Unleashing Your Language Wizards: A Brain-Based Approach to Effective Editing and Writing

Description

John T. Crow Unleashing Your Language Wizards:  A Brain-Based Approach to Writing and Editing, First Edition   Unleashing Your Language Wizards breaks new ground by presenting a research-based, active-learning approach to teaching lasting sentence management skills that taps into students’ natural learning abilities. To guide teachers in grades 3-12 to effective teach editing and writing, this book introduces the basic principles, specific examples, and sample activities--all of which teach the most important language concepts from a variety of different angles and approaches--to help students conquer their written language issues. It focuses on three areas of knowledge–referred to as Wizards–that all students must possess to communicate effectively:  Grammar Wizards, Sentence Wizards, and Rhetorical Wizards.   "[The book] positively shines, as it helps to frame issues that are so important to address in the grammar/writing classroom but that are difficult to explain without clear pathways laid out...the more ways to get students physically engaged and mentally engaged in grammar learning, the better―the activities here seem designed well to engage students and provide them with good practice in the concepts...the author lays [everything] out in a methodical way that gets to the heart of [learning grammar]." - Jennifer Powers, Green Mountain College   "The content and process to teaching grammar explicitly from a brain-based approach is without exception, timely, in light of the recent recognition of the type of students who make up the achievement gap in the Untied States...This is excellent information to consider pedagogically. [The book] will generate much discussion on how teachers can make...[grammar] strategies more interesting and engaging...for English learners."  - Catherine Elise Barrett, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill   John T. Crow is a professional development consultant focused on applied linguistics and ESL. His thirty years classroom experience give him a unique perspective on teaching language and composition that he shares with educators across the country. Cover Contents Preface Part One: The Grammar Wizard Chapter 1 Background PC? Processional Caterpillars A Classroom Example Student Reactions What Is Grammar? Traditional Grammar The Grammar Wizard What Students Already Know and Don't Know To Teach or Not to Teach Discussion Questions Chapter 2 Meet Your Grammar Wizard Non-Native versus Native English Speaker Competencies Meet Your Grammar Wizard Chunking Where Is My Grammar Wizard? Discussion Questions Chapter 3 Traditional Grammar Pedagogy and Brain-Based Learning Traditional Grammar Pedagogy—Historically Speaking Brain-Based Learning Types of Memory Your Grammar Wizard Natural versus Rote Learning The Natural Learning Process Depth of Processing Methods of Presentation Natural Learning and Traditional Grammar Pedagogy Brain-Based Learning Tenets and Traditional Grammar Pedagogy Moving On Discussion Questions Chapter 4 The Grammar Wizard Approach Grammar Wizard Basics Wrapping Up Discussion Questions Part Two: Using the Grammar Wizard Chapter 5 Grammar Wizard Tests What Are Grammar Wizard Tests? How Do I Present Grammar Wizard Tests? Parts of Speech Recursiveness and Elaboration Discussion Questions Chapter 6 Grammar Wizard Activities Brain-Based Checklist Body Grammar Tag Questions Yes–No Questions Manipulatives Games Based on Existing Games Discussion Questions Chapter 7 Grammar Wizard Toolbox Receptive versus Productive The Joshua Tree Syndrome High-Yield Strategies Participle Phrases Gerund Phrases Appositive Phrases Infinitive Phrases Parallelism Nominative Absolute Adjectives Out of Order Inclusive Activities Discussion Questions Chapter 8 Brain-Based Punctuation Punctuation Whimsey Traditional Comma Explanations Voice Commas and Voice Periods Voice Commas and Introductory Elements Voice Periods: Recognizing Comma Splices and Run-Ons Other Commas Serial Semi-Colons Colons Hyphens Apostrophes Dashes and Parentheses Discussion Questions Part Three: The Sentence Wizard Chapter 9 Bridges Sentence Boundaries Recognizing Sentence Boundaries Recognizing Incomplete Sentences Joining Sentences "Legally": Bridges Terminology Recursiveness and Elaboration Discussion Questions Chapter 10 Sentence Fluency Sentence Fluency Definition Sentence Wizards Revisited The Christensen Perspective Sentence Beginners Sentence Interrupters Sentence Expanders Sentence Length Discussion Questions Part Four: The Rhetorical Wizard Chapter 11 Rhetorical Choices: Mechanics and Word Choice Rhetorical Choices: Divide and Conquer Rhetorical Choices: Exploring the Term Registers Punctuation Word Choice Discussion Questions Chapter 12 Rhetorical Choices: Structure Given versus New Information Movement Active versus Passive Voice Sentence Length Intentional Fragments Voice Reading and Writing Discussion Questions Glossary A B C D E F G I L M N P R S T V Y Works Cited Answers to Chapter Questions Index A B C D E F G H I J L M N P Q R S T V W Y