Patterns of Power, Grades 6–8: Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language

by Jeff Anderson, Travis Leech, Melinda Clark

Authors Jeff Anderson, Travis Leech, and Melinda Clark lead a vibrant approach to grammar instruction in Patterns of Power, Grades 6-8: Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language . Here, young, emergent writers are invited to notice the conventions of the English language and build off them in this inquiry-based approach to instructional grammar. The book comes with standards-aligned lessons that can be incorporated in just 10 minutes a day. Patterns of Power’s responsive, invitational approach puts students in an involved role and has them explore and discuss the purpose and meaning of what they read. Students study short, authentic texts and are asked to share their findings out loud, engaging in rich conversations to make meaning. Inside you’ll Patterns of Power, Grades 6-8 provides a simple classroom routine that is structured in length and approach, but provides teachers flexibility in choosing the texts, allowing for numerous, diverse voices in the classroom. The practice helps students build cognitive recognition and provides a formative assessment for teachers on student progress. With these short lessons, students will gain confidence and move beyond limitation to produce effortless writing in your class and beyond. The Patterns of Power series also includes Patterns of Power, Grades 1-5: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language ; Patterns of Power en Español, Grades 1-5: Inviting Bilingual Writers into the Conventions of Spanish ; Patterns of Power, Grades 9-12: Teaching Grammar Through Reading and Writing ; and Patterns of Wonder, Grades Inviting Emergent Writers to Play with the Conventions of Language .

Genres: Professional Development

448 pages, Paperback

Published March 26, 2021

About the author

Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book, even though it was rather expensive, mostly because it was brand new, and I had been interested in using mentor sentences in my classroom. Anderson and colleagues make an excellent case to teach using mentor sentences, their approach seems like it would be easy to implement, and I’m interested to see how my students respond to it. I love the theory behind the practice and their suggestions for how to set this up in the classroom.

So, why three stars? I gave this three stars for a couple of reasons. Most importantly, the book seems like it was hastily put together. Many typos, inconsistent focus phrases and standards, repeated sentences to focus on several standards, etc. Some of the mentor sentences are pulled from some odd pieces of literature that I wouldn’t expect to engage a middle school reader. With so much literature out there, some of the choices were odd, and the repetition of already-used sentences seems lazy. This would not bother me as much if this was a $20 book. However, it was nearly $70, and if you’re paying that much, you expect a more polished product.

Secondly, the book starts off advising teachers to create focus phrases that don’t focus on terminology so much. They specifically state that terminology can confuse and intimidate our young writers and readers. Then you get a few units into the lesson plans and find focus phrases such as, “I use the subjunctive mood to show that something is a wish, a fantasy, or untrue.”

Lastly, the standards used in this book are not aligned with my state. My state does not have grammar standards this specific. Since the price of the book is justified by the publisher due to the lesson plans within it, they should probably state which state standards they are using so that it is not misleading. These are not Next Generation standards or CCSS. These are some state’s antiquated standards that still require middle school students to “use and explain the function of gerunds,” etc.

In summary, while I plan to use the spirit of this book in my classroom and the invitation process that the author’s discuss, I don’t know that I feel satisfied to have paid nearly $70 for lesson plans that don’t align with my curriculum and seem hastily put together.

[Sheila Bracken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t terribly excited when this book was initially handed to all of the ELA teachers in my district. I thought of it as the newest “program” being pushed onto us to be discarded later like so many others I’ve experienced over the years. However, seeing improvement in student writing after using excerpts I’d pulled from published works by YA authors, I discovered (with a little help from some of the high school teachers) that the authors of this book had also utilized mentor texts in a mini-lesson format to provide teachers with a variety of texts and a basic a routine to help students get a firmer grasp of language conventions.
Even before I finished going through the book, I began inserting lessons as a warm up that takes up maybe 10 minutes of the class period. Each lesson focuses on a single concept such as: a sentence has a subject. Many students don’t understand this and regularly say that a complete sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period; the idea of a subject never enters the equation, and they’re further confused about the difference between verbs and adjectives.
Next, we look at a sentence (or group of sentences) taken from a mentor text that features the day’s focus. Then we look at three separate changes that have been made to the text and discuss the impact the change has created. There is also writing involved where students create their own sentences modeled after the mentor text. This practice of reading, writing, talking has helped students learn to recognize and internalize concepts of conventions that before seemed arbitrary.
We are not all born with the gift of writing, but we all have the ability to improve. This is an effective tool in helping students achieve that particular goal–improving their reading and writing. 4.5

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I read this grammar curriculum front to back in one sitting the weekend before school gets out for the year… Why am I the way I am?

Seriously going to use like 90% of it in my class next year though, so that’s positive.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another incredibly helpful book by Jeff Anderson.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeff Anderson does it again! Will definitely be implementing this in my class (in two weeks 😮)

[Angela Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the ideas and lessons in the book. I am going to try to implement them this upcoming school year.