Book Review: Grammar Girl's Ultimate Writing Guide for Students

I am a grammar and writing book junkie. I have two complete shelves of such guides, and I have no plans to stop collecting. But honestly, I don’t use them all.  I use bits and pieces from some of them as I create lesson plans for my middle and high-school level English classes for homeschoolers.

But I found one this year that I love so much that I am requiring that my co-op students  purchase it: The Ultimate Writing Guide for Students by the Grammar Girl herself, Mignon Fogarty.
I’ve been a long-time fan of the website Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. I love how Fogarty explains tricky grammar rules in a light, amusing fashion. For example, this explanation of bachelor’s degree on the Grammar Girl website is so simple but memorable: …

{Come on over to The Homeschool Classroom to read about why I think you should get this grammar guide for your middle/high schoolers!}

Tools of the Trade: Grammarly Grammar Checker Review

I was recently asked to review Grammarly Grammar Checker, and let me tell you: this could put me out of business. (If I had a business, that is.) (Yes I know, Grammarly, that is a sentence fragment.)

Grammarly is so incredibly easy, and students everywhere are going to love it. All you have to do is take your text and copy and paste it to the instant grammar check on Grammarly. So, for example, I ran my last blog post, Off the Beaten Path in the Smokies. Granted, I know it is filled with grammar no-nos. I maintain a chatty voice when writing blog posts, so I expected a harsh critique.

Check it out! Ouch—seriously—a 39 out of 100? "Poor, revision necessary"? That hurts me to the core. There are several different options as to how you would like your text checked: General, Business, Academic, Technical, Creative, or Casual. The first check was done with the "general" setting. I tried the next two, using the same text, with the "creative" and then "casual" settings. I was much happier with the results, scoring a 68 out of 100 with only 11 critical writing issues found.

Who am I fooling? It kills me to see the words "weak, revision necessary" on a piece of my writing, even though I know that I break all kinds of grammar rules when I write my blog.

So I decided to correct my blog post and then run it. I did some minor changes, still keeping a chatty voice. This time I improved to a 76%. Not good enough for me. The third time, I made a grade of 87%. On my fourth try, I managed to get my score to a 90% with only three changes needed. Phew!

So then I decided to try a selection from a paper that my son, a college sophomore, wrote for his philosophy class. He received an A on this paper, and his professor strongly encouraged him to submit it to a philosophy journal. I plugged in about 500 words, and Grammarly.com gave it a 63%!

What is so awesome about Grammarly is that it does more than point out the errors: it tells you how to correct them with detailed error descriptions and correction advice, and citation suggestions, and even provides vocabulary enhancement tools.

I would love this tool for my students. It doesn't just automatically correct one's writing; it offers suggestions and tells you why something is wrong.  I could see this as especially beneficial to college and high school students who write a lot of papers and are unsure about their writing skills. Running a paper through grammarly.com could make a huge different in a grade and help students actually see how to make their papers better. You can plug in text and use the grammar checker for free, but for detailed information about how to fix it, you'll need to upgrade. You can go by the month, 6-month, or yearly fee, with three different pay scaled depending on your choice of subscription length.

10 Favorite Grammar Resources

I am a bit of a grammar fanatic. I love solving grammar problems, diagramming sentences, and proofreading. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need guidance! Below are some of my favorite resources for teaching grammar, as well as other aspects of language arts. With all of the resources available on the internet, one could easily put together a comprehensive language arts program without spending a dime; however, the first two programs are ones that are well worth the purchase price! …

{Come on over to The Homeschool Classroom to read the rest of my article on grammar resources!}

Making Grammar Relevant with Facebook Faux Pas

My writing students have always enjoyed proofreading with the Daily Paragraph Editing books. My daughter joined the Facebook craze on her 13th birthday, and one of my conditions was that she use correct grammar and spelling. She's been great about it, and I was tickled (and a little chagrined) one day to see that she'd corrected her friend's spelling on a status. So I thought: why not make daily status editing exercises for my daughter?

I did a quick scan of my Facebook friends and came up with a great list. This is just one day's collection, and I'm sure I'll never run out of examples! If you'd like a change from your regular editing exercises or just to add a little variety to your grammar program, feel free to start with these and then find some more on your own. Trust me, it's easy!

(Here's a link to common proofreaders' marks if you don't have that handy.)

You can buy this assignment on Teachers Pay Teachers for just $1!


Making Grammar Relevant: Facebook Faux Pas

In many ways, your Facebook page reflects who you are. You choose your friends, join groups, accept “Flair” and bumper stickers, add your lists of “likes,” and more. You also set our own status and make your own comments. You make the choice: will you take the time to use correct grammar and spelling, or will you take the easy way out?

Directions: Each of these “sentences” below comes from an actual Facebook group or status. Your assignment is to correct these sentences. Look for errors in grammar, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and more. Write the corrected sentence under the original.

1. almost done with homework then babysitting the adorable riley boys then church then hopefully going to eat at burger king!
2. Thank you SO Much for the Happy Birthday wishes, it makes my day a little more special. I have some great friends and an amazing Family!
3. Life isn't about Worrying. Thats a waste of time.
4. I wish you werent so far away so i could share all my happiness with you.
5. I sprang my knee n i cant get up!
6. I hate my english teacher seriously shes an idiot
7. I do believe he would have ran all morning if I did not stop him.
8. Sorry I never texted you back, I had dinner then my phone died
9. dont know my friends address but I know exactly where theyre house is!
10. We get wear jeans tomarow but not sneakers, what's the point of wearing jeans then?
11. i can’t talk to you anymore, its not that I a mad at you, it’s just that when I talk to you I realize how much I love you and when I realize how much I love you, I realize I can’t have you and that makes me love you even more.
12. I love going to a concert and loosing your voice the next day.
13. The same person who laughs, talks a lot and seems happy, may also be the person who cry’s themselves to sleep.
14. please don;t be evil, its not very nice you know.
15. i just cleaned out the friends list if your still here your lucky.
16. i have 3 tests this week two of which are tomorrow I hate this week already.


Answer Key
Note: These are suggested corrections. There will be more than one way that a student could correct each sentence.
1. I am almost done with homework. Later I’ll be babysitting the adorable Riley boys, heading to church, and then hopefully going to eat at Burger King.
2. Thank you so much for the birthday wishes. It made my day a little more special. I have some great friends and an amazing family!
3. Life isn’t about worrying. That’s a waste of time.
4. I wish you weren’t so far away, so I could share all my happiness with you.
5. I sprained my knee, and I can’t get up!
6. I hate my English teacher. Seriously, she’s an idiot.
(Better yet: I love my English teacher. She’s brilliant.)
7. I do believe he would have run all morning if I did not stop him.
8. I’m sorry that I never texted you back; I had dinner, and then my phone died.
(Even better: I’m sorry that I didn’t return your text message. I had dinner, and then my phone died.)
9. I don’t know my friends’ addresses, but I know exactly where their houses are!
10. We get to wear jeans tomorrow but not sneakers. What’s the point of wearing jeans at all?
11. I can’t talk to you anymore. It’s not that I am mad at you; it’s just that when I talk to you, I realize how much I love you. When I realize how much I love you, I realize I can’t have you. That makes me love you even more.
12. I love going to a concert and losing my voice the next day.
13. The same person who laughs, talks a lot, and seems happy, may also be the person who cries herself to sleep.
14. Please don’t be evil; it’s not very nice.
15. I just cleaned out my friends list. If you’re still here, you’re lucky.
16. I have three tests this week, two of which are tomorrow. I hate this week already.

© Sarah Small, 2010.