The National governor's Association's Common core Standards have been released and can be accessed at www.corestandards.org. Though they still don't go as far as they ought to in that direction, they seem a radical shift in favor of knowledge about language (not just language behavior) throughout the grade levels. This, for example, is from grade 7: "Explain the function of phrases and clauses in general and their function in specific sentences." This seems to me the sort of thing that can't happen solely "within the context of writing" or through mini-lessons. Check it out. If I am reading this correctly, they are calling for far more conscious attention to language from K-12. Craig To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/