Dear John and Eduard and all,

It is indeed true that my colleague Sandra Wyngaard, head of English 
at State College (PA) High School, and I are in the throes of 
production.  Our book, "Discovering Grammar: Unlocking the Language 
Toolbox for Middle School Readers and Writers,"  takes teachers and 
students step by small step through minilessons to mastery.

We begin with a short lesson on Subject/Predicate, which, by the way, 
includes a structured writing assignment (which many of the 
minilessons do).  Then  come nine minilessons on nouns and noun 
phrases and pronouns.  These lessons include discussions of 
form--singular/plural as well as derivational endings-- that help 
students unlock their own inner grammar expertise.  Next come seven 
minilessons on verb forms.   All of these lead to and are integrated 
with the next series of lessons on ten sentence patterns, which are 
essentially predicate patterns.  With each lesson, directed mainly at 
teachers, we include several "Unlocking" exercises and 
"reading/writing connection"
exercises, classroom activities for the students--many of which are 
connected to the young-adult literature they are reading.

I have learned from Sandra--and by talking to many teachers--that 
today's language arts classes are very different from what many of us 
remember way back when--or even not so way back.  Today's teachers 
rely on minilessons, on word study, on word sorts (many of which we 
include),  with very little, if any, attention to syntax  in an 
organized way.  That lack of attention is due in large part to the 
teachers' own inadequate grammar background and very scant help from 
textbooks.

We are very excited about what we have accomplished so far.  The 
first section of the book--100+ pages--will be class-tested this fall 
in all nine middle schools of Carroll County, Maryland, as well as in
selected classes in four other school districts, including districts 
in  two other states as well as Pennsylvania.  We expect to have the 
finished published version ready for fall 2007.  We are publishing 
and planning to market it ourselves.

As I explain in the Introduction, the material is based on my 
"Understanding English Grammar," which is based on sentence patterns. 
I firmly believe that the framework of sentence patterns  has been 
enormously helpful for my college-level students in the teacher-prep 
grammar class.  In the new book, we are including the very simplest 
diagrams for the sentence patterns--so they will be there for those 
teachers who want to include them.

As I said in my keynote address at ATEG last month, minilessons are 
here to stay in the language arts classrooms of middle schools.  If 
we want to have an impact, we have to join them.  Believe me, these 
are not the  minilessons that Constance Weaver describes in her 
books, the "teachable moment" occasions that occur in writing 
workshops.  Ours are organized in small steps, designed to fit into a 
classroom period, that scaffold on one another but that also bring to 
the students' conscious understanding  step by organized step the 
subconscious knowledge that they had with them when they entered 
kindergarten.  Mastery through minilessons is our goal.

I'll appreciate your input and interest, especially those of you who 
might be interested in seeing more detail as it becomes available. 
The table of contents will be ready  soon; that might give you a 
better idea of our program.

Martha







>John:
>
>I guess the safest way to find out if this is true or not is to ask
>Martha Kolln herself if she and her friends intend to publish a book
>designed for "the lower level Japanese students." I am sure, as you
>say, that "Japanese students would benefit from a version of this
>book pitched at a lower level." Hopefully Martha is reading this
>message and will answer your question.
>
>Eduard
>
>
>
>On Mon, 21 Aug 2006, =?Windows-1252?Q?John_curran?= wrote...
>
>  >Eduard,
>>   Re your last submission:
>>   Here is a message from an Australian teacher in Japan at the chalk-
>face=
>>
>>,=20
>>teaching at the primary level. ATEG's "Grammar Alive - A guide for=20
>>Teachers" has been very helpful but it is difficult to adapt this
>book to=
>>
>>=20
>>the needs of the lower level Japanese students. Japanese students
>would=20=
>>
>>
>>benefit from a version of this book pitched at a lower level. There
>is a=20=
>>
>>
>>rumour going around that Martha Kolln and friends are preparing such
>a=20=
>>
>>
>>book. Can we be so lucky?
>>               John Curran
>>
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>
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