Category · 414 articles
Grammar & Mechanics
Problems with Daily Oral Language (D.O.L.)
Daily Oral Language (D.O.L.) requires students to multitask and the instruction consists of merely oral review. Both are poor instructional pedagogy and it is no wonder…
Grammar Openers
Following is a brief analysis of the four most common means of current grammar instruction. Teachers will tend to agree with my summary and analysis of…
How Much and What to Mark on Essays
For those who still assign writing process essays and/or essay exams and believe that students can and do benefit from comments, the question of How Much…
Common Core Grammar Standards
The Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts are divided into Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language strands. The Common Core Grammar Standards are…
Response to Intervention and the Common Core
RTI (Response to Intervention), ELL, ESL, and ELD (English Language Development), and DI (Differentiated/Individualized Instruction), instructional strategies are all validated in the Common Core State Standards.…
Essay Comment Excuses
Teachers know that detailed essay comments are keys to effective writing instruction but are adept at creating essay comment excuses to avoid the time and energy…
How to Grade Writing
How can we effectively assess student writing? Should we grade upon effort, completion, standards, achievement, or improvement? Is our primary task to respond or to grade?…
How to Use the Computer to Grade Essays
Here's how one teacher began using the computer to grade student writing and developed a free download of 438 e-comments to automatically insert into student essays.