Engaging Grammar: Practical Advice for Real Classrooms

by Amy Benjamin

Does grammar instruction have to elicit moans and groans from students and teachers alike? Only when it's taught the old-fashioned as a series of rules to follow and errors to "fix" that have little or no connection to practical application or real-world writing.

Teacher, researcher, and consultant Amy Benjamin challenges the idea of "skill and drill" grammar in this lively, engaging, and immensely practical guide. Her enlightened view of grammar is grounded in linguistics and teaches us how to make informed decisions about teaching grammar--how to move beyond fixing surface errors to teaching how grammar can be used as the building blocks of sentences to create meaning.

In addition to Benjamin's sage advice, you'll find the voice of Tom Oliva--an experienced teacher inexperienced in teaching grammar--who writes a teacher's journal chronicling how the concepts in this book can work in a real classroom. The perspectives of Benjamin and Oliva combine to provide a full picture of what grammar instruction can an exciting and accessible way to take advantage of students' natural exuberance about language.

Although she does not advocate for teaching to the test, Benjamin acknowledges the pressures students face when taking high-stakes tests such as the SAT and ACT. Included is a chapter on how to improve students' editing skills to help prepare them for the short-answer portion of these tests.

By using sentence patterns, mapping, visuals, and manipulatives, Benjamin and Oliva present an approach to grammar instruction that is suitable for a variety of student populations.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education, School

159 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2007

Reviews

[Alec Lurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read everything but the vocabulary at the back of the book. I think that’s enough.

[Stephanie]

Engaging Grammar: Practical Advice for Real Classrooms.
By Amy Benjamin with Tom Oliva.
Jan. 2007. 159p. NCTE, $29.95
(9780814123386)
Teacher and researcher Amy Benjamin strives to develop strategies for teaching grammar linguistically, instead of the traditional “drill” method. This grammar methods book is broken into two parts: background information needed to understand linguistic grammar, and grammar in the classroom. Interestingly, Benjamin approaches grammar instruction from the idea that students, and teachers, are already masters of grammar because they have a “natural expertise” about language. Essentially, grammar can be easily understood because we already know English—grammar knowledge lays dormant in our unconscious, but can be tapped into through seemingly obvious inferences made about the language that we already know. Benjamin moves past fixing mistakes in grammar, to teaching grammar as how to form sentences in order to create meaning. Throughout this grammar methods book you will also hear the voice of Tom Oliva. Oliva implements Benjamin’s strategies in his own classroom and accounts his experiences in a teacher’s journal using these methods in a real classroom. If your opinion of the traditional “drill” methods of learning grammar is that it is boring and ineffective, then Benjamin’s approach may benefit your instruction and your students.
I have found this book to be extremely helpful in my own quest to grammar understanding—both from the perspective of a future teacher wishing to impart grammar knowledge onto my students effectively, and as a forever student quenching my thirst for knowledge gain. I have found the linguistic approach to grammar helpful because I already understand English—which is the crux of this methods book. Additionally, the glossary of grammar terms included in this book is a quick and useful reference that I find necessary when learning/teaching grammar. I would recommend this grammar methods book to any English teacher who is either intimidated by teaching grammar, or who has found that the traditional methods just aren’t sticking with their students.
–Stephanie Trupo, English Education student at Marshall University

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Benjamin gives a lot of helpful information on grammar, and I learned a lot from reading the book. Oliva is a high school teacher who kept a journal about his experiences with grammar in the classroom, from which Benjamin pulled excerpts and interspersed in the book. Oliva’s journal is really interesting and helpful to future teachers. The book made me feel like I didn’t need to know everything about grammar to teach it, and it taught me a lot about what grammar is and how to teach it in a way that interests students. If you’re going to be an English teacher, get this book! And if you aren’t going to teach but you like English, I still recommend it.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging Grammar presents a linguistic approach to teaching grammar in the secondary English classroom. Benjamin continually makes the argument that context matters and that the goal of grammar instruction should be to broaden our students' understanding of the English language versus just to point out superficial errors. She also presents a clear way to implement this approach, as well as an in-depth explanation of English grammar basics for those of us who, shamefully, are more than lacking in our grammar expertise.

[Dr. Laura Meyers]

Great book for encouraging teachers to think like a linguist and transform their teaching ... from boring traditional grammar lessons to more meaningful constructivist approaches. It also validates the many dialects teachers encounter in their classrooms and points out why it's important to do so. I especially like that Tom Oliva (classroom teacher) includes his journal entries documenting his doubts and trials with trying grammar in his classroom in this way. Powerful!

[Marja · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far very interesting. I was VERY skeptical at first.