Getting It Right: Fresh Approaches to
Teaching Grammar, Usage, and
Correctness (Theory and Practice) by
Jeffrey Wilhelm
Grammar? All Errors Are Not Created Equal
The authors consider what grammatical concepts and correctness issues
are most worth teaching and how to teach those concepts and issues
deeply. They explain how to understand the causes of students errors,
how to address those causes through authentic and engaging activities,
and how teachers can work together to increase their effectiveness. They
provide both guiding principles and plenty of examples that readers will be
able to employ immediately For use with Grades 4 & Up.
Personal Review: Getting It Right: Fresh Approaches to
Teaching Grammar, Usage, and Correctness (Theory and
Practice) by Jeffrey Wilhelm

Each year teachers are amazed at how little their students know about
grammar, usage, and correctness. "Why don't you know this?" they ask
their students. "Didn't your teacher TEACH you this last year?" Blank
expressions on their faces, the kids shake their heads "no," but a visit to
last year's teacher brings indignation. "I certainly DID teach them (fill in the
blank with your favorite grammar term)!" she says testily -- or quizzically,
depending on her mood.
Sound familiar? It does to me, which is why I bought GETTING IT RIGHT.
After years of frustration with "Teflon Grammatical Memory Syndrome" and
with correcting a gazillion errors on a gajillion student papers, I looked to
two familiar names -- Michael Smith and Jeffrey Wilhelm -- for answers. I
wasn't disappointed.
Smith and Wilhelm start with conclusive research that the teaching of
grammar in isolation does not work. Then they roll up their sleeves to
show us what DOES work. Essentially they argue that it is a depth vs.
breadth issue when it comes to grammar. Rather than trying to teach
everything, teachers should focus on what's important and most likely to
benefit the students in the long run. Their two justifications for teaching a
term? "1. The term is so commonly used that teachers, texts, and tests
presume that students know it. 2. The term is essential to being able to
explain an important issue of style or correctness."
Boiling the vast world of grammar minutiae down to 16 basic
terms/concepts, Smith and Wilhelm demonstrate creative ways to teach
them based on their own experiences as well as those of student teachers
who have worked under their tutelage. The practical ideas will be
invaluable to teachers looking for new methods of reaching their kids in
this most challenging of tasks. Prompts and handout examples are
provided, along with samples of typical student errors and ways to help
students learn from them.
Teachers will especially appreciate the section called "A Model Sequence:
Learning to Proofread." Here the authors have mercy by telling teachers to
free themselves of their shackles. Circling every error on every paper is
NOT productive (unless improving your own editing skills while your kids
learn nothing counts as "productive"). Instead, teachers should model
proofreading and provide practice on carefully selected concepts, then
serve as mentors by teaching specific skills and having students serve as
their own editors by focusing on errors related to those skills only. Also,
peer proofreading ideas that work are spelled out -- one in particular that
involves creative use of the TV series CSI. Here it means "Correct
Sentence Investigators" -- and yes, the proofreaders are "agents" and the
errors are the "crime" (meaning you're about to witness the unlikely
marriage of "fun" and "editing").
Buy it. Read it. Use it. Most importantly, it will help your students become
better writers and self-editors; less importantly (but still worthy of your

consideration!) YOU will feel a little more sane and a lot more effective
when you send your kids off to the next grade where they might just
surprise their new teacher by saying, "Participles? Yeah, we actually DID
learn how to use THEM last year!"
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