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Talking about Writing, Part One: A sequential programme of sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and usage for Grade 8 with accompanying Answer Key

by Shirley Campbell Books; co-published with Shirley Campbell Books

42 pages; black coil; catalogue #99-0014; ISBN 1-55212-245-X; US$15.00, C$17.50, EUR12.50, £9.00

Talking about Writing is a grades 8 to 12 sequential English language programme which links writing to language study

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introduction      about the author      table of contents      reviews      catalogue info

Introduction

Talking about Writing is for high school teachers and students who

1.	need a common vocabulary with which to discuss written language;
2.	desire a working knowledge of the chief elements of sentence structure, grammar, usage and punctuation as they apply to the writing process;
3.	demand an integrated approach, and a sequenced format adaptable to individual lessons; and
4.	appreciate the help of an Answer key.

A mechanic immersed in the intricacies of engine repair does not ask for a "thingummy" or a "whatsit." He or she names the tool and holds out a hand to receive it.

In the same way, teachers and students poring over the products of the writing process need a basic common vocabulary with which to discuss the work. They need to make mutually understandable statements which will clarify and improve the material under review. For example, "This sentence contains a misplaced modifier" is more helpful and precise than "Don't you think putting this bit in a different place will make the sentence sound better?" Talking about Writing supplies this basic vocabulary.

The text has a simple format. It teaches the recognition of the nine sentence errors which writers commonly make. It integrates the grammar necessary to understand each sentence error. Sentence combining, usage, and punctuation exercises strengthen writing technique.

Talking about Writing fills a need for both a concrete objective in English language study and a teaching plan. It provides a method of entry - the nine sentence errors - which is useful to many: beginning teachers, for example; teachers of other subjects who have been asked to pick up one or two blocks of English in the timetable; teachers who wish a clear explanation of the language in the writing process; or parents who run home school.

A further advantage is to make a connection between the teaching of English language and other languages; such as, French or Spanish. Students studying a second language are expected to recognize, for example, a direct object or a past participle in order to make the necessary agreement. The grammar component accompanying each sentence error encourages the transfer of this knowledge from one language to another.

Talking about Writing is sequenced and self-explanatory. In each chapter the material progresses in simple and logical increments to the desired end; namely, to recognize a sentence error in order to discuss written work, practise effective writing techniques, and empower communication. The sentence errors progress in difficulty from grades 8 to 12. The format is adapted for individual lessons.

Curriculum guides tend to be written in generalities. Talking about Writing provides the teacher with a pattern. Having experienced the focus of this programme and the integration of the topics, he or she then knows how to access additional material to suit a student's individual needs.

How Talking about Writingis organized

Students are taught to recognize the nine major sentence errors: two in each of grades 8 to 11, and one in grade 12, as follows:

Grade 8-	Run-on Sentence, Sentence Fragment
Grade 9-	Lack of Parallel Structure, Misplaced Modifier
Grade 10-	Dangling Participle, Lack of Agreement
Grade 11-	Indefinite Antecedent, Incorrect Tense
Grade 12-	Wordiness

The grammar necessary to understand the sentence error is integrated with appropriate punctuation and sentence combing techniques.

A pre-test and a post-test accompany each sentence error, and exercises accompany the grammatical explanation.

A usage section is included for grades 8, 9, and 10, and a review of punctuation for grade 11.

The unit for grade 12 includes instruction on writing forcefully as well as supplementary exercises on the topics learned in grades 8 to 12.

The grade levels are colour coded for accessibility and interest.

How to Use Talking about Writing

This text is intended to provide a finite amount of essential information for the designated grade. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

In contrast to the leisurely musing which characterizes the composing process, or the angular discussion which accompanies literary analysis, the pace of a language class is rapid. Two to five minutes is adequate for a short Practice Exercise. It is left brain activity. Students are learning how to organize and sharpen their written work. So the teacher is encouraged to push forward quickly - not a wasted minute. 'Down time' encourages boredom. Keep the class at a gallop.

Language study is fun. Every exercise is a puzzle. Encourage the students to play with the concepts. Be patient with 'wrong' answers. Support inquisitiveness. Allow for possibility. If students come away with some knowledge of the intricacies of the language, and some respect for the ways it may be shaped, then the class has achieved its objective.

Students may mark their own or others' work. The overhead projector may be used to demonstrate in sequence the various 'jobs' requested in the Practice Exercises; for example, underline, circle, and draw arrows. Each 'job' may be given one mark and then the Practice Exercise scaled down by division to a reasonable worth. Encourage neatness and the use of a ruler.

At the conclusion of each sentence structure, grammar, or punctuation topic, students are asked to memorize certain aspects and to write definitions in their notebooks. In this way they keep their own record of what they have practised and have study material for tests.

About the Author For twenty-one years Shirley Campbell taught English and social studies in schools in Ontario, Kenya, and British Columbia. Her special interests were English language and literature. She developed the material in Talking about Writing for her English classes at Pleasant Valley Secondary School in Armstrong, British Columbia, as she saw a need to link writing with language study. Shirley attended elementary and secondary schools in Quebec and Ontario. She pays tribute to her teachers who gave her many opportunities to evaluate sentence structure and engage in clausal analysis. Shirley obtained her B.A. (Hon.) in History, Politics and Economics from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and her M.A. in Curriculum and Administration from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. "You need prepare only literature and composition classes. Leave language classes to me."

Table of Contents

Table of Contents for Grades 8 to 12 Programme

Chapter One - Grade 8 - The Run-on Sentence, Page 1

Pre-test on run-on sentence * Definition * Subject * Verb
Complete subject * Complete predicate * Simple subject * Simple predicate
Implied subject * Compound subject * Compound predicate
Coordinate conjunction * Post-test on run-on sentence * Sentence combining
Use of comma * Kinds of noun

Chapter Two - Grade 8 - The Sentence Fragment, Page 12

Pre-test on sentence fragment * Definition * Practice exercises * Parts of a verb
Subordinate conjunction * Post-test on sentence fragment * Sentence combining
Further use of comma and stops * Varying sentence order * Syntax

Chapter Three - Grade 8 - Usage, Page 21

Pre-test on apostrophe * Explanation * Finger method * Practice exercise
Post-test on apostrophe * Pre-tests, explanation and post-tests on general usage

Chapter Four - Grade 9 - Lack of Parallel Structure, Page 31

Pre-test on parallel structure * Definition * Practice
Using the correlative conjunction * Post-test on parallel structure

Chapter Five - Grade 9 - Misplaced Modifier, Page 36

Pre-test on misplaced modifier * Definition * Adjective * Adverb
Practice exercises * Use of comma and semicolon * Adjective phrase
Adverb phrase * Punctuation for prepositional phrase
Post-test on misplaced modifier * Sentence combing * Words in apposition
Punctuation for words in apposition * Punctuation summary * Syntax

Chapter Six - Grade 9 - Usage, Page 51

Pre-test on pronoun use * Case of pronoun * Subject of verb * Object of verb
Subjective completion of verb * Object of preposition * Personal pronoun
Relative pronoun * Post-test on pronoun use * Transitive and intransitive verb
Use of like and as * Varying sentence structure * Principal clause
Subordinate clause * Simple, compound and complex sentence
Pre-test, practice and post-test on general usage

Chapter Seven - Grade 10 - Dangling Principle, Page 72

Pre-test on dangling participle * Parts of verb * Ways to correct dangling participle
Punctuation for participial phrase * Post-test on dangling participle
Sentence combining * General review of sentence combining methods

Chapter Eight - Grade 10 - Lack of Agreement, Page 80

Pre-test on agreement * Person and number * Practice exercises
Definition of antecedent * Types of agreement * Post-test on agreement

Chapter Nine - Grade 10 - Usage, Page 87

Use of gerund * Advanced pronoun use * Principal clause
Subordinate adjective, adverb, and noun clause
General usage tests * Comparison of adjective and adverb

Chapter Ten - Grade 11 - Indefinite Antecedent, Page 103

Pre-test on indefinite antecedent * Definition * Practice * Misuse of antecedent
Demonstrative pronoun * Ways to correct indefinite antecedent
Post-test on indefinite antecedent * Varying sentence structure
Review of adjective, adverb, and noun clause

Chapter Eleven - Grade 11 - Incorrect Tense, Page 113

Pre-test on incorrect tense * Present, past, future, and perfect tense
Practice exercises * Tense sequence * Use of shall and will
Use of should and would * Sequence for conditional sentence
Indicative, imperative and subjunctive mood * Post-test on incorrect tense
Active and passive voice * General review of verb tense, mood, and voice

Chapter Twelve - Grade 11 - Review of Punctuation, Page 130

Uses of comma, semicolon, colon, dash, general punctuation
Practice exercises

Chapter Thirteen - Grade 12 - Wordiness, Page 139

Pre-test on wordiness * Types of wordiness * Practice exercises
Post-test on wordiness

Chapter Fourteen - Grade 12 - Writing Forcefully, Page 145

Explanation and practice exercises on the following aspects of forceful writing:
Transition * Order * Image * Length * Ellipsis * Emphasis * Repetition
Balance * Natural, split and inverted order sentence
Long, short, loose, and periodic sentence * Simple, compound, and complex sentence
Sentence combining * Figures of speech * Direct speech * Concrete detail
Denotation * Connotation

Chapter Fifteen - Grade 12 - Supplementary Exercises, Page 158

Practice exercises on the nine sentence errors, punctuation and usage taught in grades 8 to 12

The Answer Keyto chapters one to fifteen of Talking about Writing is available as a separate text.

Reviews

I found the series Talking About Writing to be very well thought-out in the sequence and scope of material covered. The material was certainly useful at the grade level to which it is prescribed, and the exercises pertinent to the students' levels and learning. The format allows the ideas to be accessible to classroom work, and easily adaptable for teachers to use in their classrooms. The answer key is complete and useful for those teachers who need to check concepts, as well as to allow students to check their own work. I would suggest the complete series be purchased. This would allow teachers to set their own curriculum, in answer to student needs when they arise in class.

By Anne Clarke, College Professor, Okanagan University College

Shirley Campbell, in her Talking about Writing,a sequential program for grades eight through 12, rationalizes a process for effectively teaching and learning writing skills. Her program, informed by twenty-one years of teaching English, is so logical and so "obvious," it makes one ask why we haven't been using this integrated approach for decades.

Confidence Building Program
Ms. Campbell's program offers students and teachers a painless, fast-paced way to learn to use the English language with confidence. This confidence, gained bit-by-bit, in bite-sized pieces over five years, in turn, promises to lend authority to the written work of the students who use the series of five manuals, one for each grade. Because the program is absolutely logical, students will be able to fully understand each step of the process before adding the next. As a bonus, students, at the end of five years, will have personalized, comprehensive, writing handbooks, their own five manuals.

Likewise, teachers using the program can confidently help students build skill upon skill and know that at the end of the five year program, students will have had the opportunity to learn the skills they need to be competent writers. Teachers will not have to design one-year programs in isolation or guess what students may have learned in previous years about sentence structure, grammar, usage and punctuation.

Eminently Usable Program
The Talking about Writing series is inspirational, not only in terms of rationalizing the teaching of core writing skills, but also in its physical structure, respectful tone, order of presentation and pace.

Durable:Talking about Writingis printed on heavy-duty paper, protected by sturdy, plastic covers and coil bound. The preliminary matter in each manual is identical and provides detailed information about the program, as a whole, and the Table of Contents for all five manuals. The Answer Key for the five Talking about Writingmanuals is in one, coil-bound booklet.

Respectful:Because the tone of Talking about Writingis respectful, the series will easily appeal to a huge audience: secondary school students and teachers, English as a second language (ESL) students and teachers, students preparing for the rigors of university writing and students in self-directed writing programs.

Logical:Shirley Campbell clearly presents concepts, one-by-one. However, she provides all of the additional information that is needed to understand each concept, as well. Because the presentation is logical and the addition of related information relatively seamless and only as-needed, Ms. Campbell makes the teaching and learning process painless.

Common usage errors are presented early in the program so that they can be "nipped" before they become hard-to-change habits.

Fast-Paced:All new concepts are presented in snack-sized pieces. All of the exercises and required activities are fast-paced and, yet, emphatic learning tools. The author emphasizes memorizing only what must be memorized; the "demands" are neither excessive nor "boring."

In Conclusion
Talking about Writingis a precise, consistent and comprehensive writing program. Shirley Campbell offers teachers and students, alike, an opportunity to integrate writing skills with other communication skills in such a way that the skills will not be lost in "the shuffle," but will be remembered and used, with confidence, for life.

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Catalogue Information

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