It’s extremely difficult to give (or understand) advice about writing if you don’t
have an understanding of grammar.Before I learned grammar, I was a writing
tutor, and my tutoring sessions were painful
because I didn’t know what I was doing. I wasn’t able to give my students clear advice about how to make their sentences better. Learning grammar gave me a way to analyze writing, and it also gave me the vocabulary to teach other people how to make their writing better.
Imagine receiving this work from a student. (If you’re not a teacher, imagine that you yourself have written the following sentences and you’re trying to make them better.)
The cat was surprised. It jumped back and stared at the crab. The crab had just pinched the dog’s nose.
There’s nothing wrong with those sentences. They’re just fine, and they’re perfectly appropriate for students at certain skill levels. But, if you wanted to help this student become a better writer, you would want to give him advice on what he could do differently. If you didn’t know grammar, your advice might look something like this.
These sentences are a bit monotonous. Can you combine some of these ideas to make a more interesting sentence?
The problem is that this student would have no idea how to make his sentence more interesting. If, on the other hand, you and your student both knew grammar, your advice might look something like this.
These sentences all have similar structure. What if you combined them into one sentence by making “surprised” an introductory participle and turning one of the other sentences into a dependent adjective clause?
Now there are clear ideas for exactly how to make the sentence more interesting. If the student put that advice into practice, his rewrite might look something like this.
Surprised, the cat jumped back and stared at the crab, which had just pinched the dog’s nose.
That’s better!
Add Tools To Your Toolbox
Join the Writing & Grammar Program, and you’ll learn specific ways to enhance your writing and make it more interesting! This program contains 30 written lessons and videos with tips and tools for writing better sentences. The lessons also include writing prompts that get you to apply what you learn. You don’t need to know grammar in order to join us. I’ll include short grammar lessons about the concepts that we cover, and I’ll also link to extra lessons if you want to learn more about any of them. Here are some examples of concepts that you’ll use in crafting your own sentences. Introductory AdverbIntroductory Prepositional PhraseDependent Adjective ClauseEach of the lessons will be available to you online as well as in a printable PDF file format, and you’ll have the opportunity to join in our live round, which starts March 11!
Individuals & Families
Home-Based Lifetime Access $99
Classroom Teachers, Homeschool Co-op Teachers, & Tutors
School-Based, Per Teacher Annual Access $147
Join the Grammar & Writing ProgramLearn to Write Better Sentences!Downloadable, Printable Versions of Each of the 30 Lesson (PDFs & Videos for Each Lesson)Closed Captioned Videos (Auto-generated) Assignments for Each Lesson (You’ll be writing at least three of your own sentences based on the concepts covered in each lesson.)Example Sentences From Past Participants for Each LessonInstant Access to Entire ProgramOption to join in a live round March 11-April 19 (Accountability & Feedback)Here’s what the live round will entail:An email every weekday of the live round announcing the topic that day and linking you to the contentThe option to share your sentences in a private forum with other amazing people going through the program (This will take place on the Grammar Revolution Classroom website.) A chance to receive direct feedback from me (For each of the 30 lessons, I’ll choose five people and offer them feedback on their sentences.)Participating in the live round gives you accountability and helps you get more out of the lessonsThere are no live meetings. You can complete your “homework” and post on the forum in your own time. 🙂
What Past Participants Have To Say
I have run an interactive version of this program a few times, and each time was such fun! We had great groups of people who actively participated in commenting. Here are just a handful of comments from those rounds.
Although I have subscribed to Grammar Revolution for several years, I never expected you to create such a helpful course. I have learned many things from you, but never before have they been brought together with such finesse. – Bill
I look forward to these lessons every day. :)- Lana
I really enjoyed this course and found it very valuable. The summary in the last lesson is wonderful, and I plan to keep it easily accessible so that I can frequently review it. I care a great deal about grammar, but I was unsystematic in my approach. Your lessons are a great start for getting a deliberate hold on writing (and thinking).- Stephen
I’m so glad that I decided to take this course! I love reading all of the other student sentences along with your kind comments and suggested improvements. – Terry
I am learning so much in this course. I am in awe of you as a teacher, and I appreciate your time and effort in giving individual feedback. It has been your feedback comments that have cemented certain concepts for me. – Madeleine
Individuals & Families
Home-Based Lifetime Access $99
Classroom Teachers, Homeschool Co-op Teachers, & Tutors
School-Based, Per Teacher Annual Access $147
Join the Grammar & Writing ProgramLearn to Write Better Sentences!Downloadable, Printable Versions of Each of the 30 Lesson (PDFs & Videos for Each Lesson)Closed Captioned Videos (Auto-generated) Assignments for Each Lesson (You’ll be writing at least three of your own sentences based on the concepts covered in each lesson.)Example Sentences From Past Participants for Each LessonInstant Access to Entire ProgramOption to join in a live round March 11-April 19 (Accountability & Feedback)Here’s what the live round will entail:An email every weekday of the live round announcing the topic that day and linking you to the contentThe option to share your sentences in a private forum with other amazing people going through the program (This will take place on the Grammar Revolution Classroom website.) A chance to receive direct feedback from me (For each of the 30 lessons, I’ll choose five people and offer them feedback on their sentences.)Participating in the live round gives you accountability and helps you get more out of the lessonsThere are no live meetings. You can complete your “homework” and post on the forum in your own time. 🙂
I hope that you’ll join us!:) Elizabeth