run-ons (they call them fused sentences), fragments, commas, etc. Some of the activities use noises and funny effects, which is fun to use in the classroom. For example, if you choose the correct answer, there is wild cheering and applause, and you are awarded a virtual "prize."
"Crafting an Effective Writer: Tools of the Trade: (Fundamental English Writing)" is an open online course created by members of the Mt. San Jacinto College English Department and offered periodically through Coursera, an online education platform. The course covers material ranging from the parts of a sentence to paragraph composition. It includes audio, visual, and interactive course content. Registration is free.
"The Impotence of Proofreading" by Taylor Mali
This YouTube video is a brief comedic piece by stand-up comedian, Taylor Mali. Through humor and exaggeration, he demonstrates what a pieceof writing sounds like when it has not been proofread. In my composition classes, before we do a peer response for the first essay, I talk briefly about revising and editing and end with a showing of this video.
Learn how to understand almost everything you hear right now in 4 easy steps! If you are an advanced English student, and you already know grammar and can understand what you read, but have trouble understanding when people speak in movies and in real life, watch this lesson to find out HOW to listen and UNDERSTAND!
Jigsaw offers strategies for sharing and group activities. These strategies may be used for grammar workshops, but are not lessons focussing on grammar in particular.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center
Developing the ability to communicate in a clear, organized, and effective way is a central goal of the liberal arts education at Hamilton College. To help all Hamilton students strengthen their writing skills, the Nesbitt-Johnston Writing Center was established in 1987 as a support program for students and faculty. The mission of the Writing Center is to support the writing program by offering peer tutoring in writing for all students, consultation for faculty, on-going tutoring for students needing substantive help in writing, a website with instructional materials for faculty and students, and a computer facility.
Grammar Income Test: http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/133/136334/grammartest.pdf
An informal grammar test to guage students' grammar ability and knowledge of grammar usage. May be used as a "pre-test" to teaching grammar concepts to guage what students need most.
Lessons from English department faculty
From Stephen Clifford:
From Kolleen Kalt:
- Grammar Peer Review Workshops
- UCI Standard Correction Symbols
- Grammar Revisions
- Helping Students to Apply Grammar Lessons to Their Own Writing
From Linda Palumbo:
From Jack Swanson:
Stay Connected