Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer's Workshop

by Jeff Anderson, Vicki Spandel (Foreword)

Some teachers love grammar and some hate it, but nearly all struggle to find ways of making the mechanics of English meaningful to kids. As a middle school teacher, Jeff Anderson also discovered that his students were not grasping the basics, and that it was preventing them from reaching their potential as writers. Jeff readily admits, I am not a grammarian, nor am I punctilious about anything, so he began researching and testing the ideas of scores of grammar experts in his classroom, gradually finding successful ways of integrating grammar instruction into writer's workshop.

Mechanically Inclined is the culmination of years of experimentation that merges the best of writer's workshop elements with relevant theory about how and why skills should be taught. It connects theory about using grammar in context with practical instructional strategies, explains why kids often don't understand or apply grammar and mechanics correctly, focuses on attending to the high payoff, or most common errors in student writing, and shows how to carefully construct a workshop environment that can best support grammar and mechanics concepts. Jeff emphasizes four key elements in his daily instruction in grammar and mechanics within writer's workshop;using high-quality mentor texts to teach grammar and mechanics in context;visual scaffolds, including wall charts, and visual cues that can be pasted into writer's notebooks;regular, short routines, like express-lane edits, that help students spot and correct errors automatically.Comprising an overview of the research-based context for grammar instruction, a series of over thirty detailed lessons, and an appendix of helpful forms and instructional tools, Mechanically Inclined is a boon to teachers regardless of their level of grammar-phobia. It shifts the negative, rule-plagued emphasis of much grammar instruction into one which celebrates the power and beauty these tools have in shaping all forms of writing.

Genres: Teaching, Education, Writing, Nonfiction, Language, Reference, School

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

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

Reviews

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

My biggest frustration with teaching grammar is when others say to build it in with what the students are writing. Easy to say, but hard to do. Jeff Anderson provides concrete ways to it. The book will be one I’ll keep by my desk at school. If the kids are struggling with subject-verb agreement, I can easily open up to that section and have something ready to go to help them out. I also like how Anderson breaks down sentences to just three patterns. Students don’t need all of the technical terms for grammar parts, but by understanding those basic patterns, they’ll have a better understanding of how to use the comma and what kind of an impact sentences make on the reader. The book is geared more towards middle school, but it will be easily adaptable for my 9th graders.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to say that this is not one of my favorite professional development books. I was thrilled when I read the title, drawn in by the notion of connecting grammar, usage and style lessons into my classroom without boring my students to death. I believe that all grammar lessons should be connected and rooted in student writing and their reading. I have to say that this book has let me down. It did not thrill me with any new or innovative ways of teaching grammar.

That being said, I do think this book will be a helpful guide/resource when a specific grammar, style and/or usage problems comes up in my classroom. It just doesn't address problems in a fresh or pioneering way.

What Jeff Anderson does is cover talking points for different grammar, usage and style issues. What is lacking, is moving beyond the talking points, and providing innovative lessons and exciting ideas for student practice.

Another note for teachers considering this book, I think that it is better suited for the middle school teacher versus high school teacher. The mentor texts that Jeff Anderson chooses as guides for his grammar lessons are better suited for the humor and interests of middle school age children.

I think there is value in this book, it just was not the value I was seeking or expecting based on the title.

[Sarah Voigt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extremely helpful book for teachers who want to, as the title states, build instruction of grammar into a writing-centric classroom. I really appreciated how the grammar instruction was instantly applicable to the students' writing, giving them the opportunity to see certain structures in the context of a short mentor text and then have them turn around and use the structures in their own writing. Most of all, I appreciated Anderson's appreciation of the students' abilities and knowledge that they bring to the table, continually praising them for the internalized processes that they do right, instead of the archetypal grammar teacher constantly berating students for their ignorance. I use this in my classroom and would encourage any English teacher who teaches 4th grade and up to do the same.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, awesome, AWESOME! (Don't let the "writer's workshop" part of the title scare you!) First, it's a grammar book that is engaging to read. Second, it is designed in a very user-friendly way with 3 parts: method/philosophy, individual lessons (based on the most common student errors in grammar/mechanics-- and the lessons are clear, fast, and FUN!), and an appendix with forms for the lessons. So, you could skip the method/philosophy part and go right to whatever individual lessons you needed. You COULD skip it. But I wouldn't. I thought I would just skim the first part, but I found so many great ideas and other lessons--seriously, almost one per page. This book connects so well to the Common Core. And although it was written for middle school, there were hardly any lessons that didn't cover rules my high school--and even AP--students don't make. You may have to adapt the lessons a little for high school, but most of them could work as they are. BUY THIS BOOK!

[Michelle Mayfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to show teachers how to teach grammar in context. We are told that is the best way to do it, then we are given reading series that give worksheets and teach out out of context. I am excited to go to school and try some of his ideas in my class tomorrow.

[Christine Engelbrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice handbook for every writing teacher's shelf, focusing on each element of grammar or often made grammatical error and how to address it in a writing context.
I especially appreciate the mentor texts included in the book for each grammatical errors tat students commonly make. I also think the appendices, the handouts and exercises, are quite helpful. I found it interesting that they included Cloze assessments, which are traditionally used to gage a students comprehension.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I don't think I've been as captivated by a professional book since 2009's Readicide by Kelly Gallagher! I was reading this book every free moment I had visualizing how Anderson's techniques would look in the classroom. I love his authentic and active engagement of mentor texts to support students' writing in a workshop model. I plan to share this with my 6th grade team who will be implementing Writer's Workshop next school year. I hope they find it as motivating and inspiring as I did.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant, very useful. Most education literature is limited in how useful it is, but this one, is a gold mine of useful and practical tools. In addition I've learned how to improve my own writing from it!

[Mrs. Augustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the only books I still go back to. I credit him and Jon Ostenson for making me confidently love teaching grammar.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Anderson has some valuable ideas about how to teach grammar in the context of reading and writing, please believe him when he says he is “not a grammarian” (page 3). His examples show he doesn’t know the difference between a participle and a gerund, or between a preposition and an adverb (some words can be either, depending on usage). His methodology might be good, but the actual grammatical content is off. Even some of his general writing and his mentor sentences have errors (such as lay/lie on page 54 and who/whom on page 44.)

I enjoyed the first 50 pages on which Anderson discussed how to weave grammar instruction into reading and writing (except for the grammar errors.) The rest of the book is basically an attempt at a grammar handbook. If you are a novice with grammar, this part might be helpful since Anderson puts explanations in plain language and gives tips on how to teach the concepts. If you’re already skilled with grammar, pages 51-160 will be pretty useless to you. The appendices have ideas for reminders to paste into student notebooks, games to play with classes, and visual reminders to post in the classroom.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used DOL in my classroom until I discovered it wasn't effective, but I had nothing to put in its place. Now mentor sentences are taking over and I love this concept; however, it's not easy to shift my teaching practice. This book was packed full of ideas and a great guide for teaching in this way. Overall a wonderful book; the more advanced version, though, for those of us moving to mentor sentences. I will need the Mentor Sentences for Dummies first.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an English teacher, I did not major in grammar or English in college. I often need to look concepts up when teaching writing and/or grammar. This book not only defines the mechanics of grammar, but provides examples and lessons one could use. There are pages that can be copied and distributed to students to be used in the classroom. The book is extremely short and focused to the task at hand. (The majority is the index and lessons.) I am really glad that I read this book for a Book Study.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I was looking for in order to add meaningful grammar instruction into my class. It was the missing piece for me as I teach writing using the writer's workshop model. I love that it includes specific lesson plans and handouts for all of the lessons. Highly recommend this book to anyone who teaches writing. It just makes sense.

[Karen Cullison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again....LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. It's NOT overwhelming, BUT inspiring. I CAN do these things and I think I am seeing progress in my kids. It's exciting and brings back that rewarding feeling teaching USED to have on me! Great resource!

[Erika Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super useful book! I love it more for the lessons and worksheets/grammar guides in the back of the book than for the philosophy in the first half. This has definitely changed my thinking about grammar instruction, and I appreciate the amount of resources Anderson provides.

[Rachel D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read to help teachers who want to teach mechanics within the context of students’ reading and writing. The mini lessons are practical and easy to use. These were great for me to use with summer school classes.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

An invaluable resource for all English teachers. He provides ideas that can work in grade school language arts all the way to college-level composition. I will have to remember to keep this one handy at all times.

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a new teacher, this book is going to be infinitely useful to me! Even if I don't use the lessons exactly as Anderson wrote them, it's nice to at least have a starting off point. He's done a lot of the work, and all I have to do is adapt it for my classroom.

I love teaching books such as this one.

[Tjerria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Jeff Anderson is the greatest reference for anything English teaching matters. Grammar is overlooked in the US CCSS, however, the practices he lists here can definitely be implicitly applied as a teacher teachers Language and Writing Standards.

[KJ Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book a few years ago, and I re-read it to refresh myself on Mentor Sentences. I like that this book has pre-selected Mentor Texts and Sentences to use and that it gives some lesson options for common grammatical misunderstandings.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read on incorporating grammar into our everyday! I am revamping my curriculum as I read and it was an amazing resource. I highly recommend for any middle school/high school English teacher.

[Mrs. Giese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, just really technical. I got a lot of great information out of it for teaching writing. I am a little less afraid of grammar now :)

[Donna Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

More for older writers (middle/high school), but lessons that can be adapted for upper elementary.

[Mick O'Seasnain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical use of grammar with embedded instructional practices.

[Rebecca Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical and effective

[Jamey Badger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about integrating authentic grammar practice into classroom reading and writing.

[Julie A · Rating 5 out of 5]

This could be the grammar instruction book I've been waiting for!

[Emma Kudrik]

Great teaching resource.

Read for teaching methods 326.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was VERY interesting and I can truly hardly wait to use some of what I learned with my kids this year

[Lauren Jahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good grammar curriculum. Foundational skills and accessible explanations for professional development book study.