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Between the Commas: Sentence Instruction That Builds Confident Writers
For too long, sentence instruction has been heavy on correctness and terminology (as in "mind your grammar") and light on play and experimentation. Or it has been abandoned altogether. In this lively book, Marty Brandt sets out to change all that.
It is partly the story of a teacher hitting a plateau in mid-career, deeply frustrated by the flatness of his students' writing, particularly as they struggled with more academic tasks. But it also tells the story of important but neglected research in sentence instruction, which Brandt revives, reinventing his instruction by explicitly teaching the possibilities of sentences.
In Between the Commas, he identifies three "pillars" of sentence instruction:
Sentence Focus: Identifying the true subject of the sentence Sentence Development: Finding ways to expand and modify, "between the commas" Sentence Coherence: Connecting sentences to show the flow of thought. To help his students understand these concepts, Brandt invents his own terms-the Dime- Dropper, Smack-Talker, ingBomb, Sentence Wannabe, and the Not/But-to describe key moves a writer can make, illustrating them with both student and professional examples. The book is also filled with practical exercises in sentence manipulation that can be used directly in your classroom or modified for your students.
At long last, sentence instruction that can really help young writers-and their teachers.
https: //samplechapters.heinemann.com/between-...
It is partly the story of a teacher hitting a plateau in mid-career, deeply frustrated by the flatness of his students' writing, particularly as they struggled with more academic tasks. But it also tells the story of important but neglected research in sentence instruction, which Brandt revives, reinventing his instruction by explicitly teaching the possibilities of sentences.
In Between the Commas, he identifies three "pillars" of sentence instruction:
Sentence Focus: Identifying the true subject of the sentence Sentence Development: Finding ways to expand and modify, "between the commas" Sentence Coherence: Connecting sentences to show the flow of thought. To help his students understand these concepts, Brandt invents his own terms-the Dime- Dropper, Smack-Talker, ingBomb, Sentence Wannabe, and the Not/But-to describe key moves a writer can make, illustrating them with both student and professional examples. The book is also filled with practical exercises in sentence manipulation that can be used directly in your classroom or modified for your students.
At long last, sentence instruction that can really help young writers-and their teachers.
https: //samplechapters.heinemann.com/between-...
184 pages, Paperback
Published October 7, 2019
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229 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 31, 2020
Excellent explanation of sentence combining, sentence-analysis and other forms of higher-level “language study within a writing course.
January 2, 2020
Marty Brandt is a great teacher, a great colleague, and a great writer. . . three amazing qualities that aren't so easy to find all in one person. His book, "Between the Commas" exhibits his beautifully balanced love and respect for his students and for writing, especially sentences. The book lays out a vision of teaching writing that is full of love and grace and joy. As the best teacher-writers do, he has made me miss my classroom terribly.
January 6, 2020
Excellent. Some great teaching strategies, told within an engaging narrative.
January 17, 2022
This is a wonderful and truly helpful resource for all teachers. Martin Brandt has excellent skill in using narrative to offer rich insight into the craft of writing. His model is readily accessible to take straight into your next lesson, with many practical strategies and resources to assist teachers in this endeavour. At times, his discussion of the science of sentences (mainly Chapter 2) went over my head and exposed a significant gap in my own knowledge. I will be reading up on the science of sentences some more so that I can better help my students hone and refine their writing craft.
July 17, 2024
This has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years; I told myself I couldn’t order any new teaching books until I finished the ones I had. So glad I did that. This book is the best kind of professional book—practical and high-quality “use it tomorrow” ideas. I’ve got at least 5 new methods/approaches I’m going to use, including a meaningful tweak to my current vocabulary system that I think will move mountains in terms of writing clarity. Highly recommend!
December 18, 2021
A deep dive into teaching commas- with the best intention at the core- to make students more thoughtful writers. The terminology he invented to describe comma function (“smacktalker” etc.) is not something I would use with my students.
April 29, 2020
Many ideas!!
September 4, 2021
Not as game-changing as several of the teaching books I've read recently, but this is still filled with useful advice for teaching grammar and improving sentences.
March 14, 2023
Read for ENG 4000 Approaches to Teaching Literature and Composition. Great book for future teachers.
December 10, 2019
A sensible and engaging set of guidelines for teaching high school students how to write longer, richer, and more interesting sentences. The guiding presence here is Francis Christensen, with his theory of the “cumulative” sentence. Brandt does a nice job of grounding Christensen in the day-to-day work of teaching. He emphasizes function, what sentences do, more than form, what they look like.
I do have some quibbles. As a writing teacher, I tend to begin at the level of the essay, and then drill down to the sentence, while Brandt starts with the sentence and builds up. And I’m not convinced, once we actually look at sentence structure, that longer or more complex is always better. Even still, as a college teacher, I’d be delighted to work with high school students who have been taught an awareness of the workings of written language by the likes of Marty Brandt.
I do have some quibbles. As a writing teacher, I tend to begin at the level of the essay, and then drill down to the sentence, while Brandt starts with the sentence and builds up. And I’m not convinced, once we actually look at sentence structure, that longer or more complex is always better. Even still, as a college teacher, I’d be delighted to work with high school students who have been taught an awareness of the workings of written language by the likes of Marty Brandt.
November 15, 2019
Shows the connection between instruction at the sentence level and the larger issue of sentence by sentence construction of longer essays. Demystifies the often arcane and off-putting language of traditional grammar by suggesting quite humorous and engaging terms that actually describe how sentences can be expanded to more effectively convey their author’s meaning. Highly recommended!
November 15, 2019
I loved this book. Brandt clearly lays out what a teacher should do in order to teach writing: focus on the sentence. He does so clearly and give examples along the way. I wish I would have had this book years ago.
January 3, 2020
I was happy to discover someone writing about teaching writing. My only wish is that the exercise examples were less specific so that they could be more easily adapted.
I’m looking forward to implementing these principles into my lesson planning.
I’m looking forward to implementing these principles into my lesson planning.
December 16, 2019
This is an incredibly useful guide to writing instruction that works!
December 30, 2023
An organic approach to developing sentence complexity. Also, the only teaching book I've read with a cuss word.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews