Getting It Right: Fresh Approaches to Teaching Grammar, Usage, and Correctness

by Michael W. Smith, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm

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.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Writing

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Michael W. Smith is Professor of Literacy Education, College of Education, Temple University.
- Ph.D. University of Chicago. Special Field: Curriculum and Instruction.
- M.A.T. University of Chicago. Major Emphases: English and Education
- B.A. University of Chicago. Major: English

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This grammar book has some practical ideas for integrating grammar into other parts of the curriculum such as writing. I like how the authors prioritized teaching certain elements of grammar and tailoring grammar instruction to each individual student.

[Angela Gutierrez · Rating 2 out of 5]

This text was a bit slow, and I wish it included more scenarios, strategies, and examples of how to teach major grammatical concepts.

[Carmyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Getting It Right is far from being an in-depth look into how to teach grammar, I think it offers some interesting philosophies and perspectives that would be a great place for a group of educators to begin exploring their own theories and working together to come up with a plan for tackling the scope and sequence and method to the madness which is grammar in the secondary classroom.

Wilhelm and Smith are more known for writing about reading and yet their treatment of this subject works for me. They explore the different definitions of common terms tossed around in discussions on grammar and reveal how many of us are actually discussing different things and not realizing it. Wilhelm and Smith argue that errors matter but not all errors matter equally. In one section they include a hierarchy of errors and they also explore how to understand the causes of students' errors, and how to address those causes through authentic and engaging activities. I'd recommend this book for a professional book study group or for personal reading on the notion of how to approach grammar. It seems like a good springboard for discussion.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm trying to figure out a better way to teach grammar, so I read this book to get some ideas. The thesis of this book is that students do not learn grammar through worksheets and direct instruction without application to their own writing. The authors believe it's important to consider why the students are not writing in Standard English and to develop a hierarchy of grammar issues to tackle.

Another lesson I took from this book is to make sure to split up the work with colleagues so each teacher does not feel responsible for everything. We've tried to do this at our school but have been only marginally successful, partly because we're seeing the same problems continue through the grades.

This is a good book on theory, but it's not so good on practice. The authors definitely focused on sentence combining, of which I'll do more. I also liked how explicit they were about the five different ways students can revise (keep, add, move, delete, change). But many of their other ideas need a little more tuning before I use them. I'll have to figure it out.

[Christine Engelbrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the definitions of grammar language on page 11 and the reasons listed for why the definitions are misleading or insufficient. I really like the easy to photocopy 2-sided handouts about peer editing, writing evaluation, etc. I especially think the '20 most common errors College students make in writing' section on page 64/65 is amusing... and true.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the rationale against teaching traditional unrelated grammar sentences more than the actual sample lessons. It still calls for knowledge of the standard parts of speecha nd sentences, but it emphasizes what is important to point out to students and when to not be the grammar police.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ideas are ones I know and have seen before, but some of the applications are new and useful. A quick read for reminding teachers about what they can (and should) be doing with language. Written before CCSS so there's no mention of that content specifically, but the principles are still sound.

[Brenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this "less is more" approach to teaching grammar. I didn't diagram sentences when I was in school, and yet I can still correctly punctuate a sentence.

[Kristen Stez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provided me with several creative ideas and specific lessons for teaching the challenging subject of English grammar.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had some refreshing, well-reasoned advice to address my ongoing heartache about how to teach - or not teach - grammar. If anything, I wanted more - more advice, more research, more ideas.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book of spring break ✔️