Painless Grammar, presentation for the 2016 JEA Adviser Institute

1. C A N B E ( A L M O S T ) P A I N L E S S
C A N D A C E P E R K I N S B O W E N
2 0 1 6 J E A A D V I S E R S I N S T I T U T E
GRAMMAR

2. One final thought…
 Kyle Weins, the co-founder of iFixit and Dozuki, companies
that write product manuals, is adamant in his refusal to hire
individuals who do not know how to use grammar properly.
He writes, “She [Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots &
Leaves] thinks that people who mix up their itses ‘deserve to
be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an
unmarked grave,’ while I just think they deserve to be passed
over for a job — even if they are otherwise qualified for the
position.”
 Weins readily acknowledges that language changes, but he
quickly adds that such changes do not exempt individuals
from knowing and using grammar well. He argues that “good
grammar is credibility,” essentially summarizing Aristotle’s
concept of ethos.
“In defense of learning grammar rules,” by Taylor Massey, Cengage Learning

3. What’s your grammar background?
 Take the Kent State School of Journalism and Mass
Communication diagnostic
 So….?

4. Top 10 grammar demons
1. Thinking you don’t have to know grammar to write well
2. Subjects and verbs that don’t agree
3. Nouns and pronouns that don’t agree
4. Lack of parallelism
5. Confusing who and whom
6. Confusing that and which
7. Confusing possessives and contractions
8. Dangling and misplaced modifiers
9. Misused commas
10. The dreaded passive voice
When Words Collide, by Lauren Kessler and Duncan McDonald

5. An approach that works
 It doesn’t matter what you call the parts, but
students need to learn structure.
 Traditional grammar terms (noun, gerund, clause, etc.)
 “New” grammar terms: Main parts, lead-in parts, in-between
parts, add-on parts (Steve Peha,
president of Teaching that Makes Sense)
 Transitional grammar terms
 Explain as you use whatever term (this –ing word, a
gerund, is used as a noun. What do nouns do?)
 Teach the structure as a system and also in the
context of their writing.

6. Two-pronged approach
 Prong One: First teach grammar
systematically
because it IS a system.
 The sentence
 Parts of speech
 Agreement
 Punctuation
 Clarity & conciseness
 Style
 PART TWO: Speedy grammar and word use guide

7. Prong two: Integrate it with writing
 Check sheets for returned papers

8. More integrating
 Sentences from their papers, the cheesier the better,
sometimes with sound. (other ppt)

9. And even more integrating
 Focus on one problem area with sentence pairs.
 Choose a problem, say, commas.
 Have them find five comma errors on past papers.
 Write them as they did originally (incorrectly).
 Then write the sentence with the comma error corrected and
tell why.
 After the teens went to the dance they drove back to McDonald’s.
 After the teens went to the dance, they drove back to McDonald’s.
 Use that idea for a grammar final or other test.

10. Some bits of fun
 For class, have students
 Make cookies (or other food) in the shape of punctuation
marks and then have students describe how the mark is used
while others are eating. (Yes, I know…some places, that’s a no-
no)
 Dress up as punctuation and do same.
 Celebrate National Grammar Day – always March 4th.
Sometimes online grammar sites have special contests or
activities.
 Celebrate National Punctuation Day – always Sept. 24
 Digital options: Grammar Bytes (ChompChomp)

11. Some other bits of fun
 The Glamour of Grammar,”
by Roy Peter Clark
of the Poynter Institute
 Grammar Girl podcasts
and “Quick and Dirty tips,”
podcasts and Facebook
 Poynter NewsU – especially
“Clean Your Copy: Grammar, Style and More”