Getting Grammar: 150 New Ways to Teach an Old Subject

"Getting Grammar is a book chock full of inviting ways to share grammar information with students. But it is so much more."
- Shelley Harwayne "Getting Grammar" is a new take on an old - fashioned subject - a slim, practical guide with more than 150 fresh ideas for addressing parts of speech and sentence structure, from teaching it, to learning it, to adapting it for students whose home language isn't English.

Because of its accessibility and practicality, you'll keep "Getting Grammar" close at hand because it's a ready reference for your own grammar questions and a treasure trove of teaching ideas. Whether you are a veteran teacher, a new teacher, or a preservice teacher, Donna Hooker Topping and Sandra Josephs Hoffman offer plenty of information and lessons you can use in the classroom right away, including: a quick review of the grammatical concepts you'll be teaching more than 150 engaging ways to teach it through authentic literature, writing, movement, games, music, art, even drama smart advice for supporting English learners as they encounter grammar in a new language assessment tips and tools.

In addition "Getting Grammar" includes information about the grammar of other languages that can help you evaluate students' proficiency with English syntax and assist them in transitioning from the familiar word order and usage rules of their first language to those of English.

Grammar is a vitally important subject to understand for reading and writing, and it's now a part of many state and national assessment tests. Give students a fresh, fun way to explore grammar, teach with "Getting Grammar" and find out how exciting grammar can be.

Donna Hooker Topping has spent more than 30 years collaborating with Roberta McManus her coauthor on Stuck in the Middle. They have developed strategies that help students learn content through better teaching. "Better teaching, to us, is the result of a teacher's conscious effort to embed literacy processes into content-area instruction. Resulting lessons lead students through the very strategic moves in reading and writing that lead to fuller comprehension of the content, strategies that will prepare them for lifelong learning." Donna is Professor of Literacy Education at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. She is a former first-grade teacher, reading specialist, reading supervisor, language arts supervisor, and literacy consultant. She and Roberta are also coauthors of the Heinemann title Real Reading, Real Writing and Donna also coauthored the Heinemann book Getting Grammar with Sandra Josephs Hoffman.Sandra Josephs Hoffman is a professor of literacy education at Millersville University. She has taught, observed, and supervised in all grades from kindergarten to graduate school. As a teacher-researcher, she regularly studies her own practices to refine her undergraduate and graduate teaching.