Grammar Keepers

Lessons That Tackle Students' Most Persistent Problems Once and for All, Grades 4-12
Gretchen Bernabei - Consultant, Educator, Trail of Breadcrumbs
Corwin Literacy
Grammar Keepers
January 2015 | 280 pages | Corwin
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Paperback
ISBN: 9781483375465
Available from January 0001

Description

Students and teachers need accessible ways to talk about and use grammar. In Gretchen's trademark style, she gets these ever-important conversations started and keeps them going. This book is a keeper.”
-Jeff Anderson, Author of Revision Decisions and Everyday Editing

Almost everyone could benefit from a grammar check every once in a while—even we teachers.  But our students desperately need something much more systematic, and they need it right way.

No matter what state you teach in, you can be certain that grammar is being tested . . . frequently and across the grades! Meanwhile our students entering middle and high school are still making the same errors they made back in third grade. Luckily, Gretchen Bernabei, author of Fun-Size Academic Writing for Serious Learning, comes to the rescue with Grammar Keepers: a kid-friendly cache of 101 lessons and practice pages to help your students internalize the conventions of correctness once and for all.

Gretchen’s secret? Embed the lessons in ten minutes of daily journal writing, then use students’ own writing as models for discussion and practice. Students are much more interested in learning from one another than from stodgy sentences in a dusty primer, and these ultra-relevant examples more easily transfer into students’ talking, thinking, reading, and writing.

Here are the three ingredients of Gretchen’s approach:

  1. Daily journal writing, which increases writing practice and allows students to implement and master the lessons on punctuation, usage, and sentence structure in an authentic context
  2. Minilessons and Interactive Dialogues that model for students how to make grammatical choices
  3. A “Keepers 101” tracking sheet for teachers to monitor teaching and a “Parts of Speech Sheet” for students to use as a reference tool

We have known for years that traditional grammar instruction falls short for a great many students, but until now we didn’t know how to replace it. With Grammar Keepers, we have the right tool for today’s students. Think of it as the Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition for the spell- and grammar-check generation.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

Introduction: What’s a Keeper?

Introduction: What’s a Keeper?

Part I. Common Errors

  • Lesson 1. They’re
  • Lesson 2. There
  • Lesson 3. Their
  • Lesson 4. Too
  • Lesson 5. Two
  • Lesson 6. To
  • Lesson 7. It’s
  • Lesson 8. Its
  • Lesson 9. You’re
  • Lesson 10. Your
  • Lesson 11. Who
  • Lesson 12. Whom
  • Lesson 13. Who’s
  • Lesson 14. Whose
  • Lesson 15. We’re
  • Lesson 16. Were
  • Lesson 17. Where
  • Lesson 18. Our
  • Lesson 19. Are
  • Lesson 20. Then
  • Lesson 21. Than
  • Lesson 22. A Lot
  • Lesson 23. Already
  • Lesson 24. All Ready
  • Lesson 25. All Right
  • Lesson 26. Less
  • Lesson 27. Fewer
  • Lesson 28. Lie
  • Lesson 29. Lay
  • Lesson 30. Should’ve
  • Lesson 31. Used to
  • Lesson 32. Me/I
  • Lesson 33. Subject/Verb Agreement
  • Lesson 34. Accept
  • Lesson 35. Except
  • Lesson 36. Loose
  • Lesson 37. Lose
  • Lesson 38. Affect
  • Lesson 39. Effect

Part II. Punctuation

  • Lesson 40. Apostrophes—Contractions
  • Lesson 41. Apostrophes—Possessions
  • Lesson 42. Apostrophes—Plurals
  • Lesson 43. No Apostrophes—Plurals
  • Lesson 44. No Apostrophes—Verbs Ending in s
  • Lesson 45. Commas in a Series
  • Lesson 46. Commas in a Letter
  • Lesson 47. Commas in Appositives
  • Lesson 48. Commas After Beginning Phrases/Clauses
  • Lesson 49. Commas Before Ending Phrases/Clauses
  • Lesson 50. Commas With Direct Address
  • Lesson 51. Commas in a Date
  • Lesson 52. Commas Between City and State
  • Lesson 53. Quotations—Question Marks Inside
  • Lesson 54. Quotations—Ending in Punctuation
  • Lesson 55. Hyphenated Adjectives
  • Lesson 56. Colons
  • Lesson 57. Punctuating Dialogue—Chicken Dance

Part III. Capitalization

  • Lesson 58. Proper Nouns
  • Lesson 59. Proper Adjectives
  • Lesson 60. Letter Closings
  • Lesson 61. First Words in Sentences
  • Lesson 62. First Words in Quotations

Part IV. Spelling

  • Lesson 63. Silent E
  • Lesson 64. Words Ending in y
  • Lesson 65. Words Ending in Consonants
  • Lesson 66. I Before E
  • Lesson 67. Ce/Ci/Ge/Gi

Part V. Fragments

  • Lesson 68. Two-Word Sentences
  • Lesson 69. Sentence Wringer—Psst! Statement
  • Lesson 70. Sentence Wringer—Is There a Verb?
  • Lesson 71. Joining Sentences Legally
  • Lesson 72. Joining Sentences Illegally
  • Lesson 73. Sentence Wringer Practice
  • Lesson 74. Paragraph Overhaul
  • Lesson 75. AAAWWWUBIfication

Part VI. Pitchforking

  • Lesson 76. Pitchforking Actions
  • Lesson 77. Pitchforking Nouns
  • Lesson 78. Pitchforking Using Ba-Da-Bing
  • Lesson 79. Pitchforking Using Exclamations
  • Lesson 80. Pitchforking Using Descriptions
  • Lesson 81. Pitchforking Using Sounds
  • Lesson 82. Pitchforking Using Smells/Tastes
  • Lesson 83. Pitchforking Using Contrasts
  • Lesson 84. Pitchforking Using Participial Phrases
  • Lesson 85. Pitchforking Using Absolutes

Part VII. Parts of Speech

  • Lesson 86. Nouns
  • Lesson 87. Verbs
  • Lesson 88. Adjectives
  • Lesson 89. Adverbs
  • Lesson 90. Pronouns
  • Lesson 91. Prepositions
  • Lesson 92. Conjunctions
  • Lesson 93. Interjections
  • Lesson 94. Sentence Patterns

Part VIII. Beyond Verbs

  • Lesson 95. Direct Objects
  • Lesson 96. Indirect Objects
  • Lesson 97. Gerunds
  • Lesson 98. Participial Phrases
  • Lesson 99. Infinitives
  • Lesson 100. Predicate Nominatives
  • Lesson 101. Predicate Adjectives

Appendix

Appendix

Resources

Description

Students and teachers need accessible ways to talk about and use grammar. In Gretchen's trademark style, she gets these ever-important conversations started and keeps them going. This book is a keeper.”
-Jeff Anderson, Author of Revision Decisions and Everyday Editing

Almost everyone could benefit from a grammar check every once in a while—even we teachers.  But our students desperately need something much more systematic, and they need it right way.

No matter what state you teach in, you can be certain that grammar is being tested . . . frequently and across the grades! Meanwhile our students entering middle and high school are still making the same errors they made back in third grade. Luckily, Gretchen Bernabei, author of Fun-Size Academic Writing for Serious Learning, comes to the rescue with Grammar Keepers: a kid-friendly cache of 101 lessons and practice pages to help your students internalize the conventions of correctness once and for all.

Gretchen’s secret? Embed the lessons in ten minutes of daily journal writing, then use students’ own writing as models for discussion and practice. Students are much more interested in learning from one another than from stodgy sentences in a dusty primer, and these ultra-relevant examples more easily transfer into students’ talking, thinking, reading, and writing.

Here are the three ingredients of Gretchen’s approach:

  1. Daily journal writing, which increases writing practice and allows students to implement and master the lessons on punctuation, usage, and sentence structure in an authentic context
  2. Minilessons and Interactive Dialogues that model for students how to make grammatical choices
  3. A “Keepers 101” tracking sheet for teachers to monitor teaching and a “Parts of Speech Sheet” for students to use as a reference tool

We have known for years that traditional grammar instruction falls short for a great many students, but until now we didn’t know how to replace it. With Grammar Keepers, we have the right tool for today’s students. Think of it as the Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition for the spell- and grammar-check generation.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

Introduction: What’s a Keeper?

Introduction: What’s a Keeper?

Part I. Common Errors

  • Lesson 1. They’re
  • Lesson 2. There
  • Lesson 3. Their
  • Lesson 4. Too
  • Lesson 5. Two
  • Lesson 6. To
  • Lesson 7. It’s
  • Lesson 8. Its
  • Lesson 9. You’re
  • Lesson 10. Your
  • Lesson 11. Who
  • Lesson 12. Whom
  • Lesson 13. Who’s
  • Lesson 14. Whose
  • Lesson 15. We’re
  • Lesson 16. Were
  • Lesson 17. Where
  • Lesson 18. Our
  • Lesson 19. Are
  • Lesson 20. Then
  • Lesson 21. Than
  • Lesson 22. A Lot
  • Lesson 23. Already
  • Lesson 24. All Ready
  • Lesson 25. All Right
  • Lesson 26. Less
  • Lesson 27. Fewer
  • Lesson 28. Lie
  • Lesson 29. Lay
  • Lesson 30. Should’ve
  • Lesson 31. Used to
  • Lesson 32. Me/I
  • Lesson 33. Subject/Verb Agreement
  • Lesson 34. Accept
  • Lesson 35. Except
  • Lesson 36. Loose
  • Lesson 37. Lose
  • Lesson 38. Affect
  • Lesson 39. Effect

Part II. Punctuation

  • Lesson 40. Apostrophes—Contractions
  • Lesson 41. Apostrophes—Possessions
  • Lesson 42. Apostrophes—Plurals
  • Lesson 43. No Apostrophes—Plurals
  • Lesson 44. No Apostrophes—Verbs Ending in s
  • Lesson 45. Commas in a Series
  • Lesson 46. Commas in a Letter
  • Lesson 47. Commas in Appositives
  • Lesson 48. Commas After Beginning Phrases/Clauses
  • Lesson 49. Commas Before Ending Phrases/Clauses
  • Lesson 50. Commas With Direct Address
  • Lesson 51. Commas in a Date
  • Lesson 52. Commas Between City and State
  • Lesson 53. Quotations—Question Marks Inside
  • Lesson 54. Quotations—Ending in Punctuation
  • Lesson 55. Hyphenated Adjectives
  • Lesson 56. Colons
  • Lesson 57. Punctuating Dialogue—Chicken Dance

Part III. Capitalization

  • Lesson 58. Proper Nouns
  • Lesson 59. Proper Adjectives
  • Lesson 60. Letter Closings
  • Lesson 61. First Words in Sentences
  • Lesson 62. First Words in Quotations

Part IV. Spelling

  • Lesson 63. Silent E
  • Lesson 64. Words Ending in y
  • Lesson 65. Words Ending in Consonants
  • Lesson 66. I Before E
  • Lesson 67. Ce/Ci/Ge/Gi

Part V. Fragments

  • Lesson 68. Two-Word Sentences
  • Lesson 69. Sentence Wringer—Psst! Statement
  • Lesson 70. Sentence Wringer—Is There a Verb?
  • Lesson 71. Joining Sentences Legally
  • Lesson 72. Joining Sentences Illegally
  • Lesson 73. Sentence Wringer Practice
  • Lesson 74. Paragraph Overhaul
  • Lesson 75. AAAWWWUBIfication

Part VI. Pitchforking

  • Lesson 76. Pitchforking Actions
  • Lesson 77. Pitchforking Nouns
  • Lesson 78. Pitchforking Using Ba-Da-Bing
  • Lesson 79. Pitchforking Using Exclamations
  • Lesson 80. Pitchforking Using Descriptions
  • Lesson 81. Pitchforking Using Sounds
  • Lesson 82. Pitchforking Using Smells/Tastes
  • Lesson 83. Pitchforking Using Contrasts
  • Lesson 84. Pitchforking Using Participial Phrases
  • Lesson 85. Pitchforking Using Absolutes

Part VII. Parts of Speech

  • Lesson 86. Nouns
  • Lesson 87. Verbs
  • Lesson 88. Adjectives
  • Lesson 89. Adverbs
  • Lesson 90. Pronouns
  • Lesson 91. Prepositions
  • Lesson 92. Conjunctions
  • Lesson 93. Interjections
  • Lesson 94. Sentence Patterns

Part VIII. Beyond Verbs

  • Lesson 95. Direct Objects
  • Lesson 96. Indirect Objects
  • Lesson 97. Gerunds
  • Lesson 98. Participial Phrases
  • Lesson 99. Infinitives
  • Lesson 100. Predicate Nominatives
  • Lesson 101. Predicate Adjectives

Appendix

Appendix

Resources

SAGE Publishing Logo

Grammar Keepers

Lessons That Tackle Students' Most Persistent Problems Once and for All, Grades 4-12

Gretchen Bernabei
Cancel Print

January 2015 | 280 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/01/2025 9781483375465 $40.95

Students and teachers need accessible ways to talk about and use grammar. In Gretchen's trademark style, she gets these ever-important conversations started and keeps them going. This book is a keeper.”
-Jeff Anderson, Author of Revision Decisions and Everyday Editing

Almost everyone could benefit from a grammar check every once in a while—even we teachers.  But our students desperately need something much more systematic, and they need it right way.

No matter what state you teach in, you can be certain that grammar is being tested . . . frequently and across the grades! Meanwhile our students entering middle and high school are still making the same errors they made back in third grade. Luckily, Gretchen Bernabei, author of Fun-Size Academic Writing for Serious Learning, comes to the rescue with Grammar Keepers: a kid-friendly cache of 101 lessons and practice pages to help your students internalize the conventions of correctness once and for all.

Gretchen’s secret? Embed the lessons in ten minutes of daily journal writing, then use students’ own writing as models for discussion and practice. Students are much more interested in learning from one another than from stodgy sentences in a dusty primer, and these ultra-relevant examples more easily transfer into students’ talking, thinking, reading, and writing.

Here are the three ingredients of Gretchen’s approach:

  1. Daily journal writing, which increases writing practice and allows students to implement and master the lessons on punctuation, usage, and sentence structure in an authentic context
  2. Minilessons and Interactive Dialogues that model for students how to make grammatical choices
  3. A “Keepers 101” tracking sheet for teachers to monitor teaching and a “Parts of Speech Sheet” for students to use as a reference tool

We have known for years that traditional grammar instruction falls short for a great many students, but until now we didn’t know how to replace it. With Grammar Keepers, we have the right tool for today’s students. Think of it as the Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition for the spell- and grammar-check generation.


Table Of Contents:

  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction: What’s a Keeper?
  • Part I. Common Errors
  • Lesson 1. They’re
  • Lesson 2. There
  • Lesson 3. Their
  • Lesson 4. Too
  • Lesson 5. Two
  • Lesson 6. To
  • Lesson 7. It’s
  • Lesson 8. Its
  • Lesson 9. You’re
  • Lesson 10. Your
  • Lesson 11. Who
  • Lesson 12. Whom
  • Lesson 13. Who’s
  • Lesson 14. Whose
  • Lesson 15. We’re
  • Lesson 16. Were
  • Lesson 17. Where
  • Lesson 18. Our
  • Lesson 19. Are
  • Lesson 20. Then
  • Lesson 21. Than
  • Lesson 22. A Lot
  • Lesson 23. Already
  • Lesson 24. All Ready
  • Lesson 25. All Right
  • Lesson 26. Less
  • Lesson 27. Fewer
  • Lesson 28. Lie
  • Lesson 29. Lay
  • Lesson 30. Should’ve
  • Lesson 31. Used to
  • Lesson 32. Me/I
  • Lesson 33. Subject/Verb Agreement
  • Lesson 34. Accept
  • Lesson 35. Except
  • Lesson 36. Loose
  • Lesson 37. Lose
  • Lesson 38. Affect
  • Lesson 39. Effect
  • Part II. Punctuation
  • Lesson 40. Apostrophes—Contractions
  • Lesson 41. Apostrophes—Possessions
  • Lesson 42. Apostrophes—Plurals
  • Lesson 43. No Apostrophes—Plurals
  • Lesson 44. No Apostrophes—Verbs Ending in s
  • Lesson 45. Commas in a Series
  • Lesson 46. Commas in a Letter
  • Lesson 47. Commas in Appositives
  • Lesson 48. Commas After Beginning Phrases/Clauses
  • Lesson 49. Commas Before Ending Phrases/Clauses
  • Lesson 50. Commas With Direct Address
  • Lesson 51. Commas in a Date
  • Lesson 52. Commas Between City and State
  • Lesson 53. Quotations—Question Marks Inside
  • Lesson 54. Quotations—Ending in Punctuation
  • Lesson 55. Hyphenated Adjectives
  • Lesson 56. Colons
  • Lesson 57. Punctuating Dialogue—Chicken Dance
  • Part III. Capitalization
  • Lesson 58. Proper Nouns
  • Lesson 59. Proper Adjectives
  • Lesson 60. Letter Closings
  • Lesson 61. First Words in Sentences
  • Lesson 62. First Words in Quotations
  • Part IV. Spelling
  • Lesson 63. Silent E
  • Lesson 64. Words Ending in y
  • Lesson 65. Words Ending in Consonants
  • Lesson 66. I Before E
  • Lesson 67. Ce/Ci/Ge/Gi
  • Part V. Fragments
  • Lesson 68. Two-Word Sentences
  • Lesson 69. Sentence Wringer—Psst! Statement
  • Lesson 70. Sentence Wringer—Is There a Verb?
  • Lesson 71. Joining Sentences Legally
  • Lesson 72. Joining Sentences Illegally
  • Lesson 73. Sentence Wringer Practice
  • Lesson 74. Paragraph Overhaul
  • Lesson 75. AAAWWWUBIfication
  • Part VI. Pitchforking
  • Lesson 76. Pitchforking Actions
  • Lesson 77. Pitchforking Nouns
  • Lesson 78. Pitchforking Using Ba-Da-Bing
  • Lesson 79. Pitchforking Using Exclamations
  • Lesson 80. Pitchforking Using Descriptions
  • Lesson 81. Pitchforking Using Sounds
  • Lesson 82. Pitchforking Using Smells/Tastes
  • Lesson 83. Pitchforking Using Contrasts
  • Lesson 84. Pitchforking Using Participial Phrases
  • Lesson 85. Pitchforking Using Absolutes
  • Part VII. Parts of Speech
  • Lesson 86. Nouns
  • Lesson 87. Verbs
  • Lesson 88. Adjectives
  • Lesson 89. Adverbs
  • Lesson 90. Pronouns
  • Lesson 91. Prepositions
  • Lesson 92. Conjunctions
  • Lesson 93. Interjections
  • Lesson 94. Sentence Patterns
  • Part VIII. Beyond Verbs
  • Lesson 95. Direct Objects
  • Lesson 96. Indirect Objects
  • Lesson 97. Gerunds
  • Lesson 98. Participial Phrases
  • Lesson 99. Infinitives
  • Lesson 100. Predicate Nominatives
  • Lesson 101. Predicate Adjectives
  • Appendix

Recent Product Reviews:

“Students and teachers need accessible ways to talk about and use grammar. In Gretchen's trademark style, she gets these ever-important conversations started and keeps them going. This book is a keeper.”
JEFF ANDERSON, author of Revision Decisions and Everyday Editing
“Gretchen Bernabei is a force as a teacher and an important mentor for using grammar instruction to help students become better writers. Gretchen has always bridged teaching the mechanics of language with authentic reading and writing because, as she says in this practical, straightforward book, ‘We only have time for the best authors, the best poetry, the best ways of living, the best ways to learn the most valuable things.’ . . . This is a smart book to add to your collection of professional resources."
PENNY KITTLE, author of Write Beside Them and Book Love
“Gretchen Bernabei presents teachers with a buffet of concrete strategies to help student tackle grammar within the context of their own writing. Grammar Keepers provides teachers and their students with easy-to-follow, step-by-step recipes ranging from the simple concepts of grammar to more advanced structural understanding of writer's craft.”
TIM MARTINDELL, Ed.D, President, Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts

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